The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has donated 30 electric motorbikes and a car to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport as part of efforts to promote the wide use of electric vehicles (EV) in the country, as four charging stations officially open.

At a ceremony at the ministry on Tuesday, Minister of Public Works and Transports, Sun Chanthol, said the four EV charging stations donated by UNDP are in Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, Battambang and at the Ministry.

He said that there is still more to invest and encouraged the use of EVs in Cambodia, thanking all relevant public and private institutions to help to push off using EV vehicles.

He said that the government has a high willingness and commitment to jointly reduce pollution and damage to the environment, and has signed a long-term strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. To achieve this, at least 40 percent of cars and 70 percent of motorbikes need to shift to being electric.

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“Today it is our first step to push the use of EV vehicles, motors, and bicycles, to go back to using electricity. To encourage people to use and start this EV car, we have discussed with fuel distributors for them to arrange EV charging stations at distribution points,” Chanthol said.

Heng Kimhong, program manager at Cambodian Youth Network (CYN), said that to promote the use of EV vehicles, the government should add a launch operation, encourage private companies to invest more to encourage car owners.

Moreover, as a mechanism to encourage citizens to understand that EVs are easy to use without having to go to a gas station, Kimhong said.

He added despite Cambodia’s high commitment in the implementation of carbon neutrality, there should be an incentive to import good quality cars and promote the use of the same type of fuel-powered vehicles. They also need to be monitored and pay attention to whether the car emits carbon monoxide.

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“We need to look at this in order to motivate. We can not immediately cut fuel cars because we still have limited possibilities,” Kimhong said.

"Cambodia should also have the capacity to produce domestic sub-vehicles or import cars from neighboring countries that use electricity to facilitate prices, as Cambodia is an economic country where the average person cannot afford to buy a car from abroad, ”he added.

The ministry registered 556 EVs in the first ten months in 2022, an 11-fold increase over the same period last year.

There are eight EV charging stations in Cambodia and 200 more are planned in 2023, according to the ministry.