Challenges ahead for visions of an ASEAN community

By Ian Timberlake (AFP)

HANOI — Street vendor Ta Thi Huong has never heard of the "ASEAN Community" which Southeast Asian leaders spent two days last week trying to refine.

"ASEAN? I don't know what it is," says Huong, 40, who wears a traditional conical bamboo hat as she sells apricots on the streets of the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. "What community?"

Making the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meaningful for the region's 590 million citizens is one of the bloc's challenges but observers say the vision faces even more fundamental issues.

Analysts say it is weighed down by wide development gaps within the region, entrenched domestic interests and the perennial distraction of Myanmar's failure to embrace democracy.

Focused on economic issues for most of its existence, ASEAN's 10 members in 2008 adopted a charter committing them to tighter links.

The group aims to form by 2015 a "community" based on free trade, common democratic ideals, and shared social goals including a common identity.

Senior government officials admit that progress has been greatest in the economic sphere, while the political and social "pillars" of their community need strengthening.

"It's easy to have a harmonisation of interests on the economic sphere," said Christopher Roberts, an expert in Asian politics and security at the University of Canberra.

But he said that creating a cohesive community was a task better carried out over decades and that the 2015 goal was unrealistic.

Political, security and human rights issues are "the real point of contention" between the very diverse group of countries, Roberts said.

ASEAN's membership ranges from communist Vietnam and Laos -- one of Asia's poorest nations -- to the Westernised city-state of Singapore, the absolute monarchy of Brunei and the vibrant democracy of Indonesia.

Other members are Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia and military-ruled Myanmar.
An ASEAN summit in Vietnam's capital Hanoi which ended Friday was again overshadowed by Myanmar, and by protests in Bangkok which prevented Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva from attending.

Thailand's long-running political drama is among the domestic issues within ASEAN nations which are distracting it from moving forward collectively, analysts say.

The group has been divided over how to respond to Myanmar, which is under United States and European Union sanctions.

But on Friday it urged Myanmar to ensure that this year's planned elections, which have been boycotted by the opposition, are fair and include all parties.

"You talk of a community, it means that there must be some degree of commonality within the region but as you know ASEAN is made up of countries of varying nature," said Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa.

"Economically less so, but certainly in the political area, we have different political systems working in our neighbourhood."

He said that should not be a problem as long as everyone is committed to the same universal principles including human rights and democracy.

At their summit, foreign ministers fleshed out their vision of a rules-based regional community by signing a protocol to help member nations resolve conflicts.

Scarred by wars in the 1960s and 1970s, Southeast Asian nations have largely lived peacefully together for at least two decades, but smaller-scale conflicts and sovereignty disputes persist.

Cambodia and Thailand have been locked in nationalist tensions and a troop standoff over a disputed temple on their border since July 2008. Soldiers have died on both sides.

Although ASEAN has helped the region avoid war and has allowed its members to get to know each other better, it "has not been really effective" on bilateral issues like the Thai-Cambodia dispute, said Pavin Chachavalpongpun from the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

"It it comes down to national interest, some members, they are not willing to rely on ASEAN... so at the end of the day the term 'community' is rather superficial," he said.

Ahead of the summit, ASEAN took another step towards building the social aspect of its community with the inauguration of a commission to address the rights of women and children.

Natalegawa, who says the ASEAN Community cannot be fairly compared with the much longer-established European Union, said one of group's challenges is how to make a difference in ordinary people's lives.

If it can do that, Huong, the Hanoi apricot seller, will take notice.

"I will like it if it makes our country better," she said, laughing.
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Thailand clashes leave 18 dead

By Patrick Winn and Mark Magnier

Anti-government protesters clash with troops in Bangkok, the capital. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva vows to restore peace and order.

"Red Shirt" protesters clash with soldiers in central Bangkok. Protest leader Nattawut Saikua said the deaths were the fault of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva for his refusal to step down and call new elections. (Rungroj Yongrit / EPA / April 10, 2010)

Reporting from Bangkok, Thailand, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- Anti-government demonstrators and Thai troops battled in the streets of Bangkok on Saturday in a conflagration of grenades, gasoline bombs and rubber bullets, leaving 18 people dead and more than 650 wounded.

Five soldiers and 13 civilians, including a Japanese journalist, were killed, the Associated Press reported.

As protests that have dragged on for a month sharply escalated, hundreds of the demonstrators also forced their way into government offices in two northern cities, raising the stakes for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his military-backed government.

"The situation at the moment is so confused," said Pranee Thiparat, a political science professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. "Anarchy rules Bangkok!"

In a televised address, Abhisit vowed to restore calm.

"The government and I are still responsible for easing the situation and trying to bring peace and order to the country," he said.

The "Red Shirt" protesters, mostly drawn from rural and working-class communities, are demanding that Abhisit dissolve parliament, step down and hold a general election.

The demonstrators, many of whom support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, want an end to what they see as entrenched rule by the rich and powerful. Thaksin, a billionaire, was ousted in a 2006 coup, charged by military officials with corruption and abuse.

As the riots spread Saturday night toward an area popular with backpackers, the army pulled back to Bangkok's old quarter and called for a truce.

"If this continues, if the army responds to the Red Shirts, violence will expand," army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.

But protesters raised the ante, calling on Abhisit to leave the country immediately. They also displayed a protester's corpse draped in a Thai flag, and held up pictures of several others, prompting cries of anger and weeping from the crowd.

Several soldiers who had been relieved of their weapons were marched onto a stage Saturday night. Protest leader Nattawut Saikua urged followers to detain more soldiers but to avoid hurting them, even as he blamed Abhisit for the deaths.

"This has resulted from the prime minister's refusal to step down," Nattawut said, referring to the dead protester. "This is Thai society's most serious loss."

Demonstrators believe that Abhisit, who came to power in a 2008 parlia- mentary vote, lacks a popular mandate.

With their demands unmet and the prime minister ostensibly willing to consider an election in a few months, the Red Shirts had risked seeing momentum dwindle among their hard-core supporters, said Don Pathan, a columnist for the Nation newspaper.

"It's definitely an escalation," he said.

Before Saturday's riots, police and soldiers, many from working-class backgrounds similar to the protesters', hadn't used deadly force.

A number of police officers expressed sympathy, some by hugging protesters, shaking hands and even waving Red Shirt paraphernalia.

Some analysts, meanwhile, said the unrest could prompt the military to step in, as it has several times before.

"There might be a coup," Chulalongkorn University's Thiparat said. "There's a real split both in the military and police forces, a serious one. That partly explains why the Abhisit government hasn't really been able to enforce law and order during the past three weeks."

mark.magnier @latimes.com

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Cambodia asks to convene ASEAN summit to help defuse Thai's extremely tense situation

PHNOM PENH, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Saturday night proposed to hold an urgent ASEAN summit to help defusing Thailand's extremely tense situation.

In his letter to Pham Gia Khiem, Vietnamese deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Hor Namhong said "in light of this very grave development which no one knows when it will end and whether it will lead to more bloodshed, I think that we, as fellow ASEAN member states cannot stand idle and leave ASEAN image at stake any further."

Hor said he refered to the current "extremely tense political situation in Thailand, which has already claimed many human casualties."

"Therefore, I would like to propose that Vietnam as Chair of ASEAN should issue a Declaration on the situation in Thailand, or convene an urgent special ASEAN Summit in order to help looking for any appropriate ways to defuse such an extremely explosive situation in our friendly Thailand," he said.

ASEAN comprises of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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'I will fight,' says girl, but denies report

The "Cambodian female" was accused of instigating the S. Phila. High assault.
By Jeff Gammage and Kristen A. Graham

Inquirer Staff Writers

For six weeks, since the release of the official Philadelphia School District report on the Dec. 3 violence, she has been the mystery girl of South Philadelphia High:

The rogue student identified only as "the Cambodian female," singled out as an instigator and assailant who joined predominantly African American youths in a series of assaults on Asians.

At 1:30 p.m. that day, the report said, two to four African American girls accompanied by a "possibly Cambodian" female attacked an Asian girl, then dragged her downstairs by her hair.

In a massive after-school assault on Broad Street two hours later, the Cambodian girl was "the first to attack" and "the most violent," identified by the principal as kicking a Vietnamese girl, the report said.

Who is she? Few know.

School District security chief James Golden said he didn't know who she was. Philadelphia police investigators said they didn't know her. The local Cambodian association has been unable to contact her.

After weeks of searching, however, The Inquirer has identified and interviewed the girl, who is 15. She denied any role in the violence of Dec. 3.

"I didn't do nothing wrong," she insisted. "Why, of all the people that's involved, they pick me out?"

She acknowledged being in a brawl the previous day. And she said no one should doubt her toughness when provoked. "I will fight."

The newspaper is withholding her name because of her age.

The district report, issued Feb. 23, cited the girl 10 times in its findings and twice in footnotes.

Cambodian leaders and Asian advocates question why a lone Cambodian girl is cited again and again among so large a group of assailants - at least 10 to 20 inside the school and 20 to 40 outside, according to the report.

