Cambodian FM names 9 new ambassadors

PHNOM PENH, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong has named new ambassadors to nine countries, including Kuwait, which is to receive Cambodia's first diplomatic posting there, and Japan, where the minister's son Hor Moniroath is expected to head the Cambodian mission, state media reported Saturday.

The Japanese government had been notified of the appointment, which is awaiting the approval of the Cambodian and Japanese governments, Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong was quoted by the Cambodia Daily as saying.

"We have notified the Japanese government but we haven't received any response yet. We need the agreement of the host country first before sending the new ambassador," he said.

Hor Namhong's son Hor Nambora is currently serving as Cambodia's ambassador to the United Kingdom, making Hor Moniroath's appointment the second top diplomatic posting in the minister's family.

Japan is Cambodia's largest bilateral aid donor, according to the Cambodia Daily.

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Thailand protests Cambodia over religious ceremony at disputed temple

BANGKOK, Nov 15 (TNA) - Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a protest against Cambodian authorities who performed a religious ceremony at a temple located in Thai territory.

In an Aide-Memoire dated November 13, the Thai government protested Cambodia’s Kathin ceremony which was held at Keo Sikha Kiri Savara pagoda on November 12.

Thai officials in the border province of Si Saket reported seeing around 500 Cambodian people at the temple.

"Such action was considered a blatant and willful violation of Thailand’s sovereignty as the crowd had entered Thai soil without permission from the Thai government," said the aide-memoire.

The statement also mentioned Thailand still maintained its standpoint in working constructively and closely with Cambodia within the existing framework of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary or JBC to resolve their border conflict in a peaceful manner. (TNA) Read more!

A reason for the little ones to smile

MediaCorp DJ Carol Smith joins Operation Smile mission to Cambodia to help less fortunate children

FOR the first nine years of his life, the people in Thanh’s village called him “Sut” — which means “split lip” in Vietnamese — as a result of his cleft lip. On his first day of school, he was teased so badly by the other children that he refused to go back.

All this changed, however, after he received cleft lip surgery from medical specialists during an Operation Smile mission trip to the southern Vietnamese city of Vung Tau.

Thanh is just one of more than 115,000 children and young adults who have received free surgeries for facial deformities such as cleft lips, cleft palates, facial tumours and burns since Operation Smile was founded in 1982. Every year, the international medical charity coordinates medical missions to 26 countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Operation Smile Singapore serves as a resource centre for the Asian region, covering Cambodia, China, the Philippines, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. It is also the adopted charity of MediaCorp radio station Class 95FM for 2008.

This November, as part of a partnership between MediaCorp and DBS, Class 95FM DJ Carol Smith will join an Operation Smile mission to Cambodia as a non-medical volunteer, where she will accompany beneficiaries and their families through the entire process.

Explaining why she “jumped at the opportunity” to be a part of this mission, the 33-year-old radio personality said: “The child beneficiaries of Operation Smile have been through a lot of discomfort, fear and anxiety. All of us know what it’s like to be ostracised for being even a little different, so imagine what these children go through.”

In developing countries, one in 500 children are born with correctable facial deformities, which can be life-threatening and emotionally traumatising. Around the world, 200,000 children are born every year with a facial deformity and tens of thousands remain untreated. Many of these children have difficulties eating or speaking, and some are kept out of school.

On a typical two-week Operation Smile mission, approximately 300 to 500 patients receive free medical evaluations, and an average of 100 to 150 are given free surgical treatment.

Besides changing these children’s lives through surgeries which can take as little as 45 minutes, Operation Smile provides education and training to medical volunteers in its partner countries, and provides key medical equipment – laying the groundwork for sustainable healthcare systems.

Carol — who is currently single, although she half-jokingly revealed that she hopes to have enough children for “a football team one day, if not more” — said: “I get a lot of joy from interacting with children because of their innocence, charm, and purity. I think Operation Smile brings hope to each child, and I’d like to be there to comfort them, and be their friend on their journey of hope.”

In addition to helping to “put a smile on the children’s faces” this November, Carol hopes to accomplish two other key goals: To better understand their circumstances, and to bring their plight to the attention of others.

She said: “I’d like to be part of the journey of the beneficiaries while I am there, to get a real feel of life as seen through their eyes, and to listen and bring back their stories to share with fellow Singaporeans – who will, hopefully, be moved to help in their own way.” LYNETTE KOH MediaCorp DJ Carol Smith joins Operation Smile mission to Cambodia to help less fortunate children

FOR the first nine years of his life, the people in Thanh’s village called him “Sut” — which means “split lip” in Vietnamese — as a result of his cleft lip. On his first day of school, he was teased so badly by the other children that he refused to go back.

All this changed, however, after he received cleft lip surgery from medical specialists during an Operation Smile mission trip to the southern Vietnamese city of Vung Tau.

Thanh is just one of more than 115,000 children and young adults who have received free surgeries for facial deformities such as cleft lips, cleft palates, facial tumours and burns since Operation Smile was founded in 1982. Every year, the international medical charity coordinates medical missions to 26 countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Operation Smile Singapore serves as a resource centre for the Asian region, covering Cambodia, China, the Philippines, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. It is also the adopted charity of MediaCorp radio station Class 95FM for 2008.

