U.S. examining Cambodian request for relief, foreign minister says

PHNOM PENH , Oct. 1 KYODO
The United States has accepted and is taking into consideration a request for debt relief by Cambodia , Hor Namhong, deputy prime minister and foreign minister, said Thursday shortly after returning from New York . He said he raised the issue of debts owed by Cambodia for 37 years during bilateral talks with U.S. Secretary of States Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Hor Namhong added he also proposed that if the United States could not cancel the debts outright, it might replace it as being grants for development in education and health. Cheam Yeap, chairman of National Assembly's Economic Commission and a senior member of the Cambodian People's Party, told Kyodo News recently the Lon Nol government borrowed from the United States $162 million in 1972 but due to interest compounding for the last 37 years, the debts have doubled to more than $300 million. The United States backed the Lon Nol government that ruled the country from 1970 until it was toppled by the Khmer Rouge in 1975. According to Cheam Yeap , China , from which the Khmer Rouge government borrowed more than $200 million, has already written off those debts and Hungary has written off some $3 million. He said the International Monetary Fund canceled Cambodian debts of $82 million. Cambodia is also seeking debt relief from Russia , to which it owes $1.5 billion. That money was borrowed by the then People's Republic of Kampuchea in the 1980s, but no official reply on the matter has yet been received, Cheam Yeap said.
Kyodo October 01, 2009