Japan provides Cambodia with 4.1 bil. yen in new aid

PHNOM PENH, Mar. 18, 2009 (Kyodo News International) -- Japan on Wednesday provided Cambodia with a loan for water supply and a grant for demining activities, together worth a total of 4.1 billion yen (about $65 million Australian dollars).

At a signing ceremony in Phnom Penh, Japanese Ambassador Katsuhiro Shinohara said the loan worth just over 3.5 billion yen is for a water-supply infrastructure project in the capital, while the grant worth at 548 million yen will be used to procure equipment to clear the countryside of land mines.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said at the ceremony that the huge amounts of loans and grants provided by Japan to date have greatly contributed to the economic development and poverty reduction in Cambodia.

When Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone visited Cambodia from Jan. 10 to 11 and met with Prime Minister Hun Sen and Hor Namhong, he announced support for the water-supply infrastructure project and pledged Japan would continue to prioritize its assistance to Cambodia, including in the construction of roads, bridges, and other infrastructure and in human resources development.

Since 1994, Japan's mine clearance assistance to Cambodia has amounted to $90.2 million, including the new grant.

Cambodia remains one of the poorest countries in Asia with some 30 percent of its population of 14 million living below the poverty line.