2012 Aug 22-26 by otc communication

Cambodia's honey collectors sign sweet deal | Business | The Phnom Pen...

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Cambodia's honey collectors sign sweet deal Wednesday, 22 August 2012 Meas Chansatya 0

Honey collectors from four provinces in Cambodia signed an agreement with the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) in order to bring more honey to the capital. CEDAC has encouraged farmers from four provinces – Preah Vihear, Kratie, Koh Kong and Mondulkiri – to collect honey from their communities to sell in CEDAC stores in Phnom Penh. The initiative comes as customers are relatively uncertain about the country’s honey products, but CEDAC is attempting to take the honey to be examined and standardised, which customers tend to be more interested in, according to CEDAC President Yang Saing Koma. Under the agreement, bee-hunting communities would supply 4,000 litres of pure forest honey each year for sale in 10 shops across Phnom Penh, Yang said. “We hope that, through this agreement, CEDAC and forest honey hunter communities will benefit by both increasing their incomes and preserving natural resources for each community,” said Yang. Pich Phony, president of the Cambodian Honey Hunter Community, which represents about 300 members in Mondulkiri, Koh Kong, Kratie and Preah Vihear provinces, said the honey would be sold to CEDAC for US$9.70 per litre. He added that the honey hunter communities in the four provinces are able to collect from 5,000 to 8,000 litres of honey in total per year at present. According to official figures, only 10 per cent of the 500,000 litres of honey demanded domestically each year is currently supplied by Cambodia’s collectors. It is hoped that the deal will also help strengthen community conservation of hives and natural forest resources, said Pich Phony. To contact the reporter on this story: Meas Sokchea at sokchea.meas@phnompenhpost.com

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8/22/2012 5:11 PM

Cambodia's wild lobster stocks replenished | Business | The Phnom Penh...

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Cambodia's wild lobster stocks replenished Wednesday, 22 August 2012 Rann Reuy 0

Fishermen set out at daybreak on the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh. Photograph: Meng Kimlong/Phnom Penh Post Seven million young lobsters had been released into Cambodia’s rivers and Tonle Sap Lake this year in an effort to build the nation’s fish and shellfish stocks, officials said yesterday. Nao Thouk, general director of the Fisheries Administration at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said, about a half million baby lobsters were released into the rivers and waterways of Cambodia in an effort to increase the amount of wild lobsters after sharp decreases in their population in recent years. “We released young lobsters, numbering nearly a million so far this year. We released about 200,000 young losbters in Ang Trapaing Thma in Banteay Meanchey province and other places.” The Fisheries Adminstration previously released 120,000 young lobsters in 2010, with the number increasing to one million last year, while this year, they planned to release seven million more, according to Nao Thouk, who spoke with the Post late last year. Cambodia harvests about 100 tonnes of wild lobsters a year, though the market demands about 1,000 tonnes. From the seven million lobsters released, only about five per cent of them are expected to live long enough to reach a weight of one kilogram. However, hatching lobsters is a problem due to their tendency to fall ill and die, he said, adding: “We are collecting the females via fishing. But, after we release those hatched in capitivity there are a lot of deaths.” Each day, there are between five to 20 illegal fishing operations that are stopped by Fisheries officials, Nao said. “Illegal fishing activities will not end because there are people who live on or near the water and are in need of food or money. I compare it to the possibility of eliminating crime in Phnom Penh. If we manage to do that then illegal fishing would end as well,” he said.

8/22/2012 5:12 PM

Cambodia's wild lobster stocks replenished | Business | The Phnom Penh...

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As prices continue to climb for freshwater lobster, farming of the crustacean in Cambodia has increased. A kilogram of top-quality lobster sells for about US$30, up from $10 in 2005, according to lobster farmers. The government is seeking to foster growth in Cambodia’s wild lobster population after overfishing diminished the population significantly in recent years. Prom Vath, who runs a lobster hatchery in Angkor Borei district in Takeo province said that he increased the number of lobsters hatched to meet demand from customers who have sought nearly one million lobsters this year alone, up from around 600,000 lobsters last year. “My clients in Siem Reap and other provinces have order more because they were successful in feeding the lobsters they received from me once they hatched, and were able to grow them to a size that fit their needs,” he said. Khieu Sam, a lobster hatcher from Tramkok district in Takeo province, who previously hatched about 20,000 to 30,000 young lobsters a year, quit the business this year because of a lack of orders from lobster farmers who were incapable of feeding their stock properly. “The raising of hatchlings that have been reserved requires a lot of capital. If there are no orders, it leads to a loss,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Rann Reuy at reuy.rann@phnompenhpost.com

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8/22/2012 5:12 PM

Exam cheating rampant: report | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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Exam cheating rampant: report Wednesday, 22 August 2012 Chhay Channyda 0

A recent study showed that about 55 per cent of students used their mobile phones to cheat in high-school exams. Photograph: Will Baxter/Phnom Penh Post National High School Exam candidates each spent an average of 120,000 riel – about US$30 – on bribes over this year’s two-day testing period to secure exam answers, according to independent research released yesterday. Social researcher Kem Ley’s report Turning a Blind Eye purported that 92 per cent of students were involved in bribery or cheating during the exam, which is conducted under the supervision of high- school proctors, teachers and police officials. “We also see that 55 per cent of answers were copied from their hand phone after the answer was made and sent around by email,” Ley said, noting social media site Facebook had emerged as a popular means to cheat during this year’s exams, which took place on August 6 and 7. “However, while this is a self-formed habit to bribe the [exam supervisors], this year there was a bit of improvement compared to last year,” he said, pointing to more diligent monitoring of exam rooms by police officials as stemming the amount of exam answer cheat sheets physically used by students. The 40-page research findings from interviews with 157 students will be sent to the Ministry of Education and government development partners UNESCO and UNICEF next week, Ley told the Post, in a bid to put pressure on the government to reform the education system. For Ley, the solution lies in improving the quality and ethics of teachers and exam invigilators through appropriate remuneration or up to $150 per day during the exam period. Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teacher Association, agreed that exam irregularities greatly diminished the quality of the education system in Cambodia. “It isn’t a new thing. Although it was quieter around exam rooms this year, that is because they are copying via email and Facebook,” Chhun said.

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8/22/2012 4:51 PM

Exam cheating rampant: report | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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He added that if the government did not deal with the quality of education in Cambodia, it could not produce a competitive labour force for the 2015 ASEAN integration. Sam Sereyrath, general director at the Ministry of Education, said the research was a somewhat “small sample”, so it was incapable of evaluating the whole high-school exam. “The result would have been much more positive if he had interviewed more,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Chhay Channyda at channyda.chhay@phnompenhpost.com

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8/22/2012 4:51 PM

French pedophile handed one-year sentence | National news | The Phnom...

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French pedophile handed one-year sentence Wednesday, 22 August 2012 Thik Kaliann 0

A French national accused of sexually molesting five minors was sentenced yesterday in Siem Reap to one year in prison and ordered to pay 800,000 riel, or US$200, to each of the victims, in addition to a 2 million riel or US$500 fine. Morin Marcel, 58, was found guilty of indecent acts against five minors under the age of 15, Judge Chhay Kong said. Siem Reap provincial anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection official Doung Thavery said police had arrested Marcel on February 18 at a guest house in the Svay Dangkum Commune, based on evidence collected by the child-protection NGO Action Pour Les Enfants. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He approached nine under-age boys during the night by buying them food, kissing and caressing their private parts, fondling their genitals and inviting them into his guest house,â&#x20AC;? Thavery said. To contact the reporter on this story: Thik Kaliyann at newsroom@phnompenhpost.com

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8/22/2012 5:15 PM

Monitoring of Cambodian Muslims called into question | National news |...

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Monitoring of Cambodian Muslims called into question Wednesday, 22 August 2012 Vong Sokheng and Joseph Freeman 2

Sor Leash, 20, sweeps up at the Al-Azhar mosque in Phnom Penh yesterday. The Thai government is allegedly trying to keep tabs on Cambodian Muslims travelling to Thailand. Photograph: Hong Menea/Phnom Penh Post Official from Cambodian immigration, law enforcement and diplomatic circles were either unaware of, or unwilling to talk yesterday about, an alleged request from the Thai government to help monitor Cambodian Muslims crossing into the country. “That is a Thai problem,” said Pin Piseth, head of immigration at the Ministry of Interior, declining to elaborate. He would not confirm or deny that the government was aiding its neighbour in keeping an eye on Muslims travelling in the days following the end of the holy month of Ramadan. News of the alleged monitoring surfaced on Monday when Thai Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa told the Bangkok Post that thousands of Cambodian Muslims were entering Thailand as “tourists” every day, and that the Immigration Bureau was given instructions to keep tabs on their movements. He also said that Cambodian authorities would be asked to co-operate. But the Cambodian ambassador to Thailand, You Ay, said she had not received any such requests. “I don’t know anything, it was a publication in Thai media,” she said. It’s unclear how the Thais would be able to accurately identify Cambodian Muslims apart from their dress. They account for just a fraction of a predominantly Buddhist population, religious affiliation is not listed on Cambodian passports, and hundreds of thousands of Cambodians travel to Thailand throughout the year. Khieu Kanharith, the Cambodian Minister of Information, said it’s a matter of religious profiling. “The Thai government is always speculating about Khmer Muslims who cross into Thailand when there is problem in the south – it is usual,” he said.

