Vietnam-Cambodia trade fair in Phnom Penh to open in November

Nhan Dan - The Vietnam-Cambodia International Trade Fair will be opened in Phnom Penh on November 3.

The fair is jointly organised by the Defence Ministry and Ministry of Trade and Industry of Vietnam and the Defence Ministry and Ministry of Trade of Cambodia.

The event is part of the national trade promotion programme in 2007. The fair is aimed to create opportunities for enterprises of the two countries, including military-owned businesses, to promote trade, introduce their products, boost economic co-operation and investment.

The fair will also help strengthen the solidarity and traditional friendship between the people of Vietnam and Cambodia.

The fair closes on November 6.

At the press briefing on October 2 in Hanoi, the Defense Ministry also announced its participation in another international trade fair “Socio-economic development in the Central Highlands – International Economic Integration” to be held in Buon Ma Thuot city in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, from December 14-18.

The fair is jointly organised by the Defence Ministry, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the People’s Committee of Dak Lak province.
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Cambodian official visits Troy

By Matt Clower, The Messenger

The Senior Minister of Education for Cambodia met on Wednesday with leaders at Troy University to lay the groundwork for a possible educational partnership.

Dr. Kol Pheng, who also serves as chairman of the board of trustees for Pannasastra University of Cambodia, is the highest- ranking foreign official to visit the Troy campus. Kol said the main purpose of his visit was to find ways to improve the quality of education offered in Cambodia.

“We want to continue to improve our educational system and ensure we are keeping up with international standards,” Kol said.

To that end, Kol said he wants to see the formation of a 1-2-1 study program that will allow Cambodian students to come to Troy - the student would study for one year in Cambodia, two years in Troy, and then a final year at home.

The same program has been implemented successfully with several Chinese universities, said Dr. Jack Hawkins Jr., chancellor of Troy University.

He said 1-2-1 is also soon to be implemented in Malaysia, as well.

“The model has been almost perfected in China, and we feel like we can replicate it almost anywhere there is an interested partner,” Hawkins said.

Kol said the training of teachers is of particular interest to Cambodia as the country looks to expand free public education for first through ninth grades.

There's hope that the partnership will work both ways, and Troy University education students will one day spend time in Camboida.

That goal is one Hawkins said he feels strongly about.

“Think about the view those students would have of the world and how much better they will be as teachers,” Hawkins said.

Pol said U.S. students studying in Cambodia would be able do research on issues unique to developing countries.

“We have a lot of emerging issues relating to economic development and different trends in our society,” Kol said.

Emerging from decades of violence under the Khmer Rouge, Kol said Cambodia is still trying to heal old wounds and move forward as a nation.

“For me, education and teaching about the past has been the way to promote healing and forgiveness and replace hate with love,” Kol said.

Following the meeting in Troy, Kol traveled to the Montgomery campus, where he was scheduled to meet with several other leaders from aross the state.

The meeting with Kol was arranged through the university's relationship with former U.N. Ambassador and Cambodian native Sichan Siv.

Siv spoke at the university's spring commencement in May 2007.

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Ethical Traveler begins campaign to stop child sex slavery in Cambodia

Four non-profit groups have come together this year to launch a campaign to help stop and bring about awareness of Cambodia’s child sex trade. Driven by Berkeley-based Ethical Traveler, the campaign will feature a letter-writing drive in the hopes to pressure the government to pass and enforce laws to protect minors. Global Exchange, Not For Sale Campaign and ECPAT-Cambodia will join Ethical Traveler in its cause. The letters will all be sent from travellers straight to Cambodia’s Minister of Tourism, urging him to use his name and influence to help abolish the now thriving sex slave industry.

"Cambodia relies on tourist dollars for much-needed foreign exchange," said Jeff Greenwald, Ethical Traveler's Executive Director. "Child sex tourism is a threat to the future of this developing nation, and to its appeal as a legitimate travel destination."

Victims of sex slavery are often treated as illegal immigrants in Cambodia and are sent to prison, whilst their traffickers go unpunished. The letter writing campaign aims to disrupt the attitudes and laws surrounding victims.

"We have created a simple, easy, and direct way for concerned people from around the world to write the government of Cambodia, urging it to take action to stop child prostitution," said Greenwald. "Tourism is a major economic force in Cambodia. By joining together, travelers can influence Cambodia to protect vulnerable children even as it protects its reputation as a world-class tourist destination."

For more information on this campaign, or to send a letter to the Cambodian Minister of Tourism, please visit http://www.ethicaltraveler.org/cambodia. Read more!

Cambodia Asks ASEAN To Act In Myanmar Crisis

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday urged the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to find ways to solve the erupting crisis in Myanmar.

Sen in an interview with the China View, said that Singapore, who stands as the rotating Chair of ASEAN, should be uniting with the countries Malaysia and Thailand in order to form a group of three that will find a solution to Myanmar problem.

The Prime Minister described the problem in Myanmar as it reached the new level of seriousness.

"ASEAN should be playing a more active role," he said in an interview with the China view noting that he would like to see the government of Myanmar exercise the maximum tolerance to clear out the protesters.

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Japan may cut aid to Myanmar; Cambodia calls for regional role

TOKYO: Japan said Wednesday it is preparing to cut aid to Myanmar, while Cambodia's prime minister urged Myanmar's neighbors to work as a group to help find a democratic solution to the country's political crisis.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called for the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to play a role resolving the tensions in Myanmar and urged the junta to refrain from further violence.

