Officials on Monday signed an agreement in Phnom Penh for China
to provide US$207 million of loans to Cambodia to develop its
infrastructure construction.
Li Jun, vice president of the China Import-Export Bank, and
Cambodian Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhun signed the
agreement in the presence of Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jinfeng.
According to a press release issued by the Cambodian Ministry of
Economy and Finance, US$190 million's worth of preferential buyer's
credit loan will go for the construction of National Road No. 8
from Khsach Kandal to the Cambodian-Vietnamese border, the Perek
Tamak Bridge, the Prek Kdam Bridge, and the National Road 76 from
the junction of National Road No. 7 in Snoul to Sen Monorom
District, Mondulkiri Province.
Meanwhile, US$17 million of preferential loan will be used for
the construction of the Cambodian section of the Greater Mekong
Sub-region Information Superhighway.
During the ceremony, Keat Chhun expressed appreciation for
China's consistent help, while Li said he expected the loans to
contribute more to Cambodia's economic development and the
Chinese-Cambodian ties.
Foreign loans have been one of the major economic propellers for
the kingdom, which altogether received some US$6.2 billion of
various loans from 1922 to 2005, according to official
statistics.
(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2007)
