Showing posts with label Cambodia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cambodia. Show all posts
Friday, May 14, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Officials see industry as key to FTA benefits
SEZs vital for growth ahead of full free-trade agreement: experts
Photo by: Heng Chivoan
A sign advertises engineering, construction and security services on Friday at Tai Seng SEZ in Bavet on the border with Vietnam.
The important thing [for Cambodia] is to get foreign money to foster its domestic industry."
JAKARTA. FOREIGN investment in Cambodia’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs) is vital if Cambodia is to benefit from free trade with China, say senior ASEAN officials.
On January 1, the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area was created, reducing the vast majority of trade tariffs between founding ASEAN members and China to zero percent.
Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, as new members, must reduce their tariffs on certain goods to 5 percent and have until 2015 to eliminate the tariffs completely.
“The important thing [for Cambodia] is to get foreign money to foster its domestic industry. SEZ development in Cambodia is a potential way to produce exports for China,” Hidetoshi Nishimura, executive director of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, said at his office in Jakarta on Thursday.
Cambodian exports to China are dwarfed by imports to the Kingdom, and foreign investment in the nation has plummeted due to the global economic crisis.
According to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), trade volume between Cambodia and China was US$480 million in 2009. Of that, only $13 million consisted of Cambodian exports to China, mostly agricultural products.
According to Cambodia’s central bank, foreign direct investment flows into Cambodia declined 35.2 percent to $514.7 million in 2009, from $794.7 million in 2008.
S Pushpanathan, deputy secretary general for the ASEAN Economic Community, said that for Cambodia to attract more foreign direct investment the country must have clear and transparent investment laws and a mechanism for business-dispute resolution.
“These are factors that investors think about before they put their money in a country,” he said.
He added that as labour costs in Cambodia are cheap, Chinese investors will be attracted to investment in the garment and textile industries here.
The business community seems united in regarding sucessful SEZs as important factors in the Kingdom’s economic development.
Yuji Imamura, Japan International Cooperation Agency’s advisor in charge of investment environment improvement at the Council for the Development of Cambodia, wrote in an email Monday: “For investors, SEZs are where there is basic infrastructure is in place. It is hard work for them to set up their factories outside SEZ areas.”
He added that so far eight of Cambodia’s 21 SEZs are in operation. Around 40 companies are manufacturing garments, textiles, shoes and consumer goods within the zones.
Imamura added that in the future, international investors will see Cambodia as an alternative to investment in Vietnam, as labour costs in the Kingdom’s neighbour have risen.
Chan Nora, secretary of state for the commerce ministry, said Monday that it is clear that SEZs will be a positive attraction for foreign investors as trade facilitation, such as import and export paperwork, is easier inside the zones.
Hirosi Uematsu, managing director of Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, wrote in an e-mail on Monday that since the start of this year, three foreign companies – an animal feed company from China, a Philippine snack food firm and an Indian food-processing company – have signed up to build factories, bringing the number of companies operating in the zone to 17. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SOEUN SAY
Friday, January 29, 2010
Clinic tackles root cause of dentistry woes
Western practice says it is working to make sure local dental industry isn’t just pulling teeth
Photo by: BENNETT MURRAY
Dentist Dr Deborah Moore says Phnom Penh’s European Dental Clinic offers a local alternative to places like Bangkok, and even attracts the occasional health tourist.
I'VE HAD ... EMAILS FROM PEOPLE IN AUSTRALIA WHO WANT CONSULTATIONS ON THEIR VISIT TO CAMBODIA"
ALTHOUGH locals, expats and tourists alike are generally sceptical of the Kingdom’s healthcare industry, international staff at Phnom Penh’s European Dental Clinic say it has raised standards of dental care in Cambodia.
Founded in 1994 by dentist Dr Eric Le Guen and technician Philippe Guibert, the clinic was the first of its kind in Cambodia.
“Before that, everyone was going to Bangkok,” European Dental Clinic dentist Dr Deborah Moore said.