Hun Sen said the involvement of Myanmar's Buddhist monks in recent pro-democracy protests showed problems had reached a new level of seriousness.

"ASEAN should be playing a more active role," he told reporters, proposing the bloc form a group, led by ASEAN chair Singapore, that can "assist in finding solution to the problems in Myanmar."

Myanmar's junta broadcast warnings from trucks Wednesday that soldiers were searching for protesters.

Myanmar's military crushed pro-democracy protests on Sept. 26 and 27 with live ammunition, tear gas and by beating up demonstrators. Hundreds of monks and civilians were carted off to detention camps. The government says 10 people were killed in the violence, but dissident groups put the toll as high as 200. They say 6,000 people were detained.

U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari was in transit in Singapore on Wednesday after a four-day mission in Myanmar, where he met junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe and his deputies to convey the international community's outrage at the junta's actions. He also talked to detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi twice.

In Singapore, Gambari met with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Myanmar is an ASEAN member.

A Singapore government statement said Lee told Gambari that ASEAN "is fully behind his mission" to bring about a political solution for national reconciliation and a peaceful transition to democracy.

In Indonesia, dozens of Buddhist monks rallied outside the Myanmar Embassy, demanding Jakarta and the U.N. to take immediate action and waving banners denouncing the military junta.

"Stop all forms of violence and start looking for a solution with cool heads," said monk Matra Maitri.

In Geneva on Tuesday, the 47-nation U.N. Human Rights Council condemned the military's crackdown and urged an immediate investigation of the situation.

In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Japan was preparing to suspend aid to Myanmar over the death of Kenji Nagai during last week's military crackdown on street protests in Yangon despite repeated international calls to end repression.

"There have been calls to freeze aid entirely, but ordinary people in that country are already suffering. So we've decided to narrow down humanitarian aid for now," Komura told a group of reporters.

Japan has not formally announced details of the aid cut, though Komura said Tokyo would keep up assistance to humanitarian projects like polio eradication.

Japan is Myanmar's largest aid donor. It suspended yen-denominated loans for major projects after another violent crackdown in 1988, but has since given aid under a program focused mainly on health, education and humanitarian projects.

In 2005, Japan provided grants totaling 1.3 billion yen (US$11.2 million; €7.9 million) and 1.7 billion yen (US$14.7 million; €10.3 million) in technology assistance, according to the latest ministry figures.

Japan has limited its economic aid to Myanmar to humanitarian assistance, and is now "considering cutting it back further," Komura said. Read more!

Cambodia's co-ruling Funcinpec Party to elect PM candidate

As the 2008 national election approaches, the co-ruling Funcinpec Party has announced that it will hold a two-day national congress from Oct. 18-19 to prepare its leadership structure and political programs and elect its candidate for prime minister, local media reported Wednesday.

"We will organize the party's national council congress on Oct. 18, which is the first anniversary of the party reform," said Funcinpec Secretary General Nhiek Bun Chhay, reported Cambodian- language newspaper the Rasmei Kampuchea.

Chhay also claimed that, during the October 18 event, which will be held at Olympic stadium, the party will also announce reform of the party national council, consisting of between 2,600 and 2,700 members from all levels of the royalist party, and will decide whether to extend the membership of the party's steering committee from 53 to 70, reported another Cambodian-language newspaper the Khmer Mekong News.

The party will also declare its candidate for prime minister for the 2008 national election. All three candidates, Princess Norodom Arun Rasmy, Princess Norodom Vichara and Prince Norodom Sirivudh, are from the blue-blooded Norodom branch of the royal family, reported another Cambodian-language newspaper the Khmer Machas Srok News.

Funcinpec spokesman Nov Savathero said that only princes and princesses who are popular and have good relations with the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) would be nominated as premiership candidates for the royalist party.

Princess Arun Rasmy, wife of Funcinpec president Keo Puth Rasmey, is in a strong position as she has never had any disputes with the CPP, reported the Khmer Machas Srok News.

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Creative Holidays launches Vietnam and Cambodia

Creative Holidays has launched its 2008 Vietnam & Cambodia program offering the trade an expanded product range, as well as new, more flexible travel options that can be tailored to suit specific clients’ time and budget requests.

The new program boasts a full page feature on Halong Bay boat options, including the introduction of the Halong Ginger, a five-star high-end junk for travellers looking for a more luxurious experience. The program also has more hotel options in the popular cities of Saigon, Hanoi and Hoi An, a full page outlining Sapa train and rail options as well as the introduction of product in the beach areas of Phu Quoc Island, Phan Thiet and Quy Nhon, and new group tours in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Andrew Yell, general manager, product, sales and marketing, Creative Holidays said “This year we have a really diverse range of products designed to suit all markets, including families, couples, singles, those on a budget, the more adventurous, people looking for a hands-on experience and those after romance, luxury and indulgence.

“The popularity of both Vietnam and Cambodia has grown significantly over the last 12 months with Australian travellers. In fact, we have seen sales to the region double, which is testament to a destination that really does offer something for everyone.

“We have been able to increase our range to offer more five-star resorts, like the Evason and Ana Mandara in Nha Trang, more options to the booming family market and, option of independent flexible itineraries and group trips for solo travellers.