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8/22/2012 4:44 PM

Monitoring of Cambodian Muslims called into question | National news |...

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Over the past eight years, the south has been a hotspot of brutal violence as insurgents waged a deadly campaign against the government to seek an independent Muslim state. But Koy Kuong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Cambodian Muslims who cross into Thailand are seeking work, not warfare. “They don’t have any ill-will purpose. It is speculation on pleasant people,” he said. “When they enter, it is [the Thai] authorities’ duty in checking with them while they stay in Thailand.” Numerous attempts to reach the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs were unsuccessful. Members of Muslim communities in Phnom Penh yesterday voiced concern about the perceived targeting of Cambodians who share the Islamic faith. Chi Ya, 58, in the Chroy Changva village of Russey Keo district, said he was worried about neighbours who go through Thailand to visit family members in Malaysia. If they get arrested based on stereotypes, “that would be bad”. Haji Yusef, imam of the Al-Azhar mosque in Russey Keo, read about the alleged Thai policy online, but rejected the idea that a fundamentalist strain of Islam existed in Cambodia. “We have a good network of Khmer Muslims in Cambodia, and if a member of us is suspected to have connections with bad Muslims from outside, we would detain them immediately and hand them over to the government.” To contact the reporters on this story: Vong Sokheng at sokheng.vong@phnompenhpost.com Joseph Freeman at joseph.freeman@phnompenhpost.com With assistance from Cheang Sokha

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8/22/2012 4:44 PM

More Cambodian maids head home | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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More Cambodian maids head home Wednesday, 22 August 2012 Sen David 0

In the space of only about two months, the Cambodian embassy in Malaysia had helped eight Cambodian maids whose employers abused them, the government said yesterday. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The maids have been mistreated by their employers and some have finished their contracts and want to come back home,â&#x20AC;? Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said in a statement. Among those waiting for a flight home was Ggol Pich, who has reached the end of her two-year contract. She would arrive home tomorrow, Kuong said, adding that others had already been repatriated. In October, Cambodia put a ban on sending maids to Malaysia after a spate of incidents involving abuse. To contact the reporter on this story: Sen David at david.sen@phnompenhpost.com

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8/22/2012 4:59 PM

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ASEAN Foreign Ministers's Statement 17/8/2012

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Tel:ȱ(855)ȱ23ȱ214ȱ441,ȱ23ȱ216ȱ122,ȱ23ȱ224ȱ973

MinistryȱofȱForeignȱAěairsȱandȱInternationalȱCooperation

Fax:ȱ(855)ȱ23ȱ216ȱ144,ȱ216ȱ141

No.3,ȱSamdechȱHunȱSenȱStreet,ȱSangkatȱTonleȱBassac,

8/22/2012 4:54 PM

www.mfaic.gov.kh

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Tel:ȱ(855)ȱ23ȱ214ȱ441,ȱ23ȱ216ȱ122,ȱ23ȱ224ȱ973

MinistryȱofȱForeignȱAěairsȱandȱInternationalȱCooperation

Fax:ȱ(855)ȱ23ȱ216ȱ144,ȱ216ȱ141

No.3,ȱSamdechȱHunȱSenȱStreet,ȱSangkatȱTonleȱBassac,

8/22/2012 4:56 PM

Police Blotter: 22 Aug 2012 | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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Police Blotter: 22 Aug 2012 Wednesday, 22 August 2012 Phnom Penh Post 0

Truants learn it’s not all fun and games Six school-skippers in Kampong Cham town were dragged from their computer-gaming shop chairs by police on Monday after a group of peeved parents complained their children were continuously skipping school. Police later dis-covered the gaming shop was masquerading as a café and operating illegally. The shop owner bolted, while police destroyed the computers and games. The rueful students apologised and promised to stop cutting classes. Deum Ampil Attentive neighbour foils attempt at inside job Police in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district arrested a Vietnamese man yesterday following a sneaky subterfuge that involved the suspect claiming ownership of a house that wasn’t his. The man allegedly locked himself in the house and began to pilfer property. However, a neighbour saved the day by calling out for help. Police embarked on a wild chase of the crook through the city’s streets. They eventually caught him and sent him to court. Koh Santepheap Moto hi-jinks land two alleged dealers in jail Two alleged young drug dealers in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kork district were arrested by police on Monday for drug trafficking. Police said they found two swollen packages of drugs on the two, one aged 15 and the other 21, while they were hooning about on their motorcycle. When police tried to pull them over, the two sped on, but were eventually caught. The men subsequently admitted they were en route to distribute the dope and have been sent to court. Rasmey Kampuchea Drunken trio injure foreigner in accident A baran was seriously injured in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district after a drunk driver slammed his motorcycle into him. Allegedly, the victim was aboard his own motorcycle when the vehicle, with three inebriated men aboard, lost control and crashed into him. The suspects have been sent to court. Deum Ampil Neighbours silent in face of domestic violence An alleged wife-beater was arrested in Kampong Speu’s Phnom Sroch district on Monday. Police said neighbours witnessed him thump and thrash his wife about until she was seriously injured, but they were too afraid to restrain him. The suspect was arrested and sent to court while his wife remains in hospital. Kampuchea Thmey Translated by Sen David

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8/22/2012 5:16 PM

Preah Vihear land primed for plantation | National news | The Phnom Pe...

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Preah Vihear land primed for plantation Wednesday, 22 August 2012 May Titthara 0

The government has reclassified 23,182 hectares of state land in Preah Vihear province for private development by three agro-industry firms, paving the way for them to secure economic land concessions (ELCs). Reclassification of state public land to state private land is a key step toward establishing ELCs, concessions that Prime Minister Hun Sen declared a temporary moratorium on in May amidst mounting criticism that the country was being rapidly carved up among businessmen. But a loophole in that moratorium, criticised by rights groups as self-defeating and deliberately vague, allows the government to grant ELCs that had previously been under negotiation. On August 3, the prime minister signed off on the reclassification of land in Borie, Kulen and Roveang districts to Green Choice (Cambodia) Co, Ltd (7,863 hectares), Aminent Elite (Cambodia) Co, Ltd (7,359) hectares and Distinct Harvest (Cambodia) Co, Ltd (7,960 hectares) respectively, according to the latest Royal Book. The land reclassification process is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries according to a statement announcing the reclassification from Preah Vihear Provincial Hall. When asked yesterday whether the government should still be negotiating ELCs in spite of the moratorium, Chan Sarun, minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. declined to comment, saying he was busy with a guest. It Nody, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries could not be reach for comment. Numerous ELCs have been granted since the premier announced the moratorium, and Am Sam Ath, a senior investigator at the rights group Licadho, said this was yet another example of the insincerity of the premier’s actions. “We don’t know how many companies will continue the procedure, so it makes the people confused with the government and the directive 01 [ELC moratorium] ineffective,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story: May Titthara at titthara.may@phnompenhpost.com

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8/22/2012 4:47 PM

Professional skills needed for ASEAN 2015 | National news | The Phno...

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Professional skills needed for ASEAN 2015 Wednesday, 22 August 2012 Sen David 0

The Ministry of Labour is launching a new training program to prepare Cambodians to compete in the integrated ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) slated to come into being in 2015, ministry officials said yesterday. The “Skills Bridging Program” will offer training in standard professional skills to youth in grade levels seven through nine across the country. “Many youths across the country are dropping out of school and taking jobs without finishing their education, so they do not have skills comparable with workers in other countries,” Pich Sophan, secretary of state at the Labour Ministry, said yesterday. “This worries us, because our country will face job competition with other ASEAN countries starting in 2015. We hope that this new program will make us competitive in the ASEAN job market. We have enough human resources and do not want to see other ASEAN labourers overwhelm our country.” Sophan said that of Cambodia’s seven million current workers, a full 50 per cent dropped out of school at the primary level. Rural areas, where standards of living are generally lower, have especially high dropout rates. Ouk Davany, director of the Technical Standard Institute, said the Skills Bridging Program should prepare these students to work in the fields of electronics, car repair and construction. He noted that currently “most students want to study subjects that involve office work, but do not seem to focus on professional technical training, which means that other countries have an edge”. To contact the reporter on this story: Sen David at david.sen@phnompenhpost.com

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8/22/2012 5:02 PM

'Sexually harassed' workers stick to their guns | National news | The Phn...