This November, as part of a partnership between MediaCorp and DBS, Class 95FM DJ Carol Smith will join an Operation Smile mission to Cambodia as a non-medical volunteer, where she will accompany beneficiaries and their families through the entire process.

Explaining why she “jumped at the opportunity” to be a part of this mission, the 33-year-old radio personality said: “The child beneficiaries of Operation Smile have been through a lot of discomfort, fear and anxiety. All of us know what it’s like to be ostracised for being even a little different, so imagine what these children go through.”

In developing countries, one in 500 children are born with correctable facial deformities, which can be life-threatening and emotionally traumatising. Around the world, 200,000 children are born every year with a facial deformity and tens of thousands remain untreated. Many of these children have difficulties eating or speaking, and some are kept out of school.

On a typical two-week Operation Smile mission, approximately 300 to 500 patients receive free medical evaluations, and an average of 100 to 150 are given free surgical treatment.

Besides changing these children’s lives through surgeries which can take as little as 45 minutes, Operation Smile provides education and training to medical volunteers in its partner countries, and provides key medical equipment – laying the groundwork for sustainable healthcare systems.

Carol — who is currently single, although she half-jokingly revealed that she hopes to have enough children for “a football team one day, if not more” — said: “I get a lot of joy from interacting with children because of their innocence, charm, and purity. I think Operation Smile brings hope to each child, and I’d like to be there to comfort them, and be their friend on their journey of hope.”

In addition to helping to “put a smile on the children’s faces” this November, Carol hopes to accomplish two other key goals: To better understand their circumstances, and to bring their plight to the attention of others.

She said: “I’d like to be part of the journey of the beneficiaries while I am there, to get a real feel of life as seen through their eyes, and to listen and bring back their stories to share with fellow Singaporeans – who will, hopefully, be moved to help in their own way.” LYNETTE KOH MediaCorp DJ Carol Smith joins Operation Smile mission to Cambodia to help less fortunate children

FOR the first nine years of his life, the people in Thanh’s village called him “Sut” — which means “split lip” in Vietnamese — as a result of his cleft lip. On his first day of school, he was teased so badly by the other children that he refused to go back.

All this changed, however, after he received cleft lip surgery from medical specialists during an Operation Smile mission trip to the southern Vietnamese city of Vung Tau.

Thanh is just one of more than 115,000 children and young adults who have received free surgeries for facial deformities such as cleft lips, cleft palates, facial tumours and burns since Operation Smile was founded in 1982. Every year, the international medical charity coordinates medical missions to 26 countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Operation Smile Singapore serves as a resource centre for the Asian region, covering Cambodia, China, the Philippines, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. It is also the adopted charity of MediaCorp radio station Class 95FM for 2008.

This November, as part of a partnership between MediaCorp and DBS, Class 95FM DJ Carol Smith will join an Operation Smile mission to Cambodia as a non-medical volunteer, where she will accompany beneficiaries and their families through the entire process.

Explaining why she “jumped at the opportunity” to be a part of this mission, the 33-year-old radio personality said: “The child beneficiaries of Operation Smile have been through a lot of discomfort, fear and anxiety. All of us know what it’s like to be ostracised for being even a little different, so imagine what these children go through.”

In developing countries, one in 500 children are born with correctable facial deformities, which can be life-threatening and emotionally traumatising. Around the world, 200,000 children are born every year with a facial deformity and tens of thousands remain untreated. Many of these children have difficulties eating or speaking, and some are kept out of school.

On a typical two-week Operation Smile mission, approximately 300 to 500 patients receive free medical evaluations, and an average of 100 to 150 are given free surgical treatment.

Besides changing these children’s lives through surgeries which can take as little as 45 minutes, Operation Smile provides education and training to medical volunteers in its partner countries, and provides key medical equipment – laying the groundwork for sustainable healthcare systems.

Carol — who is currently single, although she half-jokingly revealed that she hopes to have enough children for “a football team one day, if not more” — said: “I get a lot of joy from interacting with children because of their innocence, charm, and purity. I think Operation Smile brings hope to each child, and I’d like to be there to comfort them, and be their friend on their journey of hope.”

In addition to helping to “put a smile on the children’s faces” this November, Carol hopes to accomplish two other key goals: To better understand their circumstances, and to bring their plight to the attention of others.

She said: “I’d like to be part of the journey of the beneficiaries while I am there, to get a real feel of life as seen through their eyes, and to listen and bring back their stories to share with fellow Singaporeans – who will, hopefully, be moved to help in their own way.” LYNETTE KOH
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68,000 poor families of Cambodia receive emergency food assistance from ADB

PHNOM PENH, Over 68,000 poor families of Cambodia have received emergency food assistance following the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Directors' approval of the project last month, said an ADB press release here on Friday.

"This assistance is making a very real difference in the lives of Cambodia's most vulnerable, particularly its children," said ADB Country Director Arjun Goswami.