“Truly flexible independent touring is always a popular choice and consultants now have more options than ever with Creative Holidays. Agents can tailor an itinerary exclusively for their clients with us, right down to the standard of accommodation, duration, budget and sightseeing options.

“Tailoring a trip for clients is simple in Vietnam because geographically the country runs over 3000km from north to south, so the most practical itineraries traverse the country from top to bottom or vise versa, with as many, or as few, stops in between as travellers would like. However, with the boom in interest to the region demand can sometimes out number supply, so book your clients early to ensure they don’t miss out during peak seasons.

“Moving forward into 2008, we expect to see unprecedented growth continue for Vietnam, particularly as the region is so accessible, easy to travel though and appeals to such a broad cross-section of the market.”

Creative Holidays’ entire program is a comprehensive information source and research tool to help consultants and their clients plan their holiday and features impartial destination information supplied by Lonely Planet including temperature charts, country and area maps, event details, currency and dining information, travel facts, country highlights and much more throughout.

As a SPECIAL BONUS, Lonely Planet is offering significant discounts on their range of travel guides to Creative Holidays’ customers, so if your clients wish to learn more about Vietnam and Cambodia be sure to direct them to www.creativeholidays.com where they can save 20 per cent on all full priced Lonely Planet guides.

Creative Holidays is Australia’s leading independent holiday company with a range of holidays to suit everyone – especially those who enjoy the independence and flexibility of planning their own holiday. Creative Holidays great deals are available exclusively through travel agents. Read more!

Cambodia facing tropical storm Lekima

Continual rain over the past few days is an indication Cambodia is likely to face tropical storm Lekima, which may bring serious flooding across the nation, local media said on Tuesday.

Lekima has moved from Vietnam to China's coastal area, provoking the Cambodian Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology to announce on Sept. 30 that it may soon need to issue flood warnings, should river depth at target points rise above danger levels, Cambodian-language newspaper the Rasmei Kampuchea quoted officials as saying.

The depth of the Mekong River at Stung Treng province has risen to 7.15 meters, in Kratie province 17.79 meters, in Kampong Cham province 12.64 meters and in Phnom Penh 8.73 meters, according to a bulletin issued on Oct. 1 by the ministry's hydrology department.

The warning will be announced if the depth at the target areas rises to 10.70 meters in Stung Treng, 22 meters in Kratie, 15.20 meters in Kampong Cham or 10.5 meters in Phnom Penh.

The storm would bring incessant torrential rains to Cambodia for days, possibly from Oct. 2 to 5, said the September 30 announcement, making an impact on not only Mekong River Basin but also northeastern provinces such as Ratanakiri, Modulkiri and Preah Vihear, and in the northwest provinces of Kompong Chhnang, Pursat and Battambang.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Cambodia working on establishing geographical rights of goods

Cambodia is conducting studies on the creation of geographical rights for the nation's key products to promote exports, local media said on Tuesday.

The process is being discussed at a two-day workshop here organized by the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), which ends on Tuesday. The conference is being attended by officials from the ministries of commerce and agriculture and private producers, Cambodian-language newspaper the Kampuchea Thmey reported.

The study aims to identify the geography of goods to streamline the trade, said Rafael Dochao Moreno, EU charge d'ffaires to Cambodia.

"We have to collect goods in areas to be registered and disseminated and also protect those goods in the country and abroad," said Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Commerce Mao Thora. The project will run in conjunction with the government 's One Village One Product initiative.

Rice from Battambang, silk from Banteay Meanchey, palm sugar from Kompong Speu, pepper from Kampot, fish paste from Siem Reap, and Cardamom spices from Pursat are on a shortlist of products that are to be examined to see if they hold the criteria to meet geographical indication (GI) standards, said Mao Thora.

"Geographical indication is not a certificate," said Stephane Passeri, administrator for the EU-funded EC-ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Cooperation Program, or ECAP II.

"It is an intellectual property concept. Such rights have to follow national legislation, without which there is no recognition that can be claimed outside Cambodia," Stephane Passeri added.

With aid from EU, the geographical registration of goods is to urge for the adoption of Law on Intellectual Property Rights according to the demands of World Trade Organization (WTO), said Mao Thora.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Cambodia facing tropical storm Lekima

Continual rain over the past few days is an indication Cambodia is likely to face tropical storm Lekima, which may bring serious flooding across the nation, local media said on Tuesday.

Lekima has moved from Vietnam to China's coastal area, provoking the Cambodian Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology to announce on Sept. 30 that it may soon need to issue flood warnings, should river depth at target points rise above danger levels, Cambodian-language newspaper the Rasmei Kampuchea quoted officials as saying.

The depth of the Mekong River at Stung Treng province has risen to 7.15 meters, in Kratie province 17.79 meters, in Kampong Cham province 12.64 meters and in Phnom Penh 8.73 meters, according to a bulletin issued on Oct. 1 by the ministry's hydrology department.

The warning will be announced if the depth at the target areas rises to 10.70 meters in Stung Treng, 22 meters in Kratie, 15.20 meters in Kampong Cham or 10.5 meters in Phnom Penh.

The storm would bring incessant torrential rains to Cambodia for days, possibly from Oct. 2 to 5, said the September 30 announcement, making an impact on not only Mekong River Basin but also northeastern provinces such as Ratanakiri, Modulkiri and Preah Vihear, and in the northwest provinces of Kompong Chhnang, Pursat and Battambang.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Experts: Cambodia Fertile Ground for Tamil Tigers

Cambodian authorities recently broke up a human smuggling network run in part by the Tamil Tigers. The involvement of the Sri Lankan separatist group in illegal activities in Cambodia came as no surprise to experts, who have watched the sophisticated insurgency transform in Phnom Penh since it began buying Cambodian weapons in the 1990s.

