Preah Khan Reach jump clear at top of CPL

Photo by: NICK SELLS
Kirivong Sok Sen Chey’s Him Salam (left, orange shirt) skips over a sliding challenge from Build Bright United’s Nhem Sovannara during their Cambodian Premier League game at Olympic Stadium Saturday.

The Phnom Penh Post
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/

Written by Andy Brouwer
Monday, 01 June 2009

Preah Khan Reach's 2-0 win over Post Tel Sunday pushes them two points clear of the rest after Build Bright United had held the lead over Saturday night

SATURDAY'S first CPL matchup saw National Defence Ministry (MND) face Spark FC. Two goals in the last fifteen minutes brought the contest to life in what had been an otherwise drab affair. The crowd at the Olympic Stadium had been looking forward to the head-to-head between last season's Golden Book winner Khim Borey of MND and current CPL leading scorer, Spark's Justine Prince.

As it turned out, both strikers had a frustrating afternoon with a poor supply line leaving them with no clear opportunities throughout the game. With goalmouth action at a premium in a forgettable first half, the heavens opened and rain lashed down as the second period got underway. But it wasn't until the 75th minute that MND cranked up the action level, when Thong Oudom bundled home a corner from Nov Sokseila that evaded the Spark goalkeeper, to put his side a goal ahead.

Five minutes later, Spark substitute Plong Chanthou made a telling contribution with his first touch, crossing from the right-hand byeline for Meak Chhordaravuth to flex his neck muscles and send his header under the crossbar for the equaliser. With only one team looking for a winning goal, MND's Nov Sokseila hit a powerful drive from way out that was well saved, and in time added on, Phuong Soksana walloped a shot that thundered back off the crossbar. The final whistle went soon after to ensure honours were shared.

Build Bright United hop to the top
In Saturday's second game, Build Bright United (BBU) leapfrogged Kirivong Sok Sen Chey into top spot in the Cambodia Premier League with a hard-fought 1-0 success over the Takeo province team. Man of the moment was makeshift striker Prum Puthsethy who latched onto a long hopeful ball over the top of the defence from Nigerian teammate Oriola Adeseye and finished coolly with a low drive that nestled in the corner of the net with just two minutes of the first-half remaining. It was pretty tame fare for most of the first period, with only the goal and Vietnamese Lam Than Tang's volley for Kirivong that flew wide brightening up the game.

After the break, Kirivong did most of the pressing as you might expect, but two efforts from Adesye were the closest they got to finding an equaliser. At the other end, a rare mistake by Samuel Oseika allowed BBU's Cliff Goodluck to weave his way into the penalty area, though his sweetly-struck shot came back into play off the upright. The game wasn't a classic by any stretch of the imagination, though BBU weren't worrying too much about it as they sat atop the CPL table overnight Saturday.

Photo by: NICK SELLS
Phouchung Neak’s Joseph Olatubosn (right) chases the ball past Naga Corp captain Oum Thavarak during their game Sunday at Olympic Stadium.

Naga swallow up Phouchung
In Sunday's early fixture, Naga Corp relaunched their campaign with a 5-2 thumping of Phouchung Neak. Naga dominated from start to finish with Sunday Okonkwo leading the charge with a goal in each half.

The first period saw Friday Nwakuna and Meas Channa also finding the net for Naga, while Phouchung's solitary reply came from a sweetly struck penalty by substitute Ouk Thon.

After the interval, Naga sub Neang Chenla added to Naga's plight along with Okonkwo's second, and Pov Samnang grabbed a second consolation goal for Phouchung.

With time added on, Oghenekevwe Auwara compounded the problems for Phouchung by getting sent off for an elbow on Meas Channa. Phouchung remain firmly at the foot of the table, with no points from five games and a negative ten goal difference.

Preah Khan Reach for the stars
In a rather unconvincing win in Sunday's later kickoff, Preah Khan Reach (PKR) put two past Post Tel Club to reclaim their place at the head of the table.

Being one up at the break thanks to Samel Nasa's sixth minute tap-in, PKR's Olisa Onyemerea was very wasteful, missing a quartet of second half headed chances. An own goal by Post Tel's Soth Sotheavy in the dying moments of the game helped confirm the victory although Post Tel had a Gafar Surosinmi penalty saved in the last minute by PKR keeper Ouk Mich.

