8/01/2007 By: By Matthew Walls
Despite swelling coffers thanks to soaring commodity prices, Asian plantation companies can't find enough of the one asset they need most - land. Shortage of land at home is fundamentally changing the way these companies plan future expansion, in the process benefiting countries which still have arable land in plenty.
Advertisement"The Chinese, the Vietnamese, the Thais, the Malaysians are all interested in planting (rubber) in other countries, because land is not available in their own countries," says Hidde Smit, secretary general of the International Rubber Study Group.
China's Hainan State Farms, for example, has established a rubber nursery in Myanmar as a first step and plans to develop 300,000 hectares of rubber plantations in Laos and Myanmar in less than ten years, with a total rubber output estimated around 500,000 tons. In November, the state-owned Vietnam Rubber Group said it would lease 50,000 hectares of land in Cambodia to grow rubber, starting 2007. That area could be doubled in four years. This follows upon another investment in Cambodia in April by Hainan State Farms, which leased 62,659 hectares of land, at a cost of CNY1 billion ($12 7 million), to grow rubber.
In the Philippines, two provincial governments from China plan to develop 200,000 hectares of land for rice and corn cultivation and another 40,000 hectares for a bio-fuel crop such as cassava or sugar cane. And in Indonesia, Malaysia's Sime Darby, now in the process of merging with two other state-owned palm oil giants, is working to double its land bank to 200,000 hectares by 2008. "The biggest reason Malaysian companies come to Indonesia is land," said Witjaksana Darmosarokoro, director of the Indonesian Palm Oil Research Institute.
What began as a trickle is now a steady flow, expected to continue for years given the rising demand for these commodities. While observers say it is difficult to foresee the scope and speed of this outward investment, none doubt the growth of foreign-owned plantations will boost output in general while shifting a significant proportion of production to lower-cost countries.
Strong Demand, High Prices Spark The Scramble The rush to get trees into the ground as quick as possible began a few years ago but is accelerating now as commodity prices are at levels unseen in years or even decades in some cases. With oil prices hovering above $60 a barrel, palm oil's potential as a biofuel, for example, has greatly expanded the scope for its use. Natural rubber supply, meanwhile, is expected to see a deficit in the next 6-10 years.
Demand for other commodities, such as sugar cane and corn which are linked to biofuels, has also risen with the run-up in oil prices. Palm oil prices are currently around MYR2,000 a metric ton, the highest level since 1998 when prices averaged MYR2,377. Natural rubber futures, meanwhile, rallied to a 26-year high in July during a supply crunch. While some of those gains have been surrendered since then, a widely expected supply deficit for the next 6-10 years will keep its prospects buoyant, analysts say.
To capitalize on these favorable trends, plantation companies need to find and develop land quickly, but this is becoming increasingly difficult at home. Land suitable to grow rubber and oil palm, for example, is either saturated, as in China, coveted by real estate developers, or fragmented into small holdings, as in Malaysia, making consolidation into economic holdings difficult. That has forced investors to look at countries so far considered risky investment destinations. "The big problem is that the belt in which rubber grows is politically unstable," said industry veteran George Sulkowsky, managing director of Centrotrade, a rubber dealer with offices in Europe, the US and Southeast Asia.
Decades of isolation brought about by wars in Cambodia and Africa, autarchy in Myanmar and political upheavals in Indonesia and the Philippines have until recently kept most investors away from the plantation sector in these countries. But that has also left these countries with "a lot of land ripe for outside investors," said Steven Schipani, a consultant to the Asian Development Bank.
New Investments To Ease Supply Shortages The explosion of new investments by Asian plantation companies in neighbouring countries could help ease future shortages of palm oil and rubber, and by doing so, keep prices at levels that don't force consumers such as tire makers and energy users to seek substitutes. According to IRSG's Smit, the new investments in rubber plantations might increase output by 1 million tons in the next 10 years, from around 9 million tons expected to be produced this year.
Similarly, palm oil's use as a biofuel has begun putting a strain on edible oil supplies, and Indonesia's vast potential to expand production offers some relief, said Dorab E. Mistry, director of Godrej International Ltd., part of India's Godrej Group. While oilseeds have to compete for land with other crops in most parts of the world, "the one area where production does not face such competition is Indonesia," said Mistry. But the prospect is not without risks.
Overproduction is the greatest danger presented by this new expansion, analysts said. Consider as well that these investments may be converting rainforest into monoculture plantations, or transforming farmers into laborers. There is also the issue of immigrant labor. Following Chinese and Vietnamese investment to Laos, Cambodia and perhaps Myanmar will likely be immigrant farmers. NGOs in Laos say northern Laos is already under significant Chinese influence and that process will intensify once newly planted rubber trees are ready to be tapped in about six years from now. "
The government of Laos, lacking any sort of tools to analyze the rubber phenomena, has not even thought about this issue, said David Bluhm, an agro-forestry consultant, who co-authored a study on Laos' rubber industry for the German non-governmental organization GTZ. "(At) some point I think the government will have to ask itself some tough questions about rubber and social demographics." (Allan Sun in Beijing, Reuben Carder in Jakarta and Benjamin Low in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this article.)
This article was reproduced with the kind permission of Dow Jones Newswires, as part of its Asia-Pacific Market Outlook 2007. Copyright 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Copying and redistribution prohibited without permission of the publisher. Asia-Pacific Market Outlook 2007 is designed to provide factual information with respect to the subject matter covered, but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Dow Jones & Co. is not a registered investment adviser, and under no circumstances shall any of the information provided herein be construed as a buy or sell recommendation, or investment advice of any kind. The series contains forward-looking articles on new Asian bond issues, Chinese initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions in Japan, foreign exchange forecasts, commodity investor flows and Asian oil refiners amongst other issues, written by Dow Jones Newswires reporters within the region.
The articles provide market forecasts and insights to give you an edge in your business. We hope you enjoy them and wish you a prosperous 2007. To find out more about Dow Jones News, go to www.djnewswires.com
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Monday, January 08, 2007
DJ: Plantation Companies Rush Abroad To Secure Land
Tourism Helps Revive Cambodia from the Ravages of War
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Cambodia pledged to proceed Khmer Rouge trial
The Cambodian government reiterated its pledge to prosecute former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, a senior official said Sunday. Chea Sim, president of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), marking the anniversary of the 1979 defeat of the Khmer Rouge, lashed out criticism of the slow pace of the promised trials. "We wish that those entities who constantly look at the process in a negative way would take a more balanced approach to their stance and activities and stop trying to blackmail the Cambodian judicial system, sovereignty, national honour and distort history to suit their own political agendas," Chea Sim said. "The CPP undertook the struggle to save the people and has constantly searched for justice for the victims of the genocidal regime," he said.
The 56-million-dollar joint UN-Cambodian trial process finally began its prosecution phase in July, but has stalled again amidst fierce wrangling over internal rules needed to proceed. Critics including New York-based Human Rights Watch have accused the government of meddling in the process and of lacking the political will to move swiftly ahead with the trial, budgeted to take just three years. Some critics have expressed doubts that the resolve of the government, which still contains a number of former Khmer Rouge cadre who defected and fled to Vietnam to form the nucleus of the movement which would return to defeat Pol Pot's regime. Pol Pot died in 1998, while another prime candidate for trial, Ta Mok, died in hospital last year.
Other candidates are elderly and complaining of ill health, and advocates of a trial have warned it must proceed with haste or risk never taking place at all.