"The operations in Cambodia still exist to a great extent. However, it may not be focused in the same areas that it was focused in the late '90s," said Shanaka Jayasekara, a terrorism researcher at Macquarie University in Sydney.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, no longer need Cambodia as a place to "mop up" old weapons, Jayasekara told VOA Khmer, echoing other interviews with analysts and government officials over several weeks.

Their weapons purchases are more sophisticated now, but the criminal infrastructure put in place in the early 1990s, when Cambodia was its primary arms bazaar, is still there, enabling drugs and human smuggling, credit card fraud and money laundering.

"The LTTE has been involved in the narcotics trade for quite some time. They have also facilitated human smuggling of the Tamil diaspora through some of the Southeast Asian countries," Jayasekara said.

Cambodia authorities say in August they broke up an operation run in part by Tamil Tigers intent on smuggling up to 250 Pakistanis and Sri Lankans to Western nations and Australia.

The bust was an indicator that efforts from Sri Lankan and Cambodian officials to unseat Tamil Tiger operations in the county had not been successful.

The Tamil Tigers earn hundreds of millions of dollars each year by collecting money from Tamil immigrant communities. The Tamil people belong to a minority group in northern Sri Lanka and southern India, but Tamil expatriates live in many Western countries, including Canada, Norway and Australia. A lot of money comes from these groups, either by choice or through coercion, experts said.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Tigers also earn money by running guns to groups like the Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group in the Philippines. And they smuggle Tamil people into Western countries.

This helps the Tamil Tigers fill their war chest and continue their separatist fight against the Sri Lankan government, Jayasekara says.

"It's a kind of a business opportunity for the LTTE. They make money out of it. They also do it to take their key operatives to certain locations and place them in vital destinations so that their international network can be run more efficiently," Jayasekara said.

At least two Tamil operatives escaped Cambodia's August dragnet: Ranni Lerin and his brother, Lipton Lerin, who operated their human smuggling ring out of a cafe in Phnom Penh, authorities said in September.

The Cambodian government made a public call to Interpol to help them capture the men.

Jayasekara said the flight of the two brothers likely has not halted the group's activities, which are now being run by a man who officials know little about.

Officials say more needs to be done to rein in the Tamil Tigers, who have invented devices—including the suicide vest—and innovated techniques that reach Islamic terrorists.

"The LTTE has growing links with other terrorist organizations like the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah," said Dr. Palitha Kohona, the Sri Lankan Secretary of Foreign Affairs in Colombo and an expert on the Tamil Tigers.

The innovative Tamil Tigers, who have been fighting for a separate Tamil state since 1975, has its own navy, merchant vessels and a small air force. The insurgency has led to the deaths of more than 60,000 people.

Countries like Cambodia and Sri Lanka need help in pursuing the group, Kohona said. "We need expertise," he said.

"We need intelligence gathering assistance."

The US, meanwhile, has listed the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist organization.

Earlier this year, US agencies disrupted a Tamil Tiger plot to smuggle high-tech weapons, missiles, ammunition and night-vision goggles out of the US.

Undercover officers acting as State Department officials also caught operatives attempting to bribe them to have the Tamil Tigers taken off the US terrorist list.

The problems Sri Lanka is facing with the Tamil Tigers will become the problems of wealthier countries if more isn't done to stop the group, in undeveloped countries like Cambodia and in developed nations of the West," Kohona said.

"Terrorism is not an issue for one country. It is an issue for the entire sea of humanity," he said. "Terrorism is a scourge that has to be eliminated wherever it might be found."
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Audit finds flaws in KRouge tribunal hiring

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — An audit of Cambodia's genocide tribunal has highlighted serious hiring flaws and suggests that the UN's development agency UNDP, which oversees millions in donor funding, should quit the court.

The audit was commissioned by the UNDP last year following allegations that some Cambodian staff had paid for their positions on the UN-backed court, which was established to try former leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime.

But it was only made public late Monday amid growing pressure for its release.

The audit details a tangled bureaucracy inside the Cambodian side of the joint-court, rife with unqualified staff, bloated salaries and the creation of dozens of unnecessary jobs costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"If the Cambodian side does not agree to the essential measures that are, from UNDP perspective, necessary to ensure the integrity and success of the project, then serious considerations should be given to withdrawing from participation in the project altogether," the audit said.

It goes on to recommend that all Cambodian contracts be nullified, and new employees hired under closer UNDP supervision.

The UNDP says the audit is a private document and would not comment, but tribunal staff maintain that they have nothing to hide and have responded to most of the findings.

One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the court, which posted the audit on its website, had always wanted the findings to be made public.

But the official also dismissed the audit's recommendation that the UNDP withdraw from the court.

"Imagine if they were to leave this late in the game, 18 months on. It would be disastrous," the official said.

The court is currently investigating five people for crimes committed during the communist Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule over Cambodia, during which up to two million people died.

So far two suspects, former prison chief Duch and regime ideologue Nuon Chea, have been detained.

The tribunal's decision to post the audit comes as the cash-strapped court prepares to launch a major fund-raising campaign.