With the win, Preah Khan Reach go two points clear at the summit on 12 points from a possible 15, with BBU hot on their trail. Phnom Penh Crown will look to climb the league with a win over struggling Khemara Keila Wednesday to put them three points off the pace of the leader.

Angkor Wat revenues down 20pc in Q1

The Phnom Penh Post
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/

Written by Ros Dina
Monday, 01 June 2009

REVENUES from Angkor Wat admission fees have shrunk by 20 percent in the first quarter, the Apsara Authority - which runs the temple complex - announced Sunday, citing the knock-on effects of Thai political turmoil.

"Most foreign tourists enter Cambodia through Thailand. So, if Thailand has a problem, we are inevitably affected by their problem," said Bun Narith, director general of the Apsara Authority.

He added that the decrease happened in line with a 22-percent drop in foreign visitors this year up to the end of March. The number of visitors to Angkor Wat continued to drop by 16 percent in April, he added.

"In 2007, more than US$32 million was earned from selling tickets to Angkor Wat, and the amount decreased about 5 percent in 2008," he said.

Sokha Hotels, which belongs to Sok Kong, the owner of Sokimex, has the right to collect ticket income for the government.

According to Bun Narith, 10 percent of the income is spent on tax and the remaining 90 percent is divided following an agreed formula: each party gets 50 percent from the first $3 million in revenues, after which 15 percent is used by the Apsara Authority for conservation and development of the temples, and the rest is divided 80-20 percent between the government and Sokha Hotels respectively.

According to the Apsara Authority, this formula has been followed since the second agreement between the government and Sokha Hotels in 2005.

Svay Sothy, a representative of Sokha Hotels, said his company reviews its contract with the government every five years, and the second contract will end in 2010.

The Apsara Authority's Department of Angkor Tourism Development showed that the number of tourists who visited Angkor Wat had decreased 13 percent in January, 26 percent in February, 26 percent in March, and 16 percent in April compared with last year's figures.

New MFI to issue property loans

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON
The construction sector has seen reduced activity and an increase in nonperforming loans since the economic crisis hit.

The Phnom Penh Post
http://www.phnompenhpost.com

Written by Nguon Sovan
Monday, 01 June 2009

First Finance – a joint venture with Phillip Capital Group of Singapore and private investors – says it will lend to the struggling property sector despite the continuing downturn and bad loans

WHILE most banks remain reluctant to provide real estate loans to customers amid the global financial downturn, a new microfinance institution set to launch June 8 says it will channel lending to house purchases and construction.

"For the first time, home financing will be available to middle- and lower-income Cambodians," Talmage Payne, CEO of newcomer First Finance, told the Post on Friday. "We are going to offer a product that the other [microfinance institutions] are not touching - loans for house purchasing."

First Finance is a joint venture between Phillip Capital Group and local individual investors. The Phillip Capital Group is a Singapore-based Asian financial house with operations in eight countries in the Asia-Pacific and Europe.

"We see largely younger Cambodians getting educations who really want to improve their lives. Many of them want to own their first home," he added.

He said First Finance will offer long-term repayment loans - up to 15 years - with a competitive interest rate. "The medium loan size is US$14,000, and clients will be required to use the title of the house or apartment they are buying as collateral."

The UN Development Programme said last month that more than 30 percent of construction projects "may have been placed on hold due to the global downturn", while analysts have blamed a rise in nonperforming loans this year on the faltering property market.

Payne said that despite the current downturn in real estate, First Finance had not been discouraged to invest.

"The Cambodian economy will come back soon, so we want to be ready," he said. "For those people that have the income and resources, it will be a good time to buy because it's cheaper due to the downturn period."

First Finance will expand to cities in Preah Sihanouk and Battambang provinces by 2010, said Payne.

Hout Ieng Tong, president of the Cambodia Microfinance Association and general manager of Hattha Kaksekar Limited, said Sunday that he welcomed the new institution.