"Putting food on the tables of Cambodia's poorest families, just one month after the project's approval, is a commendable accomplishment by the government," he said, adding that food distribution has been supervised by independent NGO monitors.

One of the primary objectives of ADB's emergency food assistance is to help support Cambodia's efforts to ameliorate the food price inflation shock on the poorest and most vulnerable families in the seven provinces around the Tonle Sap Lake, and in three urban slums around Phnom Penh, said the release.

The project targeted the poorest 20 percent of poor families in 200 selected communes, it added.

The ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.

Established in 1966, the ADB is owned by 67 members, 48 from the region. In 2007, it approved 10.1 billion U.S. dollars of loans, 673 million dollars of grant projects, and technical assistance amounting to 243 million dollars, according to the release.


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EU blacklists Cambodia's Siem Reap and all Angolan carriers

By David Kaminski-Morrow

Cambodia's Siem Reap Airways International and all carriers from Angola have been added to the European Commission's 'blacklist' of banned airlines.

But the update, released today, gives no specific information on whether the Commission has acted against any carriers from the European Union.

Phnom Penh-based Siem Reap Airways does not operate directly to Europe, but the European Commission states that the carrier "does not operate in compliance" with Cambodian safety regulations, nor does it meet ICAO standards.

"Significant concerns have also been expressed by ICAO with regard to the ability of the Cambodian civil aviation authorities to implement and enforce the international safety standards," says the Commission in a statement.

Angolan flag-carrier TAAG had already featured on the blacklist but the Commission has extended the ban to all airlines from the southern African state.

It says the blanket ban on Angola is based on "significant safety concerns" brought up by ICAO in an audit last month. The Commission adds, however, that it will continue "close consultation" with Angolan authorities with a view to completing a plan of corrective measures.

Angola is one of several countries - among them Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and several African states - on which an all-inclusive prohibition on European services has been imposed.

Ukrainian carriers Ukraine Mediterranean Airlines and Ukraine Cargo Airways remain on the blacklist for failing to prove that they have implemented corrective actions on safety deficiencies.
"The Commission, together with member states, will visit both carriers before considering any modification of the operating ban," says the EC, which adds that it is pressing the Ukrainian authorities to strengthen safety standards.

Gabonese operator Nouvelle Air Affaires similarly stays on the blacklist, because there is "no evidence" of progress on corrective measures. All Gabonese carriers, except for Gabon Airlines and Afrijet, are blacklisted.

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Cambodia to unveil hybrid rice to interest investors

PHNOM PENH, A newly developed Cambodian high-yielding hybrid rice variety will be presented in Kampong Thom province on Monday to interest investors in large-scale cultivation, national media said on Friday.

Louis Kek, director of Malaynesia Resources, part of the Malaysian-Cambodian joint venture responsible for the new variety's development, said that his company is holding discussion with foreign investors to cultivate 50,000 hectares of this kind of rice in the province.

Singaporean and Middle Eastern investors had been invited to inspect the first harvest of a 2-hectare test plot of the Cambodian Super Hybrid Rice, he was quoted by English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily as saying.

The project will enlarge its production area in the province to200 hectares in the next growing season, he said.

"We are ready for large-scale implementation. I expect it to become widely accepted because of the increase in yields," he said, adding that 7 to 8 tons of yield of rice variety per hectare over the traditional 2.5 tons of yield of other types.

Cambodia used to lead the Southeastern Asian countries in exporting rice, but later lagged behind due to years of war. The government in recent years has established plans to improve its rice production for export and foreign currency income.
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The end of an NGO era in Cambodia

By Craig Guthrie

PHNOM PENH - With an overwhelming electoral mandate, robust economy and a potential bounty of oil and gas revenues, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen feels in a strong enough position to move against the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which have been a perennial thorn in the strongman's side since he took power more than two decades ago.

In late September he called for the revival of a controversial law which would require the country's more than 2,000 associations and NGOs to complete a complex registration process and submit to stringent financial reporting requirements. The draft law is expected to be passed by Hun Sen’s Cambodia People's Party (CPP)-dominated National Assembly in the coming months.

"Cambodia has been heaven for NGOs for too long," he said in a speech broadcast on national radio on September 26, adding that he had given up hope of reading any positive reports written by international or local NGOs. "The NGOs are out of control ... they insult the government just to ensure their financial survival."

By enacting the law, Hun Sen could recalibrate the government's terms of engagement with the Western-led aid community, on which his government has heavily relied for decades to finance its budget. The move comes as private-led foreign investment has fueled the country's economic rise, led in the main by China and South Korea.

"Many of the services provided by NGOs today will one day either be privatized or the revenues of the government will grow to such an extent that the functions currently being done by NGOs will be taken over by the government," said Brett Sciaroni, chairman of Cambodia's International Business Association.

The NGO law's enactment would be a symbolic power shift between Hun Sen's CPP-led government, further emboldened by its landslide victory in this year's general election, and the Western-backed NGOs which have long chastised it over human-rights abuses and corruption allegations.

International aid agencies have for decades held the purse strings on the aid which has sustained the national economy since it emerged from the horrors of the Khmer Rouge, the ultra-Maoist regime which systematically attempted to transform Cambodia into an agricultural utopia between 1975 and 1979, and a subsequent decade-plus of civil war.