Tribunal spokesperson Helen Jarvis said earlier that the court has enough money to continue operating through early next year, but that budget shortfalls could threaten to delay the process after that.

Some 56.3 million dollars have been budgeted for the long-stalled trials, but the Cambodian government has so far only pledged a fraction of its 13 million-dollar share.

The rest, officials say, must come from additional donor funding, although there are fears that the international community might be unlikely to pay for what it perceives as a flawed process.

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Cambodia urges comprehensive UN reforms

Hor Namhong was teaching the UN how to reform their administration? we didn't know that you can talk, which school did you go to ? we knew you graduate from Yuon Hanoi's slave. And you are Yuon Hanoi, You should be reforming your pockets first so that you don't steal so much from Cambodia for Yuon Communist.

Cambodia called for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations on Monday to make the world body responsive to 21st century problems.

"We are more than ever convinced of the urgent need for a comprehensive reform and not just the Security Council (UNSC), because we need to mobilize our collective efforts and wisdom to address the problems we are facing in this 21st century in a responsive and comprehensive way," Hor Namhong, Cambodia's deputy prime minister, said in a speech at the general debate of the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly.

He stressed Phnom Penh's stance that reform of the UN must be comprehensive.

"Instead of focusing primarily on the reform of the Security Council, maybe we can first start with the reform which can lead to a consensus," Namhong, who also serve as Cambodia's foreign minister, said.

"We may commence with the ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) on how to make it more effective and more relevant to deal with the problems of development in the context of the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals).

"Afterward, for the General Assembly (UNGA), too, we certainly need to empower this institution more so that it could play a prominent role in addressing today's global problems, as a democratic, deliberative policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations," Namhong said.

"With the momentum and consensus building of the reform of both ECOSOC and UNGA, we could then move to the UNSC reform to ensure that it reflects today's realities with an equitable representation of developed and developing countries," he added.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Myanmar unrest has little effect on tour agency businesses

SINGAPORE: Tour agencies in Singapore say the unrest in Myanmar has not affected their businesses much.

But a few, like Asia-Euro Holidays, say there have been some cancellations.

"Recently, we actually have a group of volunteers - 27 of them - intending to go to Myanmar for some community services. Apparently, they have decided to cancel the trip. Instead, they are planning for Cambodia and it's some time in December," said Sam How, a general manager at Asia-Euro Holidays.

However, most agencies tell Channel NewsAsia that Myanmar is not a sought-after tourist destination, to begin with.

Lee Cheun Kiat, manager for marketing and PR at Commonwealth Travel Service Corporation, said: "The recent situation has not affected business as a whole.....(due to) the fact that Myanmar has had a long-standing issue of political unrest and the fact that Myanmar is not a popular destination...We offered tour packages to Myanmar recently and the take-up rate was about 10-20 passengers per month.....We actually encounter more business travellers than leisure travellers to Myanmar."

The tour packages to Myanmar offered by Commonwealth Travel from May to September this year attracted only about 100 people. But over the same five-month period, other destinations like Thailand and Cambodia attracted some 1,000 people.

Besides the current violence, the poor response to Myanmar is also due to other factors.

Asia-Euro Holidays' Sam How said: "First thing, of course, is its political situation and currently it's still military-controlled. On the other hand, there are a lot of restrictions....you can't use mobile phones there, credit cards are not recognised due to the international sanctions. All these are creating a lot of inconvenience for the tourists going there."

But many travel agencies are confident that Myanmar has the potential to become a popular tourist destination in the future, so long as political stability prevails. - CNA/ir


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DNA Solutions quest to preserve the Asian Elephant

(openPR) - DNA Solutions based in London, UK, is pleased to announce that it has agreed to work together with Fauna & Flora International, the world's oldest conservation organisation, in using DNA fingerprinting to monitor elephant populations in Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains with the help of our scientists.

Elephant dung is being collected by field biologists and trackers, and transported to DNA Solutions, an accreditated DNA testing laboratory, where the DNA will be extracted and analysed. Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains are blanketed by virtually undisturbed forest stretching over 10,000 square kilometres. Field biologists can spend weeks searching for elephants to record the vital data needed to properly monitor elephant populations. DNA analysis can yield this vital information much more quickly and efficiently. Estimating the size of elephant populations in Cambodia is extremely difficult, due to their habits and the size of their habitat. They are also extremely secretive animals.

Joe Heffernan, an elephant biologist with Fauna & Flora International, has been playing hide and seek with the largest of all land mammals for years. "This is the first time a closed population has been surveyed, so the results stand to be the most sophisticated ever recorded. "In addition to the difficulties of observing elephants in the wild, their tracks and feeding signs can only reveal so much. DNA from their dung, however, can reveal the age, sex and health of the individual that produced it. Because each fingerprint is unique, the size of the population can be accurately estimated."

Vern Muir, director of DNA Solutions, said: "DNA Solutions is essentially a big team of biologists, so I can speak for everyone when I say we are all feeling proud to be able to help the cause of elephant conservation.

"It is extremely rewarding to be able to use genetic techniques that for so many years have been used to solve other people's paternity issues, for something that instead gives all of us greater personal satisfaction." The information will be used to refine long-term elephant management strategies and identify future protected areas. The Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) also plans to use the data to monitor illegal elephant killing and forecast trends.

