Saturday, February 24, 2007

Officials welcome resumption of U.S. direct funding for Cambodian government

February 24, 2007

Cambodian officials here on Friday welcomed the reported resumption of the United States' direct funding for the Cambodian government after a decade of hiatus, but said that details of the aid have not been set yet.

"I have just gotten the information about the direct aid to Cambodia provided by the U.S. I do not know clearly about the matter and we need to wait and talk in detail about it," Khieu Kanharith, government spokesman and Minister of Information, told Xinhua by phone.

The U.S. will cut down part of its aid for the NGOs and channel it to the Cambodian government instead, he said.
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"We have always had good relations and cooperation," he said, adding that the U.S. used to help the Cambodian government in sectors of anti-drug, health, medicine and others.

Meanwhile, Nov Sowathearo, spokesman of the co-ruling Funcinpec Party, told Xinhua that "we congratulated the direct aid from the U.S. to our government led by Prime Minister Hun Sen."

The assistance will help facilitate poverty reduction, enhance people's living standard and develop the whole country, Nov said.

The Cambodian Daily on Friday quoted U.S. Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli as saying that the U.S. has lifted its decade-old prohibition on giving money directly to the Cambodian government.

"It is one more step to broadening and deepening bilateral relations. Our hope is to have more normal relations and draw Cambodia closer to the community of nations," he said.

He praised Cambodia for its cooperation on anti-terrorism issues, but confirmed that the policy shift has not been driven only by the exigencies of the war on terror.

No decisions have been made on new funding allocations yet, he added.

According to embassy spokesman Jeff Daigle, under the terms of the 2007 U.S. budget resolution passed on Feb. 15, Cambodia will likely receive about 56 million U.S. dollars this fiscal year, without any restrictions on direct government assistance.

Meanwhile, Roland Eng, Cambodian Ambassador to the U.S. from 2000 to 2005, told the paper that "we are turning a new page in the relations between the U.S. and Cambodia. This is very positive. Cambodia more than ever deserves this move."

The U.S. halted direct funding for the Cambodian government in 1997 when then-First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh was ousted by the military forces.

Source: Xinhua

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

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