The practice provides a range of services, akin to a dental clinic in the West, including hygienist services, implants, tooth extraction, as well as orthodontics offered monthly by a visiting specialist from Bangkok.
“We offer everything, really,” said Dr Moore.
Getting Cambodia milling again
Politics is politics, business is business – it’s not relevant – and we do business, not politics.Why did Khon Kaen Sugar Industry Plc decide to invest in a sugarcane plant and plantation in Koh Kong province?
We realised that Cambodia has more available area for its agriculture base, a climate similar to Thailand ... suitable for sugarcane-growing.
Moreover, we were determined to develop an agriculture business and agro-industry in Cambodia to serve the ASEAN market and Asia.
Companies have gotten privileges under investment-promotion measures of the Cambodian government … 90-year concessions for sugarcane plantation areas of 20,000 hectares … in Koh Kong [province], [and] tax incentives.
The company has also gotten a privilege to export raw sugar to the EU under the EBA (Everything but Arms) quota.
We have confidence that – this project – it can contribute to and generate GDP growth, economic development, income distribution and employment in Cambodia.
Also it can promote close international economic [cooperation] between Thailand and Cambodia.
How much was invested in this new plant? Who are the joint-venture partners?
The investment cost for the sugar mill was about US$60 million. Koh Kong Sugar Industry Co Ltd was founded by three joint-venture partners – Khon Kaen Sugar Industry Public Limited, the Thai investor, holds 50 percent; Vewong Corporation, a Taiwanese investor, holds 30 percent; and Okhna Ly Yong Phat, the Cambodian investor, holds 20 percent of the common shares of the company.
Friday, January 22, 2010
OZ gold estimate at latest drill due in Q1
MEASUREMENTS to estimate gold resources at Okvau, in Mondulkiri province, are set to be finalised by mining company OZ Minerals in the first quarter of 2010.
According to the company’s fourth-quarter report released Thursday, structural and geological modelling at the gold deposit have recently been completed, and resource calculations are now under way.
The company hopes to outline an initial inferred resource by the first quarter of 2010, as part of its “new discovery” programme, the report added.
The modelling followed a 5,800-metre drilling programme to test previously unidentified gold mineralisation at Okvau.
Last month, a spokesman for OZ Minerals told the Post it aims to identify at least 2 million ounces of gold at its Cambodian concessions by the end of this year.
Surface sampling and geophysical analysis is ongoing at the four other areas being explored by the company.
The areas, located close to Okvau, are Oput, Area 6, Granite Hill and Area 1. “These prospects are currently being, or will be, drill-tested in 2010 to ascertain the district-scale potential in the Okvau region,” Thursday’s report said.
Australian-based OZ Minerals outperformed its estimates in the last quarter of 2009, according to the figures released. Copper and gold production exceeded expectations at its Primrose Hill site in Australia.
The company mined 36,497 tonnes of copper and 30,526 ounces of gold during the period.
OZ Minerals recently refocused on gold and copper mining in Australia and Southeast Asia following the June sale of US$1.35 billion of its zinc mines to China Minmetals Non-Ferrous Metals Co.
POST BAG Cambodia pours scorn on Thai scholar's article
Re: the article by pseudo Thai scholar Pavin Chachavalpongpun published in your newspaper on Jan 18, 2010 under the title, ``In spat with 'Siem', Hun Sen needs Hanoi in his corner.''
This article is completely ridiculous, absurd and vulgar. It fully demonstrates how your newspaper has simply become a political tool serving the government in power and those who have a political agenda to undermine relations between Cambodia and Thailand, without having any sense of professional journalism, truth, tactfulness and politeness.
Your newspaper has allowed such a vulgar scholar to express his ultra-nationalistic and fundamentally provocative views, which have significantly contributed to the worsening of bilateral relations and escalating tensions between the two neighbouring countries. Both your newspaper and this pseudo, cocky scholar would be held accountable for the growing tensions between the two countries.