Cambodia is critical to Asian elephant conservation, but work is hampered by the scarcity of field data. Fauna & Flora International is leading surveys of remote forest areas and working with the Cambodian Wildlife Protection Office and Ministry of the Environment to ensure that these elephant strongholds are protected. Fauna & Flora International is also working with communities within the Cardamoms to understand their needs so that they do not harm elephants that stray close to their villages.

The first batch of samples will arrive with DNA Solutions next month, with initial data projected to be processed by November.

DNA SOLUTIONS
145-157 ST JOHN STREET
LONDON
EC1V 4PY
T: 0845 4500004
F: 0871 661 5505
W: www.dnasolutions.co.uk
E: d.leigh@dnasolutions.com
PRESS CONTACT: DAN LEIGH

DNA Solutions was established in January 1997. It is focused on providing reliable and confidential global DNA products, including ‘peace of mind’ testing for consumers and legal testing for courts and legal disputes. Services include paternity/maternity testing; sibling verification; DNA storage & preservation, ancestry, and profiling. As the first pioneering company to offer home testing kits it has established itself with over 30 offices worldwide, DNA Solutions is synonymous with advanced accuracy DNA analysis.
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Prosecutors let court decide on Ang’s gig as casino adviser

By Jocelyn Uy

MANILA, Philippines -- Government prosecutors have no objection to Charlie "Atong" Ang's petition to the Sandiganbayan seeking the reversal of the court’s earlier ruling that barred him from flying to Cambodia for a possible consulting job in a gaming company.

"The people submit the instant motion to the wise discretion of the court," said Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio in a one-page comment submitted to the anti-graft court’s Special Division.

Ang, a well-known former casino habitué and a gambling buddy of ousted president Joseph Estrada, received a job offer in August from 888 Corporation, which operates a lottery in Cambodia.

Citing his "expertise" as a former consultant to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. in the Estrada administration, 888 executives wrote Ang asking him to advise their company.

In his request to be allowed to fly to Cambodia, Ang told the Sandiganbayan the job could be his ticket to settling his debts, incurred when he had to pay the P25-million penalty the court imposed on him after he pleaded guilty to a lesser offense in the plunder case against Estrada in which he was a co-accused.

Estrada was convicted of two counts of plunder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. His conviction is under appeal. Having availed of the plea bargain, Ang was sentenced to six years in prison and was freed due to time served during his trial.

The Sandiganbayan Special Division junked Ang’s petition for a weeklong travel pass to Cambodia citing the possibility he would leave the jurisdiction of the court.

In placing Ang under two year’s probation four months ago, the court ordered him not to participate in any form of gambling and to get the court's permission every time he wanted to leave Quezon City.

In his motion for reconsideration, Ang through his lawyers said he could not "simply escape and trifle with the generosity of this court."

He also said he would abide by the terms and conditions for travel that the court may impose -- like putting up a travel bond -- to guarantee his return.

"I really need that job to settle my arrears. I have no job offers here in the country," Ang had told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an earlier interview.
Read more!

Buddhist forces in the crucible

Myanmar's protesting monks and the junta follow very different forms of the same faith

BY CHARLES KEYES Charles Keyes is professor of anthropology and Asian studies at the University of Washington and author of many works on Southeast Asia, including "Buddhist Economics and Buddhist Fundamentalism in Bu.

The government's violent crackdown against thousands of monks marching in the streets of Myanmar to protest the long rule of a military dictatorship occurs, ironically, in a country where those who hold political power have always sought legitimacy through association with Buddhism. But the junta follows a very different form of Buddhism than do the protesting monks.

The fundamental relationship between politics and Buddhism is known as the "Two Wheels of the Dhamma." Legitimate order depends both on the dhamma (fundamental truths) embodied in the teaching of the Buddha and the dhamma that constitutes the authority of rulers.

The connection stems from a modernist form of Buddhism called Theravada that took hold in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Burma (now Myanmar), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, emphasizing meditation not to withdraw from the world but to remain active in the world, while tempering desire for material things with compassionate actions to help reduce the suffering of others.

It was this modernist Buddhism that monks such as U Ottama (1879-1939), one of the major leaders of Burmese anti-colonialism, drew on to provide moral support for protests against British rule, which finally ended with independence in 1948. But it is not the Buddhism that the military rulers have embraced since the first coup in 1962.

Gen. Ne Win, the dictator from 1962 to 1988, was conspicuous in his support of an earlier, more magical tradition focused on stupas and shrines, centered on the worship of "reminders" of Buddha, through which it was believed that people could gain magical powers for acting in the world.

This didn't stop many members of the Sangha, as the order of monks is called, from promoting the modernist Buddhism, most emphatically in the act of "turning up of alms bowls," which they did in their last great protest, in 1990, after the government refused to abide by the results of a democratic election. In this gesture, the monks refused to accept offerings from members of the military, an act equivalent to excommunication in the Catholic Church.

In the Buddhist tradition, because monks adhere strictly to a discipline laid down by the Buddha, they are considered to be "fields of merit." Laypersons gain merit, or positive karma, primarily through alms offerings to the monks. Refusing offerings is effectively blocking a path to holiness.

As in the early 1960s, the military junta attempted to gain legitimacy for its violent assertion of power in 1988-90 through very public acts of support for the Buddhist religion. An example was the sponsorship in 1994 of a 45-day tour of a tooth relic of the Buddha that was sent from China. By focusing attention on the relic, the junta sought to accentuate its support for magical Buddhism, as opposed to the modernist Buddhism being taught by most leading monks.