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'Sexually harassed' workers stick to their guns Wednesday, 22 August 2012 Claire Knox and Mom Kunthear 0

Police confront striking workers employed by Ocean Garment Co Ltd during a protest in Phnom Penh on Monday. Photograph: Vireak Mai/Phnom Penh Post Ocean Garment yesterday refused to meet the sole demand of thousands of striking workers to have their manager, accused of sexual harassment, sacked. An inter-governmental ministerial committee met with union and employer representatives, but Bangladeshi-owned Ocean Garment – which supplies retail titan Gap – refused to terminate the manager accused by workers of misconduct. More than 2,500 of the Phnom Penh factory’s 4,000-strong work force have been on strike since August 11, and the allegedly abused women yesterday announced they would be pressing criminal charges. Worker representative Keo Kim Heang said workers were left feeling thwarted, having expected a positive outcome. “He asked the workers to go out with and then have sex with him, especially the beautiful workers. He was so angry when the workers rejected his advances and they are very worried for their security,” she said. Four women claimed to have endured repeated sexual harassment from the manager for almost a month now. Executive director for Gender and Development for Cambodia, Ros Sopheap, said the fact the women had reported the alleged abuse was a breakthrough. “I think in almost more than 10 years, I have not seen a claim of sexual harassment [in the garment industry], yet we know it is common in this industry,” she said, lauding the courage and solidarity of the women. But Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers’ Association of Cambodia, said sexual harassment was not endemic in the industry, and that it was rather a case of “friendly behaviour being misconstrued as sexual advances”.

8/22/2012 4:50 PM

'Sexually harassed' workers stick to their guns | National news | The Phn...

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Choun Vicheka, Ocean Garmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s administrative manager, could not be reached.

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8/22/2012 4:50 PM

Statistics reveal job risks for beer promoters | National news | The Phno...

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Statistics reveal job risks for beer promoters Wednesday, 22 August 2012 Shane Worrell and Mom Kunthear 2

An Anchor beer promoter serves a customer at a beer garden in Phnom Penh on Monday night. Photograph: Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post Malis, not her real name, appears forlorn as she describes what her daughters go through to secure tips from their customers. The young women, promoters for a major beer company, reluctantly spend their nights getting drunk on their own product – it’s what customers demand and can be the difference between the promoters earning tips and leaving their restaurants empty-handed. Malis would know – she sells for the same beer company. “I very much pity my daughters for following me into this work, but what can I do?” the 42-year-old says. Getting drunk may be only a weekly or monthly pleasure for the customers, but for the women who serve them in restaurants, beer gardens and karaoke venues, it can be a full-time job – 27 nights a month. “Every night, I have to talk to clients and persuade them to drink my beer,” Malis says. “I have to force myself to drink with the clients because it’s the only way they will buy it – I can’t avoid it.” According to Ian Lubek, adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Guelph in Canada, about 85 per cent of 1,660 Cambodian beer promoters he has surveyed between 2004 and 2012 regularly drink at work. “Our research shows that beer promoters are consuming on average 1.5 litres of beer per night – that’s six glasses of beer, 27 nights per month,” Lubek says. Research Lubek conducted in 2002 showed that the average beer promoter made US$55 per month, but had monthly living expenses of about $110. Women were drinking with customers and offering sexual services as a way of making up the difference – ensuring they could provide for their children or send money to their provincial families.

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8/22/2012 5:18 PM

Statistics reveal job risks for beer promoters | National news | The Phno...

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According to Lubek’s most recent study, conducted this year, the promoters’ average monthly wage has climbed to $75, but expenses have grown even faster, to about $180 per month. “[Now] they’re averaging a BAC or blood-alcohol content of .05. They’re basically drunk every night,” Lubek says. “Overuse of alcohol at such a high rate leads to liver disease. Also, women aren’t told not to drink when they’re pregnant.” Major companies involved in Cambodia’s beer industry including Carlsberg (an owner of Angkor Beer) and Heineken (an owner of Anchor, ABC and Tiger) established Beer Selling Industry Cambodia (BSIC) in 2006. Included in a code of conduct it released were commitments to increase education for beer promoters, scrap demeaning uniforms, provide contracts and crack down on sexual harassment. To address drinking, the COC specifies that beer promoters “should not” drink with customers. According to the BSIC Monitoring Report 2011, authored by Indochina Research, there is a marked difference between the conditions of beer promoters employed by BSIC companies and those working for non-BSIC companies. The report, based on monthly interviews of beer promoters last year, says 61 per cent from BSIC companies never drank with customers, while 38 per cent sometimes did. Only 31 per cent of beer promoters from companies not part of BSIC never drank with customers, while 56 per cent sometimes did, the report claims. Vo Thi Mai Trang, public relations and communications manager for Carlsberg Indochina, says the number of beer promoters drinking in Cambodian workplaces has decreased dramatically since BSIC was formed. “And this is thanks to [the] BSIC Code of Conduct (COC) as well as the intensive training that we provided to our [beer promoters],” she says, adding that Carlsberg’s beer promoters are the highest paid after two pay increases last year. John-Paul Schuirink, a spokesman for Heineken International, says promoters who sell his company’s beer are also well paid. “The current average base salary . . . is $92 per month for a 30-hour working week. A 10 per cent increase was implemented this year. [It] compares favourably to the average income in Cambodia,” he says. Schuirink says his company recognises the risks associated with beer promotion, which is why it founded BSIC and banned workers from drinking. “Research shows that the beer promoters working for Attwood [a distributor for the company in Cambodia] have the highest rate of awareness and compliance with this rule,” he says. Heineken’s priority was preventing alcohol use during working hours by giving training and information about its consequences, Schuirink adds. “Besides that there is medical assistance available in case of problems,” he said. Lubek, however, believes the COC has been largely ineffective. “Statistics don’t show any improvement in the amount of beer drunk in the workplace . . . our research shows that company health education, if any, may come six to 12 months after they begin working . . That’s too late to prevent HIV/AIDS and alcohol dependence.” One company not affiliated with BSIC, the Phnom Penh Beer Company, says its workers are “not encouraged” to drink.

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8/22/2012 5:18 PM

Statistics reveal job risks for beer promoters | National news | The Phno...

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“We don’t want them to drink because we want them to maintain their dignity . . . It also looks bad for the company if they drink,” a spokesman says. When asked if the company provides health services for workers battling alcohol addiction, he says, “No, we don’t have any problems like that.” Kingdom Breweries, also not affiliated with BSIC, says it no longer has beer promoters, but would not elaborate. Dave Welsh, country director of the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, says beer companies need to do much more to ensure their promoters’ rights are protected. “There’s a real health issue with unregulated drinking,” Welsh says. “It’s an unhealthy environment to work in, frankly.” Offering beer promoters a wage that covered their monthly expenses is something beer companies should consider, he says. “The amount of profits that are flowing back, not just to Angkor or Anchor, but to world-famous breweries like Carlsberg gives them a lot of leverage.” Carlsberg is, however, taking positive steps toward establishing a memorandum of understanding that could improve conditions for its workers, Welsh adds. Phol Sophea, deputy director of the Cambodian Food and Service Workers’ Federation (CFSWF), in Siem Reap province, believes some progress is being made to improve conditions for beer promoters, but problems such as drinking remain. “Many workers have problems with physical health,” Sophea says. “I ask them to visit the health centre, a service the companies provide free of charge. “But there is no support from the companies if a beer promoter becomes dependent on alcohol.” CFSWF advises its members to tell customers that drinking on the job will make them sick. “But some clients just don’t listen,” Sophea says. “So if the women don’t sit and drink beer with clients, they won’t sell their products and they won’t have any tips. “The clients are kings to them, because they have money.” To contact the reporters on this story: Shane Worrell at shane.worrell@phonmpenhpost.com Mom Kunthear at kunthear.mom@phnompenhpost.com

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8/22/2012 5:18 PM

Vehicle tax revenue increases | Business | The Phnom Penh Post

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Vehicle tax revenue increases Wednesday, 22 August 2012 May Kunmakara 0