Some contend it was the Khmer Rouge's economic failures, including a devastating countrywide famine that killed many and stalked the regime's traumatized survivors, which set the stage for Cambodia's now decades-long dependence on foreign aid.

The British aid agency Oxfam began programs soon after the Khmer Rouge's 1979 ouster, despite incurring the wrath of the United States and the United Kingdom governments for helping the Hanoi-sponsored regime put in place by the invading Vietnamese.

Jacques Beaumont from the United Nations Children's Fund, and Francois Bugnion from the International Red Cross (IRC), who both arrived in Phnom Penh in 1979, were pivotal players in that humanitarian effort. They finally persuaded the IRC, which was fearful of being seen as compromising its political neutrality, into launching what turned into its most significant relief operation since World War II.

But the comprehensive aid experiment did not begin in earnest until after the signing of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, which by and large ended the country's debilitating civil war. Since then myriad NGOs have come to Cambodia to work on everything from demining to microfinance, orphanages to agri-business, public health issues to snaring globe-trotting pedophiles.

The demining NGOs in particular made great progress, clearing an estimated 25,000 hectares of mined territory between 1992-2003. Cambodia has also been hailed as a global success story in fighting HIV/AIDs transmission, led by NGO-organized education programs and health aid. Prevalence rates have fallen by nearly half, from 3% in 1997 to 1.6% in 2006.

Fractious relations
But Hun Sen's government's relationship with NGOs and international aid agencies has often been fractious, epitomized by its tumultuous interactions with the environmental watchdog Global Witness over its consistent accusations of high-level government links to illegal logging, and with the UK-based rights lobby Amnesty International for its criticism of state-sponsored forced evictions across the country.

The World Bank also suspended US$11.9 million in funds in 2006 for seven sanitation projects when it found evidence of rampant extortion, bribe-taking, bid-rigging and procurement manipulation, leading Hun Sen to claim the multilateral lender was trying to tarnish his government's credibility. The bank only agreed to unfreeze the projects' funding in 2007 after the government promised to strengthen anti-corruption measures.

Despite Cambodia's recent economic boom, including a skyrocketing average 11% gross domestic product (GDP) growth over the past three years, a sizable portion of the nation's real income still derives directly from donor nations in amounts wrangled out each year at annual Consultative Group meetings.

The meetings were for years characterized by vague promises from the Cambodian government in response to weak demands by donors for reform, including the long-delayed adoption of an anti-corruption law. But in the past two years these demands have become less relevant with the surge in aid from China, which typically has less good governance or transparency conditions attached.

While Chinese aid is generally funneled through vast infrastructure projects - including hydropower and road projects - usually contracted to Chinese companies, Western nations' share of the average US$600 million in annual aid arrives through international aid agencies and NGOs. The process has been widely cast as a corrupt, inefficient gravy train, giving some traction to Hun Sen's complaints.

"In the 1980s, there was a popular T-shirt satirizing US Army recruitment commercials with the slogan, 'Join the army. Travel to exotic, distant lands. Meet exciting, unusual people. And kill them'," Brad Adams, executive director for Human Rights Watch's Asia Program, was quoted saying to Action Aid in 2005. "In the new millennium, it could be rephrased, 'Join the aid community. Travel to exotic, distant lands. Meet exciting, unusual people. And make a killing'."

This is still the case in Cambodia, Adams told Asia Times Online. "You can start with all the foreign consultants making more than $10,000 per month, almost always tax free. This is a huge drain on the aid budget for Cambodia and in many cases the consultants produce nothing of value for the country."

Many analysts and expatriates agree that NGOs and their workers suffer from an image crisis among the Cambodian public, partly due to their comparatively high salaries and lifestyles, which are far adrift from the 35% of the population which lives on less than $0.50 a day.

Country directors for prominent international aid agencies typically receive a $250,000 annual package, which includes a spacious villa in the capital's upmarket "NGO-ville" area, a four-wheel-drive vehicle - usually emblazoned with the logo of their donor agency or charity - and fees paid for the capital's better international schools.

The aid watchdog Action Aid estimated in 2005 that the 700 or so international consultants working for NGOs in the country earned more than Cambodia's 160,000 civil servants put together. "In 1993, yes, 99% of foreign consultants were justified; now, 5% are justifiable. The others are embedding and enabling the mentality of dependency," Center of Social Development director Theary Seng said in June.

Arne Sahlen, a founding member of the Cambodia Support Group, a 25-year-old volunteer organization, echoes Hun Sen's comments that fundraising has overtaken the focus on the actual progress of several NGO projects. According to Sahlen, "vast" resources are being swallowed up on pursuing donors that could be invested on direct project needs. "The need to please donors has warped the focus to not necessarily what is best for the project but what may look best on an application," said Sahlen.

Others contend that several NGOs are actually impeding the development of a self-sustaining private sector, mainly through the alleged abuse of their not-for-profit status to pursue business opportunities. That status helps them avoid taxes and other unofficial costs that private businesses pay, giving non-profit an unfair competitive advantage in the market, they say.

