MANILA (AP) - In its first loan to Cambodia since 1970, the Asian Development

Bank said last month that it would provide U.S. $67.7 million to repair damage from

two decades of war and severe floods last year.

It was the first loan by any multilateral financing institution in more than two

decades, the Manila-based bank said.

Cambodia's interest-free loan, from the bank's concessional Asian Development Fund,

is repayable over 40 years. The loan carries a one percent annual service charge.

The loan will fund a project that will focus on emergency repair in the transport,

power, agriculture, and education sectors of Cambodia.

The projects are expected to stop further deterioration of public services and help

re-establish a sustainable degree of economic and social stability in Cambodia, the

bank said.

Aside from the loan, two technical assistance grants worth U.S. $7.4 million will

also be given by the bank.