First, for Cambodia, the restoration of diplomatic relations depends on several important factors:
1. Thailand must stop demanding for, and encroaching on, Cambodia's land near the Preah Vihear Temple.
2. Thailand must stop opposing the inscription of Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple on the World Heritage List.
3. Thailand must stop demanding to use its own term [Phra Viharn] for Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple which has long been used by the Khmer people since the 11th century when it was built and named, as well as has been recognised by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) since 1962 and more recently by the World Heritage Committee.
Second, to say that ``Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen continues to challenge the Thai leadership'' shows complete ignorance. Samdech Techo Hun Sen has never challenged the leadership of any country, including Thailand's. Prime Minister Hun Sen only defends the national interests, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Cambodia. As the prime minister of Cambodia, he has the right to appoint any person to be adviser to the Cambodian government. This is the sovereign right of Cambodia.
Third, Cambodia's leaders do not engage in a ``zero sum'' game and would not use the balance of power in Cambodia's relations with its neighbouring countries. Our Cambodian leaders would never play ``one neighbour against the other'', as pretentiously claimed by this unscientific, discredited author. In fact, they are only dealing with real politics in Cambodia's relations with its neighbour.
Fourth, your newspaper should stop misleading the public on the history of Cambodia. Historically, the Army of the United Front for National Salvation of Cambodia was set up in 1978 by Cambodian leaders, namely Samdech Chea Sim, Samdech Hun Sen and Samdech Heng Samrin, and appealed to Vietnam for help in order to topple the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime.
Without the collapse of the Khmer Rouge at the time, there would not be any Khmer Rouge tribunal today. In fact, the Vietnamese troops all withdrew in 1989, two years before the signing of the Paris Peace Agreements in October 1991.
Fifth, the bilateral relations between Cambodia and Thailand are fundamentally based on mutual respect. If a neighbouring state treats another neighbouring country well, that country would certainly reciprocate in kind. This is the principle of reciprocity, which is widely used in international relations.
Sixth, I think that this pseudo scholar has quoted an opposition party leader in Cambodia, who is well-known as being ultra-nationalistic and xenophobic. By quoting Sam Rainsy's words on the Cambodia-Vietnam border issue, this vulgar scholar has allowed himself to become the spokesperson of Sam Rainsy, without knowing it.
Finally, to claim that His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Ambassador Hor Nambora, Cambodia's Ambassador to the United Kingdom; and Ambassador You Ay, Cambodia's Ambassador to Thailand, are of Vietnamese lineage is absolutely insulting.
This Thai ill-bred scholar, if he is civilised and well-educated, would not have stated such a thing _ that Cambodian leaders and high officials are ``Vietnamese proxies''. It should be recalled that these words were the favourite terms used by the Khmer Rouge to attack the government which had overthrown the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. Do you know the name of the neighbouring country which helped and sheltered the Khmer Rouge in the 1980s and for most of the 1990s?
OUK SOPHOIN
Charge d'Affaires, Royal Embassy of Cambodia
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Women see Facebook as a recipe for business success
Networking site a new forum for Cambodian businesswomen
Photo by: SOVAN PHILONG
A female worker takes a look at the Cambodia Women in Business page on Facebook Tuesday. The group reached 100 members Monday, a figure that is still rising.
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Helping women in business have access to information is a good thing."
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UNDERREPRESENTED female entrepreneurs in the Kingdom are utilising the Internet in a bid to discuss their problems and encourage business growth.
A group called Cambodia Women in Business has set up on social-networking site Facebook to act as a forum for businesswomen.
It was started by female participants in the Government-Private Sector Forum (G-PSF), a group that facilitates business discussions between the public and private sectors. They found that only 10 percent of participants were women, despite a 2009 study by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Asia Foundation which found that 55 percent of private businesses in Cambodia were owned by females.