Cambodians now understand the word NGO, especially in the local context, to be a for-profit enterprise, said Sophal Ear, the author of The Political Economy of Cambodia, Aid and Governance. "It's all a business and this is just another way to avoid taxes," he said. "When not covered by donors, capital costs for NGOs have largely been privatized, through an extensive network of 'donations' to the ruling party by Oknhas [politically connected tycoons] politicians, and civil servants."

Discretionary powers
The NGO law, known formally as the Law on Organizations, was first written over a decade ago and aims to address such complaints. It would require NGOs to submit for government approval documents detailing their structure, goals, funding resources, properties and even logos. It also entails fines and imprisonment for any NGO which fails to submit annual reports to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Many fear the discretionary powers the law will give the government in monitoring and sanctioning NGOs - rather than vice versa. Hun Sen no doubt had his one good eye on the anticipated bounty of future oil and gas revenues when calling for the controversial law's revival. Chevron, the US energy giant, discovered oil off Cambodia southwestern coast in 2005 and analysts have predicted the find could generate anywhere between $200 million and $2 billion in annual revenues for the government when full-scale production begins in 2010.

The government is still awaiting a key assessment from Chevron of the supposed find, and both sides have more recently played down expectations. Nonetheless, NGOS are already warning of a possible "resource curse" similar to places like Nigeria, where corrupt governments pilfered and wasted earnings derived from energy exports.

"NGOs are trying to tell us how to use the oil money, but this is of no interest to us. What is important is how to make our resources profitable," Hun Sen said in a recent radio broadcast speech.

Despite his criticisms, there are reasons for concern. A new NGO coalition has begun work to oversee the transparency of the management of future oil funds. Led by the NGO Forum, it has given little information on its structure, but has said it plans to ensure the potential financial benefits from the windfall are managed in a socially responsible manner, and that benefits filter down to the impoverished grassroots.

The World Bank, which also aims to monitor the government's oil revenue management, noted in May that international aid is often poorly managed in key sectors, with the problem of "fragmented" assistance especially acute in health and education.

In the health sector, 22 donors are currently working with over 100 NGOs to deliver $110 million in Official Development Assistance (ODA) per year through 109 projects - yet use of the national system remains at just between 13% to 18%, said the bank. The vast majority of rural Cambodians are forced to use an expensive yet rudimentary private healthcare system which is more reminiscent of poorer African than neighboring Asian nations.

The education system is also beset by severe underfunding, with thousands of graduates churned out from poorly regulated "international" universities with degrees that often leave them ill-prepared to enter the job market. Until now, the only paying option for many graduates was to work in donor agencies and international NGOs. But if Chinese and South Korean private investment flows hold up and the country's hoped-for energy bonanza is realized, that may all soon change if Hun Sen has his NGO-curbing way.


Craig Guthrie is a former reporter for the Mekong Times newspaper in Phnom Penh. He has covered Cambodian affairs since 2004. Read more!

Cambodia to host ministerial trade conference of least developed countries

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will host a meeting of ministers of industry and commerce from around 49 of the world's poorest countries described as "least developed" on Nov. 19-20 in Siem Reap province to discuss issues related to international trade, a press release said Thursday.

The conference aims to search for solutions to common problems faced by the poorest nations in their integration to global trade, the press release from the office of Cambodian government said.
One of the main topics of discussion is "Aid for Trade" (AfT), a package of incentives designed to help overcome structural and resource constraints of least developed countries in exchange for more speedy trade reforms, it said.

South-South Cooperation for Poverty Reduction is also on the agenda of the meeting, it added.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is to open this event, the release said.

The Cambodian government, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are jointly organizing this conference.
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'Progress' in Thailand-Cambodia row

The foreign ministers of Thailand and Cambodia say they have made progress in resolving a festering border dispute, and have agreed on steps to begin demarcating disputed territory that sparked a deadly military clash last month.

Following talks in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, the two sides said they had also tentatively agreed to redeploy their troops and clear land mines in the area near the ancient Preah Vihear temple.

"We have made a big practical step forward," Hor Namhong, Cambodia's foreign minister, said at a press conference after the meeting.

It is not yet clear, however, when the redeployment would begin, because the Thai side will first have to submit to parliament documents it negotiated with Cambodia.

"We have achieved 99 per cent, but there still remain a few points on which I need to seek approval from the Thai parliament first," Sompong Amornvivat, Thailand's foreign minister, told reporters.

In October three soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in a brief but intense exchange of gunfire between Thai and Cambodian troops.

The clash had raised fears of a war between the neighbours who have argued over the disputed stretch of jungle for decades.

In 1962 the World Court awarded ownership of the 14 century Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia, but sovereignty over the surrounding land has never been clearly resolved.
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Monks see Buddha in wasp nest

By Matt Russell

Experts are skeptical, but the Cambodian Buddhist community is abuzz over what they believe is a miracle at their temple in southeast Rochester: A wasp nest in the shape of a seated Buddha.
The nest, which is nestled in the eaves high above the entry to the Buddhists' one-story gathering hall, was spotted last week during a large celebration in which community members give monks new robes.