They say it's a district attempt to portray the events of Dec. 3 not as "anti-Asian violence" specific to South Philadelphia High, but as general violence that could have happened anywhere.

"We won't make excuses for her, but I want to know how she's tied to the whole thing," said Rorng Sorn, executive director of the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia. "Why is this Cambodian female student being highlighted multiple times?"

Sorn questioned whether the girl had been mentioned so "she can be the scapegoat, and it can be, 'OK, the attackers also had Asians. Maybe it's not racially motivated.' "

Cecilia Chen, a lawyer with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, agreed.

"The district has made a very strong effort to portray the attacks as multiracial, and the fact that they focus so heavily on a single Cambodian female really speaks to that," she said. "It was only Asian immigrant students who were attacked on Dec. 3."

District officials vigorously denied there was any attempt to use the Cambodian girl as a means to broaden the races of those involved.

"That is absolutely not true," spokeswoman Evelyn Sample-Oates said. Asian and African American students were identified and suspended, she said.

James T. Giles, a retired federal judge, conducted the district inquiry at the request of School Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. The report named no students.

In an interview, Giles said his description of the Cambodian girl's actions had been based solely on the facts. She was deemed the "most violent" on Broad, where about 100 mostly African American youths surrounded 10 Vietnamese students, because she had been seen kicking a girl, he said.

"I can assure you there was no anti-Asian intention in the report I wrote," Giles said. "But people think what they want. There's nothing I can say to dissuade them from the views they have, nor would I attempt to."

The girl's involvement in the after-school attack "counters a proposition that all the attackers on Broad Street were black," he said. "If it's true the composition of the group was other than all black, then, as I said in the report, it requires looking at more complicated sociological issues than just black versus Asian."

The girl is a ninth grader who now attends a disciplinary school. She stands 5-foot-2 and weighs 98 pounds, all legs and long brown hair, and during the interview she wore stylish silver sandals, cutoff blue jeans, and a gray T-shirt. Her fingernails were manicured, the tips painted white.

Standing on the sidewalk near her South Philadelphia home, she slurped a cherry Popsicle. She had no idea the district existed. She said she had a long disciplinary record and had belonged to a street gang. But she said that on Dec. 3, she deliberately walked past the melee on Broad and was later shocked to be told by community liaison Wali Smith that she was being suspended.

"That's crazy," she said. "Mr. Wali Smith said, 'I saw you kick the Asian girl in the face. You ran across the street and kicked her in the face.' I said, 'No.' . . . Who's going to listen to a student? A teacher always wins."

Sample-Oates, the district spokeswoman, said Smith was not the only staffer to identify the girl. One of the victims and other eyewitnesses recognized her, she said.

The girl's mother, who speaks limited English, broke into tears at the mention of her daughter's name. She said the teen, the third-youngest of nine children, was impossible to control.

"I called the police on her last night," she said, sitting on the front steps of her rowhouse. "When I talk to her, she screams at me."

The girl's brother-in-law, Christopher Robinson, defended her as less culpable than others involved in the violence. It's true her gang pummeled new members as an initiation rite, but none carried guns or sold drugs, he said.

"I'm not saying she's an angel," Robinson said, adding that her past made her easy to blame.

The girl nodded.

"My record is real bad. I understand," she said.

Robinson said his sister-in-law, like some Cambodians born and raised here, identified with African American culture and sided with black students in disputes with Asian immigrants.

The district report said gang influences could not be excluded as a cause of some of the violence. Giles told The Inquirer that he had not researched the Cambodian girl's associations, and that his supposition of gang involvement had been based on other information.

Since the report's release, trying to determine the identity of the Cambodian girl has been the buzz among teachers at South Philadelphia High. After Dec. 3, she was suspended and transferred to Transitions South, an alternative school.

The Cambodian girl criticized the school disciplinary process as unjust. Two other Asian students who were punished also have said they were disciplined unfairly. In one case, the district retracted its allegation that one of the two, Hao Luu, was part of a gang.

In the interview, the Cambodian girl said her mother had attended her disciplinary hearing. But neither of them went to the second, formal hearing because the district notification did not arrive until it was over, the girl said.

Sample-Oates said the district had not been told the notice arrived late. The girl never contacted school or district officials to question her new school assignment, she said.

The Dec. 3 violence has spawned three investigations, including by the state Human Relations Commission and the U.S. Justice Department.

Giles' inquiry blamed the Dec. 3 violence on rumors that circulated after a confrontation between Asian and African American youths the previous day. Asian students dispute that, saying assaults against them have gone on unchecked for years.

They and their advocates say the key point is not the race of the attackers, even if one was Cambodian, but the fact that all the victims were Asian.

The Cambodian girl is first mentioned five pages into the 37-page report. Her role apparently started Dec. 2, the report said.

At 1:30 p.m. that day, a group of Asian and African American students had a verbal confrontation on the second floor of the school and were separated by school police. Afterward, at least two rumors emerged about the cause of the confrontation. One was that during third period "a Cambodian female had 'challenged' a group of three Vietnamese students to a fight."

At 3:15 p.m. that day, an after-school altercation occurred between African American and Asian students, including some who had been involved in the second-floor incident.

One of the victims to come forward publicly was Luu, a 17-year-old immigrant from Vietnam. He was beaten so badly that he vomited.

The report said one rumored assailant in that incident, which ended at a Walgreens store, was the Cambodian girl. The rumor was that "the arms of one of the Vietnamese students were held by African American females while the Cambodian female struck him in the head, rendering him unconscious."

The Cambodian girl told The Inquirer she had been involved in that fight, but only to aid a friend. An Asian boy "hit me with a shoe. I hit him back."

The first attack of Dec. 3 occurred at 8:45 a.m., when a group of mostly African American students assaulted an Asian student in Room 424, the report said.

At 10:30 a.m., eight Vietnamese youths went to school police and identified four African American assailants from the Walgreens incident.

"Apparently," the report said, "someone also identified a Cambodian female student as an assailant, as her name appears in the school police incident report."

The violence continued through the day.

The biggest attack occurred on Broad at dismissal, when the Vietnamese students were chased, surrounded, and beaten.

"A Cambodian female recognized by staff at the scene as an SPHS student was the first to attack the students," the report said, "and was reported to have been the most violent."

The victims could not identify their attackers, but "most of them did recognize the role that the Cambodian female played in initiating and participating in the attack," the report said. "The principal and other SPHS staff were close enough to the attack that they were able to clearly identify the Cambodian female."

The girl said the district had warned her that city police would charge her, but that never happened.

"We never had a court date or nothing," she said. Read more!

MILLVILLE: Wheaton Arts offers Cambodian Beadwork Workshop

Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, 1501 Glasstown Road, Millville, will host a workshop, Cambodian Beadwork On Fabric, from 2 to 4 p.m. April 25.

Chamroeun Yin will be the instructor for this workshop for people age 10 and older.

Cambodian traditional beadwork is a form of bead embroidery on fabric used by the artist when making Cambodian traditional wedding and dance costumes.

Participants will create flower and diamond designs with gold glass beads and sequins on a small multipurpose purse.

Students will learn about the history and cultural significance of Cambodian costume. This class is the first in a series of workshops offered in conjunction with the Cambodian Traditions: Wedding and Court Dances exhibition.

Fee is $30 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

For more information, call (856) 825-6800, e-mail mail@wheatonarts.org or visit www.wheatonarts.org.
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Area artists head to Cambodia to combat child trafficking

ROSEVILLE, CA - A team of local artists will be leaving Sunday for Cambodia on a two-week mission of mercy, painting murals to help children recovering from sex trafficking.

Roseville artist and father of two, Shane Grammar is leading a group called "Heart for the Kids."

Grammar said his six-person team will be traveling to Svay Pak just outside of the capital of Cambodia. The area is known worldwide as a notorious red light district for child prostitution.

The team plans on painting murals for a new building used to help educate rescued and recovering victims.

Grammar said he wants "to bring hope and joy to these girls who've been rescued from human trafficking through the arts. We believe these girls are pure. They've been born pure. But they've been taken advantage of."

According to UNICEF, 55-thousand girls and young women are involved in sex trafficking. 35 percent of those girls are under the age of 16.

The local team will be working closely with a larger effort by Agape International, which is based in Rocklin. Agape has spent the past two years working to help rescue children from sex trafficking in Svay Pak.

"We're really focused on prevention efforts there in returning hope to these people," said Renne Burkhalter of Agape International. "They've had no hope for alternatives. Every family in that village is expected to traffic their girls by the time they are 9 or 10 years old."

Grammar said hope is a powerful thing for child sex trafficking victims.

"We really believe that what we're doing will show the girls something they can fight for," Grammar said.

Grammar said he plans on blogging daily, offering updates and photos for supporters at his Heart for the Kids web site.

By Suzanne Phan, sphan@news10.net
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Thai-Cambodian relations improves: Kasit

By The Nation
Hanoi


Thai-Cambodia relations have ameliorated greatly due to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's positive comment, according to Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.

