Cambodia holds ground breaking ceremony for construction of new road

Cambodian government held ground breaking ceremony here on Wednesday for the construction of national road No. 76, which is under preferential loan from China.

The ceremony, attended by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jinfeng, was held at the start point of the road in Snoul, Kratie province.

The ground breaking ceremony marks the start of four projects under the preferential buyer's credit loan from the Import-Export Bank of China (China Eximbank), Zhang said, adding that the Chinese government hopes the construction of those projects can help improve Cambodia's transportation environment and promote the economical development.

Hun Sen expressed his appreciation to the Chinese embassy, the China Road and Bridge Corporation as the contractor of the project and the concerned departments of the Cambodian government, saying that their efforts have made the project start shortly after it was initiated less than a year ago.

According to plan, the national road No. 76 from the junction of national road No. 7 in Snoul, Kratie province to Sen Monorom, Mondulkiri province, has a length of 127 km.

The China Eximbank signed an agreement with Cambodian government on Jan. 22 to offer 207 million U.S. dollars of loans to develop Cambodian infrastructure construction, including the construction of National Road No. 8 from Khsach Kandal to the Cambodian-Vietnamese border, the National Road No.76 and two bridges.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Australian Senate President starts official visit in Cambodia to strengthen bilateral ties

Australian Senate President Paul Calvert arrived in Phnom Penh on Wednesday, starting his official visit in Cambodia from Feb.14-21 for strengthening the cooperation and bilateral ties between the two countries , a senior official said.

During the visit, Paul Calvert is scheduled to meet with Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, Prime Minister Hun Sen, Senate President Chea Sim and National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Om Sarith, Secretary General of the Cambodian Senate, said on Wednesday.

"Cambodian and Australian Senates have always exchanged delegates every year for strengthening the cooperation and bilateral ties and we always have good relationship," Om Sarith told Xinhua.

Paul Calvert will also visit Siem Reap and Kompong Chhnang province, where the Australian government helps to fund for demining children's orphanage and health center projects, Om Saridth said.

Every year, Australia provides about 50 million U.S. dollars humanitarian funds to Cambodia, he added.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Cambodian prime minister lauds China, snipes at donorsWednesday 14 February 2007 12:22vote +45%

Wednesday 14 February 2007 12:22

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen lauded China and sniped at donor nations Wednesday, saying Chinese aid came with respect and no strings attached.

Speaking at the inauguration of a new road in the nation's north-east, Hun Sen appeared to be taking a swipe at donors after a tense meeting between them and the government earlier in the week. He praised China's relationship with Cambodia, saying it "respected Cambodia's independence and integrity. "

"All Cambodia asks is an equal relationship with its partners," Hun Sen said in a speech broadcast on national radio. "China is a very big country with 1. 3 billion people. If the Chinese all urinated at once, they would cause a great flood.

However, Chinese leaders do good things with their partners. " Last April China pledged 600 million dollars in aid to Cambodia during a visit by Premier Wen Jiabao - aid which the government and Chinese state media both said came with no conditions attached. That pledge almost matched the total pledged by all donor nations at the March Consultative Group meeting during which they again publicly castigated Cambodia over its human rights record and failure to pass an anti-corruption law.

Wednesday's inauguration of a Chinese-funded project came just days after similar public criticism had emanated from the quarterly meeting between donors and Cambodia. "When China gives, it doesn't say do this or that. We can do whatever we want with the money," Hun Sen said.

Donors have voiced increasing impatience over Cambodia's continued failure to put anti-corruption legislation before the National Assembly, with some even threatening to withhold funding to the heavily aid-dependent nation if it dallied on reforms much longer. dpa sl jh Read more!

US urges Cambodia to get tough on Trademarks and Copyrights

Feb 14, 2007, 11:39 GMT

Phnom Penh - The US criticized Cambodia for lagging behind neighbouring Vietnam in strengthening its laws on trademark infringements despite its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), a Cambodian lawmaker said Wednesday.

Opposition Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian said Senior Counsel of the Office of Enforcement of the US Patent and Trademark Office Peter Fowler had met with the parliamentary committee set up to oversee financial and economic matters and urged the country to toughen its laws against such infringements.

The US wants to see Cambodia ... create more laws to ensure the commercial environment and especially trademark problems, Keo Remy, deputy chief of the committee, told reporters.

Remy said he had reminded Fowler that Cambodia was a transit point and not a major production point for such infringements, but had also admitted that trademark violations did exist, especially in pirated goods such as CDs.

He said Fowler had extended an invitation for committee members to travel to Washington to attend a seminar on ways Cambodia could draft and implement tougher laws. Cambodia was granted WTO accession in 2003. Read more!

Vietnam, Cambodia sign agreement on transportation

19:25' 14/02/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam and Cambodia have signed a supplementary agreement to the Agreement on Road Transportation they had previously inked.

The supplementary agreement was signed by Vietnamese Minister of Transport and Communications Ho Nghia Dung and Cambodian Minister of Public Works and Transportation Sun Chanthol during Dung's visit to Cambodia on Feb. 11-12.

The Agreement on Road Transportation covers the coastal road transportation route linking Vietnam's Mekong delta province of Kien Giang with Cambodia's Kompot Province, Sihanoukville City and Kohkong Province.

The Cambodian and Vietnamese ministers spoke highly of their cooperation over recent years, particularly in launching a road transportation service from the Moc Bai border gate in Vietnam's Tay Ninh Province to Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh with 40 bus trips a day.

The Cambodian side proposed increasing the number of bus trips on this route to 100-140 trips a day and asked Vietnam to help it in building transport infrastructure.

(Source: VNA) Read more!