"Instead of the celebration we were having, we were paying attention to the beehive," said 35-year-old monk Sokunthea Thun.

Elder members of the Cambodian Buddhist community said they have never seen an apparition of the Buddha in their lifetimes.

"The Buddha is trying to tell everybody to seek peace in their lives," said 70-year-old Voeun Sor of Rochester, a Cambodia native who has lived in the United States for 20 years.

The location of the nest is typical for paper wasps, said Kirk Payne, a naturalist at Quarry Hill Nature Center in Rochester.

"They'll make a comb that can be kind of be wave-like," he said. "I can imagine how they could make a shape like an undulating, Buddha-like figure."

The Buddha-shaped formation could actually be made of four different nests formed over the last two to four years, said Robert Jeanne, an entomology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"If you want to read miracles into that, that's your privilege, but I wouldn't be inclined to do that," he said.

Beehives appear to have a special significance in Cambodian Buddhism: Honey collecting is a common activity in Cambodia, where Buddhist temples feature honeycomb-shaped towers.

Indeed, a beehive is prominently featured in a colorful painting on the temple grounds in Rochester, a fact that 76-year-old monk Moeun Ngop pointed out Monday afternoon while asserting the wasp nests were a miracle.

The Buddha wasn't trying to send a message with the nests, but the insects were trying to communicate a Buddhist message, Thun said.

"Bees can do this kind of miracle, so humans can also do miracles," he said. "Everywhere in this world, we humans need to follow in the bees' path to make peace and serenity."

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Cambodia, Vietnam to build processing plant to boost trade

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Vietnam have agreed to build a new industrial processing factory aimed at boosting the two countries' agricultural exports, national media reported Wednesday.

The factory will promote cooperation between the two largely agricultural countries and raise quality standards on export goods such as beans, corn, palm sugar and cashew nuts, the Phnom Penh Post said.

Officials say the products would be aimed at the local and export markets.

"The factory will be constructed near the border between both countries in order to capitalize on each country's resources," HorNamhong, Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, was quoted as saying.

News of the partnership follows Prime Minister Hun Sen's return from a state visit to Vietnam, where he signed a trade agreement to increase cross-border commerce.

Trade between Cambodia and Vietnam reached 1.7 billion U.S. dollars through the first eight months of this year, Hor Namhong said, up from 1.19 U.S. dollars billion in 2007.

"Vietnam has more modern technology, capital and human resources than Cambodia, so (the new factory) will offer a significant tool to develop our economy," he said.

Le Bien Cuong, the commercial counselor at the Vietnamese embassy in Cambodia, said hopes were high that the factory would be completed soon, and that the plant would raise the quality of local products to international export standards.
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Cambodia, Thailand promise border troop withdrawal

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia and Thailand pledged on Wednesday to start marking out disputed bits of border next month and withdraw troops in January to avoid a repeat of last month's armed clashes at the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple.

After three days of negotiations by a joint border committee in the Cambodian resort town of Siem Reap, Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwat said "99 percent" of the problems had been resolved.

He did not elaborate other than to say the agreement had to be approved by Thailand's parliament, as required by the constitution.

At a joint press conference broadcast on Cambodian television, Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong said the troop withdrawal would make way for joint teams to clear the thousands of landmines that litter much of the jungle-clad border.

"We have decided to plant border pillars in the disputed area first because we are trying not to have a repeat of the conflict," Hor Namhong said.

One Thai and three Cambodian soldiers died in last month's exchange of rifle and rocket fire, which both sides accused the other of starting.

The Hindu temple, which sits on the escarpment that forms the natural border, has been a source of tension for generations.

The International Court of Justice awarded it to Cambodia in 1962, but the ruling did not determine the ownership of 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) of scrub next to the ruins, leaving considerable scope for disagreement.

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HIV Testing for Global 'One Million Tests' Campaign Begins During Cambodia's National Water Festival

AHF Cambodia CARES Donates 20,000 Kits to Government Testing Programs and Commits to Test 10,000 Individuals; Hard-hit Country Will Test 30,000 People Throughout November

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Nov 12, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- As part of an ambitious global effort to test one million people for HIV in observance of the One Million Tests World AIDS Day 2008 campaign, AHF/Cambodia CARES launched its inaugural testing effort during the annual Water Festival, the largest festival in the Cambodian calendar which marks the end of the rainy season. AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest AIDS group in the US which currently provides AIDS medical care and services to more than 83,000 individuals in 22 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia, spearheaded the worldwide initiative to test one million people in conjunction with the observance of this year's World AIDS Day.

AHF Cambodia CARES, which operates 11 free AIDS treatment clinics throughout the country, has taken a leadership role in Cambodia's HIV testing efforts by donating 20,000 kits to government HIV testing programs. In addition, AHF Cambodia CARES has also committed to testing 10,000 individuals. As a result, one of the countries in the Asia Pacific region that has been hardest-hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic will test 30,000 people for HIV throughout the month of November.

