One of the things I heard about Cambodia's debt to developped countries is the following. Even though I looked for more info on the web I could not find anything, do any of you have references on the subject ?
One of the main road in Cambodia has been reconstructed thanks to a Japanese loan. The money was used mostly to pay Japanese engineers, Japanese machinery, Japanese materials etc... Only the low level work was handled by Cambodian workers.
Does this means that Japan's loan has basically been used to support Japanese economy right now (Cambodia is paying Japanese staff and Japanese factories with the loan) but also that Cambodia will have to pay back the money (with interests) 15 years from now, thus paying twice the price of an overpriced road ??? Of course all this happended with few, if any, technology transfers, and besides for the road itself and the low-wage workers' salary nothing is left of the loan (no or few investment in local industry to produce necessary materials for the construction).
Did I misunderstand anything ?
Yours,
JC Helary