A 2012 tax stamp displayed on the front of a motorbike in Phnom Penh yesterday. Photograph: Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post The Kingdom’s revenue from taxes collected on vehicles rose 36 per cent year-on-year in 2012, officials said yesterday. Taxes collected on vehicles, of all makes and models, account for approximately 10 per cent of the total tax revenue of the state and totalled more than US$25 million for 2012. Officials said increasing public awareness of the importance of paying taxes was the main engine for this growth. Sim Eang, royal delegate in charge of the General Department of Taxation, said during the press conference at a signing ceremony with Acleda Bank Plc in Phnom Penh yesterday that the awareness and willingness of people to pay their taxes has resulted in revenue from vehicle tax stamps increasing significantly this year. The department has been trying to promote information about the taxes to the public in order to build awareness as well as to improve the tax payment procedure by making it even simpler, he said. “We have noticed that tax payers now understand more about their duty to pay tax.” Critics have laid claims of corruption against the department. However, Kong Vibol, secretary of state for the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said that the memorandum of understanding between the department and Acleda to make the bank a partner in collecting taxes was a step forward to complete transparency. “Although we only have this agreement with the bank for the payment of taxes on vehicles, it is a very significant improvement in accountability and transparency for the department, which it is normally criticized for. We will consider having other taxes collected by the bank if it will help to increase tax revenue further.” To contact the reporter on this story: May Kunmakara at kunmakara.may@phnompenhpost.com

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8/22/2012 5:09 PM

Cambodia, World Vision announce partnership to combat child sex in tourism

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Wednesday, 22 August 2012 09:25 DAP

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Tourism Ministry and World Vision-Cambodia on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to forge partnership in combating sexual exploitation of children in tourism. The MoU was signed between Hor Sarun, undersecretary of state at the Tourism Ministry, and Jason Evans, national director of World Vision-Cambodia, under the witness of the Minister of Tourism Thong Khon. Under the deal, the ministry and the World Vision will work together with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Interpol to address the serious issue of sexual exploitation of children in tourism in a dual prevention and protection approach, according to a joint press release. It said that the World Vision will work with the government of Cambodia and the tourism sector to become more aware of vulnerabilities of at-risk children and support responsible tourism practices that prioritize child protection. In addition, it is also working in communities with girls and boys, parents and community leaders to build resilience against abuse. The press release added that the UNODC, in partnership with Interpol, is working with law enforcement agencies to protect children through strengthening law enforcement responses, identifying and countering child sexual exploitation in tourism. The project is sponsored by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) Initiative for 4 years with the fund of 7.5 million U.S. dollars for four countries in Mekong sub- region including Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos.

8/27/2012 11:30 AM

UN's under-secretary-general hails Cambodia for rapid development

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Wednesday, 22 August 2012 09:23 DAP

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Under- Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) , on Tuesday appreciated Cambodia for its rapidly social and economic development in recent years. Her appreciation was made during a one-hour meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace. She also hailed the country for its efforts to mainstream gender equality, promote education, health and narrow gaps between the rich and the poor. She said these factors are very vital to boost development and reduce poverty in Cambodia. Meanwhile, Hun Sen attributed the country's rapid development to the government's strategies in gradually reforming in all sectors with the supports from development partners and friendly countries. He said that for education, the country has enough schools and teachers, but it still challenges with the quality of education. On the development gaps between the rich and the poor, the premier said the country has been actively developing rural areas through building physical infrastructures such as roads, bridges and irrigation systems. Heyzer made her first visit to Cambodia from Aug. 21-24 to further enhance ties between the UN and Cambodia. During the visit, she will also meet with Cambodia's senior minister Ly Thuch, Chairman of the National Committee for the Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific (NC-ESCAP) to discuss issues regarding to sustainable development, regional integration, and Cambodia's achievements and challenges towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. In addition, she is scheduled to meet with the Minister of Women Affairs Ing Kanthaphavi to discuss women status in the country. Heyzer is the ninth Executive Secretary of the UN-ESCAP, she was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to the position in August 2007 and is the first woman to occupy this position since its founding in 1947.

8/27/2012 11:30 AM

China's Guangxi TV Showcase Week screened on Cambodia's TV

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Wednesday, 22 August 2012 09:23 DAP

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's Guangxi Television Showcase Week will be screening on the state-owned National Television of Cambodia (TVK) from Aug. 21-26 at 10:00 p.m. (local time) in order to further enhance cooperation on information and culture between Cambodia and China. The inauguration of the China's Guangxi TV showcase week was held at the TVK's studio on Tuesday under the presidence of Khieu Kanharith, Cambodian Information Minister, Shen Beihai, director of Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Guangxi Committee, and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Pan Guangxue. The event was live televised through the TVK and the Guangxi TV. Speaking at the launching, Khieu Kanharith said the event was a part of information and culture exchange between Cambodia and China. "Through the program, the peoples of Cambodia and China will move closer in relations and Cambodians will learn more about the tradition, custom, and culture of Chinese people in Guangxi," he said. Shen Beihai said that the Guangxi TV Showcase Week was aimed at deepening friendly relationship between the peoples of China and Cambodia, and further strengthening cooperation in all domains between China's Guangxi and Cambodia. Meanwhile, Zhou Wenli, director general of the Guangxi TV, said that six new documentaries of the Guangxi Television will be screening on the TVK. Those films feature daily lives of Chinese people, their tradition, custom and culture. Also, one of the documentaries compiled the six-time visits of Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen to Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. TVK's director general Kem Gunnawadh said the Guangxi TV Showcase Week reflected friendly and close relationship between the TVK and the Guangxi TV in particular and between Cambodia and China in general. The Guangxi TV and the TVK forged relations in 2004 during the China-ASEAN Expo in Guangxi.

8/27/2012 11:29 AM

Cambodia's trade with U.S. reaches 1.39 bln USD in H1, up 4.5%

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Wednesday, 22 August 2012 18:03 DAP

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Bilateral trade volume between Cambodia and the United States had jumped to 1.39 billion U.S. dollars in the first six months of this year, a 4.5 percent rise compared with 1.33 billion U.S. dollars at the same period last year, according to the statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce obtained on Wednesday. From January to June this year, Cambodia's exports to the U.S. were 1.27 billion U.S. dollars, up 1.6 percent if compared with the same period last year, while the country's imports from the U. S. were 120 million U.S. dollars, up 47.6 percent. Cambodia has mostly exported garments, textile and footwear to the United States. In exchange, it has bought vehicles, machinery, and medical equipment and supplies. According to the report, last year, the two countries' trade volume was 2.9 billion U.S. dollars, up 18 percent from 2.45 billion U.S. dollars in a year earlier.

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8/27/2012 11:34 AM

Cambodia rejects allegations about Muslims' joining insurgent networks ...

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Wednesday, 22 August 2012 14:49 DAP

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Wednesday rejected Thai allegations that some Cambodian Muslims have joined violent insurgent networks in Thailand's far South, saying the allegations are groundless and unacceptable. "The allegations are absolutely groundless and unacceptable," Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Wednesday. "They are innocent people. Thai competent authorities should find out the fact and real evidence before making such baseless allegations." The spokesman's reaction was made after the Bangkok Post online quoted Thai army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha as saying on Tuesday that some Cambodian Muslims have joined violent insurgent networks in Thailand in the far South. It is estimated that around 1,000 Cambodian Muslims entered Thailand for jobs via border checkpoints in eastern provinces each month. "The main reason [they leave Cambodia] is poverty. They have no jobs in their homeland, so they must work elsewhere," Prayuth said. "Most of them do not aim to get involved in terrorism ... but they may give indirect financial support." Koy Kuong said it is the freedom of choice in seeking jobs overseas. In Cambodia, many foreign nationals are working and performing their businesses, including Thai people. "Cambodian people go abroad, including Thailand, for some reasons like tourists, businessmen, job seekers or visiting their relatives," he said, adding that at present, a lot of jobs have been created mostly at various private sectors in Cambodia.

8/27/2012 11:26 AM

Banks in Vietnam lack environmental, social risk management systems: ...

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Wednesday, 22 August 2012 09:24 DAP

HANOI, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Few Vietnamese banks have formal policies, procedures or systems to manage environmental and social risks faced by their clients, according to a survey released by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in Vietnamese capital Hanoi on Tuesday. The survey, conducted in June and examined 54 Vietnam-based financial institutions, found that one of the key obstacles hindering the banks is the lack of specific guidance of banking sector on identifying and managing environmental and social risks in project financing activities. Simon Andrews, IFC Regional Manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Thailand said that banks in Vietnam should apply the standards of environmental and social risks assessment in financing activities. Addressing environmental and social sustainability issues also opens a new business opportunities for banks, including energy efficiency and renewable energy financing, Andrews added. Cat Quang Duong, deputy head of Credit Department under SBV said that the SBV is willing to work with IFC to strengthen environmental and social standards in the banking sector. Cooperating with the State Bank of Vietnam on improving environmental and social risk management is part of IFC's advisory program to promote sustainable growth in Vietnam.