"Most of the MFIs focus lending on small businesses rather than home buyers," he said, explaining that more customers benefitted from loans given to micro-, small- or medium-sized enterprises rather than individual real estate buyers.

He said that Hattha Kaksekar planned to lend $30 million this year, but would not issue property loans.

Bun Mony, a board member of the Cambodia Microfinance Association and general manager of Sathapana Limited, said Sunday this was a new market for MFIs.

"First Finance will be an evolutionary institution, and its focus on loans for house purchases reflects the progress of the real estate sector in Cambodia," he said.

Tourism key to future of Phnom Penh cyclos

The life of the capital’s cyclo drivers is not an easy one. Tracey Shelton

The Phnom Penh Post
http://www.phnompenhpost.com

Written by Nora Lindstrom
Monday, 01 June 2009

Amidt a general slump in demand for cyclos, tourism is becoming increasingly more important in providing essential income for drivers

Once a common way to get around Phnom Penh, cyclos in the capital has seen a significant drop in numbers over the past few years. Though the battle against the tuk-tuk may be lost, tourism is proving the traditional vehicle's saving grace.

"According to statistics from 1996, there used to be around 10,000 cyclo drivers in Phnom Penh in the mid-'90s," said Nouv Sarany, coordinator at Cyclo Centre, an NGO that provides support and facilities to the capital's cyclo drivers. "Today, however, it's more like 3,000."

A survey conducted by NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut on behalf of the centre in 2008 confirms this. The research attributes the decline in cyclos to increased popularity of the tuk-tuk as a means of transportation, as well as increased use of private cars and motorcycles.

A hard life
Sok Vireak, 36, is from Svay Rieng province and has been working as a cyclo driver in the capital for about 10 years. He spends the dry season looking for customers mainly around Phnom Penh's markets, and returns to his homeland during the rainy season to work in the rice paddies.

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The best thing about them is that they are slow; it gives people time to see the scenery around them.
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"Before, there were a lot of clients for us cyclo drivers, but now people prefer to use tuk-tuks," he said. "I would like to upgrade to a tuk-tuk, too, but I have no money."

Like almost 80 percent of his colleagues, Sok Vireak rents his cyclo for around 2,000 riels per day.

Nouv Sarany says some drivers prefer renting cyclos so they can return home on a regular basis without worrying about where to leave their vehicles. Another reason for renting, however, is the lack of capital. A second-hand cyclo costs around US$50, while a new one can be as expensive as $150.

"On a good day, I can earn 10,000 riels," Sok Vireak said. As the price of a decent meal has risen to 3,000 riels, he says, this is not enough.

The feeling is echoed by 58-year-old Oum Pouy. Originally from Kandal province, he has spent the last 19 years taking customers around the capital on his cyclo. He currenltly struggles to support his wife and three children in his home province.

He is luckier than Sok Vireak, however, as he - unlike his colleague, who sleeps outside Kandal market - has convinced a shop owner to let him sleep on the premises.

Nevertheless, Oum Pouy describes his life as full of ordeals, mostly relating to lack of money.

"I had a very good relationship with the rental shop owner, but then I helped a friend to rent a cyclo," he said. "My friend then sold the cyclo and ran away. Now the shop owner doesn't trust me anymore."

Other common issues facing the men include health problems, lack of education and alcohol abuse.

Cyclo Centre's Nouv Sarany said drinking is a recurring and widespread problem among cyclo drivers. The 2008 survey cites two cyclo drivers as having died of liver cirrhosis. Both Sok Vireak and Oum Pouy sheepishly admit to enjoying their fair share of rice wine.

Green tourism
Amid a general slump in demand for cyclos, tourism is becoming increasingly lucrative and providing essential income for the drivers.

Through Phnom Penh's Cyclo Centre, travel agencies can hire cyclos to conduct sightseeing tours around the city. This leisurely way of exploring the capital has proven popular among foreigners, and calls for tours come in on a regular basis.

"It's a nonpolluting, green way to get around," said Nouv Sarany. Individuals can also book cyclos through the centre for rates starting at US$2.50 per hour and $10 for a day.

Stefanie Irmer, director of Khmer Architectural Tours, which employs cyclos for some of their tours, thinks they are the ideal means of transportation in Phnom Penh.