A spokeswoman for the IFC Coordination Bureau, which organises the forum, explained that participation by women in formal associations and forums may be lower, as many operate small and informal enterprises.
The IFC hopes that for some, the forum will provide an accessible place where gender-related issues can be discussed.
Julie Brickell of the IFC explained in an email Tuesday: “Two things happened to start this off. Women participating in the forum wanted to come together to discuss problems they face as entrepreneurs, and to help each other. They also wanted to reach other women who are not participating in the forum and draw them in.
“Since these women were all using the Internet, they thought setting up a Facebook page would be a good means of facilitating dialogue on this topic.”
Since its launch in November, over 100 women and men have become members of the site. They post links to academic studies, newspaper articles and discussions on gender equality in Cambodia.
The IFC reports the reaction has “been very enthusiastic” so far. It hopes that by promoting women’s empowerment, they can fuel economic growth within the business community and so reduce poverty.
Former women’s minister Mu Sochua of the Sam Rainsy Party welcomed the move, but said she believes that underlying issues causing gender inequality need to be addressed in Cambodia, and that the Internet is an inaccessible resource in much of the country.
She pointed to a lack of education, the pressures for women as carers, societal values and poverty – as well as considerations such as micro-finance interest rates – as factors holding women back in developing small businesses such as tailors, grocery stores and wedding outfitters.
Scholars from the Shinawatra International University in Thailand and Preston University in Cambodia interviewed 61 female entrepreneurs in Phnom Penh in 2009 and reported that 47.5 percent of respondents had a problem balancing work with being a housewife, 14.8 percent reported resistance from their husband’s family and 9.8 percent spoke of the indifferent or hostile attitude of society towards female entrepreneurs.
“Anything that is helping women in business have access to information is a good thing. If women were more educated, they’d be able to use computers and the Internet. In turn, that would help advance their businesses,” said Mu Sochua.
Falling prices in December capped a year of deflation
Consumer prices fell 0.7pc, but rise in fuel costs will prompt inflation in 2010
Photo by: PHA LINA
A vendor sells seafood this month at a Phnom Penh market. Falling food prices prompted overall deflation in Cambodia last year.
The continued month-on-month fall [in CPI] is more surprising."
CAMBODIA experienced full-year consumer price index (CPI) deflation of 0.7 percent in 2009, San Sy Than, director general of the National Institute of Statistics (NIS), said Tuesday.
December CPI capped an unusual year for price trends in the Kingdom, as the index fell 0.1 percent month-on-month but jumped 5.3 percent in December on prices a year earlier due to the low base at the end of 2008 – when the global economic crisis began to affect Cambodia, analysts said.
The rate matched a December projection by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which foresaw a 5 percent annual rise in prices year on year, “mainly as base effects from sharp declines in commodity prices fall out of the consumer price index”.
Still, overall inflation was sharply down on 2008, when prices rose in August and September at rates above 20 percent and the economy boomed, at least for the first three quarters.
Food prices – which dropped 1 percent – were again at the centre of the continued month-on-month fall in prices in December, the third month in a row that CPI declined, according to new NIS figures.
After talking with PM, UN rights envoy cites human rights progress
THE UN’s human rights envoy to Cambodia said progress had been made on human rights issues in the Kingdom, following talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen at the National Assembly on Tuesday.
“We discussed a wide range of human rights issues. We have been making progress on freedom of expression and the NGO law, land evictions and the cooperation between civil society and the government,” Surya Subedi, the UN’s special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, told reporters after the meeting.
“I will not go into individual specific allegations of human rights violations. We are looking at the total picture of the human rights situation in Cambodia.”
Subedi arrived in Cambodia on Monday for a 12-day visit to examine the functioning of the National Assembly and judiciary, and probe the current human rights situation in the Kingdom, according to a statement released by the UN on Friday. The visit, Subedi’s second, comes following a similar mission in June.
Subedi said that though there are a number of human rights issues that remain a concern in Cambodia, his discussion with the prime minister was cordial.