"With the beginning of the Water Festival today, AHF Cambodia CARES was pleased to get an early start and launch our country's participation in the World AIDS Day 2008 One Million Tests campaign. At four sites in Phnom Penh, AHF Cambodia CARES tested 250 individuals. Of these, three people were found to be HIV-positive, and each has been counseled and linked to a clinic for follow up care and access to lifesaving antiretroviral treatment," said Chhim Sarath, M.D., AHF Country Program Coordinator for Cambodia.

Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in Asia and also has one of the most rapidly growing HIV/AIDS epidemics in the region. The HIV epidemic has spread beyond high-risk groups such as sex workers, male police officers, factory workers, mobile populations, injection drug users and men who have sex with men, to the general population.

The number of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) centers in Cambodia has increased dramatically over the last 5 years (only 12 sites in 2000 to 199 sites by the first quarter or 2008). Of the current 199 VCT centers, 180 are supported directly by the government, while 19 are supported by non-governmental organizations.

About AHF
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the nation's largest non-profit HIV/AIDS organization. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 85,000 individuals in 22 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia. Additional information is available at www.aidshealth.org

SOURCE: AIDS Healthcare Foundation CAMBODIA
AHF Global (Phnom Penh)
Chhim Sarath, MD, Country Program Manager
+855-12-912-124
chhim.sarath@aidshealth.org
or
UNITED STATES
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Ged Kenslea, Communications Director
+1-323-860-5225
Mobile: +1-323-791-5526
gedk@aidshealth.org

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Cambodia, Thailand make limited progress in border talks

Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to conduct a joint survey of border markers placed along the two countries' disputed land
boundary more than a century ago.

They say the survey is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Negotiators have also agreed that both sides will jointly remove landmines in the contested area around the 11th century Preah Vihear temple.

Talks aimed at ending the tense military stand off between the two countries began in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap on Monday.

Cambodia's chief negotiator says despite some progress , many issues remain to be solved.

Discussions between two countries' foreign ministers are scheduled for later today (Wednesday).

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Russia could write off Cambodia's $1.5 bln debt

MOSCOW, November 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is discussing with the Cambodian leadership the possibility of writing off most of Cambodia's debt, which stands at around $1.5 billion, a senior Russian lawmaker said on Monday.

"Russia and Cambodia are holding talks to write off Cambodia's debt of around $1.5 billion. The principal sum (about 70%) of the debt could be written off as part of Russia's participation in the Paris Club of Creditor Nations," said Valery Yazev, deputy speaker of the lower house of Russia's parliament, after a trip to Cambodia and Laos.

Yazev said the debt's outstanding part could be divided into two and settled at concessional interest rates.

The vice-speaker said the next round of negotiations on settling Cambodia's debt to Russia would be held early next year in Moscow.

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Cambodian gov't rejects IMF s gloomy economic report

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian government officials have rebuffed a gloomy economic forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying the Kingdom's predicted growth slowdown would not be as dire as the world body suggests, national media reported Monday.

At the culmination of a two-week mission Friday, the IMF announced that lower foreign investment, as well as runoff effects from the global financial crisis, would push Cambodia's economic growth down to 4.8 percent in 2009, from a previously predicted rate of nine percent.

But in a prepared speech Sunday for the 55th anniversary of Independence Day, Prime Minister Hun Sen said he was confident the government's strong economic record protected it against such a depreciative outlook, according to the Phnom Penh Post.

"During the last four years, Cambodia has maintained an economic growth of two digits," he was quoted as saying.

"In the fourth mandate, the government will ensure the achievement of economic growth of around seven percent a year and pull down the inflation rate to one digit," he added.

Cambodian Finance Minister Keat Chhon told the Post last week that economic growth would be no lower than 6.5 percent for 2009.

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Water Festival fears for illegal detainees in Cambodia

A human rights group is concerned that the upcoming Water Festival in Cambodia could see another surge of illegal detentions and hidden abuses for the capital Phnom Penh's homeless and sex workers.

Writing etched into the walls of one so-called "social rehabilitation center" suggests that people are being detained against their will and abused, according to rights group LICADHO.

The group has called on the Cambodian government to shut down the centres, including one that was once a Khmer Rouge death-camp in the 70s.

In recent years the camp has been turned into what the Government describes as a "Social Rehabilitation Centre."

Human rights group LICADHO says, however, it's one of several illegal prisons that keep the homeless and destitute off the streets and out of sight.

The Cambodian Government has repeatedly claimed the island camp and other similar centres are voluntary and have denied accusations of abuse.

But last week LICADHO monitors gained access to a facility in Kampong Speu province.

LICADHO'S director, Naly Pilorge says what they found was evidence that contradicts Government claims the centres are for rehabilitation.

"My colleagues entered the facilities and went into the rooms where people were detained," she said.

"Immediately they saw drawings and writing both in Khmer, in Thai and also in English of obviously former detainees that had written appeals and their situation here in those rooms. There was a number of drawings of women who implied that they had been sexually abused and raped. There was one writing in English - on one hand they said 'life' and the other was 'hell'. And there was also counts of days like you see in prisons at times all over the world where people count how many days and how many nights they have been detained.