8/27/2012 11:32 AM

Accused broker busted on way to Thai border | National news | The Phn...

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Accused broker busted on way to Thai border Thursday, 23 August 2012 Sen David 0

Police in Kampong Cham province on Tuesday night arrested an alleged broker and 11 Cambodian workers ready to illegally cross the Thai border to find jobs, police officials said. Chhay Kimson, Kampong Cham police chief, said that police stopped the workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; truck in the provinceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dambe district in the middle of the night while the truck was heading to Thailand. He said that among the workers, all young men, five came from Kratie province and six came from Kampong Cham. Police educated the workers about the dangers of illegal jobs abroad before releasing them and sent the accused broker, Srey Sophy, 33, a Kratie native, to court. Thy Somalai, ADHOC representative from Kampong Cham, said that brokers lure villagers by promising high salaries while failing to provide them with adequate information about potentially dangerous work abroad. To contact the reporter on this story: Sen David at david.sen@phnompenhpost.com

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8/27/2012 12:17 PM

Cambodian People's Party must not fear reform | National news | The P...

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Cambodian People's Party must not fear reform Thursday, 23 August 2012 Ou Virak 0

Cambodian People’s Party supporters campaign in Phnom Penh during the lead-up to commune elections in May. Photograph: Vireak Mai/Phnom Penh Post The governing Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) appears unmoved by the recent merger of the Kingdom’s two main opposition parties, now going by the name of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Prime Minister Hun Sen recently dismissed the merger as “a storm in a teacup”. Teacups, however, have a tendency to spill, and it is clear from the Prime Minister’s comments about the merger that he is watching developments very closely. Neither impressed by, nor worried about, the unification, but certainly paying attention. And he has every right to be doing so: with the CPP winning fewer than half the number of eligible voters in 2008, and boasting a rogues’ gallery of human-rights abuses on its watch, there will be a fair number of votes up for grabs next July. The merger comes at a time of growing disaffection and desperation on the part of many marginalised and disadvantaged groups who have been denied justice through the court system and who have instead taken to the streets in protest. Such people include farmers, the urban poor, garment-factory workers, human-rights defenders and activists, and indigenous groups. They have suffered forced land evictions, violent suppression of peaceful protests, unsolved – and barely investigated – political killings, judicial intimidation, rampant corruption, a widening gap between rich and poor, an ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression and civil-society space, and many other social and political ills. Despite such failings, however, the CPP can stem the tide – and even reverse it – if it undertakes some key reforms. It has accrued some degree of credit over the years for bringing peace to Cambodia, and for presiding over burgeoning economic development.

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8/27/2012 12:19 PM

Cambodian People's Party must not fear reform | National news | The P...

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But it needs to stop people losing faith in the party and the system, by giving people a reason to trust the key institutions that determine their lives and their futures. First, a complete reform of the judiciary is long overdue. For people to trust the government, they have to know they can rely on the courts – and other coflict-resolution mechanisms – to find just and fair solutions to any legal disputes, especially when land and livelihoods are at stake. Garment workers and land-eviction victims take to the streets in protest because they know they will not receive fair treatment in court. The judiciary needs to be fully independent of the executive and free from bias and corruption. Second, the National Election Committee (NEC), widely derided as politically biased towards the CPP, needs to be overhauled. A reformed NEC would increase people’s confidence in the whole election process. The CPP has the power to win the 2013 general election in a proper fashion, but it has to trust in its strengths and give the people reason to trust in it – which necessitates a fully independent NEC. A free and fair election is the right forum for those who have suffered to air their grievances –a pattern the vast majority of democracies follow. The benefit is that people will not be frustrated into launching public protests, such as those that triggered the “Arab Spring” in Tunisia and other countries, or even in Burma, the Philippines and Indonesia not so long ago, but will wait until the national elections. They will trust in the ballot box and will put their faith in the strongest player. Third, the government needs to focus on reforming the security sector: far too many police, military police and full military officials are involved in land evictions and other incidents that serve to stain Cambodia’s name, promoting the impression that our nation is still on an internal-war footing – an image that is at least 15 years out of date. Military and enforcement agencies should be reduced in size, allocated proper roles that serve the interests of the country, and controlled centrally by the government rather than by private interests. People need to trust, rather than fear, the Kingdom’s security forces. The Cambodian People’s Party can win the 2013 election fairly and squarely if it is brave enough to reform some key policies, institutions and government agencies. Once it lets go of its fear of reform and begins to think strategically about the future of this country and its own part in that future, it can really begin to flourish. The alternative is to continue to blunder towards growing civil unrest, a further erosion of trust in the status quo, and national elections that will either hand the initiative to the new opposition or require bloody repression. Now that would be more than a storm in a teacup. Ou Virak is president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights

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8/27/2012 12:19 PM

Heroin from Cambodia intercepted by Taiwan | National news | The Phn...

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Heroin from Cambodia intercepted by Taiwan Thursday, 23 August 2012 Vong Sokheng and Bridget Di Certo 0

"High-purity" heroin intercepted by authorities in Cambodia earlier. Photograph: Ministry of Interior More than 80 kilograms of “high-purity” heroin, confiscated during Taiwan’s largest drug bust in a decade, found its way to the island country via Cambodia, Taiwanese authorities said yesterday, but Cambodian anti-drug and law enforcement agencies contacted by the Post appear to have been in the dark about the operation. The massive heroin haul was raided from a Taiwanese fishing vessel bound for Kaohsiung Harbor and intercepted in Bashi Channel – situated between Taiwan and the Philippines – by a Taiwanese Coast Guard ship acting in concert with the Taiwanese Bureau of Investigation and the US Drug Enforcement Agency, Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice said on its website. According to the ministry, the boat had first journeyed to Cambodia, docking at an unspecified location earlier this month where “local drug lords” deposited the heroin on the boat, before attempting to move the haul to Taiwan. Major General Khieu Saman, director of the anti-drug department at Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior, when asked to confirm the massive bust of heroin coming from the Kingdom, said his forces had not been informed of any sting operation, or been aware such a large drug deal had been facilitated in Cambodian waters. “I really don’t have information about the busting of heroin in Taiwan,” Saman said. “With some types of drug busts, we are informed for co-operation, but sometimes we are not, because those international agents target the last destination of smugglers and co-operate only with the destination country, such as Taiwan, in order to arrest the perpetrators.” Meas Virith, deputy secretary-general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs within Interpol, also said he was not aware of the Taiwanese bust. In a fitting water metaphor, Saman explained: “Even if our law enforcement has been strengthening, there will be loopholes, as if we released latticed bamboo into the sea to catch fish, but some fish still slip through the holes in the net.”

8/23/2012 2:35 PM

Heroin from Cambodia intercepted by Taiwan | National news | The Phn...

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He speculated that the heroin was likely trafficked from the famed drug-producing area known as the “Golden Triangle,” which encompasses parts of Thailand, Burma, Vietnam and Laos. The revelations follow a string of recent drug busts on Cambodian soil that has resulted in more than 40 kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamines being seized at the Phnom Penh and Siem Reap international airports since August 7. Nine people, including seven Thai women, have been arrested over the busts. Those seizures followed the April arrest in Australia of two Cambodian men who were accused of importing 65 kilograms of a substance containing heroin from Cambodia. Regarding the latest bust, US Embassy spokesman Sean McIntosh told the Post by email yesterday that he could “neither confirm nor deny US involvement in this matter.” DEA spokesman Lawrence Payne was not immediately available to answer questions. Lieutenant General Kirt Chantharith, spokesman for the National Police, Lieutenant General Sok Phal, deputy police commissioner in charge of security, and Taiwanese officials could not be reached for comment yesterday. To contact the reporters on this story: Vong Sokheng at sokheng.vong@phnompenhpost.com Bridget Di Certo at bridget.dicerto@phnompenhpost.com With assistance from Justine Drennan

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8/23/2012 2:35 PM

Joint campaign to eradicate sex tourism in provinces | National news | Th...