Kasit, who attended the just concluded Asean Summit here this morning, said that on the sideline of the summit, he met Hun Sen. "He was very positive. He also dismissed the report that the red shirts used the Cambodian airwave," Kasit said.

Relations between the two countries were downgraded last year when the fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra was appointed Hun Sen's economic advisor, which has set off verbal war between both sides.

Kasit said both countries are now considering tangible measures that would increase mutual confidence. Read more!

ASEAN Protocol On Settling Inter-Regional Disputes

(RTTNews) - A protocol for resolving regional disputes among Association Of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries has been signed at its ongoing summit in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, an ASEAN news release said on Thursday.

The protocol would help its transformation into a "rules-based organization," the release said.

Even though Foreign Ministers from the 10-member bloc signed the protocol, its terms of reference has not yet been finalised.

The mechanism could play a pivotal role in solving the long running dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over an area located near Preah Vihear temple situated in northern Cambodia near the border with Thailand.

Maps dating back to Cambodia's colonial days under French rule showed the temple, built mainly by rulers from the famous Khmer empire in the 11th and 12th century, as belonging to Cambodia but this was later disputed by Thailand on the grounds that it was not official and therefore invalid.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1962 ruled that the temple was indeed situated on Cambodian territory, but much of the surrounding land was claimed by Thailand leaving Cambodia with access only up a steep hillside.

In 2001, Thai troops blocked access to the temple for more than a year in a dispute over polluted water at the temple site and tensions rose again in 2008 following Cambodia's bid to get the temple listed as a World Heritage Site.

Last year, at least two Thai soldiers were killed and seven wounded in skirmishes between troops across the disputed border.

Besides the protocol would be useful in settling maritime disputes among ASEAN member countries. However, it is unlikely to get involved in cases relating to internal disputes of member states.

This is probably the reason why despite Vietnam's best efforts, ASEAN is unwilling to mediate in the internal dispute between Hanoi and Beijing over maritime territory in the South China sea.

China has also objected to the ASEAN being party to the dispute and insists that separate talks be held with each of the ASEAN member countries.

by RTT Staff Writer Read more!

Cambodia Opens Real Estate Market To Foreigners

Have you been hankering to buy real estate in Cambodia? OK, maybe not. But you may want to give it some thought now that a new law allows foreigners for the first time to purchase real estate in the impoverished Southeast Asian country.

Those in the know already know that some investors have long gotten around the prohibition. But do you really want to do something blatantly illegal in a place such as Cambodia? Well, now you won't have to.

The new law has passed the lower house of the Cambodian parliament. It still needs approval from the Senate there and the King, but that's considered nothing more than a technicality by the 'in the know' crowd.

There is just one small caveat you should be aware of, however, if you are thinking of buying into the Cambodian dream.

Under the new law, foreigners, says the Associated Press, will only be able to buy property at least one floor above the land. In other words, you can own the building sitting atop the land, but you can't own the land itself!

Agence France-Presse quotes Cambodia's land management minister as saying the new law would "boost the kingdom's real estate market and bring in more foreign investment."

The Xinhua News Agency quotes the minister as saying the new law will now permit foreigners to own apartments and condos above the ground, or from the first floor up. So, who owns the underground parking garage, is what I want to know?? Then again, maybe that's an LA thing. You could always take a rickshaw.

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think, The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate related issues for several years. Read more!

Cambodia minister says Mekong nations committed to improving living standards

Phnom Penh, April 6, 2010 AKP - The four member countries of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) -Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam - are committed to develop sustainably the Mekong basin, aiming at increasing the living standards of some 60 million people living along this river.

The commitment was made known by Water Resource and Meteorology Minister H.E. Lim Kean Hor at a press conference held here on April 5 at Phnom Penh International Airport upon the arrival of the Cambodian delegation from the First Mekong River Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand.

The four nations also recognized the development during the past 15 years of the International Mekong River Commission and they are determined to do their best to increase their joint cooperation in the sustainable development of the Mekong River basin, he said.

For its part, China promised to strengthen cooperation with the International Mekong River Commission and supported the good cooperation between China and the commission in information exchange on water change at the upper parts.

The International Mekong River Commission was established in 1995. It has four members; the upper-Mekong basin countries - Myanmar and China -have not joined the commission yet, but remained its dialogue partners. They also sent their participants to the summit.

Regarding the negative impacts on Mekong's water due to the construction of hydroelectric dams, Lim Kean Hor, also president of the National Mekong River Commission of Cambodia, said hydroelectric dams are very necessary, especially for Cambodia. "But, we also think about the development and the sustainability of the environment and nature," he underlined.

Cambodian Premier Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen on April 4-5 led a high-ranking delegation to participate in the First Mekong River Commission Summit, which will be held every four years according to the alphabetic order of the member countries.

Below is the full Declaration of the Mekong River Commission:

"MRC Hua Hin Declaration'Meeting the Needs, Keeping the Balance: Towards Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin'" 5 April 2010

Preamble We, the Heads of the Governments of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, meet in Hua Hin, Thailand for the First Summit of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) on the occasion of its 15th Anniversary.

We recall the signing on 5 April 1995 of the Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin (herein referred to as the Mekong Agreement) and the establishment of the MRC by the representatives of the Lower Mekong Basin Governments, and reaffirm our political commitment to its implementation;

We recognise that the sustainable management of water resources in the Mekong River Basin is crucial to the economic and social well- being of the riparian population and to the poverty alleviation efforts of Basin governments;

We note that accelerating the development of water and related resources will make a significant contribution to the socio- economic development of the region, but may also have negative impacts on the Basin environment that need to be fully addressed; and

We affirm our strong and continued commitment to cooperate and promote the sustainable development, utilisation, conservation andmanagement of the water and related resources of the Mekong River Basin and agree to the following statements.

Recognition of achievements

We, the Heads of Government, recognise that the institutional development of the MRC has advanced from its inception as the United Nations based Mekong Committee and Interim Mekong Committee to the independent knowledge-based inter-governmental River Basin Organization of today. An increasing level of ownership of the organization by Member Countries has led to a strengthening of cooperative governance and increased effectiveness over time.

We applaud the significant achievements of cooperation among Member Countries in the 15 years since the signing of the Mekong Agreement.

We are encouraged by the achievements of the MRC and its Member Countries through our joint efforts in implementation of the Mekong Agreement that include strengthening dialogue on regional water resources development; facilitating a Basin-wide, consultative planning process through an Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) approach; reducing the risks of regular flooding and promoting the beneficial effects of the annual flood pulse; increasing international trade opportunities through safer and more effective river transport and legal frameworks for cross-border navigation; defining a balance between the opportunities and risks of proposed hydropower projects; an enhanced understanding of the Basin's aquatic biodiversity and fisheries; providing environmental decision support; and initiating a process to help the people of the Basin adapt to the consequences of climate change.

Over the past fifteen years, the water and related resources of the Basin have been protected through the effective environmental governance of MRC and its Member Countries. Mekong partners and stakeholders now know and understand more about this complex and productive river system. We note with appreciation these positive outcomes that have come about through a strong sense of regional cooperation and continued national capacity building among the Member Countries. We acknowledge the progress made to extend cooperation between the MRC and international, regional and local partners including MRC's Dialogue Partners, namely the People's Republic of China and the Union of Myanmar, and its Development Partners. The sharing of hydro-meteorological data by People's Republic of China in the current drought situation is highly appreciated and we hope the cooperation will be continued. We appreciate the efforts of MRC to further strengthen and expand its relationships with People's Republic of China, Myanmar and all MRC partners in pursuing the organization's development goals.

We note that the MRC has forged new alliances and working relationships with a range of international organizations including ASEAN, the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank to further promote the sustainable development and management of the Mekong Basin's water resources.

We welcome and appreciate the continued and extensive strategic, financial and technical support from MRC's Development Partners over the years which has allowed the MRC to successfully implement the Mekong Agreement and become a more effective organization.

We acknowledge with appreciation the outcome of the International Conference on Transboundary Water Resources Management in a Changing World held prior to the First MRC Summit as reflected in the Conference Summary.

Regional opportunities and challenges

We, the Heads of Government, acknowledge that there are both opportunities and challenges to be faced by the MRC over the next decade as a result of development pressures including expanding populations and rapid economic growth. We commit to cooperate further to tackle critical emerging challenges in the Mekong Basin that include: reducing the loss of life and assets at risk from flooding and loss of livelihoods from drought conditions; better integrating sustainability considerations into the development of the Basin's significant hydropower potential; ensuring effective management of water for agricultural production, particularly as part of drought management strategies; preparing for climate change adaptation measures to minimise poverty and food insecurity among vulnerable communities; minimising any deterioration of water quality, loss of wetlands and deforestation, which present risks to biodiversity and peoples' livelihoods; better managing the Basin's unique natural fisheries; and reducing the risks associated with expansion of river transport.