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Friday, January 05, 2007
Cambodia hotel: It's the One
By Christopher Cox
Travel + Leisure
(Travel + Leisure) -- Ancient Siem Reap, a stone's throw from Angkor Wat, introduces a new way to design a hotel: with just one bedroom. Christopher Cox checks into the One to see if it offers singular service that lives up to its name
THE OVERVIEW Home to the Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor, Amansara, and the up-and-coming Hôtel de la Paix, Siem Reap is no stranger to luxury. But the new One Hotel Angkor is putting a modern spin on the concept with something the town has never seen before -- a one-room hotel. Think of it as your own stylish pied-à-terre. While the row house's wooden jalousies, potted plants and thatched roof are straight out of a Graham Greene novel, the neighborhood itself is of the moment, with art galleries, a day spa and owner Martin Dishman's funky lounge, Linga Bar, just across the street. 415/992-5431 or 855-12/755-311; www.theonehotelangkor.com; $250 a night.
THE PENTHOUSE The second story's shaded breakfast area overlooks the cobblestoned street; an open-air Jacuzzi is screened by yellow palms. There's also a queen-size day (or night) bed. Just mind the low-hanging ceiling fan.
THE SERVICE An alfresco massage? Done. A private car and guide to the ruins? No problem. The best caipirinha in town? Coming right up the stairs. Staff members are shared with the nearby Linga Bar, so there are occasional delays -- but there are four of them to each one of you.
THE MASTER BEDROOM A curvaceous, king-size platform bed, custom-made from phdeak wood, dominates the 320-square-foot space. We love the slide-out night tables built into the base of the bed, and the angled, five-foot-high headboard, which offers ideal support for viewing the 32-inch flat-screen television.
THE BATHROOM Everything is built for two: a doorless, three-foot-wide shower; a seven-foot-long step-in tub; and a vanity (set into the back of the bed) with deep twin sinks. Harnn & Thann's spa-quality lemongrass soap and aromatherapy shampoo are a nice local touch.
THE AMENITIES It's all about you in a one-room hotel. Guests are issued a complimentary mobile phone while in residence; order from any area restaurant (menus are provided), and a staffer will fetch your meal for you. Of course, certain services (such as turndown slippers and morning pastries) are automatic.
THE AREA The One is set on the Passage, a pedestrians-only lane between the souklike Psar Chas (Old Market) and rowdy Pub Street, in the heart of the former Colonial Quarter. For tranquillity, try Amansara; at the One, you're knee-deep in city flavor.
THE DESIGN Accessories are a mix of the international (iPod, egg chairs) and the indigenous (artisan Sopheap Pich's split-bamboo lamp; designer Eric Raisina's hand-loomed silk pillows). A side table-closet cleverly brackets the bed, though the drawers are a bit cramped. And the room's multiple levels could present an after-dark challenge. (T+L Global Hotel Guide)
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Commercial area opens in Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia border
Fourteen projects have been allocated land, and construction has started on nine of them.
Embattled Cambodia prince postpones his day in court
By DPA
Jan 5, 2007, 12:45 GMT
Phnom Penh - Embattled Cambodian politician Prince Norodom Ranariddh skipped a scheduled court appearance Friday after his lawyer applied for a delay to ensure other sacked former royalist Funcinpec Party colleagues could appear with him.
Ranariddh was ousted as president of the governing coalition partner Funcinpec along with a number of prominent loyalists in an October 18 party election result engineered by his bitter rival, Funcinpec secretary-general Nhek Bun Chhay.
The prince has filed a complaint with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court claiming the election was unconstitutional and as such, the royalist Funcinpec Party is illegal and therefore ineligible to compete in the April commune elections under its current leadership.
'Today the prince was in Kampong Cham province. He still plans to go to the court but asked to delay because he wants all sacked Funcinpec leaders to be present and he wants to face Nhek Bun Chhay personally in the court,' the prince's spokesman Ork Socheat said by telephone.
Socheat also confirmed that Ranariddh, who chose to leave Funcinpec rather than accept the title of 'historical president' left to him by the party's new regime, and form his own Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), had visited US Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph Mussomeli Thursday.
'The prince met with the US ambassador because the NRP will use all means to protect our party because, as you know, on October 18 a group dared to topple Ranariddh from Funcinpec and now we seek any means of support for justice,' Socheat said.
In a speech broadcast on national radio Friday, Prime Minister Hun Sen reiterated previous warnings that anyone plotting a coup against him would be arrested in their homes, but the reference appeared general and not aimed at any party or person in particular.
Ranariddh, whose slide from power began with his resignation as National Assembly chief last year, also faces a barrage of counter lawsuits from Nhek Bun Chhay, including charges that he embezzled millions of dollars from the party earned by the sale of Funcinpec headquarters.
Ranariddh has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated mudslinging. However, his resignation from Funcinpec to form his own party meant he was stripped of his parliamentary seat and therefore political immunity and if convicted he potentially faces jail.
Analysts have given Ranariddh little chance of winning his suit against the legality of the new Funcinpec leadership, which is headed by former Cambodian Ambassador to Germany Keo Puth Rasmei, pointing out that the election results have already been ratified by the Ministry of Interior.
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Roundup: Cambodia cherishes ambition to tap potential of rice production
As its rice production chalked up an harvest again in 2006, Cambodia, a traditional agricultural country with rice as its major crop and staple food, has been fueling its dream to build a rice exporters' coalition in order to share more profits and procure economic power.
The kingdom's rice production rose to six million tons in 2006, five percent higher than 2005, according to the Cambodian Sin Chew Daily on Thursday.
Market also responded positively in 2006 as rice price jumped to a range between 120 U.S. dollars and 135 U.S. dollars per ton, while seeds of top-quality fragrant rice were sold at 180 U.S. dollars per ton, the paper quoted statistics form Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries as saying.
However, Pu Kea, Chairman of the Rice Hulling Mills' Association in Battambang province, told reporters that huge profits went to the exporters from Malaysia, Singapore and African countries, while the farmers and the mill owners could only make limited incomes from simple processing procedures.
"They don't have enough money to run export business," Pu Kea said.
Pu Kea found echo with Prime Minister Hun Sen, in his perception of the kingdom's awkward situation of surrendering profits to foreigners instead of its own planters and processors.
Back to Dec. 20, 2006, as part of his efforts to turn the table, Hun Sen called on Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam to join hands with Cambodia to form an association of rice exporting countries to stabilize rice price and share more profits from rice sales.
An association of the rice exporting countries along the Mekong River could be important for the world market, he said, adding that the association was somewhat like the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The association could have said in rice price adjustment and play a role in balancing OPEC's influence, he said.
"If they want cheaper rice, then they should decrease oil prices," he added.
According to official statistics, Cambodia planned to export 1. 5 million tons of rice in 2006. Annual rice exports in the region of the Mekong River stand at over 10 million tons, almost half of the world's annual rice exports.
Source: Xinhua
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Parties joining Cambodia's commune councils election up to 12
Another party submitted its candidates' registration forms for Cambodia's 2007 commune councils election, bring the number of participating parties up to 12, the National Election Council (NEC) said on Thursday.
The new participant, Cambodian Progress Party, will compete in one commune in one province, according to a press release from NEC.
Before its entry, 11 political parties have submitted their candidates' registration forms, NEC said earlier on Thursday.