He described as positive the government’s stated goal of strengthening the country’s human rights mechanisms, ultimately leading to the establishment of an independent Human Rights Commission to monitor human rights issues throughout the country.
Subedi and Hun Sen also both approved of the idea of an election to select a civil society representative who could liaise directly with the government over issues of concern, said Om Yentieng, head of the government’s Human Rights Committee.
“The two sides have opened their hearts in a dialogue about the development of the human rights situation, and Prime Minister Hun Sen agreed with Subedi’s idea of calling on the NGOs in Cambodia to elect their representative in order to facilitate dialogue with the government,” he said.
He added: “I think that Subedi is in a transitional period and wants to get some ideas from Hun Sen in order for the UN to help support Cambodia on human rights issues.”
Phnom Trop becomes a flashpoint
Phnom Penh Post 20/01/2010
CAMBODIAN and Thai military commanders are scheduled to meet for negotiations today after Thai troops asked Cambodian forces to retreat from a border area near Preah Vihear temple, military officials said.
CAMBODIAN and Thai military commanders are scheduled to meet for negotiations today after Thai troops asked Cambodian forces to retreat from a border area near Preah Vihear temple, military officials said.
Yim Phim, the commander of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Brigade 8, said RCAF General Srey Doek will meet with his Thai counterparts to discuss the disagreement and assert Cambodia’s claim to the Phnom Trop area, located adjacent to the temple in the disputed zone claimed by both Cambodia and Thailand.
“Thai troops are dreaming if they think Cambodian soldiers will move away from that area,” Yim Phim said. “We will not move forward or back.”
Yim Phim said Cambodian and Thai troops at Phnom Trop discussed the potential withdrawal of troops from the area this past weekend for about two hours. Though they did not reach a solution, the situation remains calm, he said.
Colonel Meas Yoeun, RCAF deputy military commander for Preah Vihear province, said Thailand has been repositioning its troops recently, but added that the movements are no cause for alarm.
“We have not been surprised by the movements of the Thai troops,” Meas Yoeun said. “Soldiers on the battlefield are like the boxers in the ring – always moving around.”
Om Yentieng, chairman of the government’s Human Rights Committee, told reporters on Tuesday that at a meeting between Prime Minister Hun Sen and Surya Subedi, the UN’s special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, Subedi expressed support for the Kingdom’s protection of its territorial sovereignty.
“[Subedi] assured Samdech Hun Sen that Cambodia is not isolated in this matter,” Om Yentieng said. “The UN will support Cambodia in defending Cambodian territory.”
Subedi also offered his support for Cambodia’s membership in UNESCO, Om Yentieng added.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
In spat with 'Siem', Hun Sen needs Hanoi in his corner
Relations between Thailand and Cambodia have shown no signs of improvement. Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya has insisted that normal diplomatic ties cannot resume until Phnom Penh ends its relationship with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Keeping relations sweet: Cambodian PM Hun Sen, right, with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
Meanwhile, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen continues to challenge the Thai leadership. On January 12, 2010 Mr Hun Sen said that ties might be restored soon because Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's embattled government would not last much longer.
To understand what has been happening in Thai-Cambodian relations, one must not analyse them solely in the bilateral context. The need to consider other geopolitical factors, particularly within mainland Southeast Asia, is imperative in order to comprehend certain behaviour of political leaders and the reasons behind their policies in regard to their neighbours.
Cambodia is a small state, being sandwiched between two bigger neighbours: Thailand and Vietnam. Leaders in Phnom Penh have taken the advantage of its location by playing one neighbour against the other. This is not a new tactic. Siam used the same strategy when it dealt with the British and the French during the colonial period. Some Thai historians agree that it was this strategy that helped Siam escape colonisation.
Monday, January 11, 2010
‘I Am Precious’ designers show off
Top contestants gather to exhibit their entries, carefully translated into full-size garments.