Building on the solid foundation of 15 years of capacity building, we encourage MRC to address these challenges through the preparation and implementation of the IWRM-based Basin Development Strategy and the forthcoming MRC Strategic Plan for 2011-2015. We note that significant opportunities exist through intensifying partnerships and relationships with an increasing range of Partners, including ASEAN, the ADB, the GMS, the World Bank and other transboundary river basin organizations. We confirm that the continued focus of MRC on active stakeholder participation with a range of civil society organizations and the private sector will strengthen its ability to meet its development goals.

Vision of the MRC

We, the Heads of Government, note:

The existing Vision of the Mekong River Basin as "An economically prosperous, socially just and environmentally sound Mekong River Basin"; " The Vision for the MRC as

A world class, financially secure, International River Basin Organization serving the Mekong countries to achieve the Basin Vision"; and

The Mission of the MRC, "To promote and coordinate sustainable management and development of water and related resources for the countries' mutual benefit and the people's well-being."

We resolve to enhance efforts to realize these goals through a broad consultative approach that feeds into and influences MRC's strategic directions and ensures continued relevance of the MRC for future generations.

Priority Areas of Action

We, the Heads of Government, pronounce that building on the achievements of fifteen years of implementation of the Mekong Agreement, further cooperation over the coming years between the governments of Member Countries will be required to optimise multiple-use of water resources and mutual benefits for all riparians, to avoid any harmful effect that might result from natural occurrences and man-made activities and to protect the immense value of natural ecosystems and ecological balance.

We expect the MRC to focus on and prioritise:

Adopting and implementing the IWRM-based Basin Development Strategy;

Intensifying efforts to effectively manage the risks from flood, drought and sea level rise including establishment of forecasting and warning systems across the whole basin;

Facilitating an international legal framework that encourages river navigation and trade;

Researching and addressing the threat to livelihoods posed by climate change and cooperating with other regional partners in addressing haze pollution;

Monitoring and taking measures to improve water quality in priority areas of the Basin;

Sustaining the existing and future uses of water and related resources, and aquatic biodiversity, wetlands and forests in the Basin;

Identifying and advising on the opportunities and challenges of hydropower and other infrastructure development in the Basin, especially risks as they pertain to the protection of food security and livelihoods;

Continuing to improve the implementation of the Procedures for Data and Information Exchange and Sharing, the Procedures for Water Use Monitoring, the Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement and the Procedures for Maintenance of Flows on the Mainstream and finalise the Procedures for Water Quality;

Exploring and identifying opportunities for expansion of cooperation between the organization's current Dialogue Partners and Development Partners, in particular to address common water resources and climate change challenges, as well as identifying new Development Partners and other stakeholders.

Way ahead We, the Heads of Government, reaffirm our solidarity and the highest level of political commitment to the implementation of the Mekong Agreement.

We commit to working together to achieve sustainable integrated water resources management for sustainable development, economic growth and the alleviation of poverty and improvement of livelihoods in the Mekong River Basin. In parallel, we recognise that efforts need to be expanded to protect the natural resources of the Mekong Basin for the sustainable management and use of the Basin's resources.

We reiterate our support for the MRC's role in promoting and facilitating coordinated and sustainable development; enhancing and strengthening the working relationships with Dialogue Partners, ASEAN, the GMS, the ADB, the World Bank, other Development Partners, civil society, the private sector and others. In this connection, we welcome other Riparian States to join the MRC in the future.

Consistent with the Initiative for ASEAN Integration, we emphasise the need to prioritise resources, funding and capacity building for those Member Countries where poverty is highest and economic need is most urgent.

Recognising that economic development is progressing in the Mekong Region, we commit to a vision for the MRC to be financially sustained by Member Countries by 2030. We refer to institutional models adopted by other international river basin organizations and encourage the MRC to increasingly explore de-centralised implementation modalities for its core river basin management functions.

We agree that progress made in implementing the resolutions of this Declaration will be monitored through the MRC Council. We decide that an MRC Summit will be convened every four years. The host country will rotate among the MRC Member Countries in alphabetical order.

We express our sincere appreciation to the host country, Thailand, for hosting the First MRC Summit.

ADOPTED at Hua Hin, Thailand on 5 April 2010 in the English Language."
Read more!

Drought grips parts of China, Southeast Asia amid dam concerns

By Miranda Leitsinger, CNN

Hong Kong, China (CNN) -- Dams have dried up in southwest China, Thai fishermen have almost completely stopped their fishery activities on the Mekong River, and nearly half of northern Vietnam's farmland is under threat because of a regional drought.

The region is facing water shortages and low water levels along the Mekong River -- particularly the tributaries that feed into it -- after a shorter-than-usual monsoon season last year and light rainfall in the dry season, affecting millions of people, livestock and hectares of land, and generating losses in the millions of dollars, officials from various countries and the United Nations say.

"This is a regional drought. It's not just restricted to one area. We expect it to go on now for maybe another two to three weeks before the rainy season starts, and then the water levels on the river will hopefully start to rise," said Jeremy Bird, chief executive officer of the Mekong River Commission, which was formed in 1995 by Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to oversee sustainable development along the waterway.

In southwest China, the drought has lasted for six months and is still spreading, resulting in an economic loss of more than $2.5 million in Yunnan province, according to a presentation made last week by Chen Mingzhong, deputy director general of China's Ministry of Water Resources, to a Mekong River Commission summit.

Less rainfall in the Mekong River basin led to a decline in water levels, with 662 rivers and water at 3,674 small dams drying up, Chen said in the presentation.

In Thailand, 7.6 million people and 59 of the country's 76 provinces have been affected by the drought, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. The drought has been severe in the Southeast Asian nation, said Srisuwan Kuankajorn, co-director of the environmental nonprofit Terra in Thailand.

"According to villagers who live along the river in Thailand ... the Mekong is really drying. At some point, people seem to be able to even walk across the river, which has never happened before," he said Monday, adding that some locals have said they couldn't travel by boat or grow crops along banks of the rivers, and some reported cargo getting stuck.

People who live in the north, particularly Chiang Rai province, were in "big trouble," Srisuwan said, citing information received from local nonprofit groups. "They cannot fish. Fisheries are a very important source of income and source of protein ... they have almost completely stopped their fishery activities."

The Mekong is nearly 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) long, stretching from the Tibetan plateau, through southern China, and then along the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, through Cambodia to Vietnam. Some 60 million people live in the river basin, and Bird said the river's fisheries are the most productive in the world.

Forty percent of northern Vietnam's total farming area was under threat and 22 provinces on high alert for forest fires because of the dry conditions, according to the United Nations. Saltwater has also flowed into southern Vietnam's Mekong Delta in greater amounts than usual because of the low water levels, threatening rice and other crops on 620,000 hectares.

The mainstream Mekong in its upper reaches has now recovered from one-in-50-year low levels reached in February, but problems remain in tributaries that feed into the river, Bird said.
"Those are still running at extreme dry levels, the driest we have seen on record for the 50 years that we have been recording," Bird said. "It's really a question of very low water levels for communities, drinking supplies for agriculture, for livestock."

China's dams on the Upper Mekong Basin -- so far, three are operational and one is being filled with water -- have come under scrutiny amid the drought and river lows, with some critics questioning if Beijing was stocking up water in a bid to battle the drought in that country's southwest.

At the Mekong River Commission meeting last week in Thailand, Chen, the Ministry of Water Resources official, said his country was not to blame.

"The current extreme dry weather in the lower Mekong River Basin is the root cause for the reduced run-off water and declining water level in the main stem Mekong," he said in comments published by the Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency. "The hydropower stations built on the Lancang River (Mekong) will not increase the chance of flood and drought disasters in the downstream. Instead, it will considerably enhance the capacity of flood control, drought relief, irrigation and water supply for the downstream countries."

There are eight existing or planned Mekong dams in China's Yunnan province, and 11 proposed by Cambodia, Laos and Thailand are in various stages of research, according to the Mekong River Commission.

The commission was studying the influence of upstream dams in China, but past studies showed dams can have beneficial and detrimental effects.

For example, Bird said releases of water from dams upstream in China in early March this year helped keep water levels in northern Laos higher than they would have been in natural conditions and helped the upper reaches of the Mekong move from the one-in-50-year lows to one-in-10-year lows.

He also said China shared data at the meeting indicating that more water was being released from its dams rather than stored from December 2009 through March.

"We see the cause as extremely low rainfall, both at the end of the wet season and this dry season -- not due to dam operation," Bird said.

But for Srisuwan Kuankajorn of Terra, the dams are the main problem. He said villagers had detected fluctuations in water levels that they did not believe could be attributed to rainfall, rather thinking it was because of releases of water from dams by China.

"I don't ignore what the Chinese authorities are trying to say -- the drought, the low rainfall," he said, but added that China's actions had "been done without transparency, without taking into consideration the principles of sharing." Read more!

Maoist rebels kill at least 76 soldiers in east India

The guerrillas' attack on paramilitaries in Chhattisgarh state is among the deadliest in memory and illustrates the persistence of an insurgency that India has tried to wipe out since the late 1960s.