These political parties are Cambodian People's Party (CPP), Funcinpec Party, Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), Norodom Ranariddh Party, Khmer Democratic Party, Sangkum Jatiniyum Front Party, League for Democracy Party, Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party, Khmer National Party, Democratic Society Party and United People of Cambodia Party, it said.
CPP is to compete in 1,621 communes in 24 provinces or municipalities, Funcinpec in 763 communes in 23 provinces or municipalities, SRP in 992 communes in 23 provinces or municipalities, Norodom Ranariddh Party in 769 communes in 22 provinces or municipalities, and Khmer Democratic Party in 30 communes in seven provinces or municipalities, it said.
In addition, Sangkum Jatiniyum Front Party in 42 communes in 10 provinces or municipalities, League for Democracy Party in 11 communes in five provinces, Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party in 47 communes in four provinces, Khmer National Party in two communes in one province, Democratic Society Party in one commune, and United People of Cambodia in four communes in three provinces, it added.
The 2007 commune councils election's process started on Sept. 21, 2006, and will end on May 23, 2007. April 1 will be the polling day, ballot counting, and publishing of results at polling stations.
Source: Xinhua
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Cambodia's ex-king regrets continued violence, sex abuse in his country
The Associated Press
Thursday, January 4, 2007
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodia's retired King Norodom Sihanouk bemoaned killings, child sexual abuse and other violent crimes in his country, in a New Year message to his fellow citizens.
Sihanouk, 84, said he has been "very perturbed morally and psychologically" by such acts as jealous husbands killing their wives, women cutting off their partners' penises and jealous women throwing acid at their husbands' mistresses.
The former king, who is being treated for various ailments in Beijing, implored fellow Cambodians to refrain from violence.
"Please stop acid throwing, killings ... pedophilia, rape," he said in his handwritten message dated Monday and seen on his official Web site Friday.
Sihanouk also took aim at the pedophiles, who "maltreat, torture, kill children." The message was written in French.
"All these crimes or acts of cruelty are anti-Buddhist and dishonor our country, nation and race," Sihanouk said. "They are unacceptable."
He did not mention any specific incidents. Sex offenses against minors remain a major problem in the impoverished Southeast Asian country, and many of the abusers are foreigners preying on poor children.
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Thursday, January 04, 2007
Clarksville man arrested in Cambodia for chile sex crime
Roger Green, 59 of Clarksville, sits in a Cambodian jail, but his family feels a misunderstanding about generosity put him there.
Cambodia to get 31 mln USD donation for fighting malaria
Wednesday Jan. 03, 2007
The Global Fund has approved to donate 31 million U.S. dollars for Cambodia to fight against malaria from 2008 to 2012, a senior Cambodian official said on Wednesday.
Doung Socheat, director of National Center for Parasiteology, Entomology and Malaria Control, told Xinhua by phone here that the part of the fund will be used by Ministry of Women's Affairs and Veterans for educating women about malaria and gender.
Part of the fund will be used by Ministry of National Defense to take care of soldiers living in malaria-affected areas, and part of it will be used to fight against fake malaria medicines, buy bed nets and medicines for poor people, and promote awareness for prevention of malaria, said Socheat. The fund will be handed over to the health NGOs which are involved in malaria programs, he added.
In 2006, malaria was found on some 70,000 Cambodians and over 240 of them died, said Socheat, adding that the infection rate was down by more than 1 percent from 2005.
The victims were usually men from 15 to 49 years old, who went into deep forests for logging, land clearing and crop planting to support their families, he said.
Among all the provinces, Kompong Speu, Battambang, Rattanakiri, Modulkiri, Preah Vihear, Bantey Meanchey, and Oddar Meanchey saw more victims of malaria in 2006, he added.
Source: Xinhua
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11 parties to compete in Cambodia's commune council elections
Eleven political parties have submitted their candidates registration forms for the 2007 commune councils election, a press release from the National Election Council (NEC) said on Thursday.
These political parties are Cambodian People's Party (CPP), Funcinpec Party, Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), Norodom Ranariddh Party, Khmer Democratic Party, Sangkum Jatiniyum Front Party, League for Democracy Party, Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party, Khmer National Party, Democratic Society Party and United People of Cambodia Party, it said.
CPP is to compete in 1,621 communes in 24 provinces or municipalities, Funcinpec in 763 communes in 23 provinces or municipalities, SRP in 992 communes in 23 provinces or municipalities, Norodom Ranariddh Party in 769 communes in 22 provinces or municipalities, and Khmer Democratic Party in 30 communes in seven provinces or municipalities, it said.
In addition, Sangkum Jatiniyum Front Party in 42 communes in 10 provinces or municipalities, League for Democracy Party in 11 communes in five provinces, Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party in 47 communes in four provinces, Khmer National Party in two communes in one province, Democratic Society Party in one communes in one province, and United People of Cambodia in four communes in three provinces, it added.
The NEC is scheduled to publicize the candidates registration lists for the 2007 commune councils election later on Thursday.
The 2007 commune councils election's process started on Sept. 21, 2006, and will end on May 23, 2007. April 1, will be the polling day, ballot counting, and publishing of results at polling stations.
Source: Xinhua
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Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Learn how Asia is changing the world
January 2, 2007
CORDILLERA - What do Korea's broadband revolution, Singapore's massive investment in biotechnology and China's growing economic and military strength have in common? They are all evidence of how changes in Asia will transform the world as we know it, in ways we would not expect. The Vail Symposium's Hot Topic series kicks off Thursday presenting insights on these current events and explaining how Asia is changing the world.
Asia Society Executive Vice President Jamie Metzl will lead the discussion from 5:30-7:15 p.m. at Chaparral, Cordillera Valley Club, in Edwards. Metzl is an expert on Asian history and politics. His government appointments have included deputy staff director and senior counselor of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, senior coordinator for international public information and director for multilateral and humanitarian affairs on the National Security Council. At the White House, he coordinated U.S. government international public-information campaigns for Iraq, Kosovo and other crises.
A Khmer speaker, he was a human rights officer for the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia from 1991 to 1993, where he helped establish a nationwide human rights investigation and monitoring unit for Cambodia. Metzl has appeared widely on national media, including "Meet the Press" and the "Today" show.
He is the author of a book on human rights in Southeast Asia, as well as the novel "The Depths of the Sea." His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Affairs and many other publications. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a co-chair of the Board of the Partnership for a Secure America and a former White House Fellow.
He holds a doctorate in Southeast Asian history from Oxford University, a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School, and is a magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University. Metzl's presentation is the inaugural event of a new partnership between the Vail Symposium and the international organization the Asia Society.
The Asia Society is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization dedicated to strengthening relationships and deepening understanding among the peoples of Asia and the United States. The society provides a forum for building awareness of the more than 30 countries broadly defined as the Asia-Pacific region - the area from Japan to Iran - and from Central Asia to New Zealand and the Pacific islands.
The organization presents the uniqueness and diversity of Asia through art exhibitions and performances, films, lectures, seminars and conferences, publications and assistance to the media, and materials and programs for students and teachers.Metzl's presentation will take place Thursday at Chaparral, Cordillera Valley Club, in Edwards (near Singletree).
Admission to this event is $20 for Vail Symposium supporters and $25 for all others. Light hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar will be available from 5:30-6 p.m., followed by Metzl's lecture from 6-7:15 p.m.. For more information or to make reservations, visit www.vailsymposium.org or call (970) 476-0954.