Vat Chanthy, a 25-year-old employee at the Taipore garment factory in Phnom Penh, models her shortlisted entry in the annual I Am Precious fashion competition, in which garment workers try their hands at designing their own clothes.
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I MIGHT ... THINK OF RUNNING MY OWN BUSINESS.
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A GROUP of Cambodian garment factory workers had a rare occasion to smile on Sunday after a year that has brought steady decline in the sector.
Far away from the monotony of the factory floor, the girls looked like seasoned performers as they modelled the creative visions of their co-workers.
After a difficult year for the Cambodian garment industry, in which an estimated 38,000 people lost their jobs, the I Am Precious dress and T-shirt design competition brought a ray of hope.
The contest, now in its second year, is open to garment workers across the country. This year, more than 1,000 people submitted designs, which were whittled down to a short list of 20, which were each then lovingly translated into an outfit. The winners were announced late last year.
Minna Maaskola of the International Labour Organisation, who coordinated the campaign along with several trade unions, said the competition had generated an enormous boost to the self-esteem of garment workers across the board. “In this campaign, the contestants have been very happy and glad,” she said. “They didn’t really know how big it was, and I think it has only been positive, and the girls have said that they are now famous in the factory.”
Organisers of the competition say they are aware of the need to create sustainable opportunities for workers and have added a pattern-making course to provide genuine opportunities. “That’s what we wanted to do this year, to improve it a little bit so there’s a continuation, there’s a training course, there’s something extra. It’s not just winning a bicycle,” Minna Maaskola said.
Photo by: Pha Lina
Finalists in the I Am Precious campaign, in which garment factory workers get to try their hands at being clothes deigners, model their creations on Sunday.
The dress that most dazzled this year’s judges – and the focus of Saturday’s photoshoot – was designed by Khean Vantha, 30, from Kampong Cham province. The stunning floor-length iridescent blue gown resembles a couture nod to the American flag. She said the contest had given her the confidence to consider pursuing a career in fashion design. “After winning the competition, I am being trained in clothes design by the ILO,” she said Sunday. “After the training ends, I might stop working at the factory and think of running my own business at my home in Kampong Cham.”
Laos first stop as P Penh goes complaining
A small story sometimes has big implications. What is happening between Cambodia and Laos nicely fits this definition.
Cambodian Deputy Foreign Minister Long Visalo went to Vientiane last Tuesday. His mission to the northern neighbour was clear. The Cambodian government wanted to brief Laos about its dispute with Thailand.
In the Laotian capital, Long Visalo lectured some 200 Lao Foreign Ministry officials on the history of Preah Vihear, the ruling by the International Court of Justice in 1962 that the Hindu temple belonged to his country, as well as Cambodia's right to list it as a World Heritage Site under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in July 2008.
The Cambodian deputy minister also told his hosts about the border dispute between his country and Thailand, which started after the latter country made a U-turn on its previous stance which had been in support of Cambodia's attempt to list Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site.
The Cambodian campaign cannot be seen as anything but the start of its efforts to drum up backing from other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to help sort out the border conflict with Thailand for good.
And Laos will not be the only stop in this tactic. On the list, of course, are Burma and Vietnam (the latter is scheduled to take the Asean chair till December).
Phnom Penh's strategy is to turn the dispute over the overlapping land boundary of 4.6 square kilometres into a regional issue by trying to bring in the involvement of other Asean members.
Thailand thinks otherwise, with its intention to keep the matter as a quarrel between two neighbours which should be settled by the two neighbours only.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
New $6m terminal opens in Poipet in bid to boost tourism
POIPET’S new US$6.5 million International Passenger Terminal opened for business this week and could bolster the Kingdom’s tourist industry, its director told the Post Thursday.
The 3,000-square-metre building – containing five restaurants, a money exchange and an office and built beside National Road 5, about 8 kilometres from the Poipet border checkpoint with Thailand in Banteay Meanchey province, was officially opened on Monday.
