ASEAN welcomes China's pledge of 10 bln USD in infrastructure loans

PHNOM PENH -- A senior Cambodian government official said Sunday that ASEAN welcomed Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's pledge of 10 billion U.S. dollars in infrastructure loans, saying that the loans would give greater possibility for connectivity development in the bloc.

"Overall, the ASEAN leaders welcomed the contributions from China for ASEAN infrastructure development," Kao Kim Hourn, Minister Attached to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, said in a press conference here when Hun Sen returned from attending the 27th ASEAN Summit and related meetings in Malaysia.

"ASEAN has developed steadily and its need of capital for connectivity projects is also huge, so the China's pledge of infrastructure loans to ASEAN is very helpful," he said.

For Cambodia, he said Hun Sen always seeks grant aid and concessional loans and encourages investments for infrastructure development projects.

The country needs up to 16 billion U.S. dollars for infrastructure development in the next decade.

Kao Kim Hourn's comments came after Li pledged on Saturday during the ASEAN-China Summit in Kuala Lumpur that China is offering infrastructure loans totaling 10 billion U.S. dollars to ASEAN countries.

Also, the world's second-largest economy will provide free assistance worth 560 million U.S. dollars to underdeveloped ASEAN member states in 2016.

Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.