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Cambodian honour for Swaminathan
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: The Royal Government of Cambodia has awarded the Sahametrei Medal to M.S. Swaminathan, agriculture scientist, in recognition of his contributions to the revival of rice research and development in Cambodia in the 1980s.
The medal was also in recognition of Dr. Swaminathan's work that led to the establishment and strengthening of the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).
The presentation of the medal was to be held in Cambodia in the second week of January.
Dr. Swaminathan expressed his inability to receive the medal in view of his other preoccupations. Recalling his association with Cambodia, the agriculture scientist said he had trained a large number of Cambodians. Recently, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation prepared a food security atlas, which was adopted by the Cambodian Government as its official document.
Calling for strengthening ties with Cambodia, Dr. Swaminathan said there was a lot to share with such countries, considering the fact that Cambodia too was a rice-raising nation.
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Tourist arrivals in Cambodia up 20 percent in 2006
Cambodia's tourist arrivals went up 20 percent in 2006 from 2005, recording a third straight year of increase for its tourism sector, the Cambodian Daily reported on Wednesday.
During 2006, some 1.7 million tourists visited Cambodia, pumping 1.4 billion U.S. dollars into the country's economy, equivalent to 12 percent of the kingdom's GDP, Tourism Ministry's Secretary of State Thong Khon told the newspaper on Tuesday.
In 2005 and 2004, 1.4 million and 1 million tourists respectively visited Cambodia, according to the Tourism Ministry. "This has been a good year because there were no obstacles [to tourism] such as SARS or bird flu," Khon said of 2006, adding that he expects the number of visitors in 2007 to increase by a further 20 percent.
The main Cambodian attraction in 2006 remained Angkor archeological complex in Siem Reap province, with Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville as well as Ratanakkiri and Stung Treng provinces getting some visitors, he said.
By October 2006, more than 650,000 people had visited Siem Reap, accounting for nearly half of all tourist arrivals in Cambodia, according to Tourism Ministry statistics. However, the Ministry estimated that more than one fifth of tourism-sector revenue in 2006 went abroad due to remittances by foreign companies and consumption of imports such as gasoline and luxury foods, Thong Khon said.
Such revenue "leakage" was down by 30 percent from 2005 and was projected to continue dropping as Cambodia supplied more of the foods consumed by foreign visitors, he added.
Source: Xinhua
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Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Cambodia say Anti-corruption laws delayed by foreigners
Last Updated 03/01/2007, 00:50:59
The Cambodian Government says its efforts to implement an anti-corruption law have been delayed by international organisations. Last week, nearly 200-thousand Cambodians signed a petition calling for the government to pass its long-awaited anti-corruption law. Cambodians have now been waiting more than ten years for the law to be enacted.
But Om Yienting, Head of the Head of Cambodia's Anti-Corruption Unit, says the government has been attempting to implement the law for a number of years.
He says delays are being caused by international organisations objecting to elements of the draft law. And when the national assembly sent back to the government... the same NGO, the same foreigner country starts to involve, to review everything. When someone blocks this procedure and says please go ahead, what can we do?
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Tennessee man arrested in Cambodia on child sex charges
Last Updated: 1/2/2007 10:07:56 AM
A Tennessee man is accused of sex crimes in Cambodia with girls ages 11 and 12.Authorities there say 59-year-old Roger Dale Green was with the two girls when police raided his hotel room in Phnom Penh. Authorities did not say where in Tennessee Green is from.Green is charged with debauchery, which covers child sex abuse. Green was arrested yesterday and denied the allegations.
Lax law enforcement and poverty have made Cambodia a destination for foreigners seeking sex with minors. But police have recently stepped up their efforts to fight the crime.
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Monday, January 01, 2007
Cambodian mine victim, clearing land to save others
Khoeun Sokhorn, Cambodia’s only female amputee deminer, shows how she prepares ground before removing mines. However, in the first 11 months of 2006 that figure fell to 418, a drop of 50 per cent on the same period last year. Rupert Leighton, the country manager of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), said more land was being cleared and police were enforcing a ban on trade in ordnance for scrap.
Her foot had been blown off entirely, most of her calf was a bloody mess and within half an hour she was in agony. "I wanted to die," said the mother of a two-year-old daughter. "Giving birth is not as painful as that and is just pain for a few days. My leg hurt for two months."
Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand tours to open
Phu Quoc Island
The land tour will begin from Rach Gia city of Kien Giang province through Xaphia border gate of Ha Tien to Sihanoukville city of Cambodia and end in Kathaburi province of Thailand.
The sea tour by high-speed cruise ships will start from Rach Gia city to Phu Quoc island of Vietnam and end in Kathaburi province. A recent survey says that travel firms of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand have agreed on the land and sea routes.
These tours will be opened because “The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has planned to turn Kien Giang province into a national tourism site due to its great tourism potential,” explained Mr Hoang.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
TWIN BANGKOK BOMBING WAVES KILL 2; New Year's Eve Countdown cancelled
(BangkokPost.com)
Two people died and more than 30 were wounded including six foreigners as two waves of at least nine bombs and grenades exploded in Bangkok at nightfall and again at midnight. Authorities cancelled all public New Year's Eve parties in Bangkok. Outdoor parties were also cancelled in Chiang Mai, although no disturbance was reported in the northern city. After a first wave of six coordinated explosions, three other bombs went off at midnight - one at the famous Khao San Road area for budget travellers, and two near the site of what was to have been the nation's biggest New Year's Eve party, normally telecast live around Thailand and overseas.
Seven people, including six foreigners, were injured in the second bombings just before midnight, although the cancellation of the New Year's Eve celebrations kept the toll down, police said. After the midnight bombings, the Bangkok city administration cancelled the annual New Year's dawn ceremony to present alms to monks at Sanam Luang.Instead of half a million people at the second wave of bombing, there were only relatively few passers-by in the area in front of the shuttered Central World store, formerly known as the World Trade Centre.
The worst bomb was at a nearby seafood restaurant, where three foreigners were badly hurt, including one whose leg was torn off by the blast. Another bomb "exploded in a telephone booth opposite Central World Plaza," where the Bangkok Countdown 2007 was to have taken place, said Pol Col Vanlop Patummaung. "The injured have been sent to the police hospital," he said.
"Six foreigners and one Thai were injured. We don't know when the bomb was placed there, because we had carefully searched the area before the party. Another bomb exploded on a pier that sits on the klong (canal) beside the plaza at the same time, just before midnight, but no injuries were immediately reported, he said.
Bangkok authorities ordered all public New Year's Eve parties cancelled after the first six explosions. Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin appeared at the huge Bangkok Countdown 2006 venue and told the crowd to "go home and stay in peace."There had been confusion for an hour over whether New Year's parties would be permitted after the bombing. New Year's is the biggest public party in Thailand. The national government indicated celebrations might proceed including - especially - the massive and internationally famous New Year's Countdown outdoors party attended by upwards of half a million people outside CentralWorld near Siam Square in central Bangkok.
Police Commissioner Kowit Wattana, at a televised news conference, said, "Don't be afraid, but be careful," and urged Bangkokians not to cancel New Year's Eve plans.But the capital was extremely tense. All major department stores, due to stay open until late for holiday shopping, were all shut by 8 p.m. including the luxury Emporium and Paragon stores in the main tourist areas of Sukhumvit and Siam Square. Central, the biggest Thai department store operator, closed its stores. Many would-be party-goers headed for home, either because the party mood has faded, or because they were unwilling to risk a public party.
