Aid and development

A document purported to have come from the US State Department appears to show plans to slash US development assistance to the Kingdom down to zero, a move observers said yesterday would further weaken the US’s standing in the country, allowing for China to cement its ...

Thaneakea Srov (Kampuchea) Plc, the recipient of a low-interest $15 million loan from the state-run Rural Development Bank, inked contracts yesterday with three companies to build and outfit its massive 200,000-tonne capacity silo and warehouse facility in Battambang province. ...

Japan inked the $16 million deal through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in February 2016. However Chou Kimtry, deputy director of the municipal department of transport, said yesterday the traffic lights will not be operational until February 2018. ...

The government signed concessional loan agreements with development partners – both bilateral and multilateral – amounting to about $8.3 billion from 1993 to the end of 2016, official figures show.​   ...

Cambodia’s national debt stood at $5.8 billion at the end of 2016, totalling nearly a third of GDP, according to the latest debt bulletin released by the Ministry and Economy and Finance earlier this month. ...

Boeng Kak supporters on Tuesday said they were dismayed at the World Bank’s announcement of a new $100 million loan to the Cambodian government amid ongoing harassment and jailings of land rights activists. ...

The US government has agreed to provide global electoral NGO International Foundation for Electoral Systems a $1.8 million grant to ensure the National Election Committee conducts free and fair elections. ...

Vice Chairman Chen Changzhi pledged that China would continue to extend loans to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government, provide development aid, and encourage investment.   ...

The US government has pulled any future funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), a group focused on reproductive rights for women and girls, over claims it has practiced coercive abortions and involuntary sterilizations in China.   ...

In a statement on Sunday, the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) said the $6 million in additional funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) would be paid into an endowment fund that would accrue interest over the next 20 years, eventually bringing in ...

Amid a widening gulf in U.S.-Cambodia relations, the U.S. Embassy said on Monday that a Navy unit specializing in humanitarian work had been forced to leave the country, imperiling hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of community projects, including the construction of maternity wards and ...

The United States has agreed to provide an additional $5.8 million to the Documentation Center for Cambodia to preserve Khmer Rouge-era historical records over the next 20 years.   ...

The Swiss government has vowed to help secure long-term financial sustainability for the Kantha Bopha children’s hospitals. Last week Beat Richner, the founder and head of the Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital and a Health Ministry adviser, resigned from his position as managing director due to health ...

The Japanese ambassador is set to sign a new aid package today pledging about $140 million worth of support for various projects, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ...

In its first two months of regular operation Cambodia’s first civil aviation training centre has provided certificates to dozens of aviation officials and airport staff, helping to raise the skill level of personnel in the Kingdom’s fast-expanding aviation sector. ...

Sweden’s development agency will provide $7 million to foster the development of small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in Cambodia, according to state-run news agency AKP. ...

The influx of Chinese economic assistance into Sri Lanka and Cambodia has raised questions regarding the intentions behind these massive loans. A 2016 International Monetary Fund report showed that Cambodia’s external multilateral public debt is now at US$1.6 billion, while its bilateral public debt with ...

Cambodia and the United Nations have vowed to find more funds to support the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, according to the Council of Ministers.   ...

South Korea has given more than 200 military vehicles to Cambodia and nearly 200 more will arrive in July. The first batch were handed over yesterday at a ceremony at the Techo Hun Sen Military Technical Institute in Kampong Speu province. ...

Two images on the back of the 500 riel banknote depict bridges, with the one on the left showing the Kingdom’s longest and most modern bridge, the Tsubasa (“Bird’s Wing”) Bridge linking Kandal and Prey Veng provinces. ...

Cambodia yesterday asked China to help fund the construction of two bridges across the Mekong River, which it said would cut traffic congestion in Phnom Penh and help create a ring road around the city.   ...

Japan has signed a three-year deal to help train government officials on attracting environmentally friendly investment. The Environment Ministry and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) yesterday signed the agreement to educate officials about how to use environmental impact assessments and enforce pollution controls. ...

The Ministry of Economy and Finance secured a $36.3 million concessionary loan from the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) program aimed at accelerating the production of small-scale agricultural products including rice, vegetables, potatoes, silk and livestock, according to a ministry release yesterday. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has once again called for the United States to drop the debt Cambodia incurred during the 1970s Lon Nol regime, just days after US Ambassador William Heidt said in no uncertain terms that the US had no such plans. ...