"We have interviewed people, we have seen people who are neglected, abused and with these drawings it's obvious to us that this is a place where people are unlawfully detained and seriously abused," she said.

She says those interviewed are describing situations of the "worst you can imagine."

"Starting from not having food and water and this was obvious from the first time we went to these centres, as soon as the gates were open people ran to the grounds outside and started eating grass and leaves, so it was obvious that people were not getting enough to eat.

"We have allegations of gang rapes and sexual abuse. We also have information about beatings, very severe beatings leading to the death of people," she said.

Ms Pilorge says during many public holidays and particularly Water Festival, the Cambodian Government "wishes to maintain its image of the 'Kingdom of Wonder' and therefore the government continues to detain people who they believe contradict that image.
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Cambodia, Thailand begin border talks

Cambodia and Thailand made a "big step" by agreeing to an agenda to resolve a long-running border dispute that erupted in deadly fighting last month, Cambodia's lead negotiator said.

Officials from the two countries met in the Cambodian tourist hub of Siem Reap to begin three days of talks aimed at hammering out territorial claims and ending a four-month military stand-off that spilled into a deadly shootout near the ancient Preah Vihear temple last month.

"We have moved forward with a big step in resolving the border issue," Va Kimhong, head of Cambodia's border committee, told reporters at the end of a meeting in which the two sides agreed to an agenda for defusing tensions.

The negotiator added the two countries would make it a priority to demarcate territory around the 11th century Khmer temple as soon as it is cleared of landmines.

"We have also agreed to determine the location that needs to be measured in area around Preah Vihear temple," he said.

In earlier opening remarks, Mr Va said only about 60 per cent of the border between the two countries had been demarcated, despite an agreement to have lines properly drawn by the end of 2006.

"It is so important that both our countries should have clear border lines in order to solve the problem and avoid incidents," he said.

He called for both sides to cooperate in a friendly manner and "avoid using weapons and armed forces."

The foreign ministers of both countries are scheduled to meet on Wednesday, officials said.

Shortly after a round of talks failed last month, troops from the two countries clashed on October 15 on disputed land near the temple, killing one Thai soldier and three Cambodian troops.

Two rounds of emergency talks after the October clashes made little progress, with both sides only agreeing not to fire on each other again.

The Cambodian government has since announced that it plans to double its military budget next year to 500 million dollars.

The Cambodian-Thai border has never been fully demarcated in part because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia.

The most recent tensions between the neighbours began in July when the temple was awarded UN World Heritage status, rekindling a long-running disagreement over ownership of the surrounding land.

- AFP

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Cambodian police chief dies in helicopter crash: govt

Good news: The suprem Mafia leader, Hok Landie, dead. The cold blood killer Hok Landead is the notorious Mafia in Hun Sen regime and the one that took responsible for all crimes in Phnom Penh. God punished him.

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia's top policeman died in a helicopter crash in bad weather that also claimed the life of a top-ranking army general, a government spokesman told AFP Sunday.

Chief of police Hok Lundy and General Sok Sa Em were passengers in a helicopter that came down shortly after it took off Sunday from Phnom Penh airport, ministry of interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said.

"In the helicopter there was a pilot, a co-pilot, the national police chief and the deputy commander of the military. All four died," Khieu Sopheak said.

Khieu Sopheak said the helicopter came down in southeastern Svay Rieng province.

"The reason for the crash was bad weather. There was a heavy rain," he added.

He said radio contact had been lost 15 minutes after it took off from Phnom Penh airport at around 7:20 pm (1220 GMT).

Hok Lundy, head of the country's police for over a decade, had been routinely criticised by international organisations for alleged human rights abuses and corruption within his force.

Hok Lundy was also accused of involvement in politically motivated killings and drug trafficking.

Human rights groups protested a decision to allow him a visa to the United States last year after the State Department refused him a visa in 2006 due to allegations he was involved in trafficking prostitutes.

Arrangements were being made for a traditional Cambodian funeral for the police chief, Khieu Sopheak said.
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Cambodia vows economic growth at 7%

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday he was committed to maintaining annual economic growth of seven percent, after warnings that the country's red-hot economy would soon slow.

Hun Sen, addressing crowds at Independence Day celebrations, vowed to maintain high GDP growth despite the global financial slowdown, and said the government was committed to reducing poverty by more than one percent per year.

"The government are well aware that the strategic plans are highly ambitious amid the global economic crisis," Hun Sen said at Phnom Penh's Royal Palace.

"But we depend on our experience, our achievements and determination, and we are very positive that the country will accomplish its visions."

The International Monetary Fund recently said that Cambodia's economy is expected to flounder next year as the world crisis deepens.

The country has enjoyed double-digit growth over the past few years, but that will likely ease to 6.5 percent this year and 4.8 percent in 2009 as the crisis deepens, IMF official David Cowen said on Friday. After being written off as a failed state after the devastating 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime and several decades of civil war, Cambodia has struggled back in recent years to become an improving economic success story.

But despite recent growth, under-employment - where someone's work earns only a meagre return - remains high in Cambodia, while about 35 percent of the country's 14 million people live on less than US$0.50 a day.
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