The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided about 185 million U.S. dollars to various programs for developing the Tonle Sap Lake of Cambodia in the past three years, a local Media reported on Tuesday.

The programs consist of loans, grant aids and aids for technique projects, which are worth about 130 million U.S. dollars, the Kampuchea Thmey Daily said.

The other 55 million U.S. dollars from ADB will be spent for developing and exercising the process of development and management of the Tonle Sap basin, the paper said, adding that this program will also help to reduce poverty for the people who live on and around the Tonle Sap Lake.

Meanwhile, a two-day forum on the Tonle Sap Initiative ended Tuesday with renewed commitment by the Cambodian government to conservation and sustainable development in the Tonle Sap basin, an ADB press release said.

The Tonle Sap Initiative is a suite of programs designed to restore the environment and improve the livelihood of communities in the Tonle Sap Great Lake, the press release said.

The forum was organized by ADB and the Cambodian government and attended by more than 200 people, including representatives from local communities, provincial and national authorities and civil society organizations, it added.

Source: Xinhua