"The best thing about them is that they are slow; it gives people time to see the scenery around them," she said.

She acknowledges cyclos are a dying species but hopes tourism will give a second life to this unique way of traversing the urban jungle.

"Our cyclo tours are always fully booked," she said.

To organise your own cyclo tour or book a driver, contact the Cyclo Centre on 023 991 178, or email cyclocenter@camintel.com

8th Session of the UNPFII 2009 : 7 Item : Future Work

saviour746

Security tightened as ROK summit begins

Shanghai Daily

http://www.shanghaidaily.com

Source: Agencies 2009-6-1

THE Republic of Korea imposed heavy security yesterday for a summit with Southeast Asian leaders following nuclear and missile tests by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea that have frayed nerves across the region.

The summit venue of Seogwipo - on the island of Jeju off the southern coast - is the farthest city away from the North. Still, a nervous South Korean government is taking no chances, positioning a surface-to-air missile outside the venue aimed toward the north.

Some 5,000 police officers, including approximately 200 commandos, and special vehicles that can analyze sarin gas and other chemicals have been deployed nearby, said Kim Soo-byung, a presidential security spokesman.

Leaders of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations began arriving for the two-day summit, which officially begins today.

ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The summit, which is being held to commemorate 20 years of relations between South Korea and the bloc, has been in the works for months. South Korea says it sees the meeting as an opportunity to raise its diplomatic profile and solidify economic ties with the region.

But North Korea's bout of saber-rattling, including last week's underground nuclear test and a subsequent series of short-range missile launches off its eastern coast, threatens to steal the limelight.

South Korean officials said last Saturday that spy satellites had spotted signs that the North may be preparing to transport a long-range missile to a launch site.

The UN Security Council is still weighing how to react to the North's belligerent moves that have earned Pyongyang criticism from the United States, Europe, Russia and China.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last Saturday that North Korea's progress on nuclear weapons and long-range missiles is "a harbinger of a dark future" and has created an urgent need for more pressure on the government to change.

Gates, speaking at an annual meeting of defense and security officials in Singapore, said Pyongyang's efforts pose the potential for an arms race in Asia that could spread beyond the region.

Trade With ASEAN Up 34 Percent

The Korea Times
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr

05-31-2009

By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter

Trade between Korea and ASEAN member countries grew significantly since the signing of a bilateral trade pact on goods exports, statistics showed.

According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Korea's trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), comprising Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, increased to $73 billion for the one year since the agreement took effect, from $58.4 billion trade seen during the year before. The two sides are scheduled tomorrow to sign trade the investment portion of their free trade agreement (FTA), the last in a three-phase setup.

Trade with all ASEAN member countries grew so much that ASEAN is now the third largest trade partner for Korea, behind China and the European Union.

The total trade for the two years after the agreement recorded $138 billion, up 33.8 percent from $103.2 billion seen for the two years before the agreement, despite the global financial crisis.

The brisk trade took place in auto and steel trade. Korea's export of autos and parts to ASEAN, the world's 11th largest economy, jumped 77.3 percent in the first year after the pact took effect in the middle of 2007. Steel exports increased by 23.3 percent, and petrochemicals by 20.8 percent.

Korea is increasingly importing agricultural and fisheries products from the region. Its investments in ASEAN, with a population of 580 million and the GDP of $1.3 trillion, recorded $5.9 billion in 2008, making the region the second largest destination for the country following the United States.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said that the FTA is positively affecting trade between the two parties, and expects it to grow further. It cited Thailand's signing of an agreement on goods trade in February as a positive factor. The Korea-ASEAN FTA comprises of three parts ― agreement on trade of goods, services and investment.

``ASEAN is the major export market which can offset the sluggish mood in the developed market following the global economic crisis. The ministry will strengthen policy efforts to expand market share there,'' it said. Korea's share in the region stood at 5.1 percent as of 2007, growing from the 4.7 percent seen two years ago, but it is still small compared with China's 12.3 or Japan's 11.4 percent.

The ministry said it would strengthen the basis for economic cooperation with ASEAN through official development assistance.

