Background
The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) led a technical delegation to Japan from 1–3 June 2026 to study road maintenance, irrigation O&M, and public–private partnership (PPP/PFI) models. The study tour was organized under the 2026 action plan of Cambodia’s Public Financial Management (PFM) reform program and aims to inform a national strategy on infrastructure maintenance governance scheduled for approval by the end of 2026.
The delegation included senior MPWT officials—Secretary of State Yit Bouna (who serves as deputy chair of the inter-ministerial committee on public investment management and national-budget-funded infrastructure maintenance), Deputy Director-General Nai Chamnang, and Director Chhim Palla—together with technical staff from road, waterway, port and coastal transport departments. Participants also represented other ministries, including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Rural Development, and Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, for a combined delegation of twenty officials.
Key Developments
Meetings in Tokyo and regional offices covered operational arrangements for road maintenance, irrigation pumping stations, and inter-agency coordination. Cambodian officials met Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) on road maintenance frameworks and state–private collaboration approaches; the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) on large-scale water distribution and drainage operations; and regional bureaus such as the Kanto Regional Development Bureau and Shinagawa branch to review practical O&M arrangements.
Field visits included the Sogo West pumping station (Inbanuma Phase 2) and Tone Chuo (Kasai Irrigation District) to observe pump-driven water-control operations, and private-sector demonstrations at Sakai Heavy Industries (Kuki) and the TOA Road Technical Research Institute (Tsukuba) on milling/stabilization equipment and quality-control training methods.
Operational Implications
Delegation findings highlighted concrete models for organizing routine and periodic maintenance, sharing O&M costs among agencies and users, and integrating machinery-based pavement treatments and QC training into maintenance workflows. Japanese examples of coordinated O&M operations, pump-station management, and equipment-based road rehabilitation were recorded as practical references for adapting Cambodia’s maintenance procedures and procurement choices.
Institutional Role
The inter-ministerial committee on investment project coordination and national-budgeted infrastructure maintenance is positioned to use technical inputs from the study tour when drafting the proposed maintenance governance strategy. MPWT and partner ministries are collecting the operational and financial practices observed in Japan as inputs to refine planning, budget prioritization, and institutional arrangements for road and water infrastructure maintenance.
Source
Official summary posted by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) on 4 June 2026: MPWT Facebook post.