Travellers will be charged $1 to enter the terminal, from where they can arrange visas and catch taxis and buses.
It has been built with government approval to relieve pressure from the bustling nearby checkpoint, which sees around 5,000 people cross per day.
Va Chhouda, managing director of Sou Ching Investment Co Ltd, the company that built the centre, said Thursday it was necessary to build an international-standard terminal near the border.
“Tourists get stuck at the noisy border every day. But we want to attract tourists to come to stay in Cambodia for a long time.
“This is why we have created a place where we can provide good services to them,” he said.
Travellers can be picked up by bus from the checkpoint to visit the terminal, which has its own parking and space for 1,000 customers.
Govt in process of setting up halal certification body
Institute will mean Muslims will not be forced to buy goods on faith alone
A shop sells Cambodia-produced Mee Yeung instant noodles carrying the halal logo. The Kingdom is yet to establish a formal halal certification process.CAMBODIA’S government could set up a body to certify halal food in the country as early as this year, the official in charge of the proposed Cambodian Halal Institute said.
The Ministry of Commerce is working in consultation with the Cambodian Muslim Development Foundation under orders from Prime Minister Hun Sen on a certification body, which will most likely be set up by sub-decree, Sop Ra, deputy director general of domestic trade at the Ministry of Commerce said.
No official launch date had been set, and progress has been slow to date due to a lack of resources.
“We have plans to create the body, but now we have only a small taskforce,” Sop Ra said. “We are in a slow process of writing books about the definition of Islam and a directory of Islamic food in Cambodia.”
In the absence of a certification agency, Cambodia’s Muslims have to rely on faith alone to ensure the food they eat is prepared according to Islamic dietary laws, said Othsman Hassan, president of the Cambodian Muslim Development Foundation and a secretary of state at the Ministry of Labour.
“Now we don’t have a proper law to certify halal food, which is why some people put the word halal on their products, but sometimes Islamic people still don’t eat their products because they don’t trust the label,” he said.
Farewell to an Angkor institution
ANGKOR archaeological mainstay Christophe Pottier will leave the Ecole Francais d’Extreme Orient (EFEO) on January 15 after serving as the Asian studies school’s director since 1999. Pottier was involved in opening the centre in Siem Reap in 1992.
The Frenchman will head to Australia to spend a year or two doing research at the University of Sydney’s Cambodia research cluster.
He will remain co-director of the Greater Angkor Project, a joint effort between the EFEO, the University of Sydney and the Apsara Authority.
“I’ll still be in Angkor quite often and be very involved with Angkor studies,” Pottier said.
He arrived in Siem Reap in 1992 with his wife and a 50-kilogram box of belongings on a one-year contract .
“It’s quite funny to be leaving 18 years later,” he said.
So does he feel any sadness on vacating his adopted homeland after so many years?
“I am a stupid, French, archaeologist guy, so I’m not so much into emotions,” he said, cracking a smile.
Pottier restored the Terrace of Leprous King and the northern staircase of the Terrace of the Elephants at Angkor Thom the 1990s. He was also instrumental in discovering the actual enormous size of the ancient Angkor capital, through the use of aerial mapping and spatial analysis. The study of the size and organisation of the Angkor territory was his PhD subject.
Pascal Royere will take over at the EFEO. Royere started work with the EFEO in 1993 and has been supervising the Baphuon temple restoration program since 1995.
The Lake Clinic (TLC), an NGO that provides free health care to communities living in stilt houses on the Tonle Sap Lake, has expanded its coverage from three villages to seven.
More than doubling the amount of villages covered had stretched the TLC team, said director Jon Morgan.
“We have adjusted our schedule to allow us to reach each of the seven villages twice each month,” Morgan said.
“Our working schedule has the team on the lake three days one week and four days the following week, so we are busier.”
But no one’s complaining.
