Does Hun Xen believe that Khmers do not know his embezzlement tricks?

(Photo: Sovannara, RFI)

International aid: Hun Xen counter-attacks

Wednesday 09 June 2010
By P.B.
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French Fries by Oss Dey
Click here to read the article in French

KI-Media note: Mr. Hun Xen forgot to mention that embezzling international aid can also be done through kickbacks, theft of materials, inflated costs, etc…

Hun Xen called those who criticize the manner in which international aid is used as “ignorant”. He reminded that the government does not receive money in cash.

“It is really inadmissible to hear political party and NGO presidents accusing the government of embezzling funds from international aid,” Hun Xen announced in a speech given on 09 June during a ceremony for distribution of diplomas. Hun Xen called his critics “ignorant” who “do not deserve responsible positions.”

Hun Xen reminded that donor countries never pay the government in cash and that aids are provided in terms of grants allocated to projects administered by experts. Hun Xen also explained that numerous projects were taken under the charge of the Japanese government and he assured all follow a similar procedure.

During the donor meeting which took place at the beginning of this month, Cambodia received $1.1 billion in aid pledge from the international community. The opposition party and several officials of the civil society have expressed their concerns over the use of these funds.

The begging nation: Cambodia receives over 1/2 billion USD thru begging from the International community each year

July 13, 2007
Cambodia receives over 500 mln USD of international aid

Cambodia received 594 million U. S. dollars of international aid in 2006, compared with 610 million U.S. dollars in 2005, local media reported on Friday.

The aid basically met the demand of the national developments although there were still lots of improvements to be done in the use of the donated money, a local newspaper the Commercial News quoted the government's efficiency report about the international aid in 2006 as saying.

Among the aid, 110 million U.S. dollars went to the health sector, 93 million U.S. dollars to executive management, 71.5 million U.S. dollars to education, 53 million U.S. dollars to transportation and 45.5 million U.S. dollars to rural development, it said.

However, the report said that the project execution accounted for 46.5 percent of the aid, while the technologic cooperation 46.2 percent, almost two times higher than other countries receiving international donations.

This percentage showed that the Cambodian government needed to enhance its participation in the technological cooperation and improve its efficiency, it added.

Almost one third of the kingdom's 14 million population live in poverty and half of the government's annual budget used to be met by international donors.

At the donor countries' meeting just concluded here in June, the participants promised to provide 689 million U.S. dollars of aid for Cambodia in 2007.

Source: Xinhua

Cambodia's economy grows by 9.5% in 2006: UN

Cambodian workers of a garment factory

12 February 2007
AFP

PHNOM PENH : The economy in Cambodia, one of the world's poorest nations, grew by 9.5 percent last year, according to the United Nations data, attributing growth to political stability after three decades of civil war.

The economic performance followed a record 13.4 percent growth in Cambodia's gross domestic product in 2005.

"Peace has had an extremely positive socio-economic impact on the nation," Douglas Gardner, UN resident coordinator in Cambodia, told a meeting between the government and foreign donor representatives.

Apart from booming tourism and rising garment exports, political stability after three decades of civil war, including the Khmer Rouge's brutal rule in the 1970s, helped spur Cambodia's economy, Gardner said.

"This shows that the economy is advancing," he said, but added the government should do more to help the poor and tackle growing income inequalities.

The Economic Institute of Cambodia estimated the country's gross domestic product at 6.5 billion dollars last year.

While Cambodia's economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the region, some 35 percent of the kingdom's 14 million people live in poverty, with nearly 50 percent of its national budget coming from international aid.

The three decades of civil war ended in 1998.

Economists said the growth was at a slower slip because of a fall in agricultural products, mainly rice, because of bad weather.

They said tourism and the garment industry, the key drivers of Cambodia's economy, are expected to continue expanding.

Tourist arrivals in 2006 jumped more than 20 percent to about 1.7 million people, bringing 1.4 billion dollars in revenue to the impoverished country.

The famed Angkor Wat temple complex, located in Siem Reap, is Cambodia's most treasured landmark and biggest tourist draw.

Cambodia's garment exports rose 17 percent to more than 2.5 billion dollars in 2006. Garments, which mainly go to the United States, account for 80 percent of the country's export earnings.

Cambodia also created a buzz in the oil sector in 2005 when petroleum was discovered by the US energy giant Chevron Corp off the country's coast, which struck black in four of five test wells.

The discovery of oil, as well as millions of cubic meters of natural gas, has raised hopes of an economic re-birth for Cambodia.