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Joint campaign to eradicate sex tourism in provinces Thursday, 23 August 2012 Claire Knox and Sen David 0

World Vision Cambodia national director Jason Evans (L) and Hor Sarun, under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Tourism, sign a memorandum of understanding yesterday in an effort to help combat the sexual exploitation of children in Cambodia’s tourism sector. Photograph: Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post Far-flung villages and towns peppered across Cambodia’s rural provinces must be far better equipped to deal with child sex tourism, according to humanitarian organisation World Vision. The Ministry of Tourism and World Vision Cambodia yesterday morning signed a memorandum of understanding, a tangible symbol, they said, of their partnership to combat the sexual exploitation of children in Cambodia’s blooming tourism sector. Almost 50 deputy municipal-provincial governors and municipal-provincial chiefs of department from Cambodia’s 24 provinces joined World Vision staff and Ministry of Tourism officials at the Child Safe Tourism Committee workshop yesterday. World Vision regional program manager Aarti Kapoor told the Post that sex exploitation was endemic in the country’s peripheries. “Part of our campaign will be to enlist child safety committee members from each province in the country, to spread the message, and also to be vigilant about where there are vulnerabilities, if locals in these areas know where there may be an orphanage or a brothel, they need to monitor it,” she said. She highlighted that vulnerable children in unregulated orphanages can be victims of sex tourism. Hor Sarun, chairman of the Child Safe Tourism Committee, said this program was a first of its kind because of the scale of training and education it provided to “the far-reaching places”. He said Cambodia had seen an influx of two million tourists in 2011 and witnessed almost 100 cases of sexual harassment to children by foreigners.

8/23/2012 3:12 PM

Joint campaign to eradicate sex tourism in provinces | National news | Th...

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He said that most of the children suffering from sexual abuse by foreigners are children – both boys and girls – selling souvenirs at the beach and resorts. Speaking to the Post after the workshop, Eric Meldrum, operations director for anti-human trafficking and exploitation group SISHA, said that while foreign sex tourists remained a problem in Cambodia, of greater concern was the flood of Khmer men having sex with children, particularly virgins. “I appreciate Cambodia does have that image as a place where foreign pedophiles come, but they need to be targeting the massive amount of Khmer offenders,” he said. To contact the reporters on this story: Claire Knox at newsroom@phnompenhpost.com Sen David at david.sen@phnompenhpost.com

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8/23/2012 3:12 PM

Sex charges roil Ocean factory | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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Sex charges roil Ocean factory Thursday, 23 August 2012 Mom Kunthear and Claire Knox 0

Police clash with striking factory workers employed by Ocean Garment Co Ltd during a protest in Phnom Penh yesterday. Photograph: Vireak Mai/Phnom Penh Post More than 2,500 Ocean Garment factory workers jostled with about 100 military police in the capital’s Dangkor district yesterday in their second protest march over the alleged sexual harassment of four female employees. More than half of the factory’s some 4,000 employees marched to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house with a petition, but were stopped about 100 metres away by military police brandishing shields and batons. In an inter-governmental ministerial committee meeting on Tuesday, Ocean – which supplies retail chain the Gap – refused to meet the sole demand of the striking workers, to terminate the manager. Yesterday, the women pressed criminal charges, after being on strike since August 11. One of the four women alleging sexual harassment, Nary – who asked that her family name not be used – told the Post that police forcefully pushed the group back yesterday. She said the Bangladeshi manager, Faruk Ahmad, had stroked her hand and given her his phone number, asking her to call. When she rejected his advances, he forbid her to work any overtime. Another worker who did not want to be named, said she had evidence, in the form of a text message, that she had faced sexual harassment from the same man. “He heard that I needed money and asked me to go out and sleep with him for $20 a night. I told him I needed the money from my work, not sex,” she said. Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said he was disappointed the company had failed to find a solution for the workers. Meanwhile, Better Factories Cambodia technical adviser Jill Tucker said she was concerned by the allegations.

8/27/2012 12:02 PM

Sex charges roil Ocean factory | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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“Just because we do not detect it as much as other countries, doesn’t mean it is not happening. It’s difficult to get people to talk.” Tucker added that Better Factories would visit the factory for an investigation on Friday, and that Gap had contacted her with concerns. To contact the reporters on this story: Mom Kunthear at kunthear.mom@phnompenhpost.com Claire Knox at newsroom@phnompenhpost.com

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8/27/2012 12:02 PM

Villagers face rice paddy water woes | National news | The Phnom Penh Post http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012082358234/National-ne...

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Villagers face rice paddy water woes Thursday, 23 August 2012 Phak Seangly 0

Time is running out for 300 hectares of rice fields in the Baray district of Kampong Thom facing water shortages from a poorly repaired canal, according to affected villagers. The Ministry of Water Resources took two years to restore the more than 30 kilometre-long canal with help from private donors, completing construction in January. Lim Phalla, the deputy district governor in Baray district, said the water shortage was not caused by the canal, but the lack of initiative from villagers to instal pumps that will route the water to crops. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is not due to the construction, but the residents,â&#x20AC;? said Phalla. Villagers in the Baray district are calling for assistance from the government because they cannot afford the expensive equipment to pump the water into their rice fields. To contact the reporter on this story: Phak Seangly at seangly.phak@phnompenhpost.com

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8/27/2012 12:20 PM

Japanese bank to sign cooperation deal with Cambodian bank

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Thursday, 23 August 2012 13:07 DAP

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, one of the leading banks in Japan, will sign a memorandum of understanding with Cambodia's leading Acleda Bank on Friday for business cooperation, according to a press release from Acleda on Thursday. Under the agreement, both banks will provide mutual support for their respective clients, in addition to their economic cooperation in such activities as loans, deposits, money transfer, cash management, and other trade finance services, said the press release. Both banks will mutually exchange general information on their own country's economy, industry, financial products, banking and finance markets, foreign trade, systems and regulations on the banking and finance industry as well as clients' credit information, it added. The Japanese bank opened a representative office in Cambodia in mid-February this year.

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8/27/2012 11:24 AM

Cambodia's Royalist parties set to merge | National news | The Phnom Pe...

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Cambodia's Royalist parties set to merge Friday, 24 August 2012 Vong Sokheng 0

Nationalist Party acting president Sao Rany (C) speaks to reporters earlier this year. Photograph: Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post The Norodom Ranariddh Party will hold an assembly at its headquarters in Tuol Kork district today to change its name to the Nationalist Party in order to initiate the official merger with Funcinpec that kicks off tomorrow. About 400 members of the NRP’s national council will gather to elect the party’s president, debate the reform of the party’s statute and plan for the union, said NRP acting president Sao Rany. “We hope that the party’s assembly will go smoothly on Friday,” Rany said. Officials from the NRP will attend Funcinpec’s assembly on Saturday for the merger announcement that the newly created Nationalist Party and about 5,000 of its members will be integrated with Funcinpec. Rany said the entire integration process should be completed within one month. Former prime minister and NRP founder Prince Norodom Ranariddh announced earlier in August that he had quit politics indefinitely. His resignation coincided with intraparty tensions over the upcoming merger with Funcinpec, started when Rany and other members sent a public letter to Ranariddh asking him to step down. The first congress of the Nationalist Party and Funcinpec will be at Funcinpec headquarters on Saturday in the Russey Keo district of Phnom Penh. Tum Sambol, spokesman of Funcinpec, said yesterday that 2,000 officials from across the country will attend the congress. Sambol said the congress will debate the revision of the party’s statutes and internal regulations, revise the party’s infrastructure and also celebrate the integration of officials from the NRP.

8/27/2012 11:39 AM

Cambodia's Royalist parties set to merge | National news | The Phnom Pe...

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Following a reintegration of the royalist parties under Funcinpec, we hope that we will gain 10 to 17 seats in the National Assembly after the national elections in 2013,â&#x20AC;? said Rany. Funcinpec and NRP received a disappointing two seats each of the total 123 seats in the current National Assembly. To contact the reporter on this story: Vong Sokheng at sokheng.vong@phnompenhpost.com

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8/27/2012 11:39 AM

Stepmother abused girl: neighbours | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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Stepmother abused girl: neighbours Friday, 24 August 2012 Mom Kunthear 0

Preah Vihear Provincial Court charged a woman yesterday with viciously beating her seven-year-old stepdaughter. Long Sitha, provincial deputy prosecutor, said he sent the woman to detention for further investigation before her hearing. The woman beat her stepdaughter almost daily after the girl came to stay with her and her husband in Preah Vihear province last month, said So Narika, deputy director of the Preah Vihear women’s affairs department, said. After hearing the girl cry often, the neighbours reported the beatings to Narika, and provincial military police officials took the girl and her stepmother into custody on Sunday, Narika said. “The girl’s body is full of scars, with bruises on both cheeks and on her body,” Narika said. “She told me that her stepmother used a bamboo strip and clothes hanger to beat her.” The girl’s birth mother, who came to take her home to Siem Reap yesterday, had not known that the father had taken a second wife when he went with his daughter to work in Preah Vihear, Narika said. To contact the reporter on this story: Mom Kunthear at kunthear.mom@phnompenhpost.com

