PRETTY GIRL

Cambodian PM promises strict management of assets to donor countries

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The government will keep on strengthening its management of state properties according to law and improving the efficiency, transparency and accountability of public institutions and enterprises, Prime Minister Hun Sen here on Thursday told the representatives of its major donor countries.

"The government is committed to effectively managing the revenues from the exploitation of the minerals, oil and gas, and also well aware that the anti-corruption law is an indispensable legal instrument to fight corruption with good result," the premier told the Second Cambodian Development Cooperation Forum.

In this context, the Cambodian government is strongly committed to ensuring rapid conclusion and adoption of this law in close consultation with all concerned parties on the basis of all other fundamental laws that must be adopted first, he said.

Meanwhile, the premier also said that the national foreign currency reserve has increased to more than 2 billion U.S. dollars, which can ensure about 3.3 months of imports of goods and services for domestic consumption.

In addition, the banking and financial sector in Cambodia are not seriously affected by the global financial cataclysm because they are not widely exposed to the international financial system, he said.

International institutions and donor countries promised some 6 billion U.S. dollars of aid for the kingdom in 2007.

Local reports said that the government targets 7 billion U.S. dollars of foreign aid in 2008.