By the time Mr Apirak personally ordered the Countdown to halt, the mood was off anyhow. Earlier, government spokesman Yongyuth Malyalarp said the capital should remain calm and alert, and keep an eye out for unusual activity. He said police had been ordered on high alert. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said people hoping to celebrate the new year should avoid crowded areas. During a visit to a hospital where some of the victims were taken for treatment, the prime minster said the government will do all it can to prevent further trouble. The situation is under control, he said.
There were six explosions in various parts of the capital. Two were reported near the Klong Toey market, where a 61-year-old man was killed, and near a bus stop at the busy Victory Monument, where a man was killed and more than a dozen other people wounded.Graphic footage shown on television showed damaged vehicles and blood-stained streets and pavements. TV reports said a man was seen throwing a grenade off a pedestrian overpass near a police box in the Saphan Kwai area of Bangkok, injuring several people in the explosion.
At Seacon Square in eastern Bangkok, Asia's largest mall, an explosion in the outdoor parking lot sent hundreds of shoppers scrambling, but no injurites were reported.Shoppers who called BangkokPost. com said the mall was evacuated and shuttered for the night. Another explosion was reported from Sukhumvit Soi 62, a major intersection with the capital's main expressway system in southeast Bangkok, and another in suburban Nonthaburi province north of the city centre."There was no warning. It is quite shocking. We've got at least one child very seriously injured in my area and others are injured," said Police Maj-Gen Anand Srisiran, chief of Metropolitan Police District Five.
Witnesses told police in some places that they saw people throwing what looked to be grenades shortly before the explosions. The coordinated attacks are unprecedented in Bangkok. However, political feelings have run high for more than a year, and there have been reports of political violence aimed against the military junta which ousted ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra on Sept 19 - primarily the suspected burning of schools. In addition, some intelligence sources had suggested in the past two weeks that Islamist extremists leading the southern insurgency might try to spread their attacks to the capital. They have never operated out of the deep South.
The Bangkok bombings, however, bore little resemblance to bomb attacks in the South, which usually involve improvised explosive devices (IEDs) copied from the Iraq model, and set off by mobile phones, and vehicle bombs, especially in motorcycles. An intelligence source told the AFP news agency that the attacks were likely politically motivated. "The bombs are not involved with southern unrest," the source said, but did not elaborate. "It is a political issue, it is undercurrents" - the military regime's code word for pro-Thaksin elements.
The Voice of America reported a similar reaction. It quoted "Thai officials" as saying Muslim insurgents were probably not behind the New Year's Eve bombings. "Security sources said Sunday the bombings might have been politically-motivated," said the radio network.
Except for the insurgency in the four southernmost provinces, there has been no deadly political violence in Thailand for more than 14 years, when a popular protest overthrew the last military government. In that case, the violence and deaths were caused by the military government and armed forces. Martial law was lifted in Bangkok and surrounding provinces just a month ago, but the military is authorised to act when necessary.
The coup passed its 100-day anniversary on Dec 28.The junta leader and army commander, Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, is currently out of Thailand, on the Haj in Saudi Arabia, and will not return until Thursday.
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Famed Cambodian ruins face that sinking feeling
Author: Ker Munthit
Ra Pheap is a garbage sweeper at Cambodia's world-famous Angkor Wat archaeological site, and is keenly grateful for the influx of tourists to the centuries-old ruins - it's because of them that the 19-year-old has her 205,000 Cambodian riel (US$50) a month job.
Suos Samnang, a 17-year-old souvenir vendor, also knows that her livelihood is closely linked to the busloads of camera-toting foreign visitors that arrive in Siem Reap every day.
But as they witness the frenzied construction of hotels and guest houses to tap the flow of visitors' dollars in this once-quiet town, even these two poor country girls realize that the blessings of tourism are mixed ones.
"I am worried that this will cause more pollution and migration to the town. The number of people living here just keeps growing. The streets are getting more crowded now," Suos Samnang said.
And some experts are even more concerned than that. They fear the unregulated development - specifically, unrestricted local pumping of underground water to meet rapidly rising demand - may literally be undermining Angkor's foundations, destabilizing the earth beneath the famous centuries-old temples so much that they might sink and collapse.
Tourism is a key moneymaker for cash-strapped Cambodia, about one-third of whose 14 million people earn less than 2,000 riels (56 US cents) a day.
Last year, about half of the 1.4 million visitors who came to Cambodia went to see the Angkor monuments, architectural masterpieces built at the height of the Khmer empire from the ninth to the 15th centuries. Total tourist arrivals for Cambodia in 2005 were an impressive 34.7 percent above 2004's figures.
The steady boom has already transformed Siem Reap into a bustling town filled with luxury hotels and vehicles. Its streets are adorned with billboards promoting the latest mobile phones, pizza and burger joints and shopping malls. Several notable old buildings have been razed to make way for visitors' lodgings, and honky-tonk strips have sprung up catering to low-budget travelers.
"The identity Siem Reap had for centuries is gradually disappearing, or maybe almost disappeared," said Teruo Jinnai, director in Cambodia of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and a 10-year resident of the country. "You have restaurants, massage parlors, hotels, and it's very sad to see that."
Culture shock aside, the health and quality of life of many of its 120,000 residents is imperiled by the boom, as is plain to see when traffic snarls the roads and streets get flooded by rain because of clogged sewers.
"This tremendous growth added to population increase has been exacerbating pressure on infrastructure," said a World Bank report on Cambodia's tourism sector last year. "Energy, water, sewage and waste are all significant problems."
It noted that hotels are not legally required to have sewage treatment facilities, though larger ones do have their own plants.
"But most guesthouses reportedly dump used water directly into the river, causing noticeable river pollution," it said, adding that E. coli, the bacteria found in human feces, has reportedly begun seeping into local wells.
At least as threatening over the long run is the uptake of water, with unrestricted pumping from the water table underlying the area.
"Water is being drawn from 70-80 meters underground by hotels and treated for use," warned the World Bank, noting that no one was quite certain how this affects the aquifers, or underground layers of rocks and sand, from which it is pumped.
Already though, "one of Angkor's temples is reportedly falling into a sinkhole, suggesting that the underground aquifers may be rapidly disappearing," said the report.
Japanese Ambassador Fumiaki Takahashi, whose country has drawn up a development master plan for Siem Reap to deal with the tourism boom, said most of its hotels are pumping underground water for their own use, "and there is no control."
It is the Cambodian government's "urgent task" to control the practice, he said, because "if you take too much water, it might affect the Angkor site. In the long run, the underground water will go down and the site would sink."
The plan of the Japan International Cooperation Agency calls for tapping underground water from near Phnom Kraom, a hill near the edge of the Tonle Sap lake about 12 kilometers south of the town, to avoid depletion of Siem Reap's underground water and reduce the risk of endangering the fragile temples, he said.
Deputy Tourism Minister Thong Khon said the government is ready to accept the master plan to address existing problems and accommodate future growth.
He sees a bright future for Siem Reap, in which the province won't just be a destination for touring the temples but will also become a hub providing air links for tourists to enjoy the sandy beaches of southwestern Cambodia and eco-tourism in the jungles of the northeast.
He envisions that by promoting a diversity of destinations, the crowds will be distributed around the country, and the Angkor temples won't get "too jammed up."
