Improve economic performance and reduced effluent discharges to improve the water quality of the Mekong River and its tributaries.

The Hot Spot and TEST project in Cambodia will offer to national institutions, national experts and enterprises, the opportunity to learn how to use the TEST approach to transform existing environmental challenges into business opportunities. It will also help increase their competitiveness while improving their environmental performance.

The general expected outcome of this project is to enhance the knowledge and capacity of the counterparts in Cambodia for reducing industrial pollution of the Mekong River and its tributaries, the Tonle Sap and Tonle Bassac through the application of sound environmental technologies. As a consequence, the water quality of the Mekong River basin will be improved.
More specifically, the following outcomes are expected:

• As a result of (i) the training course and technical assistance provided by international experts and of (ii) the hands-on experience, capacity will have been built in national institutions, local experts and in the demonstration enterprises on how to implement the TEST approach;
• Most of the demonstration enterprises will have successfully completed the introduction of the TEST approach. The employees will have upgraded knowledge in modern environmental management tools, while actions will be initiated to correct negative industrial practices. The whole industrial production process will be more resource efficient and will discharge a reduced pollution load;

• The results achieved in the demonstration enterprises will have been presented and disseminated to other enterprises and industrial associations; and,
• As a result of the project, newly-educated and motivated professionals will be ready to extend the lessons learned from the project to other enterprises as well as to neighboring countries.