The technical team was established to undertake the first round Stakeholder Consultation (SHC) with the Cambodia National Mekong Committee (CNMC), research and academia, and a few key Line Ministries (LMs). The 1st consultation aimed to present the project concept, gathering their comments and support, and engage them in the project development and implementation. The project concept was also presented to the CambodiaWP's partners during the Annual Meeting 2019. JICA was suggested to be selected for Accredited Entity (AE). After that, the team met with the National Designated Authority (NDA) at the National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) for presenting the project concept and requested an official endorsement. Advice and green light were provided for the concept note stage, and the CNMC was suggested to be the Coordinator of this project. GWPO and GWP-SEA regional office supported with technical advice and identified the next steps actions.
In 2020, the CNMC and key LMs decided to incorporate this project into the National Indicative Plan (NIP) 2021-2025 providing its characteristic of Mekong river basin-wide significance and multi-sectors nature at the end of the National Stakeholder Consultation of the NIP Update Preparation (NIP is to implement the MRC Basin Development Strategy 2021-2030). With the support from GWP, the CambodiaWP and the CNMC conducted the second round of Stakeholder Consultation with more key LMS to get their support and engagement into the project development and implementation. The outcomes of the 2nd stakeholder consultation were supported by all the LMs, support from the Ministry of Economic and Finance through the allocation of 10% of the total budget upon request from the CNMC, incorporating the project into the Rolling National Project Investment Plan (PIP) 2022-2024 and the National Strategic Development Plan, as well as including the relevant SDG indicators into the National Strategic Development Goal.