Meanwhile, though, the tourist hordes continue to tramp through fabled Angkor Wat and its satellite temples of Angkor Thom, Bayon, Ta Prohm and Bakheng. Even at the lesser-known 10th-century Bakheng temple, an average of 3,000 tourists climb the 67 meters just in the two hours before dusk each day to view the spectacular sunset.
Ra Pheap, the 19-year-old sweeper, said she knows the onslaught could damage the delicate monuments.
She is employed by a Cambodian company that sells entry tickets to the temple site, and the visitors there are essentially paying her salary.
With her earnings, she has reduced her family's reliance on rice farming and been able to help pay for Japanese-language classes for her younger brother and sister.
"I want them to become tour guides because I am confident more tourists will visit here," she said.
Fundraiser aims to help girl in Cambodia
About two years ago, her case came to the attention of Western aid workers. Doctors determined her leg muscles work and that with surgery and physical therapy, Leam should be able to walk.
When Leam arrives, local Cambodian families will take care of her until she is admitted to Shriners and while she is an outpatient.
This is not the first time Medicorps has brought a Cambodian teenager to Hawaii.
After three operations in Cambodia, 10 surgeries in Hawaii and physical therapy, Ouey returned to Cambodia in 2001. He is now a student and part-time worker at the Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap.
King Norodom Sihamoni returned from internaional visits
Cambodian king Norodom Sihamoni returned to Cambodia Sunday from a series of international visits in time to see in the International New Year from his palace in the capital. The king's return followed an international tour which took in Germany, France and China and also included time spent with his father, former king Norodom Sihanouk, who continues to undergo routine medical tests in Beijing.
Sihanouk, who turned 84 this year, abdicated in favour of his son, King Sihamoni, in October 2004 citing his age and a range of health complaints including colon cancer and diabetes. Sihamoni arrived at Phnom Penh International Airport late afternoon local time and was greeted by a number of dignitaries before proceeding straight to his palace, located in the heart of the capital.
Although International New Year is celebrated in Cambodia it is a relatively low-key event in the mainly Buddhist country, which celebrates its own Cambodian New Year in April. Sihamoni's latest international trip had seen him absent from Cambodia since November.
© 2006 DPA
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Saturday, December 30, 2006
Saddm Hussein hung by Justice for the Crime of killing Shiite and others related crime
Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand tours to open
Phu Quoc Island
Land and sea tours linking Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand are expected to open in the first quarter of 2007, said Le Minh Hoang, director of Kien Giang Southern Province’s Tourism Department.
The land tour will begin from Rach Gia city of Kien Giang province through Xaphia border gate of Ha Tien to Sihanoukville city of Cambodia and end in Kathaburi province of Thailand.
These tours will be opened because “The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has planned to turn Kien Giang province into a national tourism site due to its great tourism potential,” explained Mr Hoang.
Saddam Hussein executed
30 December 2006 06:26
The former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has on Saturday been executed by hanging, at an unspecified location in Baghdad.United States-backed Iraqi television station al-Hurra and Saudi-owned satellite channel al-Arabiya said that the former Iraqi president was executed at 6am local time, following his conviction by an Iraqi court for crimes against humanity."Criminal Saddam was hanged to death," state-run Iraqiya television said in an announcement.
The station played patriotic music and showed images of national monuments and other landmarks.Speaking on condition of anonymity, a US official confirmed that the execution had taken place.The British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said that the former dictator had now been held to account. "I welcome the fact that Saddam Hussein has been tried by an Iraqi court for at least some of the appalling crimes he committed against the Iraqi people," she said in a statement.Al-Arabiya has also reported that Saddam Hussein's half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and Iraq's former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bander -- both of whom were also sentenced to death at the close of the same trial -- have also been executed by hanging.
Saddam's execution, which became imminent after his appeal was this week rejected, has brought to an end the life of one of the Middle East's most brutal dictators.Launching the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, campaigns against the Kurds and putting down the southern Shia revolt that followed the 1991 Gulf war -- triggered by his invasion of Kuwait -- put the casualties attributable to his rule into the hundreds of thousands.
But his conviction was for a relatively lower figure -- the deaths of 148 men and boys from the Shia Muslim town of Dujail, where members of an opposition group had made a botched attempt to assassinate him in 1982.
Many critics dismissed the trial as a form of victors' justice and Saddam Hussein's defence had accused the Iraqi government of interfering in the proceedings. The latter complaint was backed by the US-based Human Rights Watch.Ongoing was a trial for the deaths of thousands in the Anfal campaign against the Kurds, who were also the victims of one of Saddam's most notorious abuses -- the gassing of 5 000 people in Halabja. If Saddam had not been executed, he could have faced as many as 12 trials for crimes against humanity.
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Friday, December 29, 2006
Parties' re-array marks Cambodia's political scenario in 2006
The re-array of Cambodia's major parties took the limelight of the Top 10 National Political Stories in 2006, which was charted by one of the kingdom's major Chinese newspapers Sin
Chew Daily on Thursday.
Story No. 1 went to the Cambodian People's Party's (CPP) harvest of more than two thirds of the 57 election seats at the Senate on Jan. 29.
Through polling, CPP gained 45 seats, the co-ruling Funcinpec Party 10 and the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) two, which again beefed up CPP's muscle as the kingdom's largest and most powerful political party.
Story No. 2 outlined Prime Minister Hun Sen's acceptance on Jan. 24 of SRP top leader Sam Rainsy's apology for his previous allegation that the prime minister masterminded an explosion in 1997 in front of the National Assembly, which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of people. Their compromise led to an end of Sam Rainsy's exile to France. Later, he returned to Cambodia and built his party into the largest opposition force in the kingdom's political arena.
Story No. 3 highlighted Hun Sen's cancellation on March 3 of the positions of co-minister of defense and co-minister of interior in order to improve efficiency.
The decision was widely viewed as a cut-down of Funcinpec's power in the government and in another sense as a new augmentation of CPP's political influence.
Story No. 4 illustrated the swearing-in of the 27 judges and prosecutors of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) on July 3.
The team is expected to hold trials of the former Democratic Kampuchea (DK) leaders, which will take three years and cost 56.3 million U.S. dollars.
Story No. 5 marked the death of Ta Mok, one of the top leaders of DK, on July 21 at the age of 83 due to multi ailments.
The establishment of the Anti-Corruption Authority (ACA) earlier this year stood as Top Story No. 6 on the chart. People pinned some hope on the authority to help reverse the negative image of the country. Cambodia was ranked 130 in the 2005 Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency International, where a list of 158 countries was outlined and the least corrupt one was placed first.
The National Election Committee's (NEC) inauguration of the commune councils election on Oct. 1 stood as Top Story No. 7 on the chart.
Village chiefs, deputy village chiefs and villagers will join this election. It will end up on May 23, 2007 and serves as prelude to the general election in 2008, which will produce a new government for the country.
Top Stories No. 8, 9 and 10 on the chart once again related to the re-array of the countries' political forces.
The Funcinpec party elected former King Norodom Sihanouk's son- in-law Keo Puth Rasmey as its new president on Oct. 18 to replace Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who formed another party named after himself on Nov. 17 to serve as an opposition power.
The chart recorded the bloodless but dazzling fighting within and in between the political parties here and then in 2006, as the Kingdom of Cambodia prepares to terminate its third government and expects its fourth one year later.
