Sihanoukville (FN), May 1 – Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen said that Japan is among the leading country to offer grant aids and loans for the development of Cambodia, speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of Sihanoukville container terminal, held on Monday (May 1) in Sihanoukville province.

"Japan has contributed to Cambodia’s peace seeking. Japan is also one of the leading country in offering grant aids to the kingdom. Japan stopped lending to Cambodia until 1999 because after Cambodia ended the war, there were debts owed by the Lon Nol regime,” the premier underlined.

“Japan helped the kingdom to figure out how to repay those debts. It was to sell the materials that Japan provided and put the money back in the Japanese repayment account," the premier underscored.

On that occasion, Samdech was proud to say that Cambodia-Japan relations have elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

According to Cambodia's Ministry of Economy and Finance, by the end of 2022, Cambodia has a total public debt of USD 9.99 billion, of which 99.82 per cent is foreign public debt, and Cambodia owed Japan about 11 per cent of the total public debt.
=FRESH NEWS