Crew, staff and local volunteers of the TLC-1. The NGO provides free health care to Tonle Sap residents and improves lives every day
“Every week brings a new story. Most actually involve us finding patients – both children and adults – who require surgery of some kind. Sometimes we save some lives. Every working day we improve many lives,” said Morgan proudly.
TLC will now treat patients in Borlot, Don S’Dong, Peamband and Pov Voey villages, as well as the three they already cover: Moat Klas, Steoung Chrove and Pek Chikrey.
They usually treat common problems like diarrhoea and gastric complaints, respiratory problems, high blood pressure and wounds of various kinds.
The difference between TLC’s work and that of others is that TLC staff usually see the problems in very advanced states because of a lack of local health care.
“As distance quickly translates into time and money, people can go a long time without seeking help when it is hours away and the cost can be equal to a month’s income,” said Morgan.
At the top of TLC’s wish list for 2010 is a new vessel. Negotiations between donors and contractors were ongoing, Morgan said.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Trade with South Korea rebounds
BILATERAL trade with South Korea bounced back in November after plummeting over the first 10 months of 2009, official figures released Wednesday show.
Trade with South Korea climbed 16.6 percent during the month to US$24 million, though Cambodia maintained a significant trade deficit with its larger trade partner, according to figures from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).
KOTRA Deputy Director General Lee Hyoung Seok said he hoped the increase in trade augured well for 2010.
“Hopefully trade will increase further this year because the Cambodian economy is getting better and better,” he said. “I hope and believe demand for products will increase.”
Cambodia exported $1 million worth of products to the East Asian nation, up 55 percent from $711,738 in November 2008, just after the global economic downturn kicked in.
Rice buyers from Poland, Russia, Belgium and Pakistan plan to meet with Cambodian rice exporters in Phnom Penh on January 14 to discuss the possibility of exporting Cambodian rice to international markets.
Uth Rein, secretary general of the Cambodian Small and Medium Industries Association said the meeting was an introductory one to discuss the feasibility of Cambodian rice exports.
“We hope that the parties will reach an agreement in bringing Cambodian rice to European and global markets,” he said.
The discussion will be attended by around 30 representatives of local rice millers and exporters. Ny Lyheng, deputy general manager of Baitang Kampuchea Plc, one of the country’s biggest rice exporters, said it was a key opportunity for local producers to better understand the requirements of international buyers.
Cambodia has around 3 million tonnes of rice left over from its annual harvest for export, according to government figures. However, export channels have not been well-developed and the quality of milled rice is often deficient by international standards.
Uth Rein said Cambodian exporters were granted duty free access to European markets last August for between 5,000 tonnes and 7,000 tonnes of milled rice per month. Opening up the export channel required exporters to boost rice quality and streamline export processes, he said.
Two of the four companies set to attend the meeting – Schepens & Co from Poland and Belgium’s Agrotrade Melkumian & Gasior – have already successfully sourced rice from Cambodia.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Omani firm in talks to buy local lobsters
AN OMAN company could import up to 300,000 juvenile river lobsters from Cambodia in a trade deal set to boost local production.
Haing Leap, deputy director of the Department of Fish and Farming Development at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said an Omani company is negotiating with the department to buy the young freshwater lobsters to raise them for sale in the Middle East.
The first step of the deal will see the business taking 5,000 young river creatures, at a cost of US$0.07 each, to test their development in Oman.
The government hopes that the Kingdom’s farmers will build more lobster-rearing stations if they secure sales of baby crustaceans. “If the plan is carried out successfully, it will help boost the breeding of young freshwater lobsters in Cambodia,” he said.
Khiev Sam, a lobster breeder at a station in Takeo province’s Tram Kak district, said: “This is good news. If we are able to sell our young lobsters overseas, we will have a bigger market.”
Few local farmers raise lobsters in Cambodia and breeding programs are limited, prompting the Japanese government in 2005 to donate $5 million to support a five-year lobster rearing project. At present, 70 farmers have joined force to build river lobster breeding stations.
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