Source: Xinhua
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Thursday, December 28, 2006
Michael Costello: Sometimes all you can do is wait
29,dec.06
Hayden worked hard on this for several years, culminating in a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City with Hun Sen, then foreign minister of the Soviet and Vietnamese-backed regime in Phnom Penh. That meeting so incensed the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that it seriously jeopardised Australia's relationship with them, and Australia had no choice but to back off.
What changed between 1987 and late 1989 that allowed the Australian initiative to succeed where it had earlier failed?
Remember what Hayden faced in 1983. The Soviet Union was Vietnam's close ally, supplying aid and weapons to it and to the regime in Phnom Penh. It did this to pressure its neighbour and antagonist, China.
What had looked set in concrete suddenly became completely fluid. The timing was perfect for Australia, trusted by all sides, with good ideas and high energy.
China, usually supported by Russia, will prevent UN use of force. And the international mood - and the mood now in the US - is that it's better to allow all the horror in the world to go unchecked than to support intervention by an American-led coalition.
Cambodian NEC asks candidates to appoint agents to observe election
The National Election Committee (NEC) of Cambodia here on Thursday issued a notification to ask the candidates of the ongoing commune councils elections to appoint agents to observe the process.
"Political parties who register candidates for the commune councils election in any commune and wish to send agents as observers, have the right to send one accredited observer and selected one substitute observer, in order to monitor in polling stations and counting ballot in the stations where parties' candidates are running," the notification said.
Political parties who have above intention shall get ready by preparing their agents' lists and applications within seven days after the publication of the official candidates lists, it said.
"Political parties who have no candidates in given communes and wish to observe the election, can send their member(s) where they are eligible to vote. The procedures for accreditation are those of national observers," it added.
The notification was signed by NEC Chairperson Im Suosdey.
Village chiefs, deputy village chiefs and villagers will attend the 2007 commune councils election, whose process started on September 21, 2006 and will end up on May 23, 2007.
The registration of candidates will start from the beginning of January until the middle of February. The election campaign will take place from March 16 to 30, 2007. April 1, 2007 will be the polling day, ballot counting, and publishing of results at polling stations.
The commune councils election is prelude to the general election in 2008, which will elect a new government for the country.
Source: Xinhua
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Cambodia's Angkor battles for new world wonder spot Wed Dec 27, 2:08 PM ET
Officials hope the Angkor complex, capital of the powerful Khmer empire from the ninth to the 15th century, will win the "New 7 Wonders of the World" campaign, launched by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber.
But Angkor will have to compete with other aspiring wonders such as the Acropolis in Athens, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and India's world-famous monument to love, the Taj Mahal.
Public voting and deliberation by the "New 7 Wonders" panel whittled about 200 nominations from around the world down to 21 short-listed candidates, including Angkor Wat.
"When our Angkor temple is selected... we hope more and more foreign tourists will be interested and come to visit the temple bringing more revenue for the country," Soeung Kong, deputy director general of the Apsara, told AFP.
Plastics sector ready for international integration
With an annual growth rate of between 25-30%, the plastics sector of Vietnam is already ready for international economic integration, and is able to compete with its rivals in both regional and international markets, according to experts.
The plastics sector's turnover has rapidly increased over recent years. In 2006, its export revenue jumped to US $478 million from US $100 million five years ago. Particularly, the value of plastic package and wrapping products used for export products reaches hundreds of million of US dollars each year.
Made-in-Vietnam plastic products have made a foothold in many regional and international markets like Cambodia, Laos, the US, the European Union, and particularly Japan. Of the products, package and wrapping products alone, which are now available at 41 countries and territories around the world, account for 80% of the total export value of the sector.
Alongside the mentioned traditional markets, Vietnamese businesses are also aiming towards promising ones like China, India, Russia, Eastern Europe and Africa.
In the domestic market, Vietnamese plastic products are widely used by almost all sectors, including industry, agriculture, transport, seafood, construction, electricity and electronics. High-quality products like oil pipelines or those used for automobiles and computers are successfully produced by local businesses, including Tien Phong, Phuong Dong, Tan Tien and Binh Minh.
According to Nguyen Dang Cuong, Secretary General of the Vietnam Plastic Association, the abolishment of tariffs when Vietnam officially becomes a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will generate a greater opportunity for the plastics sector in export and investment attraction.
The move, he added, would create favourable conditions for the sector to reach the target of fetching US $1.3 million from export by 2010.
Plastic ware production has become appealing to international investors, particularly Japanese businesses, Cuong said.
With the aim of seizing this opportunity and expanding the sector's export market, the association has worked out various measures, focusing on encouraging businesses to invest in plants specialising in producing materials, semi-products, chemicals and equipment, and to apply hi-tech and state-of-the-art equipment.
The association will also concentrate on speeding up the equitisation of state-owned enterprises in a bid to mobilise capitals from every economic sector.
Additionally, it points to the need for local businesses to coordinate to increase capital and technology, pay more attention to trademark and products advertising, and penetrate into retail networks of international markets by attending exhibitions, fairs and trade promotion activities.
Vietnam is currently home to 800 plastic ware producers, of whom 80% are operating in Ho Chi Minh City. Major products include wrapping, consumer products, construction products and hi-tech plastic products. (VNA)
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Cambodian Court remanded Thai soldier for drug trafficking
A Cambodian court has remanded a Thai soldier in custody after he was allegedly caught attempting to smuggle more than 200 methamphetamine tablets into Thailand, officials said Thursday. Sok Nimol, provincial anti-drugs' police chief for the northwestern province, said the soldier was apprehended with 210 methamphetamine tablets concealed in the collar of his jacket on Christmas day as he attempted to cross the border into Thailand.
"He was making a living as a motorbike smuggler, bringing stolen bikes into Cambodia. He said he bought the drugs in Cambodia at the request of a businessman in Thailand and was carrying them back for him," she said. She said the 24-year-old soldier named Rattaphon had been posted to Thailand's Klong Hat commune in the border province of Sa Kaeo prior to his arrest.
Deputy chief of Battambang police, Chea Thong, confirmed the man was in custody and said the reaction from Thailand had been satisfactory. "In fact there was no reaction. He was in Cambodia and is accused of breaking Cambodian law, so he must face the consequences in Cambodia," he said. If convicted on drug trafficking charges, Rattaphon faces five to 10 years in prison.
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Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt Continue To Support Cambodia
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are stepping up efforts to aid people in need in their son's home country of Cambodia. The celebrity couple visited the homeland of their son Maddox, five, in November and are working to expand the scope of the Maddox Jolie-Pitt project (MJP), which Jolie launched more than four years ago as a conservation initiative.
The two have donated millions of dollars and teamed up with Dr. Jeffrey Sachs and his anti-poverty organization Millennium Promise on an economic-development program in northwestern Cambodia. Seventy MJP workers will work with Sach's group on activities including rice planting, distribution of beds to fight malaria, school meal programs and providing medicine for clinics.
Jolie tells People, "We have learned so much and I think we are on the right track. We hope people will travel to Cambodia. The people there have overcome so much." Pitt adds, "It was incredibly moving to visit my son's country."
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Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Prime Minister Hun Sen silenced on Khmer Rouge trial
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday sidestepped the issue of the stalled trials of Khmer Rouge leaders, instead telling the nation that the country had successfully achieved national reconciliation and moved forward. Speaking in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng on the nation's northern border with Thailand, Hun Sen said the war was over and it was a positive sign for the future that former Khmer Rouge areas, such as Anlong Veng, had been integrated into peacetime Cambodia.
