Donor's pledge $690 million in aid

Cambodia's international donors pledged $690 million in aid for 2007 on Wednesday, a 15 percent increase on the previous year that reflected recognition of government and economic reforms, a Cambodian official said. (Source)

International donors pledged $689 million in aid Wednesday, a 15 percent increase from last year, despite pressure from rights groups that aid be tied to better governance... Donors called for the passage of a long-stalled anti-corruption law and said they expected reforms to move faster with the added money... The aid was tied to conditions pushing the government to pass an anti-corruption law that has been stagnant for years. (Source)

At least the donor nations have the sense to attach conditions to the aid money, considering that so many millions get siphoned off into Swiss bank accounts. Yet in the past benchmarks have been set and ignored by the government and the donors that it is a tad difficult to believe that the donors will stick to their guns.

Despite the impunity that government officials enjoy, the adopting of the anti-corruption law would certainly be a step forward. Unfortunately until now there has been no impetus to adopt until now. Perhaps $690 million might be the tipping point.