Cambodia gives big boost to military budget

14% of the national budget will be allocated to defense, including the upkeep of Brigade B-70 (Left), Hun Sen's private bodyguards unit, in stark contrast to the 1.7% budget spent on agriculture, Cambodia's economic backbone

By Ek Madra

PHNOM PENH, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Cambodia, one of Southeast Asia's poorest countries, plans to boost defense and security spending by 23 percent next year, its budget showed on Saturday, raising the prospect of a clash with the IMF.

Cambodia plans to spend $274 million on defense and security next year, up from $223 million this year, the budget showed. The total budget for calendar 2010 was $1.97 billion, which meant the military was allocated about 14 percent of total spending.

That compares with 1.7 percent spent on agriculture, the backbone of Cambodia's economy, and 0.7 percent on water resources. About 1.7 percent was set aside for rural development.

Military spending is a sensitive topic in Cambodia because of the millions of dollars of donor money flowing into the country, largely to social programmes.

"This big budget for defense is meant for preventative measures in response to international conflicts," said government spokesman Phay Siphan.

Siphan said the spending was unrelated to tensions with neighbouring Thailand over land surrounding a 900-year-old, cliff-top Hindu temple known as Preah Vihear. Skirmishes in the border area have killed seven troops in the past year.

Thailand is challenging a U.N. decision to make the temple a world heritage site under Cambodian jurisdiction. Cambodia was awarded the temple in a 1962 international court ruling that did not determine who owns 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) next to it.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) criticised Cambodia last year for its military spending, leading the Cambodian government to cut back its defense budget during a debate in parliament after questioning by the IMF.

"Donors will not be happy," Ou Vireak, head of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said of the latest military budget.

He said Prime Minister Hun Sen was likely trying to whip up nationalist support by projecting an image of a strong military at a time of heightened tension with Thailand.

"By doing so, he is turning the country effectively into a military state," he said.

(Editing by Jason Szep and Dean Yates)

Cambodia boosts defense spending

Sat, 31 Oct 2009
ABC Australia Network News

Cambodia plans to boost defense and security spending by 23 percent next year, raising the prospect of a clash with the International Monetary Fund.

Budget figures show Cambodia plans to spend 274 million US dollars on defense and security next year, up from 223 million this year.

A government spokesman says the spending's unrelated to tensions with neighbouring Thailand over land surrounding the Preah Vihear temple.

The IMF criticised Cambodia last year for its military spending, leading the Cambodian government to cut back its defense budget.

Bloated 2009 budget approved

Cambodian parliament approves national budget of over $ 1.88 bln for 2009

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian National Assembly (NA) here on Tuesday approved the 2009 national budget of over 1.88 billion U.S. dollars with its emphasis on education, health and military defense.

"We thank the parliament for it agreed with the request of the government for the expenditure of the national budget for 2009, and it will contribute to reducing poverty in the country and lead to more economic growth," Ouk Rabun, secretary of state of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, told the parliament after the approval.

In 2009, the Ministry of National Defense is expected to get about 160 million U.S. dollars for salary rise and pension of the troops as well as construction of new military headquarters, according to Tea Banh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense.

The budget will also prioritize programs of education, health, agriculture and land management, said Cheam Yeap, chairman of the NA committee of finance, banking and audition.

The national budget for 2009 has a 29.6 percent rise over that of 2008. Last week, donor countries pledged nearly 1 billion U.S. dollars of aid for Cambodia in 2009.

Telephone usage and gasoline rationing to take place in Cambodian ministries

20 Nov 2008
By Ky Soklim
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the article in French

A MP from the ruling party found the rationing as a mean to finance the increased military budget for the 2009 fiscal year.

Cheam Yeap, the CPP MP and chairman of the National Assembly committee for economy and finance, proposed to the government to reduce certain “non necessary” expenses in order to increase the country’s security.

“We must decrease the cost of gasoline and telephone usage in other ministries in order to increase the budget for the Defense and the Interior,” Cheam Yeap said on Thursday 20 November during a forum on the 2009 budget which was attended by MPs and civil society representatives.

Cheam Yeap indicated that Hun Sen has the right to rearrange the budget in order to assure the country’s defense. He also said that some of the weapons used by Cambodia are out of date, before quoting: “to have peace, we must prepare for war.”

This is nothing new, since the conflict started between Thailand and Cambodia, the Cambodian government plans on increasing the national security spending.

The 2009 budget plan will be brought to debate on the floor of the National Assembly which was elected in July of this year. The total budget planned amounts to close to $1.8 billion, i.e. an increase of 28% from the 2008 budget. In this budget, the defense spending is increased by 60% because of salary increase for soldiers and police officers.

Cheang Vun, another CPP MP and chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs committee, supported this budget increase. However, he hoped that the government will not set aside the agriculture sector which encompasses many of the poorest people in the kingdom.

Defense To Hike Budget as Impasse Persists

The border standoff that began at Preah Vihear temple, above, has made defense spending a top priority for the government.

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
27 October 2008

The government is seeking to increase the 2009 budget for the Ministry of Defense to $500 million, nearly 70 percent more than the year before, a finance lawmaker confirmed Monday.

The increase in defense spending, which the government had sought to reduce in recent years, comes as a sometimes violent military standoff with Thailand continues.

The standoff has made national defense a top priority for the government, said Cheam Yiep, head of the National Assembly's finance committee, and a member of the Cambodian People's Party.

The armed forces need a proper military base, improved wages and health care, better uniforms and better training, he said.

The money for the extra spending would come from a budgetary reserve, Cheam Yiep said.

However, opposition Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay said Monday the reserve budget should not be depleted for improving the military. The reserve budget was designed for emergencies such as natural disasters, he said.

"I don't agree with the use of the reserve budget for national defense," he said.

The increased budget for the military will hurt Cambodia's growing economy, he said, citing the US's war with Iraq as an example.

Cambodia is a small country, with 40 percent of its people living in poverty, "so all of the annual budget should be taken care of and have proper evaluation before we send it to the National Assembly," Son Chhay said.

Officials at the Ministry of Economy and Finance declined to comment on the budget, which was proposed by the Ministry of Defense and must be folded into the full 2009 budget for parliamentary approval.

Kong Chandararoth, an economist and director of the Economic Development Institute, said he agreed with the defense increase.

Cambodia's national defense is not at international standards, "so we should increase the national budget" for defense, he said.

Cambodia's total annual budget was increasing every year, so an increase in the defense budget would be proper, he said.

The budget increase comes as the border standoff continues, despite a round of border talks by military commanders in Siem Reap last week and vows by the countries' two prime ministers to prevent further bloodshed.

Cambodia has complained that during a brief round of fighting earlier this month Thai soldiers damaged a corner of Preah Vihear temple, where adjacent land on a disputed border is at the heart of the military buildup.

Thailand issued a statement Monday denying it had fired at the temple and claiming Thai soldiers in the Oct. 15 fighting had been fired on by rockets and mortars, as well as rifles.