Stretching the Reach of the Law

The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com

By RICHARD GOLDSTONE
Published: May 31, 2009

When Peru’s Supreme Court found former president Alberto Fujimori guilty in April of the kidnapping, injury and murder of civilians in the 1990s and sentenced him to 25 years in prison, the historic verdict resonated around the world: the first conviction of an elected Latin American leader for human rights abuses by his own country.

Fujimori joins a growing list of former leaders facing charges of human rights abuses in domestic and international courts. They include Charles Taylor of Liberia; Hissène Habré of Chad; Jean-Pierre Bemba of the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Kaing Guek Eav of Cambodia.

This year, the International Criminal Court, the world’s first permanent court to investigate and try individuals accused of committing genocide war crimes, and crimes against humanity, issued the first arrest warrant for a sitting head of state — President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan.

These cases demonstrate the growing power and reach of a developing system of international justice that includes the International Criminal Court, special tribunals and regional courts and commissions. This system is working toward a new era of accountability for atrocities and is having a profound influence on national courts.

Two factors have brought about this important trend. The first is a mature global network of human rights organizations.

In the Fujimori case, Human Rights Watch gathered evidence that connected the former president with the military intelligence officers who massacred civilians in 1991 and 1992. The International Center for Transitional Justice helped Peruvian officials establish rules for a fair trial, supplying the Supreme Court with resources about theories of criminal responsibility. Other organizations, such Access to Justice in Nigeria, the Blacksoil Center for the Protection of Media Rights in Russia, and Pro Juarez in Mexico, do similar work in other cases.

The second factor is the credibility of the new institutions of international justice.

As chief prosecutor for the international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, I helped investigate and prosecute some of the worst crimes of the last decades of the 20th century. In 1994, when we began our work, the horrors and trauma were still fresh. Our work was urgent, and there was every temptation to rush to judgment.

Instead, we insisted on establishing and observing due process. If the courts were to be instruments of real justice and have credibility in the eyes of the world, our proceedings had to be as transparent, fair and thorough as we could make them. Firsthand testimony from witnesses and surviving victims was important — but so was a strong defense for the accused.

I believe these principles have helped make the case for international justice and prompted national courts, from Peru to Cambodia, to take action. The prosecution of crimes against humanity is not an exercise in partisan score-settling. It is an assertion of the core values of civilized society.

The international community affirmed its commitment to these values in the Responsibility to Protect, adopted by the United Nations in 2005, which asserts the duty to intervene when nations fail to protect, or persecute, their citizens.

Fujimori’s conviction demonstrates the progress we have achieved toward making these values normative. With a coalition of local and worldwide human rights defenders, an international system of justice that commands growing respect, and a global commitment to defend the innocent in every nation, the elements are in place for a more just and peaceful future.

Justice Richard Goldstone is the former chief prosecutor of the international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

Suu Kyi likely to be imprisoned again

AAP

http://au.news.yahoo.com

June 1, 2009

Burma's military junta has accused Aung San Suu Kyi of covering up a visit to her home by a US man which led to her trial, as the pro-democracy icon hit back against the "bullying" generals.

The regime said on Sunday that the Nobel laureate is not above the law, and issued its sternest warning yet against foreign interference in the case, under which she faces up to five years' jail for breaching her house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi has proclaimed her innocence at the closed prison trial, insisting that she only offered "temporary shelter" to American John Yettaw after he swam to her lakeside house, and has branded the proceedings as biased.

"It is no doubt that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has committed a cover up of the truth by her failure to report an illegal immigrant to the authorities concerned," Major General Aye Myint, Burma's deputy defence minister, told a security forum in Singapore.

"Thus there was no option but to open legal proceedings in accordance with the law," Aye Myint said. "She permitted him to stay ... She communicated, provided him food and shelter."

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention, mostly at her crumbling lakeside mansion. She was moved to Rangoon's notorious Insein prison and charged on May 14.

The 63-year-old opposition leader met her lawyers at the jail on Saturday ahead of final arguments in the case, which are due to be heard on Friday. A guilty verdict is widely expected.

Her party said on Sunday that she's upset that Burmese authorities entered her residential compound without permission to stage a reconstruction of Yettaw's visit for the purposes of the trial.

