The Government of Cambodia and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday signed loan agreements worth $70 million to expand the country's rice sector and promote reforms in the finance sector, an ADB's statement said.

Signed by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Keat Chhon and ADB Country Director Eric Sidgwick, the agreements covered the Climate-Resilient Rice Commercialization Sector Development Program (Rice-SDP) with the loans of $55 million and the Finance Sector Program with the remaining $15 million.

"Rice-SDP supports the Government's Policy on the Promotion of Paddy Production and Rice Export, which calls for improved seeds, more efficient irrigation, better farming practices, greater drying, storage, and milling capacities, and better marketing, thereby transforming Cambodia's rice subsector from subsistence farming to commercially-oriented value-chains," Sidgwick said at the signing ceremony.

Rice-SDP, which will run until 2019, will improve crop productivity, access to credit by paddy producers and rice millers and exporters, access to regional and international rice markets, and enhance national and household food security, the bank's statement said.

The investment part of Rice-SDP will cover Battambang, Kampong Thom, and Prey Veng provinces, among the largest rice producing areas in the country, it said, adding that an efficient rice value chain and increased productivity will benefit about 1 million low income rice farming households, with each expected to gain additional income of $300 a year by 2020.

The statement said the loan to the finance sector program will further improve the legal foundation for financial institutions; strengthen legal frameworks for development of security market and insurance industry; modernize payments and clearance system; support the development of a commercial dispute resolution mechanism; and promote transparency and measures to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

"This will build a growing, resilient, and efficient financial system that supports sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction mechanisms," it said.