Aid donors to Cambodia are likely to pledge a total of $450 million in economic aid to Phnom Penh during a two-day meeting of the Consultative Group for Cambodia beginning today in Tokyo, according to the chairman of the meeting.

The tentative sum matches the Cambodian government's request for up to $450 million a year, or more than $1.3 billion over three years, to support its economic recovery and development efforts.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, 44, a senior World Bank official who will chair the meeting, said that the decision on whether to grant the aid very much depends on what Prime Minister Hun Sen says in his speech at the opening session.