He said "the story had ended" when senior former Khmer Rouge leaders, including former head of state Khieu Samphan and Pol Pot's former deputy Nuon Chea, had come to his home and eaten with him in December 1998, marking the formal surrender of the Khmer Rouge. The term "story" is also a Cambodian euphemism for its 30-year civil war.
But despite his reference to Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, who would be prime candidates to stand trial, Hun Sen avoided any direct reference to the 56.3-million-dollar UN-Cambodian-sponsored trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders, currently stalled yet again amid bitter wrangling over the court's internal rules.
The trials have not yet reached their indictment stage despite the prosecution phase getting under way in mid-2006, and it remained unclear which former leaders would stand trial. Former Kymer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary defected and was granted amnesty from genocide charges by then-king Norodom Sihanouk in 1996 although some remain keen to indict him on charges of crimes against humanity. Former military commander Ta Mok died in a military hospital this year and was cremated in Anlong Veng. The movement's former leader Pol Pot died in Anlong Veng in 1998.
However, on Wednesday in former Khmer Rouge heartland, Hun Sen preferred to focus on Cambodia's new era of peace and sidestep the growing storm over the pace of justice - a matter he has left in the hands of Deputy Prime Minister Sok An. "So many people died in the war," Hun Sen said in the speech, which was broadcast on national radio. "We achieved national reconciliation. Please don't let national reconciliation break down."
The lack of direct reference to the trials was unlikely to please critics, some of which have accused Hun Sen's government of deliberately delaying the long-awaited trials of a handful of surviving leaders of the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime. Earlier this month, New York-based Human Rights Watch accused the government of meddling in the trial process, and this week, a coalition of human-rights organizations urged the court to resolve the conflict over procedural rules with haste.
The government - which contains a number of former Khmer Rouge cadre who fled the movement under the excesses of its leader Pol Pot and returned to Phnom Penh, backed by Vietnamese troops, to overthrow the regime - has maintained it is determined to try the former leaders to international standards. Up to 2 million Cambodians died under the Khmer Rouge regime.
However, most of its now mainly ageing and ailing former leaders continue to live freely and openly without ever having faced justice.
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Tuesday, December 26, 2006
VN, Cambodia border provinces agree on expanding co-operation
(26-12-2006)
AN GIANG — Deputy prime ministers of Viet Nam and Cambodia yesterday underscored their countries’ effective border co-operation and promised to enhance it even further at a meeting held in the Mekong delta province of An Giang.
Speaking at the third meeting on co-operation and development among border provinces, Viet Nam Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said: "We are pleased to review the progress achieved through this cooperation, especially the socio-economic development and strengthened security in the border provinces of the two countries in the past few years."
Hung and his Cambodian counterpart Sar Kheng agreed that these meetings helped expand their multi-faceted co-operation and friendship and strengthen security, defence and socio-economic development in the border areas. Sar Kheng, who is also Minister of Interior, said the co-operation between the border provinces in Cambodia and Viet Nam had enabled some significant achievements since the last meeting in Siem Reap in September 2005.
"[It] has helped to eradicate hunger and alleviate poverty, and improve living standards of residents in border areas."
The governments of Cambodia and Viet Nam had helped the provinces build markets and promote trade in border areas to create more jobs and fight hunger and poverty.The two countries issued a joint communique at the conclusion of the meeting in which they said the two sides had agreed to strengthen co-operation to foster trade and open more markets in the border areas.
They agreed to facilitate cross-border flow of goods and people and welcomed the implementation of the Greater Mekong Sub-region Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Movement of Goods and People in the GMS countries from next year.
They also agreed to encourage investment in agro-industry and compare notes in farming, animal husbandry, rural development and poverty reduction along the border.
Viet Nam agreed to provide electricity to some Cambodian border provinces and will consider building more power stations in Cambodia.
The two nations agreed to speed up construction of Se San Hydro-power Plant No. 1 and to jointly work on investment and construction of the Lower Se San Hydro-power Plant in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia.
They also agreed to work together to implement an agreement on Border Health Quarantine signed in March 2006.
They will increase exchanges of cultural and artistic troupes and people-to-people visits to raise awareness of the glorious cultures of both countries and deepen the traditional friendship and understanding between their border provinces.
They will strengthen border control, thus preventing illegal migration, transnational terrorism and other crimes, and resolve any border incidents amicably and peacefully. The two sides welcomed the setting up of the border marker at Moc Bai-Ba Vet last September and expressed determination to complete their land border demarcation plan by the end of 2008.
Besides government officials from both sides, the meeting was also attended by representatives from the Cambodian border provinces of Ratanakiri, Mundukuri, Kongpong Cham, Kandal, Takeo, Kampot, Prey Veng and Kratic, and their Vietnamese counterparts.
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French national sentenced to 6 years for prostituting women in Cambodia
The Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia
A French bar owner has been sentenced to six years in prison for prostituting his waitresses to foreigners in the Cambodian capital, a court official said Tuesday.Bruno Fumat, 52, was convicted in a trial Monday of forcing seven Vietnamese women to have sex with his customers, according to Kry Sok Y, a court prosecutor. He had denied the allegation.
Thach Va, a 32 year-old Vietnamese woman who is Fumat's girlfriend, was sentenced to six years in prison on the same charge, the prosecutor said, adding that the woman was charged with recruiting the girls.
During the trial, Bruno said he had hired the women to work merely as waitresses, Kry Sok Y said. His lawyer, Ly Sovanna dismissed the verdict as unjust and said he will file an appeal.
Fumat was arrested in June during a raid on his bar in the capital, Phnom Penh.
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Cambodia invites NGO to observe commune council's election
The National Election Committee of Cambodia here on Tuesday issued an invitation to both local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and representatives of all countries to observe the 2007 commune councils election.
The National Election Committee would like to invite all representatives of local, international non-governmental organizations and representatives of countries who wish to observe the election process in the Kingdom of Cambodia to contact the Cambodian embassies accredited to their respective countries," it said.
"The participation of local, international non-governmental organizations and representatives of all countries is important to have free, fair, and just commune councils elections in 2007," it added. The 2007 commune councils election's process started on September 21, 2006 and will end on May 23, 2007.
The registration of candidates will start from the beginning of January until the middle of February. The election campaign will take place from March 16 to March 30, 2007. April 1, 2007 will be the polling day, ballot counting, and publishing of results at polling stations.
The commune council¡¯s election is prelude to the general election in 2008, which will elect a new government for the country.
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Cambodia cancels position of first deputy governor for efficiency
The Cambodian government, on Tuesday,had canceled the position of "first deputy governor" for all provinces and cities, so as to remove the difficulty it constituted for administrative work, officials told Xinhua.
"From now on, we do not talk about quotas from parties in government positions," said government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith.
Local government used to have governor and first deputy governor either from the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) or the co- ruling Funcinpec Party in order to keep political balance, which however made a consensus hard to be reached as both leaders usually had different views, he said.
Now, as first deputy governor no longer existed, governor would therefore become the most powerful person to make decisions, which was expected to streamline the local governments and improve their efficiency, he said.
"This sub-decree will help the governments handle their work smoothly and spend less time for administrative procedures," he added. After the kingdom's co-ruling government was established in 2004, CPP and Funcipec started to share power in provincial and municipal governments. The positions of governor and first deputy governor must be divided between the two parties. Documents could only become valid after both governors signed them.
Source: Xinhua
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