Vietnam's telecommunications company expands business in Cambodia

Viettel, Vietnam's military-owned mobile phone service provider, will invest in banking and energy companies in neighboring Cambodia, local newspaper Vietnam News reported Thursday.
Viettel will invest 1.2 million U.S. dollars, equivalent to an eight-percent stake, in the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Stock Bank, whose primary aim is to provide financial services to Vietnamese companies operating in Cambodia, the paper said, adding that the investment negotiations have been completed.

Viettel will also pour 7.5 million dollars, or five percent of charter capital, into the EVN-Cambodia Joint Stock Company, which will construct hydroelectric plants on the Mekong River in Cambodia, it said.

Last year, Viettel set up Viettel Cambodia, a wholly owned subsidiary and the company's first foreign venture.

Meanwhile, Viettle is negotiating with Laos Asia to establish a joint stock company to provide telecommunications services in Laos.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Vietnam's telecommunications company expands business in Cambodia

Viettel, Vietnam's military-owned mobile phone service provider, will invest in banking and energy companies in neighboring Cambodia, local newspaper Vietnam News reported Thursday.
Viettel will invest 1.2 million U.S. dollars, equivalent to an eight-percent stake, in the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Stock Bank, whose primary aim is to provide financial services to Vietnamese companies operating in Cambodia, the paper said, adding that the investment negotiations have been completed.

Viettel will also pour 7.5 million dollars, or five percent of charter capital, into the EVN-Cambodia Joint Stock Company, which will construct hydroelectric plants on the Mekong River in Cambodia, it said.

Last year, Viettel set up Viettel Cambodia, a wholly owned subsidiary and the company's first foreign venture.

Meanwhile, Viettle is negotiating with Laos Asia to establish a joint stock company to provide telecommunications services in Laos.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Nehru Cup: Cambodia Football Coach Wary Of Bhaichung

Cambodia's national football coach Scot O'Donell is aware of Indian captain Bhaichung Bhutia's class and has some plans to stop the striker from scoring goals in the inaugural encounter of the Nehru Cup international football tournament here Friday.

'I have seen Bhaichung play before also and he is a prolific goal scorer. But I have some plan against him and few others,' said O'Donell, an Australian, at a press conference here Thursday.

The 40-year-old coach is on his second visit to India and players like Bhutia, Deepak Mondal and Mahesh Gawli, who are in the national side, are not unknown to him.

The last time he visited India was in 2005 as the coach of Singapore club Geylang United, who were held 1-1 by East Bengal in an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup match in Kolkata. In the away match, East Bengal emerged victorious 3-2.

'I have seen all these players when they played for East Bengal and they did very well to come back from behind and draw the match 1-1,' recalled O'Donell.

The Australian said that Cambodia have come with their best team and playing an international tournament like the Nehru Cup will always be beneficial for them.

'We need to play more international tournaments like the Nehru Cup, which gives us good exposure. We are not here to make up the numbers and we will be competitive every time we go out to play,' he said.
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Cambodia bans pig, pork imports amid disease outbreaks in China, Vietnam

PHNOM PENH (Thomson Financial) - Cambodia Thursday banned the import of live pigs and pork products, citing fears that outbreaks of pork-borne diseases in other countries could devastate farms here.

The move came as China battles a recent outbreak of blue ear disease that led to a mass cull of pigs.

In neighboring Vietnam, 26 people have been admitted to a Hanoi hospital with a bacterial infection from diseased pigs, leading to two confirmed human deaths.

Twenty others were treated this year in southern Vietnam for the same illness.

Thursday's ban is also aimed at cutting down on pork products smuggled into the country, mostly from Vietnam.

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Cambodia begins destroying largest stockpile of drug-making chemicals

KAMPONG SPEU, Cambodia (AP) - Officials began destroying Cambodia's largest seizure of drug-making chemicals Thursday, while acknowledging that the country has moved from being a transit point to a producer of illegal drugs.

Interior Minister Sar Kheng, wearing a head-to-toe protective suit, led Cambodian and U.N. drug officials in launching the destruction of almost 5 tons of chemicals, including nearly 3 tons of highly hazardous thionyl chloride used to produce amphetamine.

Authorities seized the substances during a raid in April on a laboratory on an isolated farm 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of Phnom Penh. It was Cambodia's first discovery of a laboratory producing synthesized drugs, Sar Kheng said.

"The laboratory is among the largest in Asia and instantly placed Cambodia on the map of drug producing countries,'' said Lars Pedersen, the representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Cambodia.

The destruction process began with diluting the thionyl chloride.

It takes up to two weeks for the chemical to be completely diluted, officials said.

Thionyl chloride is harmful to humans, animals and the environment, and may explode if it comes into contact with water or heat, Sar Kheng said.

He called on government agencies to tighten regulations on imports of chemicals that could be used to produce illegal drugs.

Pedersen said Cambodia received US$60,000 (euro44,525) each from Australia and the United States to help destroy the chemicals, and will need greater assistance from the international community to deal with drug problems.

Eighteen people, including three Chinese citizens and a Thai man, were arrested after the April raid and charged with producing and trafficking drugs and conspiracy to produce drugs.

The crimes are punishable by 20 years to life in prison.

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