Phnom Penh, Cambodia, April 26, 2023 – The EU-Switch Garment project, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, organized the 4th and final meeting of the Project Steering Committee (PSC). The project is funded by the European Union and jointly implemented by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Cambodia, Textile, Apparel, Footwear & Travel Goods Association in Cambodia (TAFTAC) and Geres. The meeting’s objective was to discuss the project’s overall success and follow up on recommendations from the previous PSC meetings. It also served as a discussion platform for line ministries and consortium partners.
The PSC meeting began with welcome remarks by Ms. Shomi Kim, GGGI Cambodia Country Representative, and Mr. Koen Everaert, Deputy Head of Cooperation, EU in Cambodia. Then, H. E. Meas Sophal, Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Environment, officially opened the meeting. H.E. Meas Sophal said, “The EU-Switch Garment project had ambitious targets given the challenging country context. It was also impacted by COVID-19, which resulted in factory closures for several months. Despite these challenges, the project has accomplished most of its target indicators and is well on its way to making long-term, positive impacts.”
Ms. Shomi Kim, GGGI Cambodia Country Representative, said, “I am deeply grateful for the collaborative spirit that made this project achieve its goals. Thanks to our dedicated factory partners, CGTI’s skilled trainers, Geres’ technical expertise, MoE’s collaborative efforts, MISTI’s guidance, the EU delegation’s generous support, and the GGGI team’s dedication- we have empowered the garment, footwear and travel goods (GFT) sector.”
In his presentation, Mr. Mahfuzur Rahman, Project Manager, highlighted key accomplishments, including: the Model Green Factory Program, acknowledged by line ministries and adopted by TAFTAC, the completion of all 50 energy audits, the delivery of trainings to over 200 factory members, and the investment mobilization of around USD 2.6 million by the garment factories. He also shared that a Financial Model and Investment Memorandum was developed which would help the project to finalize the financing scheme soon.
In his closing remarks, H. E. Heng Eang, Deputy Director General and Advisor to the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology & Innovation recalled when the project was commenced in 2020. He said, ‘’back then, we were discussing and planning for the National Energy Efficiency Policy (NEEP), this project came up in a timely manner with an aim to set a background as needed for piloting such policy tool in GFT sector before the policy was approved and adopted.”
During the PSC Meeting, Mr. Koen Everaert, Deputy Head of Cooperation, EU in Cambodia acknowledged the success made by the project and confirmed that a new project built on the success of EU-Switch Garment would take part to scale up EU-Switch Garment activities. EU-Switch Garment will officially come to an end in May 2024. The Closure Event will take place on May 10.