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PM Seeks ADB’s Assistance to the Development of Irrigation System
Phnom Penh, August 27, 2010 AKP -- Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen has asked the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help develop Cambodia’s irrigation system.
In a meeting here on Thursday with ADB Vice President Lawrence Greenwood, the Cambodian premier requested ADB to focus on the development of the irrigation system in Cambodia, a key factor to increase the production yield, said Ieng Sophalet, assistant to Samdech Techo Hun Sen.
For his part, the ADB vice president recalled that ADB has assisted Cambodia in the fields of agriculture, rural development as well as in the development of the areas around the Tonle Sap Great Lake.
He further expressed ADB’s support to the country’s anticorruption law and confirmed ADB’s contribution to helping Cambodia become an important rice exporter in the near future.
During the launching ceremony of the Policy Paper on the Promotion of Paddy Production and Rice Export held here on Aug. 17, the Cambodian prime minister is determined to transform Cambodia into a stockpile country for rice and a major rice exporter to the world’s markets and to make Cambodian rice internationally recognized. --AKP
(By SOKMOM Nimul)
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MRC Secretariat’s Office in Phnom Penh Inaugurated
Phnom Penh, August 27, 2010 AKP -- The new office of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat in Phnom Penh was put into use on Aug. 26.
The inaugural ceremony was presided over by Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology H.E. Lim Kean Hor, Minister of Environment H.E. Mok Mareth and MRC Secretariat CEO Mr. Jeremy Bird.
Representatives of the embassies of the MRC member countries – Laos, Thailand and Vietnam – and those from the relevant institutions were also present at the event.
Addressing the ceremony, Mr. Jeremy Bird thanked the Royal Government of Cambodia for its coordination and support to the MRC’s process.
According to the MRC Secretariat CEO, due to the difficulties in moving back and forth the MRC Secretariat every five years between Phnom Penh and Vientiane (Laos), MRC has decided to open another office in Cambodia’s capital city.
H.E. Lim Kean Hor, also a member of MRC Council, said from now on, MRC could pay full attention to the development opportunities and the resolution of the challenges the Mekong River has been facing. --AKP
(By CHEA Vannak)
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ACMECS Senior Officials’ Meeting Held in Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh, August 27, 2010 AKP -- Senior officials from the Ayeyawady - Chao Phraya – Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS)’s member countries gathered here last Monday to review progress in the implementation of ACMECS’s Plan of Action and projects.
The meeting, organized by the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and chaired by H.E. Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, permanent vice-chairman of the Supreme National Economic Council and Secretary of State of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is also aimed to prepare the 4th ACMECS Summit, which will be held on Nov. 16-17, 2010 in Cambodia.
Ayeyawady - Chao Phraya - Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy, called ACMECS, is the cooperation framework among Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam to seize the opportunities from the strength of each member country’s economy, which is different but complementary to each other, in order to bridge regional development gap and contribute to building ASEAN community, said the meeting’s press release.
The ACMECS cooperation consists of 8 sectors: (1) investment and trade facilitation; (2) agricultural sector; (3) industrial and energy sector; (4) transport linkages; (5) tourism; (6) human resource development; (7) public health; and (8) environment sector which was initiated by Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia in the 3rd ACMECS Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, it indicated.
In order to promote the implementation of the Plan of Action and projects in each sector, the sectoral working group has been created and led by each member country. Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar have led the working groups on tourism, transport linkages, and agriculture respectively, while Thailand has led the working groups on investment and trade facilitation and health. Vietnam also leads two working groups on human resource development and industry and energy. The working group on environment will be co-chaired by Cambodia and Vietnam.
The meeting reviewed and updated the draft Plan of Action 2010-2012 by incorporating the Plan of Action for the environment sector. The draft Plan of Action 2010-2012 will be submitted to the upcoming ACMECS Summit for adoption. The meeting also reviewed and evaluated the implementation of projects in seven sectors under the ACMECS’s cooperation framework; summarized the progresses of all ACMECS’s projects including bilateral and multilateral projects implemented by the five member countries; and updated those projects in accordance to the draft Plan of Action 2010-2012. In addition, to promote the initiative of Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, on the possibility to establish the Association of Rice Producing Countries, which was agreed at the ACMECS Midterm Review Retreat in Cebu in 2007, the meeting discussed the concepts to promote rice cooperation. The meeting also agreed to accelerate contract farming cooperation among member countries.
At the end, all delegates expressed their appreciations to the Royal Government of Cambodia for an excellent and successful arrangement of the meeting in order to prepare the 4th ACMECS Summit in November in Cambodia, said the press release. --AKP
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U.S. Company Invests in Cambodia’s Agriculture
Phnom Penh, August 27, 2010 AKP -- The U.S.-based VSJMAXX Company has signed an agreement with the local company Brother Investment Group Co., Ltd. (B.I.G.) to jointly invest some US$2,000 million in Cambodia’s agricultural sector.
The agreement was signed here on Aug. 26 by B.I.G. Chairman Mr. David Chanaiwa and Mrs. Culiffee Judy, a VSJMAXX shareholder.
According to its initial project, both companies will establish a fish rearing station and pet and fish feeding product factory at the total cost of some US$5 million in Kandal province’s Saang district.
Moreover, the two companies also planned to set up a solar-power rice-mill plant in Oddar Meanchey province at the cost of some US$3.2 million. --AKP
(By LIM Nary)
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Kampot, Kien Giang Jointly Prevent Criminal Offence of Fisheries
Phnom Penh, August 27, 2010 AKP -- Kampot province of Cambodia and Kien Giang province of Vietnam have decided to set up a cooperative mechanism for jointly preventing the criminal offence of fisheries and exchanging information about the crime at the border.
The decision was made when provincial officials of fisheries of Cambodia and Vietnamese officials from Kien Giang province of Vietnam gathered to hold a meeting in Kampot province on Aug. 23.
The meeting was held to review the results of the work being carried out from a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on strengthening environmental protection, biodiversity conservation and welfare in the transboundary water area of Cambodia and Vietnam signed in March 2008 and to establish a formula to be implemented on according to the MoA.
Under the MoA the two parties agree to implement the policy and framework for cooperation in management of coastal ecosystems and natural resources between the provinces of Kampot and Kien Giang in order to strengthen environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, and welfare of each province. --AKP
(By THOU Peou)
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Cambodia Hosts Forum on Reading and Writing Open Up Your World
Phnom Penh, August 27, 2010 AKP -- A public forum on “Reading and Writing Open Up Your World” has been organized here yesterday at the National Library of Cambodia in the presence of H.E. Thay Noreak Sathia, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and Australian Ambassador to Cambodia Mrs. Margaret Anne Adamson.
UNESCO Country Representative Teruo Jinnai, senior officials of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, authors, teachers and students also joined the event.
Speaking on the occasion, H.E. Thay Noreak Sathia said the forum witnessed the cooperation between the National Library of Cambodia and the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh in raising people’s awareness about the usefulness of reading and writing.
The National Library of Cambodia has some 120,000 books in Khmer, French, and English and many other printing, audio-visual and e-documents. --AKP
(By KHAN Sophirom)
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