Men carry an injured paramilitary soldier for treatment at Jagdalpur in India. Maoist rebels launched a series of deadly attacks on forces patrolling the forests of eastern India. (Associated Press / April 6, 2010)


By Mark Magnier and Anshul Rana


Reporting from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and New Delhi - Maoist rebels in eastern India killed at least 76 paramilitary soldiers Tuesday, authorities said, underscoring the continued strength of an insurgency that India has tried for decades to wipe out. The dawn attack in Chhattisgarh state was among the deadliest by the guerrillas in memory.

S. R. Kalluri, a deputy police inspector in densely forested Dantewada district where the attack occurred, told local media that the soldiers were on an extended patrol and stopped to rest Monday night.

At some point, insurgents learned of their location and "at the break of dawn the Maoists attacked," Kalluri said. "Now we are chalking a strategy to retaliate."

Several thousand people have died in attacks since the Maoist insurgency began in the late 1960s. The rebels are said to number about 20,000, including an estimated 6,000 hard-core combatants.

In recent months, they have stepped up their attacks in response to a police offensive initiated late last year across several "red corridor" states. On Sunday, rebels set off a land mine that killed at least 10 members of an elite anti-Maoist unit in the mineral-rich eastern state of Orissa.
The rebels are funded in part by hundreds of millions of dollars extorted from companies each year. Their arsenal includes automatic rifles, shoulder-fired rocket launchers, mines and related explosives, some of which have been stolen from Indian authorities and some purchased from Chinese smugglers.

The Maoists, who say they are fighting for poor farmers and landless workers, are particularly strong in impoverished, rural areas where basic government services are limited and local corruption is endemic. Even as India's expanding middle class struts its stuff in the cities, clogging roads and crowding shopping centers, vast swaths of the country have not shared in their gains.

Home Affairs Minister P. Chidambaram said there was an evident intelligence failure that saw the patrol, a joint operation of state and central government forces, walk into a trap. Monday was reportedly the second night that the paramilitary units had been camping out in remote jungle terrain.

"I am deeply shocked at the loss of lives," he said. "This shows the savage nature" of the Maoists.

Police spokesman R. K. Vij estimated that 1,000 rebels took part in the attack, while others put the number closer to 300.

While the state has claimed progress in its current "Operation Green Hunt" campaign against the Maoists, the number of attackers and their ability to avoid detection suggests the government faces a tough fight ahead. More than 1,000 attacks, resulting in 600 deaths, were recorded last year.

"They will hit you where you are the weakest and run and hide when you are strong," said Ajai Sahni, executive director of the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, a think tank. "It is the basic principal of guerrilla warfare. . . . The government needs to stop telling people about massive deployments and giving sound bites to the media. It needs to develop a strategy."

Air force pilots worked Tuesday afternoon to fly the injured and dead from the area, even as senior military officials rushed to the site and pledged to redouble their efforts to root out the insurgency.

mark.magnier@latimes.com
Read more!

Benefit for Cambodian Landmine Removal today in Palm Springs

Peabody's Cafe in downtown Palm Springs is set to host its third annual benefit for Cambodian Landmine Removal from 7 to 9 p.m.

Attendees can bid on exotic items made in Cambodia as well as items donated by Palm Springs merchants, according to a Small Hotels of Palm Springs (SHoPS) e-mail. The items to be auctioned typically value $30-$50, the e-mail stated.

Cambodian Landmine Removal has "a huge impact on those in especially rural and more remote areas who suffer from the fear of living amongst old land mines and far-to-often (sic) the devastating injuries sustained when encountering them directly," the e-mail stated. "This organization also takes care of about thirty youngsters who've lost limbs due to landmines."

Those interested can RSVP by sending an e-mail to peabodyscafe@gmail.com with a head-count in the subject line, the e-mail stated.. Read more!

Aspire Signs MOU to Explore Mining Property in Cambodia

Aspire Has Obtained the Right for Exploration and Geological Data Collection in Cambodia

TORONTO, April 6, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aspire International, Inc. ("Aspire" or the "Company") (OTCBB:APIT) announced today that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed with the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (MIME) of Cambodia for conducting geological data collection in Phnum Ngout area, Salakrau district, Pailin province, Ratanakmondol and Samlot districts, Battambang province, Kingdom of Cambodia.

The objective of the MOU is the cooperation of geological data collection for preliminary geological survey for mineral deposits in the above-mentioned area. The MIME Ministry of Cambodia agrees to allow the Company to cooperate with General Department of Mineral Resources (GDMR) to conduct the geological data collection to consider in applying for the exploration and exploiting licenses in the future.

The surface area by mining standards is quite exceptional at 261 square kilometers. This sizeable area under acquisition is considered to contain rich amounts of Iron Ore that, based on historical exploration data, represents a potential resource size believed to be in excess of 1 billion tons of exploitable Iron Ore.

Iron Ore has more than doubled in price over the past year and currently sells for as high as $140 per ton. With recent media reports of expectations of prices in excess of $200 per ton by year's end, it makes this MOU an especially valuable opportunity for Aspire to acquire a very sizeable Iron Ore deposit so close to China, which is by far the largest importer and most voracious consumer of Iron Ore in the entire world.

Aspire International Inc. (OTCBB:APIT) was registered on December 18, 2007 in the state of Maryland. Perfisans Networks Corporation, founded in 2001, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aspire International Inc. and is headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Canada.

More information can be obtained from the Company's web sites at www.perfisans.com and http://www.apit.ca

Cautionary Statement

This press release contains statements relating to future results of Aspire (including certain projections and business trends) that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry and the markets addressed by the company's and its customers' products; demand for and market acceptance of new and existing products; successful development of new products; the timing of new product introductions; changes in product mix; product obsolescence; the availability of manufacturing capacity; fluctuations in manufacturing yields; pricing pressures and other competitive factors; the ability to develop and implement new technologies and to obtain protection for the related intellectual property; the uncertainties of litigation; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; as well as other risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in Aspire's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CONTACT: Aspire International, Inc.
Investor Relations
(905)943-9996 x 230
ir@perfisans.com Read more!

ASIA: People’s voice absent in Mekong river talks - activists

BANGKOK, 5 April 2010 (IRIN) - Millions of people living in and around Southeast Asia’s largest river, the Mekong, need a greater voice in determining its future, say activists.

“There needs to be more recognition of the voice of the people who depend on the river and what their vision of the river is,” Carl Middleton, the Mekong programme coordinator for the US-based NGO International Rivers, told IRIN.

“Decision-makers should listen better to the people that are affected by [infrastructure] projects.”

His comments coincide with the conclusion of the first ever Mekong River Summit on 5 April in the Thai coastal town of Hua Hin, which brought together leaders from China, Laos, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Thailand and Myanmar to discuss its management.

The summit, organized by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to mark its 15th anniversary, comes at a critical time: the river’s water-level is at its lowest point in 50 years in Laos and northern Thailand.

Boat traffic has been halted along many parts of the 4,350km river, and fisheries and irrigation systems have been adversely affected.

Dams in China

While unusually low rainfall is widely believed to be responsible for the current low level of water in the Mekong, many environmentalists and NGOs claim China has exacerbated the situation by damming the river upstream.

China has four dams on the river and four more planned, but Beijing denies the dams are contributing to the current low level of the Mekong, and used the MRC meetings to reiterate its stance that natural causes are to blame.

"The current extreme dry weather in the lower Mekong river basin is the root cause for the reduced run-off water and declining water level in the main stem Mekong," Chen Mingzhong, deputy director-general of China’s Department of International Cooperation, Science and Technology, told a conference on 2 April that preceded the international summit.

On 4 April, China’s delegation promised increased cooperation among Mekong river countries on water management issues, particularly concerning its dams. This comes after China agreed for the first time ever late last month to share water-level data at two dams.

“This is a positive step,” Middleton told IRIN. A lack of rainfall is obviously a very important factor in the low level of the Mekong, he said, but questions remain as to whether China’s dams have also exacerbated the situation, or whether the dams could be used to alleviate the problem.
The summit focused on regional cooperation in solving drought and flooding problems in the Mekong region. The final joint declaration covered how the river can be used to reduce poverty, boost sustainable energy development, help people adapt to climate change, improve infrastructure and increase the involvement of civil society stakeholders in planning and decision-making.

Read more!

China rejects Mekong River dam criticism

China has rejected claims that its dams on the Mekong River are to blame for record low water levels in downstream nations.

Speaking at a summit in Thailand, China's vice foreign minister said drought and not hydropower was to blame for the reduced river flow.

More than 60m people from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam depend on the Mekong River for their livelihoods.

Parts of the river are at their lowest levels in 50 years.

Further downstream drought, salt deposits and reduced soil nutrients are threatening food production in the rice bowls of Cambodia and Vietnam.

'Serious problems'

The leaders of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam all attended the Mekong River summit in the Thai resort of Hua Hin.

Addressing the summit, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva warned that the river would not survive without good management.

"The Mekong River is being threatened by serious problems arising from both the unsustainable use of water and the effects of climate change," he said.

Activists have blamed Chinese dams for contributing to the drop in river flow and producing irreversible change to the river's ecology.

China has eight planned or existing dams on the mainstream river and says it wants more.

But Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao said the dams were not the problem.

"Statistics show that the recent drought that hit the whole river basin is attributable to the extreme dry weather, and the water level decline of the Mekong River has nothing to do with the hydropower development," he said.

He said that by regulating water flow, the dams could help with flood prevention and drought relief.

And he said that China had increased its information sharing in recent months - highlighting the provision since March of data from two hydrological stations to downstream nations.

Mr Abhisit said that the dialogue with China had been positive, and that he hoped information sharing would become "more systematic and more consistent" in the future. Read more!

Man fatally wounded in S. Phila. shooting

By VALERIE RUSS
Philadelphia Daily News

Ranny Thon was a peacemaker who was trying to calm an angry man when he was shot and killed early Saturday in South Philadelphia, relatives said yesterday.

The man killed Thon, 24, and wounded three relatives: a 22-year-old man who was shot in the shoulder; a 24-year-old man who was shot in the thigh and back; and a 17-year-old female cousin, who was grazed in the stomach, police said.

Yesterday, the 17-year-old cousin was sitting on the front steps of a house on 8th Street, near Moyamensing Avenue, with relatives and friends. The young woman, who asked that her name not be used, translated for Thon's mother, who came to this country from Cambodia and spoke Khmer, when she appeared briefly at the front door.

"She said to let everyone know, 'I miss him and I love him very much and I feel like I am going crazy because my son died,' " the young woman said.

Thon and his relatives were shot as they stood outside Thon's aunt's house. The girl said she believed the shooter was also Cambodian. She said Thon and his siblings were born in the United States.

No arrests had been made as of last night.

The relatives kept candles burning at a sidewalk memorial that included incense, a bowl of noodles, a cup of beer and a white plastic chair filled with stuffed animals and a picture of Thon.

The 17-year-old cousin said Thon had tried to intervene when a man came by about 2:30 a.m. and began arguing with a couple who were out on the sidewalk with her male relatives.

The man left the block for about 10 minutes and when he returned, "he got mad because the guy he was arguing with had gone," the 17-year-old said.

As Thon tried to calm the man down, the gunman started shooting. Her three male relatives were shot outside and the teenager as she stood just inside the front door. "I just screamed and started crying," the girl said. "I didn't know I was hit until I got inside."

Read more!

Cambodia OKs foreign property ownership

PHNOM PENH—Cambodia's parliament on Monday approved a law allowing foreign ownership of property such as apartments and office buildings, in a measure intended to increase economic growth.

The draft law, which will permit foreigners to buy leaseholds on buildings and apartments, but not own the land beneath them, was passed when 85 of 96 members of parliament who attended the Monday meeting voted in favor.

Land management minister Im Chhun Lim told the national assembly the law would boost the kingdom's real estate market and bring in more foreign investment.

The law will take effect after approval from Cambodia's Senate and promulgation from King Norodom Sihamoni, which are both considered formalities.

Under old rules, foreign property investment could only be made through the name of a Cambodian national and many were unwilling to risk losing their assets to potentially unscrupulous local partners.

The cash-strapped country's investment law was amended in 2005 to allow foreign ownership of buildings but the legislation was never implemented and the initiative foundered.

Despite the restrictions, billion-dollar skyscraper projects and sprawling satellite cities promising to radically alter Phnom Penh have bloomed over the past few years.

But many projects have been halted or slowed down as Cambodia was buffeted by the world financial crisis after several years of double-digit growth, fuelled mainly by tourism and garment exports.
Read more!

Thaksin not allowed to use Cambodia to criticise Thai govt : Hun Sen

By The Nation


Convicted ex-Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra will not be invited to Cambodia during the red shirts' protest to prevent him from using the country as a base to criticise Abhisit government, Cambodia's PM Hun Sen said Sunday.

As long as the red shirts hold mass rally in Thailand, Thaksin, an economic adviser to Hun Sen and the Khmer government, will not invited as guest of Cambodia.

Thai Deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban said Hun Sen conveyed the message during their meeting on the sideline of mekong Summit in Hua Hin.

Hun Sen's message surprised many. It is because Hun Sen had angered Thai government by appointing Thaksin as economic adviser and the appointment led to the downgrading of the mutual ties.

Hun Sen himself had criticised Abhisit government, saying that his government is not willing to deal with Abhisit government. He even challenged Abhisit to dissolve the House and hold a snap election
Read more!

PAD protesters tell Cambodia's Hun Sen he's not welcome in Hua Hin

VOICING THEIR OPINION: Members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy show their opposition to Cambodian Prime Minsiter Hun Sen yesterday.

PHETCHABURI : More than 100 activists arrived in Cha-am on Saturday to deliver a letter protesting against Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's visit to Thailand.

Key People's Alliance for Democracy figure Veera Somkwamkid led the group and handed the letter of protest to Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the foreign minister.

Hun Sen is due to attend the Mekong River Commission summit in Hua Hin tomorrow.

Mr Veera said the Cambodian prime minister is "persona non grata" in Thailand and accused Hun Sen of having tried to interfere in Thailand's domestic affairs.

He said Hun Sen showed a disregard of the Thai judicial system when he criticised it over its handling of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's legal cases.

Mr Veera said Hun Sen offended Thais by appointing Thaksin as an economic adviser and his own personal adviser.

Mr Veera attacked Hun Sen for putting personal relationships and individual interests above relations between Thailand and Cambodia.

Mr Veera accused the Cambodian prime minister of trying to infringe on Thailand's sovereignty by sending troops to invade the 4.6-square-kilometre area surrounding the Preah Vihear temple. He also alleged Hun Sen was trying to take control of other disputed areas along the Thai-Cambodian border and the overlapping areas in the Gulf of Thailand.

Mr Veera said he and other Thais would fight to protect the country's territorial integrity.

He said Thais would not be bound by any agreements and actions by past and present governments that violate the constitution and hurt the country's interests.

Read more!

Charity Concert for Cambodia

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Cellist Mark Kosower and pianist Oh Ji-won will perform in a fundraising concert for disadvantaged Cambodians.

The duo’s recitals, organized by PBC and Sharing Fund, a nongovernmental organization that helps underdeveloped Asian countries, will be held on Wednesday and Friday at Kumho Art Hall, downtown Seoul.

Kosower is a renowned American artist who is a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize. He currently holds a solo position with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in Germany. Oh is an accomplished chamber musician who has performed extensively in Europe and North American including the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Lincoln Center in New York.

The first concert will feature Rachmaninov’s Sonata for Cello and Sonata No. 19. Singers from the Rime Opera Ensemble will take the stage during the second half of the performance to deliver widely loved songs such as ``Time to Say Goodbye’’ and ``Ah! Je Veux Vivre’’ from Gounod’s opera ``Romeo and Juliet.’’

On Friday, Kosower and Oh will take the stage again for more chamber music. The duo will play Debussy’s Cello Sonata No. 1, Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 2 and Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances.

Also included in the program are Mendelssohn’s Cello Sonata No. 2 and Dutilleux’s ``Trois Strophes sur le Nom de Sacher.’’

Tickets for both concerts cost from 30,000 to 100,000 won. Proceeds from the event will go toward an aid fund to help develop agricultural and educational projects, provide medical assistance to landmine victims and donate wheelchairs to the disabled, among other causes.
Read more!

Cambodia may tweak Phuket property

Phuket NEWS Hound

– A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket's international community

PHUKET: Cambodia is trying to encourage international investment by relaxing laws on property ownership by foreigners.

The Financial Times reports that Cambodia's draft law is under discussion at the National Assembly and would allow non-nationals to fully own residential apartments for the first time.

While resort islands such as Phuket and Bali remain the most popular destinations for foreigners looking to purchase a holiday home in southeast Asia, Cambodia's lawmakers hope deregulation will help to lift the Cambodian property market out of the doldrums.

While Hong Kong and Singapore pose few barriers to foreign ownership of property, the less developed nations of southeast Asia still labor under significant restrictions against it. In Thailand, total foreign ownership of buildings must not exceed 49 per cent.

But with property prices under pressure across Asia, a number of countries are now considering liberalising discriminatory property laws.

Protests shut down shopping
The Star
More than than 30,000 red shirted protesters converged on the main shopping area in Bangkok on Saturday and threatened to stay until the prime minister calls elections, forcing big department stores to close and paralysing traffic.

The red-shirted protesters swarmed an intersection whose upmarket stores are a symbol of wealth in the Thai capital, accusing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government of neglecting the poor on the 21st day of their mass street rally.

Central World, the second-largest shopping complex in Southeast Asia, and other big malls shut their doors in response to the protests.

Jatuporn Prompan, a red-shirt leader, said from a makeshift stage: "It is time for the under-privileged to liberate themselves from oppression made by the elite-backed government.”

While the protests in the nation's capital continue, Phuket remains calm, as does the rest of Thailand outside the Greater Bangkok area. However, the political turmoil is clearly inflicting mounting damage on tourism in Phuket.

On Wednesday, Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) president Somboon Jirayus said that tourism in the resort province this year has seen only 60-70 per cent of the check-ins it enjoyed during the same period last year.

