Cambodia, Thai troops play volleyball at border

In an effort to build confidence and ease down the situation along the Cambodia-Thai border, 20 Cambodian and Thai troops played volleyball on Tuesday afternoon at the border area, local newspaper the Cambodia Daily reported Wednesday.

The paper quoted Gen. Srey Dek, commander of armed forces' Division 3 based at Preah Vihear Temple as saying that 10 Cambodian soldiers and 10 Thai soldiers joined a "friendly volleyball game" on Tuesday.

He said the move will strengthen the cooperation between the two armies.

At the game, Srey Dek said, the two sides did not keep score, but for fun.

He, meanwhile, said both sides of military wish not to have a repeated armed clash.

Armed forces from the two countries had exchanged two times of gun fires and left several people dead and more than a dozen others injured since their border conflict began in July last year.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Cambodia hosts regional meeting on economic recession

Cambodia hosts a regional meeting of officials and stakeholders from the four new members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Wednesday to discuss how to improve the economic status in the region.

The one-day meeting is co-organized by Cambodia's Ministry of Commerce and Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP) with the support from Economic Research Institute for the ASEAN and East Asia.

Prince Norodom Sirivudh, founder and chairman of CICP said the meeting was necessary to seek ways on how to curb with the impact of global economic crisis.

He said the four countries, including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, are the new members of the ASEAN and are still poor.

He added that the economic downturn has affected economic growth, tourism and the garment sector.

At the forum, Pan Sorasak, secretary of state of Ministry of Commerce said that the Cambodian government is now working with the United States to open more markets for Cambodian products.

He said that agriculture is another potential resource for Cambodia to help boost the country's economy. But at the same time, the government is not ignoring its capacity building and the human resource development.　
Read more!

How to Get a Business Visa for Cambodia

Most people who travel to Cambodia do so with the E-Visa, which is a tourist Visa. If you plan to stay longer than 30 days or do business during your stay, the business Visa is the way to go. Although the tourist Visa can be renewed every 30 days, you must make a Visa run (leaving the country and renewing your Visa upon reentry.) The business Visa is only valid for 30 days, but it is renewable in the country. This saves the traveller a lot of time and money. Unlike the tourist Visa, the business Visa cannot be applied for online and can only be obtained after arriving to the country. Here are the steps to take to get a business Visa for Cambodia.

What to bring with you.

Before departing for the trip, make sure you bring the following items: your Passport with at least one page empty and at least 6 months validity, the Visa application form, which is provided at the airport, a $25 application fee for your business Visa, one passport-sized photo and a pen for filling out the form.

Filling out the application.

Fill out your application form for the business Visa. Make sure to check the business Visa box and indicate that you're planning to stay for more than 30 days.

Submitting the application.

There is a separate line for submitting the Visa application and picking it back up. After submitting the application and paying the $25 fee they will take your passport and work on it. In the mean time, you will be asked to move to another area to wait.

Picking up your business Visa and Passport.

It should take about 20 minutes to fix the Cambodia sticker to your passport, fill in the information, and complete the rest of the paperwork before they call out your name to come and claim your Passport and Visa. Be sure to pay attention, as sometimes they won't call your name and will just raise up the Passport with the photo visible and wait for it to be claimed. After claiming them, the immigration officer will take a digital photo of you before letting you go.

Conclusion

Obtaining a Business Visa for Cambodia is an easy process compared to other countries. It will allow you to work in the country without hassle and the ability to renew it without making a Visa run will save you a good deal of money. Please make sure you follow these steps carefully to ensure the process goes smoothly. Read more!

EU Will Provide Extra $3M for Cambodia's Khmer Rouge Genocide Trial

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The European Union will provide $3 million in additional funding for Cambodia's Khmer Rouge genocide trial, an EU official said Wednesday.

The brutal 1970s rule of the Khmer Rouge left an estimated 1.7 million people dead from torture, execution, disease and starvation. A verdict is expected early next year in the tribunal's first trial for Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, who is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture.

The tribunal, mostly funded by donations from foreign donors, has faced budget problems with the $56.3 million originally earmarked proving inadequate.

The EU made its decision to provide more funds after discussions with other donors about allegations of corruption and mismanagement at the U.N.-assisted tribunal, said EU delegation charge d'affaires Rafael Dochao Moreno.

Dochao said the EU had been reassured by the dismissal of a Cambodian tribunal official accused of corruption and the creation of a mechanism to deal with such allegations in the future.

The estimated cost of carrying out the tribunal's work through 2010 is $143 million. It is unclear how much of that has been raised so far.

The EU has already contributed $1.5 million to cover the salaries of the Cambodian judges, prosecutors and legal support staff, Dochao said.

Separately, the tribunal announced Wednesday it has appointed a new international prosecutor whose most recent job was defending former Liberian President Charles Taylor at his war crimes trial.

Andrew T. Cayley of Britain, who has also served as a prosecutor at international war crimes courts, was named to the post left vacant in September by the resignation of Canadian co-prosecutor Robert Petit, the tribunal said in a statement.

Taylor, accused of providing arms to Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for diamonds mined by slave laborers, ended 13 weeks on the witness stand earlier this month at the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

The tribunal also said American Nicholas Koumjian was appointed reserve co-prosecutor.

Other than Duch, the tribunal is also holding four former senior Khmer Rouge leaders in custody, and they are expected to be tried next year or later.

