Archive for July 31st, 2009
Friday, July 31st, 2009
Phnom Penh (Cambodia). 04/10 2008: Borei Keila families with HIV/AIDS, who were to receive social housing, had lived under an eviction threat for two years (Photo: John Vink/ Magnum)
Ka-set
Despite repeated condemnations from civil society and international community, the list of victims of forced evictions in Cambodia has kept growing. In July, several removal operations took place in Phnom Penh. After the residents of Dey Krohom in central Phnom Penh, whose houses were smashed to dust in January, their neighbours in Group 78, located in the Tonle Bassac area, were forced to leave their homes on July 17th. Similarly, several dozen families in Borei Keila, the majority of which carry HIV/AIDS and require healthcare, were relocated in successive rounds to the outskirts of the Cambodian capital in unsatisfying conditions, according to local NGOs. Again, protests multiplied, whether from the World Bank, donor countries, international media or online networks, while authorities continue to turn a deaf ear.
Déjà-vuA video, shot in the morning of July 17th in the area known as Group 78 in Phnom Penh, and broadcast on the website of Cambodian human rights organisation Licadho, leaves an impression of déjà-vu: the same dusk bluish light, the same noises of tearing down corrugated iron, the same images of dozens of young workers in red shirts and equipped with pickaxes and bars as during the eviction on January 24th of Dey Krohom residents. But this time, no cries or violence: most of the approximately sixty families of Group 78 resigned themselves to leave and dismantled themselves their wood and metal houses, before security forces and hired workers intervened. The previous day, according to Licadho, they had ended up accepting a compensation of 8,000 dollars, supposed to allow them to find new housing. In the morning of July 17th 2009, human rights activists who were present reported that only a few resisting families had not taken down their houses. After a few hours of negotiations, they yielded as well, for an ultimate compensation of 20,000 dollars, Licadho specified, except for one family who allegedly refused to leave until the end and therefore saw their house be torn down against their will.
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
PHNOM PENH, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Council of Ministers on Friday approved a sub-decree of new co-ownership regulations, allowing legal ownership of individual apartments or condominium owners...
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
PHNOM PENH, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Council of Ministers on Friday approved a sub-decree of new co-ownership regulations, allowing legal ownership of individual apartments or condominium owners...
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
Artemisinin, the "basis of the most effective" malaria treatment recommended by the WHO, took nearly twice as long to clear malaria parasites in patients in western Cambodia than it did in patients in...
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
HANOI, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The Lao Telecommunication Company (TLC) launched its 3G phone service to serve mobile users, Lao newspaper the Vientiane Times reported Friday. With the new service, Lao mo...
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
Scientists have discovered a striking new species of bald songbird in a limestone region of South East Asia.Its inhospitable habitat, far from any human activity or settlement, may explain why this un...
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
Thursday, 30 July 2009Chun Sophal and Ith Sothoeuth
The Phnom Penh PostTourism Decline
H1 tourist figures by country:
- Vietnam - 147,700, up 40pc
- SKorea - 106,300, down 34pc
- Japan - 70,100, down 14pc
- China - 62,100, down 11pc
- Thailand - 50,800, down 25pc
- Australia - 38,900, down 10pc
Source: Ministry of Tourism
Ministry releases full data for arrivals for first six months with Vietnam the only country to see increased tourist numbers among top six nationsTHE Ministry of Tourism on Wednesday released its full figures for the first six months of the year, showing an overall decline in the numbers of foreign visitors.
The number of South Koreans visiting Cambodia dropped more than any other, down one-third from 160,400 to 106,300.
The numbers of tourists from other key visitor nations such as Japan, China, Thailand and Australia were also down between one-quarter and 10 percent.
On Tuesday the ministry released partial figures showing that Vietnamese nationals now comprise the largest number of foreign tourists, with numbers up 40 percent to 147,700, while also issuing data for tourist arrivals from South Korea, previously the No 1 visitor to the Kingdom.
The ministry warned that the effect on employees in the industry was pronounced. In a survey of 72 hotels the ministry determined that between a third and a half of jobs had been cut at 12 hotels, and that working hours had been reduced by the same proportion at the remaining 60 hotels.
"We expect that the number of tourists ... will leap later this year."
Around 300,000 Cambodians work in the tourism sector, with "between 50 and 60 percent" employed at hotels, guesthouses and other tourist accommodation.
Tourism Ministry Secretary of State So Mara said Wednesday the main factor in the lower numbers is the global economic crisis.
But he is optimistic the clouds over the sector will lift, and said the government and private sector are working on strategies to reverse the decline.
"We expect that the number of tourists from these five countries will leap later this year because we already preparing to hire airtime in those countries to woo tourists," So Mara said.
The ministry spent around US$340,000 on its "Kingdom of Wonder" ad campaign that aired on CNN in July 2008. So Mara said the ministry would replicate that and buy airtime from TV channels in South Korea, China and Japan.
The ministry's campaign was welcomed by Luu Meng, the president of the Cambodian Hotel Association. He said television advertising and this week's launch of national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air would both help.
"And we hope the number of tourists visiting Cambodia will pick up from the end of September, because that is the start of the tourism season," Luu Meng said.