Thailand faces sugar shortage
The Nation
Thailand’s Commerce Ministry has found that 20 provinces are facing an inadequate supply of sugar, while consumers are paying more than the controlled price in 50 provinces.

Furthermore, Thailand is facing a serious sugar shortage, as most millers have refused to supply the commodity to the ministry for a special 80,000-tonne allocation aimed at easing the tight market situation.

Yanyong Phuangrach, permanent secretary to the ministry, yesterday said that since an agreement was reached late last month, only one miller had come forward, supplying only 360 tons.

The ministry now plans to send teams to inspect sugar millers' stockpiles to prevent hoarding and price speculation. If the government were to find any unfair practices, traders could face imprisonment and a 140,000-baht fine, the ministry warned. Read more!

From California to Cambodia, Fighting for Women

By SETH MYDANS


MAK PRAING, Cambodia

IT was at Berkeley in the 1970s that Mu Sochua, a shy teenager fleeing a war in Cambodia, learned the thrill of speaking her mind.

The daughter of a well-to-do merchant in Phnom Penh, she had been sent to the West at the age of 18 to study and to be safe from the fighting that later brought the brutal Khmer Rouge regime to power.

“When I hit San Francisco I knew that was my city,” said Ms. Mu Sochua, who is now 55. “I began to shine. I let my hair grow. I looked like a hippie.” She learned English, she said, by listening to the Beatles.

She earned a master’s degree in social work from Berkeley and transformed herself enthusiastically from a demure traditional Cambodian woman to one who knew her rights and was not shy about demanding them.

That is her problem today as the most prominent female member of Parliament, a leader of the country’s struggling political opposition and a campaigner for women’s rights in a society where women are still expected to walk and speak with a becoming deference.

“I have to be careful not to push things too far,” she said in a recent interview on the campaign trail here in southern Cambodia. “I have to be very, very careful about what I bring from the West, to promote women’s rights within the context of a society that is led by men,” she said.

“In the Cambodian context, it’s women’s lib. It’s feminism. It’s challenging the culture, challenging the men.”

She has this in mind as she campaigns through the villages of Kandal Province, a woman with power but a woman nonetheless. “I walk into a cafe and I have to think twice, how to be polite to the men,” she said. “I have to ask if I can enter. This is their turf.”

Ms. Mu Sochua is a member of a new generation of female leaders who are working their way into the political systems of countries across Asia and elsewhere, from local councils to national assemblies and cabinet positions.

A former minister of women’s affairs, she did as much as anybody to put women’s issues on the agenda of a nation emerging in the 1990s from decades of war and mass killings.

During six years as minister, Ms. Mu Sochua campaigned against child abuse, marital rape, violence against women, human trafficking and the exploitation of female workers. She helped draft the country’s Prevention of Domestic Violence law.

In part because of her work, she said, “People are aware about gender. It’s a new Cambodian word: ‘gen-de.’ People are aware that women have rights.”

But she lost her public platform in 2004 when she broke with the government and joined the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, and she is finding it as difficult now to promote her ideas as to gain attention as a candidate.

LIKE dissidents and opposition figures in many countries, she has found herself with a new burden, battling for her own rights. As she has risen in prominence, her political stands have become more of a political liability than her gender.

Most recently, she has been caught in a bizarre tit-for-tat exchange of defamation suits with the country’s domineering prime minister, Hun Sen, in which, to nobody’s surprise, she was the loser.

It started last April here in Kampot Province when Mr. Hun Sen referred to her with the phrase “cheung klang,” or “strong legs,” an insulting term for a woman in Cambodia.

She sued him for defamation; he stripped her of her parliamentary immunity and sued her back. Her suit was dismissed in the politically docile courts. On Aug. 4 she was convicted of defaming the prime minister and fined about $4,000, which she has refused to pay.

“Now I live with the uncertainty about whether I’m going to go to jail,” she said. “I’m not going to pay the fine. Paying the fine is saying to all Cambodian women, ‘What are you worth? A man can call you anything he wants and there is nothing you can do.’ ”

Ms. Mu Sochua was still in California when the Khmer Rouge seized power in Cambodia in 1975 and began mass killings that would take 1.7 million lives over the next four years.

“We were waiting, waiting, waiting to hear from our parents,” she said. “They told us they were on the last plane to Paris. They never made it.”

She headed for the Thai border, where refugees were fleeing by the tens of thousands, and it was there that she met her future husband, an American, when both were working in the refugee camps. They have lived together in Cambodia since 1989, where he works for the United Nations, and have three grown children living in the United States and Britain.

Ms. Mu Sochua makes frequent trips into the countryside around their villa, introducing herself to constituents who may never have seen her face. The next parliamentary election is still three years away, but she is already campaigning because she is almost entirely excluded from government-controlled newspapers and television.

She paused politely the other day at the stoop of a small open-fronted noodle shop in this riverside village, where men sat in the midday heat on red plastic chairs. She let her male assistants enter first.

She had succeeded in halting a sand-dredging project that was eroding riverbanks here, and she wanted the men to know that she had been working on their behalf. “I came here to inform you that you got a result from the government,” she told the men, showing them a legal document. “I want to inform you that you have a voice. If you see something wrong, you can stand up and speak about it.”

Asked afterward what it was like to have a woman fighting his battles, Mol Sa, 37, a fisherman, said, “She speaks up for us, so I don’t think she’s any different from a man. Maybe a different lady couldn’t do it, but she can do it because she is strong and not afraid.”

FEAR was a theme as Ms. Mu Sochua moved through the countryside here.

At another village where cracks were appearing in the sandy embankment, a widow named Pal Nas, 78, said the big dredging boats had scared her.

“I’m afraid that if I speak out they will come after me,” she said. “In the Khmer Rouge time they killed all the men. When night comes I don’t have a man to protect me. It’s more difficult if you are a woman alone.”

Mr. Hun Sen’s ruling party holds power through most of rural Cambodia, and Ms. Mu Sochua said party agents kept an eye on her as she campaigned. At one point a man on a motorbike took photographs of her and her companions with a mobile telephone, then drove away.

Later, as the sun began to set, a farmer greeted her warmly, calling out to his wife and climbing a tree to pick ripe guavas for her.

“I voted for you,” he said as he handed her the fruit. “But don’t tell anyone.” Read more!

Experts Say Cooperation Needed on Mekong River Resources

The Mekong River runs more than 4,000 kilometers through six countries, vital to large populations for farming, fishing, drinking water, industry and power generation

Experts meeting to discuss Mekong River resources have urged countries along the Southeast Asian river to improve cooperation in developing hydropower. Delegates also urged China to share more information about its dam building on the Mekong.

After two days of discussions, some 200 experts on water, environmental protection, and finance concluded there is not enough cooperation on developing the Mekong River's resources.

They urged Mekong countries to find a balanced approach to harness the river's economic benefits such as hydropower without causing too much social and environmental damage.

Ian Matthews, who is with the ANZ Bank in Singapore, says international standards for environmental protection are not being met on Mekong dam projects when international banks are not involved.

"As a country, as a government, there's a clear desire to have hydropower finance because it is an increasingly valuable resource in places like Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. If the international bank is not going to finance it, and they're not going to apply World Bank standards, IFC standards, to these projects, what you get are banks coming in who have much lower standards. Now, that will lead to much greater degradation of the environment, it will lead to the exclusion of other stakeholders," said Matthews.

China is the only country with hydropower dams on the Mekong and along with Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand is also planning to build more.

Until recently China provided very little information from its dams to its downstream neighbors.
And when the river flooded in 2008 and this year dropped to a 50-year low, many along the Mekong blamed China.

However, the Mekong River Commission, the organization coordinating cooperation on the river, says drought was the real culprit.

But the MRC says dams on the Mekong are likely to have adverse effects on fish migration and sediment flows.

Pham Thi Thanh Hang is coordinator of the MRC's Basin Development Program. She noted China was giving more data on its dams but said even more was needed.

"We have been benefiting from the sharing of informations, from the sharing of the borders used, with our Chinese colleagues, and comparing the model results. But, we will also benefit if further, extensive information will be shared. For example, on the operations of the dams. So that the countries down here can really plan and work according to a good understanding of what are the opportunities and risks," she said.

MRC member countries are Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Their prime ministers are to meet Monday to discuss for the first time efforts to improve transparency and cooperation on the river.

They will be joined by dialogue partners from upstream countries Burma and China.

Read more!

Cambodia shrugs at US punishment over Uighurs

PHNOM PENH--The Cambodian government on Friday said it was untroubled by a US refusal to send military aid to the Southeast Asian nation as punishment for its deportation of 20 Chinese Uighurs.

The US stopped a shipment of 200 military trucks and trailers on Thursday in response to Phnom Penh's controversial December deportation of the ethnic Uighur asylum seekers to China, where they said they would face torture.

Nations and rights groups deplored Cambodia's move to expel the Uighurs, who had been labelled "criminals" by Beijing after fleeing China's far western Xinjiang region following violent clashes with the majority Han.

Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said his country was not concerned by the cancelled donation of surplus US military supplies, part of an American aid programme.

"If the US gives us the equipment, we are happy. And if they won't give it to us, it is also good," he told AFP.

"There will be no effect to our military work," the spokesman added, saying that the UN refugee agency had been too slow in assessing the Uighurs' claim to refugee status.

The decision to deport the Uighurs came a day ahead of a visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, during which he agreed 1.2 billion dollars in aid and loans to Cambodia with Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Clashes between Xinjiang's Uighurs and China's majority Han ethnic group in July left nearly 200 dead and 1,600 injured, according to official tolls.

The US State Department in its last annual human rights report said that China was stepping up cultural and political repression against Uighurs in Xinjiang. Read more!

Briefing Skipper: Cuba, Gration, Karzai, Hu, Cambodia

In which we scour the transcript of the State Department's daily presser so you don't have to. Here are the highlights of Thursday's briefing by spokesman P.J. Crowley:

State Department counselor Cheryl Mills met with Cuban Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on the sidelines of the Haiti donors conference Wednesday. "They talked about Haiti in particular," Crowley said. The U.S. also brought up the situation of Alan Gross, the USAID contractor arrested for passing out satellite phones and laptops and such. So is this a thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations? Not so much.

Sudan Special Envoy Scott Gration is in Sudan but seems to not have saved the elections, which are now dangerously in peril. "We have concerns about, you know, the credibility of the election," Crowley said, stating the obvious, but being careful not to characterize the elections as a failure... yet.

The State Department does "not accept [the] judgment" of Afghan President Hamid Karzai that the west was responsible for the "massive fraud" he now acknowledges helped keep him in power in last year's elections as part of a vast UN conspiracy. "Karzai has to step forward, lead his government, you know, in terms of convincing the international community and the Afghan people that they are taking measurable steps to reduce corruption," Crowley said, later adding, "President Karzai has said the right things to us starting, you know, with the promises that he made in his inaugural speech late last year." Peter Galbraith disagrees.

State "welcomes" the decision by Chinese President Hu Jintao to attend the upcoming nuclear security summit in Washington. "China's participation at the highest possible level reflects China's concern as well about nuclear security in the future," Crowley said. But let's not make too much of it. "I think you should take this at face value,' he added.

On China and Iran sanctions, Crowley said, "China has indicated a willingness to be a full participant as we -- as we go through the specifics of what would be in a resolution." That's... encouraging???

The U.S. is suspending "excess defense article" sales to Cambodia, including trucks and trailers, as a response to that country's decision to return 20 Uighur asylum seekers to China, where their future looks bleak. "We said there would be consequences, and this is a step in that direction," Crowley said. The Cambodians are apparently "shrugging off" the punishment.
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela will begin a week-long trip to Ecuador, Colombia and Peru next week. The topics? Security cooperation, social inclusion, economic competitiveness, democratic governance and human rights, you know, the usual. Read more!

Please crash my wedding day, Cambodians say

In Cambodia, strict social norms about marriage and a high percentage of youths adds up to a lot of wedding day celebrations. They're often seen as a way to raise cash, so everyone is invited.

A Cambodian couple poses for their wedding day photo. Huge marriage celebrations with hundreds of people are normal here, and even newly arrived foreigners can find themselves attending numerous weddings. Julie Masis


Westerners who move to Cambodia are likely to find themselves invited to more weddings than they would be back home. While traveling by motorcycle on a rural road for a half-hour on a recent Saturday afternoon, I passed at least five wedding tents. They are easy to spot – decorated with pink curtains, ribbons tied around chairs, and the names of the bride and groom engraved above the gate.

Hart Feuer, a researcher who has lived in the country for a year, says he has attended at least 15 weddings – including some with more than 1,000 guests and meals served in shifts.

Why so many weddings? It might have something to do with the fact that 64 percent of Cambodians are under the age of 30. And it is culturally unacceptable for Cambodian men and women to live together before marriage, says Rabbi Bentche Butman, who runs the Jewish Center of Cambodia. Another reason is financial. When attending a wedding, it is customary to give money – approximately $20. Because of that, hosts invite many people, and sometimes even people whom they have never met.

Un Chanta, a cook, recently invited all of the employees at her company to her daughter’s wedding – including some foreigners who had arrived in Cambodia just days before.

“It’s prestigious to have a Westerner at your wedding,” says Naomi Robinson, the managing editor of Cambodia-based magazine AsiaLIFE Guide. “And also you’re expected to give money – and if you’re a Westerner, you’re expected to give more.”

Whatever the reason, the enormous number of weddings can be a financial burden.

Phnom Penh college student Dorn Phok, whose monthly salary is $100, was invited to five weddings in February, of which he attended three, but sent money to all.

“When I get married," he says, "I want to make a big wedding to follow Khmer traditions and because everyone owes me money."
Read more!

Fair aims to expand market share of VN goods in Cambodia

An annual fair showcasing high-quality Vietnamese goods and exports will be held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from April 3-7.

The event aims to increase export turnover, expand market share, and affirm quality and position of Vietnamese goods in Cambodia.

Now in its ninth year, the event has helped earn Vietnamese products a good reputation throughout Cambodia, thanks in part to a “high-quality product” logo affixed to Vietnamese items.

Moreover, the Cambodian border is situated just 240 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, so Vietnamese goods are thus able to be kept fresh during the journey into the country.

The domestic Vissan Company says two of its products are now very popular in Cambodia: pork pâté and liver pâté. This year, the company says it will introduce several other products such as nutritional sausage and stewed beef cubes at the fair.

Vinamilk Company is also planning to showcase many kinds of yoghurt and condensed milk at the event, and will provide refrigerators at all distribution centers to ensure product quality.

The company said it also targets building a processing factory in Cambodia in the near future.

In June 2009, Saigon Industrial Commercial Bank opened a branch in Phnom Penh offering simple, low-cost, one-hour money transfer services between Vietnam and Cambodia.

In August 2009, An Giang Province opened the Tinh Bien Trade Zone, creating new opportunities for businesses in the two countries to carry out trade activities.

Currently, Vietnam exports mainly instant noodles, plastic products, cigarettes, confectionaries, maize seeds, household goods, and vegetables to Cambodia. It imports textile and garment materials, wood and rubber from Cambodia.

The Cambodia government, meanwhile, is in the process of reforming administrative procedures to create advantageous conditions for foreign countries to do business in the country.

Cambodian commercial counselor Yeav Kim Hean said Cambodian people are now shifting away from Thai goods and are instead using more Vietnamese products.
Vu Kim Hanh, director of the local BAS Company, said that this year the fair has attracted more businesses than last year with a diversified offering of products and services.

Numerous cultural and sports activities will also be held at the fair including a friendly cycling race between Vietnam and Cambodia as well as art performances. Free medical exams and medicines will also be provided for three poor Cambodian provinces during the event, said Hanh.

Cambodia is among the top three investment destinations out of 50 countries and territories Vietnam has targeted. Two-way trade between the countries this year is expected to reach around US$2 billion.

Read more!

Work starts on hydropower project in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia

A Chinese company began work Thursday on a hydroelectric dam in Cambodia, the second Chinese dam project launched this week in the country where only about a quarter of the population has electricity.

The two projects are among several hydroelectric dams planned to reduce power shortages in Cambodia although activists warn they could cause environmental harm.

State-owned China Huadian Corp., one of China's biggest power companies, will build the 338-megawatt dam on the lower Russei Chrum river in Koh Kong province, with an investment of about $500 million. The project is due for completion by 2014.

A project launch ceremony was held in the capital, Phnom Penh, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) east of Koh Kong province.

Industry Minister Suy Sem said the power generated from the dam will be distributed to neighboring provinces and the capital.

"Cambodia will benefit greatly from this dam. It will provide us with a huge power capacity and help us to reduce the use of oil for producing power," Suy Sem said.

Cambodia's economy has grown rapidly over the past decade but poverty remains widespread.

Electricity generation is underdeveloped, and most power plants use fossil fuels. Cambodia also buys electricity from neighboring Vietnam and Thailand. Many people rely on generators.

By 2009 some 26 percent of Cambodia's 14 million people had access to regular electricity, said Heng Kunleang, director of the electricity division at the Industry Ministry.

Its electricity prices are among the highest in the world, which is also a major source of complaint from investors in Cambodia.

In a bid to meet future electricity demands, the government has identified 21 potential hydroelectric dam sites across the country.

But environmentalists have voiced concerns about the impact those projects will have.

In a 2008 report, the U.S.-based International Rivers Network said "poorly conceived hydropower development could irreparably damage" Cambodia's environment and also extract a social cost.

On Monday, the China National Heavy Machinery Corp. started building a $540 million hydropower plant in the Koh Kong province that will generate up to 246 megawatts. It is also due for completion by 2014.

China is a leading foreign investor in Cambodia.

Some 349 Chinese companies have been invested in Cambodia mainly in agriculture projects, construction and dams, the Chinese Embassy said recently.
Read more!