Read more!

Cambodia set to build 1st stock market

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia will soon start construction on a building to house its first stock exchange which it hopes will help draw foreign investment to the impoverished country, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.

A South Korean firm, World City Co. Ltd., was awarded the contract to build the $6 million building in Phnom Penh, which is scheduled for completion by the end of 2010, said Mey Vann, director of financial industry at the Finance Ministry.

"We expect that the official operation of our stock market will start once the building is complete," Mey Vann said.

In a statement, the ministry called the creation of a stock exchange "an important and historic event in Cambodia" that will create new jobs, revitalize the local economy and transform Phnom Penh "into a world-class city."

Prime Minister Hun Sen announced plans to launch a stock market in 2007, saying Cambodia needs to find new ways to draw international capital to move beyond relying only on international aid and banks loans.

Soon after, lawmakers approved a securities law on issuance and trading of nongovernment securities to pave the way for a stock market.

The Cambodian economy is small but one of the fastest growing in Asia. The economy is largely driven by just one industry, textiles, which accounts for nearly 80 percent of exports. The economy's development has been heavily reliant on hundreds of millions of dollars (euros) in international aid.

For investors, the country's junk-level credit ratings suggest it is a risky bet because of its weak oversight and rampant corruption.

Neighboring Vietnam started its stock market in July 2000, and it has been a big success, both for companies and investors.

The four-story, 71,900-sq. foot (6,682-sq. meter) Cambodian stock market building will be located in Phnom Penh's financial district on the outskirts of the capital.

The South Korean developer, World City, is providing the land and construction costs, hoping to recoup its investment by having the value of its nearby properties increase due to the stock exchange being sited there, Hang Choun Naron, director general of the Finance Ministry.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more!

Thais allowed to resume fishing in Cambodian waters

TRAT, Dec 1 (TNA) – Local authorities resumed issuing licenses to Thai trawlers to fish in Cambodian water on Wednesday, said Thitikorn Lohakup, chairman of the Trat fisheries association.

Mr Thitikorn said he was informed by a Koh Kong official that a meeting of the Koh Kong authorities finalised fisheries regulations on Tuesday and agreed to allow Thai fishermen to seek licenses to fish in Cambodian waters at a temporary office opposite the Koh Kong Resort from Thursday onwards.

Cambodia's Defence Minister Gen. Tea Banh last week asserted that Cambodia has not closed its waters near Koh Kong as earlier reported. He said that fisheries concession procedures were being amended and that it would not affect the livelihood of the both peoples.

"I reaffirm that we will try to avoid doing things which (negatively) affect the daily life and the living of peoples to prevent any dispute," the Cambodian defence minister said. "There has been some adjustment of concession regulations recently, and if the licence has expired, fishermen can ask for renewal of their licence without any problem."

Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban on Tuesday reaffirmed that the Thai government will not close the Thai-Cambodian border as it has concern for the well-being of the population living along the border.

Mr Suthep reminded the public that the diplomatic row between Thailand and Cambodia flared up right after the visit to Phnom Penh of former Thai premier Gen. Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and the appointment of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as economic adviser to the Cambodian government.

Prime Minister Abhisit has continued to assert that political and diplomatic retaliation is separate matters, and the commitments made by the two countries which are beneficial to their citizens, particularly aid projects, will not be revoked, Mr Suthep said. (TNA) Read more!

New international prosecutor

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA'S Khmer Rouge war crimes court has a new international prosecutor, the UN-backed tribunal announced on Wednesday, several months after the previous holder of the post resigned.

Briton Andrew T. Caley, who has worked at the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has been formally appointed by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, a court statement said.

The appointment was welcomed by court observers, who said it was important to get a permanent international prosecutor in place as soon as possible.

'There are many critical decisions that should be made in the (next) case in the next two months and they should be made by the international prosecutor who will have the responsibility for carrying them out,' Heather Ryan, court monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative, told AFP.

Mr Caley is expected to arrive in Cambodia within the next few weeks, said tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen.

Canadian prosecutor Robert Petit announced his resignation from the court in June, citing personal and family reasons after a row with his local counterpart over whether to pursue more suspects of the late 1970s communist regime. He denied his sudden resignation from the tribunal was due to the dispute with Cambodian co-prosecutor Chea Leang. -- AFP

Read more!

Thai mother travels to Cambodia to visit arrested son

BANGKOK, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Mrs. Simaluck Na Nakhon Panom, the mother of a Thai man having been arrested in Cambodia Wednesday traveled to Cambodia to visit the detained son.

Mrs. Simaluck's son, Siwarak Chothipong, who worked as an engineer at the Cambodia Air Traffic Services Co Ltd (CATS), has been arrested in Cambodia from Nov. 11, according to an arrest warrant of the prosecutor of the Phnom Penh Municipality Court.

Cambodia has charged Siwarak of having had confidential information affecting Cambodia's national security.

Also, a younger brother of Siwarak accompanied the mother traveling to Cambodia, which is their second trip after Siwarak has been detained in a prison in Phnom Penh, the Thai News Agency reported.

The Thai mother flew to Cambodia with dry foods and clothes for the detained son.

Meanwhile, the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, which has prepared some money worth from 50,000 baht (1,506 U.S. dollars) to 200,000 baht (6,027 U.S. dollars), has been in the process of seeking a quick release of Siwarak on bail.
Read more!