Cutbacks necessary
He added that moves by hotel operators to cut staff numbers and working hours was understandable as a short-term solution to the problem of lower visitor numbers.
"There will be nothing to worry about provided they don't actually close down their hotels," he said.
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
Thursday, 30 July 2009May Kunmakara and Nguon Sovan
The Phnom Penh PostTRADE In free fall
- 31pc decline in trade with Thailand in first five months
- $633.17m in trade recorded
- 30pc drop in trade with Vietnam during same period
- $520m in trade up to May
Source: Vietnam and Thai embassies
Trade with bordering nations falls sharply in first five months compared with last year, say embassies in Phnom Penh
TRADE volumes between Cambodia and each of its larger neighbours, Thailand and Vietnam, dropped sharply in the first five months of 2009 compared with the same period last year.
Figures obtained by the Post from the trade desks of the Thai and Vietnamese embassies in Phnom Penh show overall trade was down around 30 percent in each case. Cambodia runs a trade deficit with both nations.
"In the first five months of 2009, Cambodia-Thailand trade volume was worth US$633.17 million - if compared to the same period of last year of $922.89 million, it dropped 31 percent," the Thai customs report stated.
Trade between the two nations consists almost entirely of imports by Cambodia, with just $18.9 million of the total this year comprised of exports. Those exports were primarily agricultural products, secondhand garments, recyclable metals and fish.
Cambodia's imports of $614 million from Thailand were petrol, consumer products, building materials and cosmetics.
Jiranan Wongmongkol, the director of the foreign trade promotion office at the Thai Embassy, predicts that exports to Cambodia from Thailand will drop 40 percent over the year to $1.2 billion from $2 billion last year.
She said the decline has nothing to do with tensions between the two kingdoms over Preah Vihear temple.
"The drop is not due to the border dispute, but to the global financial crisis that has cut consumer demand due to lower incomes," she said.
The commercial councillor at the Vietnamese Embassy, Le Bien Cuong, said trade between Vietnam and Cambodia was down 30 percent to $520 million from $745 million.
"During this period, Vietnam exported only $437 million to Cambodia's markets, and Cambodia exports of agricultural products to Vietnam dropped from $114 million to $83 million," Cuong told the Post on Wednesday. "This is normal, as it is due to the global economic slump. It is affecting trade between Cambodia and Vietnam and others, too, and it is why Vietnamese businessmen have cut their production."
He said trade volumes between the two countries reached $1.6 billion last year, up from $1.2 billion in 2007. He does not expect trade this year to rise above the 2008 level, but said the figure should reach $2 billion next year.
Mao Thora, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Commerce, pointed out that the global economic crisis has affected trade in most countries around the world.
"Our exports [to these two countries] are not really affected because we are exporting mostly agricultural products," he said." Imports are far more affected since people are cutting their spending."
The decline in imports has had a significant effect on Customs and Excise, which reported a 22 percent drop in the tax take to $280 million in the first six months of 2009. Earlier this month Pen Siman, the director general of Customs and Excise's general department, told the Post that the drop was due to the impact of the global economic crisis.
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
Thursday, 30 July 2009Soeun Say
The Phnom Penh PostKRX says that necessary computer software is being developed now in South Korea CAMBODIA'S forthcoming stock exchange will require at least US$9 million in computer equipment, according to estimates by the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX), the body that will operate the Kingdom's new bourse.
Hong Sok Hour, general director of the CSX, told the Post Wednesday that the Korean side of the joint venture would pay for the necessary IT equipment.
"So far we have not yet finalised the total official cost, but we have estimated at least $9 million," he said, adding that it was still also unclear from which company the equipment would be sourced.
Korea Exchange (KRX) will hold a 45 percent stake in the Cambodian stock exchange with the Ministry of Economy and Finance taking the remaining 55 percent.
"If we don't have this, no one will trust the stock market in Cambodia."
Inpyo Lee, project manager of KRX, said Wednesday that the "software [was being] developed by [South] Korea right now", without elaborating further as information on the project "is confidential".
IT infrastructure is a vital component in the development of the exchange, he added.
"We must have a strong information securities network system," said Phu Leewood, secretary general of the National Information Communications Technology Development Authority (NIDA). "If we don't have this, no one will trust the stock market in Cambodia."
NIDA has already dedicated a team to work on this system as a support structure ahead of the launch of the exchange.
"We have cooperated with the Japanese government and [South] Korean government to prepare IT infrastructure for the forthcoming stock exchange," he said, adding that NIDA would start a training course on the new IT equipment.
In February, the KRX with the government launched a mock trading computer system to help train Cambodia's future traders in placing bid and offer orders on the exchange. The $10,000 system was specially designed for Cambodia.
Hong Sok Hour said Wednesday that despite the February launch of the system, training using the program had only started a month ago. 
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
OCHRAB, Cambodia | In this reporter's notebook, NewsHour correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro writes about tracking the growing resistance to the malaria drug artemisinin in western Cambodia.
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Phnom Penh (Cambodia). 04/10 2008: Borei Keila families with HIV/AIDS, who were to receive social housing, had lived under an eviction threat for two years (Photo: John Vink/ Magnum)