The present protests clearly demonstrate the failure of the military to achieve legitimacy through its ostensible support of Burmese Buddhism. As the monks and their followers again face armed soldiers and police who are willing to use force to reassert the domination of the military regime, they are again turning up alms bowls. If things go according to history, we might expect another government push soon for magical Buddhism.

The monks who are being killed will be seen as Buddhist martyrs, much like Thich Quang Duc, a Vietnamese monk who immolated himself in 1963 to protest the Vietnam War. The death of monks in a political protest entails a deep and troubling meaning that will not be soon forgotten, even if the junta succeeds through force of arms in imposing control.

Whatever the results of this "saffron revolution," the renewed protests against a corrupt and repressive military regime have captured the attention of people around the world and of the international community - with responses including new U.S. sanctions and the dispatch of a United Nations special envoy.

The monks' bravery also has inspired a measure of hope among the people of Myanmar.

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2 Cambodians die after eating puffer fish, prompting trade ban of the deadly meat

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A Cambodian provincial authority has banned the trade of puffer fish meat suspected to have caused the deaths of two villagers recently, a police official said Sunday.

A 23-year-old man died Saturday, and a 13-year-old boy early last week, after both villagers ate salted puffer fish, Suon Phon, deputy police chief of Takeo province, said.

He said the fish was imported from neighboring Vietnam and sold in rural markets in the province, about 90 kilometers (56 miles), south of the capital Phnom Penh.

In the wake of the two deaths, Takeo province governor Srey Ben, banned the trade of the fish across the province to prevent further fatalities, Suon Phon said.

The ovaries, liver and intestines of the puffer fish contain tetrodotoxin, a poison so potent that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it can "produce rapid and violent death."

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Forum: Abandoning our allies

President Bush's use of the Vietnam-Iraq analogy in his speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars last month was accurate but lacking. Most of his critics know little about the history of the Vietnamese communists, and they choose to blindly ignore what is glaringly known about the intentions of al Qaeda and the radical Muslim jihadists in the Middle East.

The president in his analogy forgot to mention that while the communists in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos didn't announce their genocidal intentions at the onset of the war, al Qaeda and the Muslim jihadists have — as demonstrated by September 11, 2001, attacks and by numerous other acts of barbarism, such as the beheading of journalist Daniel Pearl.

George Santayana said, "Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them." Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were tragedies, but if the defeatists in Congress get their way, the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq will be both tragedy and farce.

Ho Chi Minh, cofounder of the French Communist Party, held a position of leadership in the international communist movement — the Comintern. Ho founded the Indo-China Communist Party in 1930, and was sent by the Comintern to Siam (Thailand), Malaya and Singapore to preside over creation of communist parties in these countries. Moscow also put him in charge of creating communist parties in Cambodia and Laos.

After the Geneva agreements in 1954, Ho Chi Minh saw to it that several hundred young Cambodians were taken north, indoctrinated in communism and given military training. They were later armed and sent back, where they became the basis of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia's Eastern Zone. Knowing of Ho's close ties to Moscow and his intent to create a Soviet-style Union of South East Asia, China began training and arming the Pol Pot faction of the Khmer Rouge as a counterbalance to Soviet influence.

North Vietnam enabled the Khmer Rouge to take over Phnom Penh in 1975 by providing logistics, ammunition, artillery and backup by Vietnamese troops, making them complicit in the genocide of at least 1.5 million Cambodians.

Viewing the U.S. as a paper tiger after its abandonment of South Vietnam, the Vietnamese Communist Party sent its mighty military force into Cambodia, not to liberate it from Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, but to colonize that country to fulfill Ho Chi Minh's dream of hegemony over Indochina. They never dreamed the U.S. would ally with communist China to drive them out. Unfortunately, Hanoi's Khmer Rouge remained intact and now controls Cambodia.

Vietnamese communists continue their policy of neocolonization, nibbling away at Cambodia by annexing sizable portions of its borders, coastlines and islands through illegitimate treaties with their puppet regime in Phnom Penh. Their latest method is a "Development Triangle" scheme that involves flooding three northeastern provinces of Cambodia and the three southeastern provinces of Laos with Vietnamese settlers. The Vietnamese army has already established coffee, cashew and rubber plantations in the Laotian provinces — the latter covering more than 7,000 hectares.

The similarity between the Vietnamese communists and the al Qaeda and the Muslim jihadists is that they are both fanatical true believers who see it as their divine right and destiny to establish hegemony over their respective regions, regardless of the cost in human life.

U.S. involvement in Vietnam was justified in trying to prevent the "dominos" — the Southeast Asian nations — from falling victim to communism. Likewise, the U.S. must stay involved in Iraq to keep radical Islam from spreading throughout the region, and to prevent the eventual take over of Iraq by Iran — another "domino effect."

Another Vietnam-Iraq analogy is how the United States treats its allies. Some observers thought the Iraqis would welcome the Americans with garlands of flowers. However, the Shias viewed us as betrayers rather than liberators, because after arming and encouraging them to rebel against Saddam's regime at the end of the First Gulf War, the coalition failed to enforce the Southern no-fly zone. This allowed Saddam's forces to slaughter an estimated 100,000 Shia with tanks, helicopter gunships and devastating artillery fire.

