SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance Delivers Week-long Training Programme on Enhancing Fiscal Resilience and Climate Finance in Cambodia
SOAS-led Resilience and Adaptation Mainstreaming Programme (RAMP) delivers five-day capacity building programme for Cambodia’s Ministry of Economy and Finance in Siem Reap in partnership with Asian Development Bank and Royal University of Phnom Penh.
The SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance-led Resilience and Adaptation Mainstreaming Programme (RAMP) delivered a five-day, intensive course in Siem Reap from 31 August to 4 September for Cambodia’s Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Royal University of Phnom Penh. The training was opened by SOAS alumnus H.E. Pen Thirong, Secretary of State at the MEF and Deputy Secretary-General of the General Secretariat of the Public Financial Management Reform Steering Committee.
Course participants comprised 42 officials from the MEF and other Cambodian authorities, including the Ministry of Planning; Ministry of Public Works and Transport; Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Post and Telecommunications; Ministry of Rural Development; Council for the Development of Cambodia; and National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development. Across eight half-day sessions, the programme covered climate-related macroeconomic and fiscal risks, modelling and metrics (including hands-on macro-modelling simulation exercises), green public investment and financial management, economic appraisal, climate budgeting and expenditure tracking, and public and private climate-finance instruments. Cambodian faculty and practitioners helped to contextualise and co-deliver the programme, using local cases and exercises to examine practical priorities for strengthening fiscal resilience and investment in climate-resilient and low-carbon development.
The training was the first in a series of capacity building programmes that the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance and RAMP will deliver for ASEAN finance ministries as part of the ADB-supported ASEAN Climate Finance Policy Platform (ACFPP). Through the ACFPP, RAMP and the ADB have conducted a structured capability assessment across the 11 ASEAN ministries of finance since April 2026. Drawing on desk research, consultations and a common assessment framework, the exercise identifies existing strengths, capability gaps and priorities for further support. Further trainings in the Philippines and Malaysia are scheduled for November 2026 and January 2027, with others planned throughout 2027.
RAMP partners with local universities and core government ministries in vulnerable countries to build their capacity to manage and effectively mitigate climate change risks and enhance the resilience of their economies. RAMP develops knowledge, delivers training, supports research, and shapes policy. The strong relationship with local higher education institutions as knowledge brokers at the heart of RAMP builds the sustainability missing in other approaches.
Besides its work through RAMP, the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance has also been a leader in capacity building among central banks in the region. In Southeast Asia, it has delivered a large-scale, multi-year capacity building programme for the ASEAN central banks in partnership with the South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) Research and Training Centre as well as several policy advisory and capacity building programmes with central banks in the region, including Monetary Authority of Singapore, Bank Indonesia, Bank Negara Malaysia, Bank of Thailand, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and National Bank of Cambodia. SOAS researchers are currently working with a team of researchers at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on an ecological macro model for the Philippines.
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