The Canadian diplomatic office has denied local media reports that Canada had agreed to deliver extra aid money to Cambodia.

In a press release, Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon said that Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Dion expressed interest in his proposal that “Canada will continue to provide aid to Cambodia on mine clearing activities”.

Francis Huot, Canadian Chargé d’Affaires, said “there was a mistake reported over the weekend in a few media outlets”, and reiterated that Canada would not be providing any additional aid, as had been suggested in those reports.

“Minister Dion did not agree to provide additional aid to Cambodia during his visit,” Hout said in an email.

“He had the chance to visit CMAC and will report back to our Minister of Development on his visit. Although Canada does not have a bilateral aid program with Cambodia at the present time, Canada is already providing foreign aid to Cambodia on a regional and multilateral basis.”

He added a review of their bilateral aid program would be made public early next year.