"Aung San Suu Kyi said she is not completely satisfied as Mr Yettaw and the authorities went into her compound last week for a demonstration (of how he got into the property)," party spokesman Nyan Win told AFP.

"It was not in accordance with the law. She said it was unjust bullying," added Nyan Win, who is also part of her legal team.

Yettaw, a 53-year-old Mormon and former US military veteran, was arrested on May 6 after swimming to Aung San Suu Kyi's house using a pair of homemade flippers, and spending two nights there.

He has told the court he had a vision that Aung San Suu Kyi would be assassinated by "terrorists" and was told by God to warn both the opposition leader and the Burmese government.

Aung San Suu Kyi said in a statement to the court last week that she could not be held responsible as the junta had failed to boost security despite her having reported that Yettaw made a previous visit to the house in November 2008.

However, Nyan Win quoted the democracy campaigner as saying that she "has no grudge to Mr Yettaw and his family".

International critics accuse Burma's military regime of trumping up the charges in a bid to keep her locked up ahead of elections in 2010, as the latest six-year period of her house arrest expired on Wednesday.

But in his speech in Singapore, Burma's Aye Myint said the case against Aung San Suu Kyi is an internal matter.

"Countries should refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Myanmar (Burma) that will affect peace and security of the region," said Aye Myint.

"It is the universal legal principle that no one is above the law," he said.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, speaking at the same forum on Saturday, pressed Burma to free Aung San Suu Kyi and said there needs to be "real change in Burma".

Ann Taylor, Britain's minister for international defence and security, made a similar call on Sunday.

Burma last week hit back at rare criticism from the normally placid fellow members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) over the treatment of the democracy campaigner.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, whose country holds the rotating chairmanship of the 10-member bloc, said ASEAN leaders will discuss Burma at a summit in South Korea on June 1-2.

Meanwhile, more than 100 people rallied in Singapore late on Sunday as part of a regional effort by civil rights groups to press Burma's military rulers to release Aung San Suu Kyi.

Similar rallies were also held simultaneously in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand, organisers said.

Asians talk of peace, haggle over arms

Japan's Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada speaks during the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore May 30, 2009. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash


By Nopporn Wong-Anan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asia's defense policymakers spoke of peace in the region's top security conference in Singapore, but have been also huddling in the corridors of a luxury hotel haggling over deals with arms suppliers. Nopporn Wong-anan Singapore (reuters) - Asia's Defense Policymakers Spoke Of Peace In The Region's Top Security Conference In Singapore, But Have Been Also Huddling In The Corridors Of A Luxury Hotel Haggling Over Deals With Arms Suppliers. – Sun May 31

The annual Asia Security Conference, a forum for discussion, brought together some of the world's main arms-makers with military chiefs nervously eyeing their neighbors' moves and looking to upgrade defenses in a region full of long-running insurgencies, potential maritime disputes and growing wealth.

"Defense suppliers find it very important to be here to make a set of contacts," said Jonathan Pollack, professor of Asian and Pacific Studies at the U.S. Naval War College.

Japan's defense minister told the gathering that the country, anxious about North Korea's latest nuclear test, would not strike first but it was still looking to boost its air force with Lockheed Martin F-22 fighter jets.

Top executives from firms such as Boeing, the Pentagon's No.2 defense supplier, flew to Singapore to rub shoulders with potential clients, as they look to expand foreign sales at a time when the Obama government is starting to cap defense project spending.

"In the event that I'm meeting with any defense suppliers, it will be the last I'll be speaking to you," Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told Reuters, fresh from a military success that ended a two-decade old Tamil Tiger insurgency.

AIR AND NAVAL DEMAND

Boeing's defense chief Jim Albaugh told a briefing he saw growing Asian demand for air and naval forces as the region looks to protect its trade and territory.

Boeing met with India's top military official Vijay Singh at one of the hotel's private conference rooms, but the meeting was brief, and Singh later met with Britain's BAE Systems.

Boeing may not have had much luck, as Cambodia's Defense Minister Tea Banh told Reuters he also met Boeing but was not buying anything for now.

