Supported by Mekong-Republic of Korea Cooperation Fund (MKCF), the International Training and Knowledge Sharing Workshop for Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening of Logistics, the General Department of Logistics, Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) organized the training and workshop on “Monitoring and Evaluation Database Development in CLV Countries” from May 25 to 27, 2022, at Sunway Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

There were approximately 60 participants, joining both onsite and online. Participants included representatives of the Ministry of Transport of Viet Nam, representatives of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport of Laos, representative of the Mekong Institute, national and international experts in logistics, relevant departments under MPWT, Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, Cambodian Logistics Association (CLA), and Cambodian Trucking Association (CAMTA).

This 2nd training workshop was a follow-up to the 1st training workshop, which was held in Sihanoukville in April 2022, with the aim of building and strengthening the capacity of officials and relevant institutions in both public and private sectors; and of collecting and organizing basic statistical data, for the development of logistics monitoring and evaluation framework and logistics database in Cambodia.

The workshop focused on the following topics: 1) Global Logistics Performance Index; 2) Measuring and Monitoring logistics Performance along Transport Corridors; 3) Forecasting and Developing Modeling Approach for Freight-Flow and Other Related Costs in the Logistics Sector; and 4) Practical exercises, in which participants were divided for group discussions, including case studies in Asian countries.

H.E. CHHIENG Pich, the Director General of General Department of Logistics, MPWT highlighted the importance of the training workshop that provides knowledge on managing and organizing logistics data not only in Cambodia, but also Laos and Viet Nam; on strengthening the cooperation among the three countries to jointly build the database in the transport and logistics sectors; especially, on sharing the practical knowledge and experiences of international logistics experts from Europe and Asia to the participants during the 3 days training workshop.

Mr. Madhurjya Kumar Dutta, MKCF Coordinator and Director of Trade & Investment Facilitation Department of Mekong Institute, delivered a warm welcome remark to all participants and appreciated the efforts of PIA, relevant stakeholders, and the consultant team in creating this important event, which will help strengthen the capacity of the development of Logistics Monitoring and Evaluation Database Development in Cambodia and CLV countries. He hopes that this workshop will help in facilitating the discussion on data sensitivity and cooperation from the CLV countries as well as encourage data sharing for the development of logistics databases in the countries. Furthermore, in a separate session, Mr. Dutta introduced the GMS (Greater Mekong Sub-region) logistics database, an interactive web-based database platform, designed for logistics company networking and facilitated the discussion sessions of the workshop.

During the Closing Ceremony, H.E. CHHIENG Pich, expressed his gratitude to all the participants who have actively participated in the group discussion; and who shared their knowledge and experiences on how to collect, organize, and manage transport and logistics data, both directly at workshop venue and indirectly via online.