Phnom Penh (Cambodia) - On 10 January 2006 an agreement was signed in which EU ASAC (the European Union Assistance on curbing Small Arms and light Weapons in Cambodia) will provide financial and technical assistance for the registration and secure storage of the small arms of the Cambodia’s Navy and Air Force. The agreement was signed by Lt. General Chay Saing Yun, Secretary of State in the Ministry of National Defence and Mr. David de Beer, EU ASAC Project Manager.

General Chay Saing Yun promised the Cambodian Government’s continued co-operation in implementing the project, which is due to be completed by the end of June 2006. Mr. de Beer commented that this was the eighth such agreement EU ASAC had signed with the Ministry of National Defence. The other agreements, starting in 2001, covered all six military regions of the Royal Cambodian Army as well as the Royal Gendarmerie. “Once this new project is implemented, all Small Arms and Light Weapons of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces will have been registered in a computer database and securely stored. This is an important achievement in helping to stabilise the country and the ASEAN region.”

Surplus weapons not required by the Ministry of National Defence are destroyed. By the end of 2005 almost 180,000 weapons had been destroyed by the Cambodian Government.