According to the Cambodian China Times, the Cambodian Ministry of Finance recently issued a press release refuting previous media reports that the Cambodian government had borrowed $5 billion from China to build inland canals, ports, and respond to economic crises. It points out that the government's borrowing of foreign debt must be included in the budget and sought approval from Congress and the Senate, and cannot exceed the "borrowing limit". According to the 2024 fiscal budget approved by the Cambodian government earlier, the authorities have maintained the borrowing limit at $2.3 billion. After the Ministry of Finance and Economics issued a written rebuttal, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Mane also publicly denied borrowing from China to finance the construction of the above-mentioned project.

The Cambodian Ministry of Finance and Economics emphasizes that it will strengthen external debt management and adhere to the following five key points: not affecting the stability of government finances; Belonging to super preferential loans; To prioritize areas and support sustainable economic development, such as promoting economic growth and improving productivity; High transparency, efficiency, and responsibility in loans; The infrastructure projects financed must meet standards and be of high quality.

It is worth mentioning that during the COVID-19, the Cambodian government increased external borrowing to fill the huge financial deficit gap, which led to the rapid expansion of the accumulated outstanding debt. As ofIn the third quarter of 2023, Cambodia's external debt had risen to 10.74 billion US dollars. China is the largest creditor country, accounting for 21% of its external debt. However, overall, the present value of Cambodia's external debt accounts for 24.2% of its gross domestic product, far below the 40% upper limit and still at a manageable level.

Reuters News: Recently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Burkina Faso issued a statement stating that Russia isOn December 28, 2023, the embassy in Ouagadougou was officially reopened, and Russian President Putin will appoint a new ambassador. It is understood that Russia closed its embassy in Burkina Faso, a West African country, in 1992, nearly 32 years after its reopening.

It is reported that there is continuous internal turmoil in Burkina Faso,In 2022, there were two military coups, partly due to people's perception of the government's failure to contain the rampant jihadist rebellionTo be dissatisfied. Since taking office in September 2022, the military government in Burkina Faso has maintained a distance from its historical partner and former suzerain France, and has come closer to Russia. In October 2023, Burkina Faso signed an agreement with Russia to build a nuclear power plant in order to improve the country's energy supply. As of now, less than a quarter of the country's population has access to electricity.

military affairs

01South Korea conducts North Korean raid exercises in Seoul

According to the Lianhe Zaobao, recently, against the background of the DPRK's multiple missile tests and the launch of its first military spy satellite earlier, Seoul, the capital of South Korea, held a rare defense exercise to simulate the situation of the DPRK's attack.

The exercise envisions North Korea launching attacks on South Korea's main water supply system, telephone network stations, underground communication and power cable corridors,one hundredMore than 0 South Korean soldiers, police, and emergency personnel simulated relevant response measures. Seoul Mayor Wu Seh hoon stated that Seoul is only 38 kilometers away from the military border between South Korea and North Korea and is vulnerable to attacks at any time. He pointed out that the raid launched by the Palestinian radical organization Hamas on October 7th, using conventional artillery and primitive means, caught Israel off guard with its world-class advanced defense system, which was a warning for South Korea.

01Global military orders grew by 10%, approaching a historic high

London news: Recently,The Financial Times commented onGlobalAnalysis conducted by 15 defense groups found that,As ofAt the end of 2022, their backlog of orders totaled $777.6 billionAndThis trend continues until2023. Overall, in the past two years,Major military industries around the worldfromThe orders of the business have increased by more than 10% and are now approaching a historic high.

Among them,Europe's military spending has shown at leastThe largest year-on-year increase in 30 years,Because European governmentsIn order toUkraine donationThe national inventory has been depleted, so we have to increase orders for ammunition and tanks from military enterprises. Renowned military experts analyze that,Despite a significant increase in demandBut in realityMoreoverPolicy formulation and budgetingplanningThe preparation time for placing orders is too long, in theDespite continuous supply chain disruptions and labor shortages, it is still difficult to significantly increase production capacity,2022GlobalTotal sales revenue from weapons and military services597 billion US dollars, a decrease of 3.5% in real value compared to 2021.

Vientiane Times reported that recently, the Laotian government has instructed the authorities to review the effectiveness of all approved mining projects in Laos, as they areOut of over 90 companies authorized to carry out pilot mining operations, nearly 70 have low execution efficiency. Lao Prime Minister Songsai Sipantun instructed relevant departments to determine which mining projects should be allowed to develop and generate revenue in order to address the economic challenges faced by the country. And it is required to submit a solution for invalid mining projects at the monthly government meeting in January 2024.

It is understood that in the past two and a half years, the Lao government has approvedexceed37678 hectares of land were used for pilot mining operations aimed at addressing the country's financial and economic difficulties, but the benefits brought by the pilot mining operations to Laos were minimal. Members of the Laotian cabinet have agreed to reduce cumbersome procedures to facilitate business. For projects with no progress or minimal progress, investors who do not intend to further develop will be notified, warned, or even have their licenses revoked.