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8/27/2012 11:47 AM

Rights worker’s hearing delayed | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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Rights worker’s hearing delayed Friday, 24 August 2012 Chhay Channyda 0

Adhoc head of monitoring Chan Soveth at a press conference in Phnom Penh earlier this year. Photograph: Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post A Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge yesterday approved a proposal to delay the case against human-rights worker Chan Soveth, according to his employer, Adhoc. Soveth has been accused of providing assistance to “specific perpetrators”. Although the court did not provide names, an anonymous court official recently told the Post that the charges are related to an alleged secessionist plot in Kratie province’s Chhloung district, which authorities claim was led by Bun Ratha. Ny Chakrya, the head of Adhoc’s monitoring section, said yesterday Judge Chhe Virak had notified Soveth’s lawyer that he had agreed to suspend the case, although he did not provide a future date. Soveth, 44, is on a training mission in Thailand until the second week of September, and could not be reached yesterday. Sam Sokong, one of the defence lawyer’s for Soveth, requested the suspension of the case because his client could not appear. According to an order signed on August 9 by Judge Virak, the municipal investigating judge, Soveth is to be interrogated over a crime he allegedly committed in May. However, Sokong said he had met with his client only once, and the court had not allowed lawyers to copy the relevant documents, so it had been difficult to prepare for the case. “The court didn’t allow us to get the copy of Chan Saveth’s case until he appears at the court. If the court doesn’t allow us to copy the case of Chan Soveth, we don’t know the reason my client was charged or how to argue the case,” he said. Virak could not be reached for comment yesterday.

8/27/2012 11:38 AM

Rights workerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hearing delayed | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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Soveth told the Post last week he was ready to be interrogated in court, because he had not commited a crime. To contact the reporter on this story: Chhay Channyda at channyda.chhay@phnompenhpost.com

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8/27/2012 11:38 AM

Police Blotter: 24 Aug 2012 | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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Police Blotter: 24 Aug 2012 Friday, 24 August 2012 Phnom Penh Post 0

Drunk thieves corner man, hack him to death Three boozed-up brutes allegedly butchered a man in Koh Kong town several weeks ago. Police said the suspects, who were loaded up on liquour, cornered the victim and demanded he hand over his money. When he refused, they killed him. After a thorough investigation, police arrested the trio on Tuesday and sent them to court. Kampuchea Thmey Woman crushed under stampeding robbers A snoozing Pursat province woman suffered serious injuries on Wednesday after she was trampled on in a calamitous robbery. While enjoying a nap with her daughter, the woman roused to find robbers entering her house. Panicking, one of the thieves jumped on the woman and then they fled. The victim’s daughter escaped to a neighbour’s house for help, and her mother was sent to hospital. Police are still on the hunt for the suspects. Kampuchea Thmey Police put a stop to knifepoint moto theft An alleged motorbike thief lured an acquaintance to a secluded spot in Banteay Meanchey’s Poipet commune on Tuesday and pilfered the victim’s ride, police said. Wielding a knife, the suspect allegedly demanded the man’s motorcycle, but police swooped in in the nick of time and arrested him before he could flee. The victim was uninjured and the suspect was sent to court. Koh Santepheap Speeding car collides with hapless pedestrian A brutal hit-and-run almost claimed the life of a 35-year-old man on a Siem Reap road on Wednesday. The victim, walking across the road, was knocked down by a speeding car that sped on after the collision. The victim was sent immediately to the hospital with serious injuries. Police are looking for the suspect to bring justice to the injured victim. Rasmei Kampuchea Thief nearly escapes with man’s motorbike An absent-minded man almost lost his motorcycle in Phnom Penh’s 7 Makara district on Wednesday when he carelessly left the vehicle unlocked. Fortuitously, police caught the 25-year-old male suspect trying to sell the motorcycle, and the thief admitted to the crime. The bike was returned and the suspect sent to court. Koh Santepheap Translated by Sen David

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8/27/2012 11:48 AM

Karaoke girls’ sad song | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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Karaoke girls’ sad song Friday, 24 August 2012 Princess Soma Norodom 0

Karaoke is one of Asia’s favourite pastimes. The creator of the karaoke machine is Japanese, but a Filipino businessman, Robert del Rosario, takes credit for the invention because he was smart enough to patent it. From Taipei, Jakarta and Manila to Hanoi and Hong Kong, karaoke (KTV) is very popular, and Phnom Penh is no exception. There are so many karaoke bars throughout our city, but it was difficult to find one that was appropriate for my friends, their parents and me to go to. Eventually, I found a family-style KTV bar, and it was what karaoke should be about: singing along to the lyrics of your favourite songs. In many KTV bars in Cambodia, customers enjoy singing, dancing, drinking and having a great time. In most KTV bars, men enjoy other perks with young women. Many karaoke girls augment their income by moonlighting as prostitutes. Young women from rural areas earn the respect of their villages by sending money home, despite the fact they work in karaoke bars, massage parlours and brothels. Customers of KTV bars range from tourists, expats and foreigners to local Khmers, and sexual exploit-ation of girls in Cambodia has increased as a result of the financial crisis. Many women have entered the sex industry because of declining working conditions in the garment sector, where they endured long hours and low pay. They can easily earn more money, and enjoy good working conditions, by becoming prostitutes in KTV bars. Some karaoke-bar owners run a clean operation, but many of them hire girls to perform sexual acts with the customers. Clients negotiate a price, pay a bar fine to take girls off the premises, and enjoy a few hours, or a night, with them. Asian customers like Vietnamese women, who dominate Phnom Penh’s sex scene, because of their preference for pale skin and fine features. Prostitution is illegal in Cambodia, and the government has banned songs that encourage infidelity from being played in KTV bars. But with thousands of go-go girls and karaoke hostesses, this country is famous for sex tourism. That image must change, and it will take more than the government to correct it. It takes the community, and the people, to reduce supply and demand in this trade. I recommend more vocational-training programs education that focuses on skills related to a specific career or trade. After that training, these women can be placed in a job-assistance program and earn money without having to sell their bodies. Vocational training tends to be less expensive than academic educational programs, but it should be affordable, or free, to anyone who wants to escape the sex industry. NGO Acting for Women in Distressing Situations (AFESIP) provides skills training in fields that include sewing, housekeeping, hairdressing, weaving, handicrafts, small-business management and social work. The program enables participants to attain self-sufficiency and financial independence, with the opportunity to find employment or run their own business.

8/27/2012 11:45 AM

Karaoke girls’ sad song | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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At the family-style KTV, we sang the song She Works Hard for the Money, about a waitress who won’t do anything sexual to make money. There is hope. And if you have hope, you have a chance to make money the respectful way. The Social Agenda with Soma Norodom The views expressed above are solely the author’s and do not reflect any positions taken by The Phnom Penh Post.

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8/27/2012 11:45 AM

Better nutrition, better future | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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Better nutrition, better future Friday, 24 August 2012 Annette Dixon, Mark Gooding and Penny Richards 0

A family sleeps on a sidewalk in Phnom Penh. Malnutrition is a common problem among the rural and urban poor. Photograph: Sovan Philong/Phnom Penh Post Cambodia's gross domestic product grew by an average of 8.2 per cent between 2000 and 2010, making it the world’s 15th-fastest-growing economy, according to the World Bank. The Kingdom’s economic performance remains strong – 6.9 per cent growth last year – driven by robust expansion of exports, private investment and consumption. This is a remarkable achievement for the Cambodian people, who have worked hard to overcome conflict and fragility. During the same period, maternal mortality has dropped by more than half and child mortality by almost two-thirds, already exceeding Millennium Development Goal targets. Despite these impressive accomplishments, malnutrition remains a serious problem. Nearly 40 per cent of Cambodian children under the age of five are short for their age, according to the 2010 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey – one of the highest rates in the region. Twenty-eight per cent of children in the same age group are underweight. Of those, almost 11 per cent are dangerously thin and more than half are anaemic. Why should we be concerned? Because malnutrition has irreversible effects on health and human development. The first 1000 days, from the beginning of pregnancy to a child’s second birthday, are considered a critical “window of opportunity” during which poor nutrition can result in stunted growth, diminished immune response, impaired intellectual ability, poor school performance and lower economic productivity. Early-life malnutrition is also associated with increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other non-communicable illnesses later in life.