Now, about 10,000 Iraqis who worked for the United States have been threatened by the terrorists who accuse them and their families of "collaborating" with the enemy — a death sentence. They have been referred by the United Nations for resettlement in the U.S., but even though many are translators who have already been vetted by the U.S. armed forces, so far only about 100 have been admitted.

One who called the U.S. Embassy in Jordan for help was told, "You knew the risk when you helped the Army." Recently, Ellen Sauerbrey, assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, appeared on CBS' "60 Minutes" and tried to justify the snails-pace processing said the problem is the "very thorough security checks" put in place after September 11; however, only 2,000 to 3,000 Iraqis may be admitted this year.

During a trip to Hanoi last February, Mrs. Sauerbrey told persecuted Montagnard ethnic minorities that they should stay in the Central Highlands rather than fleeing to Cambodia to seek sanctuary. This came after the repressive Vietnamese communist regime told her the Montagnards were free to travel and take their grievances to the U.S. Embassy or consulate.

The reality is that the embassy and consulate are heavily guarded by communist police who won't let the Montagnards enter. Loyal allies of America during the Vietnam War, the Montagnards lost about half of their adult male population fighting the communists. When the United States withdrew from Vietnam, about 1.5 million Montagnards remained. Now the Vietnamese regime gives their population at around 750,000 — evidence of the regime's brutal and longstanding policy of ethnic cleansing.

After September 11, 2001, some Americans took pleasure in vilifying the French, ridiculing them as afraid to fight and prone to flee the battlefield. But if the defeatists in our own Congress succeed, America will once again have abandoned its allies — and once again, terror and slaughter will follow.

MICHAEL BENGE

Mr. Benge spent 11 years in Vietnam as a Foreign Service Officer. He is an advocate for human rights and religious freedom. Read more!

Rupee and the IT sector

The hardening rupee has been one of the major focal points of the IT industry of late. A 10% appreciation in the last one year has made a serious dent on the global competitiveness of the Indian IT sector.

Apprehensions that some segments of the IT/BPO business may be flying out of India has made the industry bigwigs somewhat nervous.

In a bid to combat their growing concerns about the rupee appreciation, some of the industry leaders have even called for slowing down the rate of salary hike in the sector, and of course as expected, others have reiterated their right to peg the salaries wherever they wish. Free market, etc. Thus increasingly, there is a tacit expectation, if not a strident demand, from the sector that the government should manage the appreciation of the rupee better. Never mind its impact on inflation and interest rates.

Well, no harm in having one’s expectations and hopes and sending some gentle signals along those lines. But even as those gentle signals are finding their audience, there are certain aspects of the issue everybody connected should take note of.

From a mere 5% of a $33 billion total Indian exports in 1996-97, today (2006-07) the IT sector accounts for a hefty 25% of the $120 billion total exports from India. This represents a compounded annual growth of 35% for the IT sector over a 10-year period, making IT the fastest growing and the biggest export-oriented sector in the country. Clearly then, if the rupee is getting steadily stronger, the Indian IT sector has had a strong hand in making it so! In short, the IT sector has become a victim of its own success.

After all, if the IT exports rode on a historically weak rupee, it is only natural that in due course, the forces of international markets will bring about a correction. That’s international territory in the financial markets.

That is how industries and nations grow up and learn to cope, as well as find, develop or invent other strengths to stay afloat in a competitive market. And the Indian IT sector can be no exception to this standard rule. It only stands to reason that after decades of reigning strong, the hardest currencies of yesteryears like the US dollar, the Deutsche mark, the pound sterling, the yen or the French franc give way to currencies of the emerging economies.

There was a time when the Japanese automakers faced the same problem as the Indian IT sector today, only much worse — namely that of a super hard yen. Their companies would struggle to spend millions in R&D for devising a superior carburettor design that would bring the cost of a car down by $85, only to see a strong yen push the car price up by $300 the next morning. But the Japanese auto industry learnt to cope. That’s when they unleashed their Lexuses, Accuras and Infinities into the western world.

Clearly, our IT sector needs to find similar market solutions, rather than seriously expect or hope for a government handholding. You either have a free market or you do not. The sector will have to reduce its dependence on conventional export markets; tap hitherto untapped markets, say, among the rapidly emerging east European countries; negotiate their contracts in rupee rather than dollars; get a lot more India-centric; move up the value chain; draw in work-force from the fringe states to bring about superior wage arbitrage and do a whole lot of other things so that the sector is driven more by quality and value than by the softness of the rupee.

To illustrate one of the above points, let us see how our IT sector can become more India-centric. Take Cambodia. For tourists visiting Cambodia, the visa is on arrival. And the software and the system installed at the beautiful Siem Reap airport is so advanced that visas for an entire plane load of tourists is cleared in 15 minutes flat. IT is on its best display here, including the computers on the immigration desk taking your picture on the spot. The same is true of the passes issued as you enter Angkor Vat. The column of vehicles at the entry gate moves faster than our vehicles do at most of our Toll Gates.

During the few seconds a car stops at the entry to Angkor Vat, the tourist’s picture is taken and the laminated pass issued for one or three days as required, complete with his or her picture and other details, such as, name, date, time, etc. Don’t we have enough and more scope in our own country for our IT sector to address, without worrying excessively about exports? We are a big enough country to do much of our ‘exports’ out of Bangalore and Hyderabad to a couple of dozen of states within the country.
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