Additional Financing to Road Connectivity Improvement Project

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The Road Connectivity Improvement Project (RCIP) was approved by the World Bank Board of Directors on July 16, 2020, and declared effective on October 26, 2020. Additional Financing (AF) to RCIP will cover a financing gap resulting due to increased prices and cost overrun with no change to the scope and nature of the project activities. The project geographically covers three targeted provinces, namely Kratie, Kampong Cham, and Tbaung Khmum with over two million rural population. Using a human-centric approach, RCIP improves climate resilient road accessibility for local communities to reach crucial human development facilities, such as hospitals, emergency medical facilities, and schools. The project also helps in improving road access to economic facilities such as local markets for agriculture products; and reducing transportation costs and the risk associated with flood-induced transportation disruptions. The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) and the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) are the two Implementing Agencies of the project.The design of the project builds on a network connectivity approach to improve climate-resilient road accessibility in rural areas and between rural areas and the main road corridor in the targeted provinces. The proposed scope of road improvement works includes two-level interventions. The first intervention is to improve the sections of the national and provincial roads (Component 1) along the targeted road network which connect the rural and provincial roads with the core road network and main economic centers in the country. These road sections are under the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT). The second intervention is to improve rural road accessibility in the targeted area (Component 2), which is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD), by focusing on priority rural roads to improve climate resilient access to markets, schools, and health facilities. Institutionally (Component 3), the project is equipping MRD and MPWT with tools and capacities to better fulfill their mandates as road network managers.The project is part of the World Bank Group Program described in the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Cambodia 2019–2024 (CPF Objectives 8 ‘Expand and Improve Sustainable Infrastructure Services’). The project contributes to the World Bank’s mission to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet by extending the benefits of climate-resilient road accessibility and lower transportation costs to a broader segment of the population in rural areas, where most of the poor and near-poor are concentrated. The project also contributes to RGC’s development strategy which prioritizes the enhancement of transport connectivity and efficiency to support economic diversification and competitiveness under the Pentagonal Strategy Phase 1 (2023).