8/27/2012 11:49 AM

Better nutrition, better future | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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This means the economic costs of malnutrition are substantial, and need to be addressed to sustain Cambodia’s future economic growth. It is estimated that individual productivity losses are approximately 10 per cent of lifetime earnings. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies alone cost Cambodia more than US$140 million each year. The Royal Government of Cambodia recognises the challenge. In May this year, it convened a national seminar on food security and nutrition to strengthen the national response, and it has taken significant steps towards improving nutrition. Tackling nutrition requires a multi-sectoral approach, including improved maternal and child-care practices, and more equitable access to clean water, sanitation and health services. These demands are a challenge for many governments. This is why it is important for civil society, donors and other partners to work with Cambodia, engaging the principles of development effectiveness. The World Bank and bilateral partners such as Australia and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development can contribute by mobilising global knowledge and resources to ensure that the full spectrum of development work, ranging from health, water and sanitation to gender, will have a positive impact on nutrition. From experience, we know well- designed cash-transfer programs can encourage poor pregnant women and children to use health services, including nutrition programs. Specific, community-driven development programs have also helped reduce stunting in children. In agriculture, priority can be given to policies that provide diverse diets for women and children. In Cambodia, Australia (through its AusAID organisation), Britain’s Derpartment for International Dev-elopment, UNICEF and the World Bank provide pooled financing for the Royal Government’s Second Health Sector Support Program, which includes support for vitamin A distribution and communication campaigns to promote improved child-feeding practices. But more can be done. Nutrition is considered one of the most cost-effective investments in development, with very high returns in the form of better school outcomes, higher work productivity and improved health. It is also the critical multiplier goal, offering a strong opportunity for preventive action. Improved nutrition will contribute to every other goal, with positive implications for child mortality, maternal health, cognition and poverty. On the closing day of the London Olympics, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Brazilian Vice-President Michel Temer hosted a summit to urge the world to take decisive action to transform lives by addressing the problem of maternal and child malnutrition. They said: “It is only by acting together in genuine partnership that we can identify and implement collective responses and produce concrete results to tackle malnutrition.” It is time for action. The international community, working in partnership with government and civil society, can rise to the challenge facing the children of Cambodia. Britain has made a global commitment to reach 20 million children under the age of five and pregnant women with nutrition programs by 2015, and its ongoing support of Cambodia’s health-sector program will contribute to that. Australia, already a big contributor to the health sector, has committed to increase its support for maternal and child health in Cambodia. The World Bank, a development institution representing 188 member countries whose mission is to eradicate poverty, stands ready to work with development partners to fulfil a collective responsibility to help Cambodians end malnutrition. Annette Dixon is the World Bank country director for Cambodia, Mark Gooding the British ambassador to

8/27/2012 11:49 AM

Better nutrition, better future | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

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Cambodia and Penny Richards Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ambassador to Cambodia.

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8/27/2012 11:49 AM

Cambodian PM to attend Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran nex...

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Friday, 24 August 2012 12:47 DAP

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will lead a high-level delegation to attend the 16th Summit of the Non-aligned Movement to be held on Aug. 30-31 in Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to a press release from Cambodia's Foreign Ministry on Friday. The participation is made at the invitation of Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the press release said. The delegation will include Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and other senior members of the government. On the sidelines of the summit, Hun Sen will hold a bilateral talk with Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and have a meeting with Kim Yong Nam, president of Presidium of Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, it said. After the summit, Hun Sen will attend the 2nd China-Eurasia Expo to be held on Sept. 1-5 in Urumqi Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. During his stay in Urumqi, Hun Sen will hold a bilateral talk with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

8/27/2012 11:23 AM

CLMV economic ministers pledge to speed up economic cooperation

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Sunday, 26 August 2012 18:53 DAP

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- The economic ministers of CLMV countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) on Sunday pledged to work closely to draw up development plans to seek financial support from development partners and other countries, a Cambodian senior official said. The commitment was made at the 4th CLMV Economic Ministers meeting, which was chaired by Nam Viyaketh, minister of industry and commerce of Lao, and was attended by Cham Prasidh, Cambodian minister of commerce, Tin Naing Thein, minister for Myanmar's national planning and economic development, and Vietnamese minister of trade and industry Vu Huy Hoang. Addressing the meeting, Nam Viyaketh said that the meeting was very vital to further enhance economic cooperation among the CLMV countries in the context that most countries in the globe are facing economic uncertainties. Cham Prasidh said that the CLMV countries were the last four to join ASEAN, which was founded in 1967. "The meeting discussed and set up development plans in order to submit to development partners and countries for assistance," he told reporters. "We, the CLMV countries, are the new members of ASEAN, we need to accelerate our development in order to narrow development divide with the old ASEAN member states." The ministers also discussed ways to speed up the implementation of agreements reached at the CLMV Summits. The CLMV Economic Ministers meeting is convened twice a year, back-to-back to the ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting. It aims at further enhancing economic and trade relations within CLMV countries, coordinating activities in sub-regional, regional and international fora, and fully utilizing their potentials to narrow the development gap between the four countries and other countries in ASEAN. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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8/27/2012 11:21 AM

Cambodia reports 27,590 dengue fever cases so far this year

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Sunday, 26 August 2012 13:55 DAP

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 27,590 dengue fever cases had been reported in more than seven months of this year, a 150 percent rise compared with 11,017 cases during the same period last year, according to a report of the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control released to the media on Saturday. The report said that since the start of the year to Aug. 20, the disease had claimed 111 lives of children, up 131 percent compared with 48 deaths during the same period last year. Dr. Char Meng Chuor, director of the center, appealed to parents to pay much attention to take care of their kids and to bring their children to hospitals if they doubt that their kids have contacted with dengue fever. Dengue fever is a viral disease transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. In Cambodia, the outbreak of dengue fever usually begins at the onset of the rainy season in May and lasts until October. "Parents should let their kids to sleep under mosquito nets all the time and keep clean environment around their houses to prevent the disease," he said. He added that to combat the disease, the center has distributed some 270 tones of Abate (a chemical substance used to kill larvae in water pots) to households across the country this year. Last year, the country reported 15,980 dengue fever cases, which killed 73 children.

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8/27/2012 11:20 AM

ASEAN economic ministers meet bloc's business leaders to boost cooper...

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Sunday, 26 August 2012 18:53 DAP

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- The 10th dialogues between ASEAN Economic Ministers and ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC) was held here on Sunday afternoon to discuss and find ways to boost public-private sector partnerships in order to achieve the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. Addressing the forum, Cambodian Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh, chair of ASEAN in 2012, said that the consultations were important to listen to the preparations for the upcoming 2012 ASEN Business and Investment Summit slated for Nov. 16-18 in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Cambodia's influential tycoon Kith Meng, president of the Royal Group of Companies, who chaired the ABAC in 2012, said that the consultations were very useful for the private sector to raise opinions and recommendations to the heads of the governments in order to positively contribute to achieve an ASEAN Economic Community. The meeting was also attended by Lim Hong Hin, deputy secretary- general for the ASEAN Economic Community. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Nguon Meng Tech, director general of Cambodia's Chamber of Commerce, said that the ASEAN business leaders had asked the ASEAN economic ministers to consider issuing business cards for ASEAN businesspeople in order to facilitate them in traveling among ASEAN member states. "The card is similar in style to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation business traveler cards. The cardholders will enjoy visa free entry and expedited immigration clearance through designated special lanes at airports among ASEAN countries," he said. According to Nguon Meng Tech, Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh has promised to ratify the request in the 2012 ASEN Business and Investment Summit in November. The ABAC was established by the ASEAN leaders at the 7th ASEAN Summit in November 2001 in Brunei. Inaugurated at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, in April 2003, ABAC acts as the primary vehicle for private sector feedback and guidance to boost ASEAN's efforts towards creating an integrated and competitive ASEAN economy. The ABAC consists of three business leaders from each member country. The meeting was held a day ahead of the 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting and related meetings, which will run through Aug. 31.

8/27/2012 11:19 AM

44th ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting to kick off in Cambodia

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Sunday, 26 August 2012 13:56 DAP

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- The 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting and related meetings are ready to kick off here Monday, Cambodian Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh said Sunday. "Everything is in place and the 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting and related meetings will be opened by Prime Minister Hun Sen tomorrow," he told reporters after playing golf with some of ASEAN Economic Ministers at Angkor Golf Resort. "The meeting will discuss topics related to trade liberalization and economic cooperation among the 10 ASEAN member states, and the cooperation between ASEAN and its dialogue countries," he said. Besides the 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting, there will be meetings of the 26th ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) Council and the 15th ASEAN Investment Area (AIA) Council. In addition, there will be a consultation meeting between ASEAN Economic Ministers and Francis Gurry, director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the ASEAN-U.S. Business Summit as well as Cambodia's Garment and Textile Expo, according to the official schedule. According to a report of the media sub-committee, more than 150 journalists from some 20 local media entities and 32 international ones will cover the upcoming events. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

8/27/2012 11:19 AM