Japan will provide some 22 million U.S. dollars of low-interest loan for Cambodia to implement the Greater Mekong Power Network Development Project, local media said today.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Namhong and Japanese Ambassador Fumiaki Takahashi signed the exchange of notes here on Friday in presence of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

According to the notes, the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) will offer the loan at an annual interest rate of 0.01 percent with a payment period of 40 years.

The loan will serve the construction of two power transmission cables between Sihanoukville and Kampot, improvement of the kingdom's electricity equipment, construction of power transmission network among Phnom Penh and its neighboring provinces and some other projects.

So far, the Japanese government has provided some 132,519,000 U.S. dollars of loans for the Cambodian government, according to a press release from the Japanese Embassy.