Boeing is vying for a $10 billion Indian contract for warplanes, one of the world's biggest arms deals, together with Lockheed, Saab, Russia and a European consortium.

India plans to spend more than $30 billion over the next five years to modernize its largely Soviet-era weapons systems. China is spending 15 percent more on its military budget this year, leading to fears among some of an Asian arms race.

"What you do see in the region is a reaction between the military programs of certain countries," said Tim Huxley, executive director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the conference's organizer. "There are many players, each of which is looking over their shoulders."

Indonesia, hoping to update its hardware, spoke at the meeting to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates about buying Lockheed C-130 transport planes, and told Reuters it could be in a financial position in 2-3 years to buy jets and submarines.

The world's fourth-most populous nation aims to raise its defense spending to 1.2 percent of GDP within five years, from 0.68 percent or $3.3 billion now, its defense minister said.

Indonesia's southern neighbor Australia this month released a blueprint for a $72 billion military upgrade, though its defense minister told the conference spending was "rather modest" when looking across the region.

Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was asked at the meeting if the defense plan clashed with his vision for a regional security architecture and EU-style community, and replied countries had to pursue that and a defense build-up.

"The chance of conflict can never be ruled out," Rudd said.

(Additional reporting by Candida Ng and Harry Suhartono; Writing by Neil Chatterjee; Editing by bill Tarrant)

Myanmar's Suu Kyi trades barbs with junta

Protesters holding pictures and flowers call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi during a rally in front of the Myanmar embassy in Tokyo on May 30. Myanmar's military junta accused Aung San Suu Kyi Sunday of covering up a visit to her home by a US man which led to her trial, as the pro-democracy icon hit back against the "bullying" generals.(AFP/Toshifumi Kitamura)



Sun May 31

YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's military junta accused Aung San Suu Kyi Sunday of covering up a visit to her home by a US man which led to her trial, as the pro-democracy icon hit back against the "bullying" generals.

The regime said the Nobel laureate was not above the law and issued its sternest warning yet against foreign interference in the case, under which she faces up to five years' jail for breaching her house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi has proclaimed her innocence at the closed prison trial, insisting that she only offered "temporary shelter" to American John Yettaw after he swam to her lakeside house, and has branded the proceedings as biased.

"It is no doubt that has committed a cover-up of the truth by her failure to report an illegal immigrant to the authorities concerned," Major General Aye Myint, Myanmar's deputy defence minister, told a security forum in Singapore.

"Thus there was no option but to open legal proceedings in accordance with the law," Aye Myint said. "She permitted him to stay.... She communicated, provided him food and shelter."

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention, mostly at her crumbling lakeside mansion. She was moved to Yangon's notorious and charged on May 14.

The 63-year-old opposition leader met with her lawyers at the jail on Saturday ahead of final arguments in the case, which are due to be heard on Friday. A guilty verdict is widely expected.

Her party said Sunday that she was upset that Myanmar authorities had entered her residential compound without permission to stage a reconstruction of Yettaw's visit for the purposes of the trial.

"Aung San Suu Kyi said she is not completely satisfied as Mr Yettaw and the authorities went into her compound last week for a demonstration (of how he got into the property)," party spokesman Nyan Win told AFP.

"It was not in accordance with the law. She said it was unjust bullying," added Nyan Win, who is also part of her legal team.

Yettaw, a 53-year-old Mormon and former US military veteran, was arrested on May 6 after swimming to Aung San Suu Kyi's house using a pair of homemade flippers and spending two nights there.

He has told the court that he had had a vision that Aung San Suu Kyi would be assassinated by "terrorists" and was told by God to warn both the opposition leader and the Myanmar government.

Aung San Suu Kyi said in a statement to the court this week that she could not be held responsible as the junta had failed to boost security despite her having reported that Yettaw made a previous visit to the house in November 2008.

However Nyan Win quoted the democracy campaigner as saying that she "has no grudge to Mr Yettaw and his family."

International critics accuse Myanmar's military regime of trumping up the charges in a bid to keep her locked up ahead of elections in 2010, as the latest six-year period of her house arrest expired on Wednesday.

But in his speech in Singapore, Myanmar's Aye Myint said the case against Aung San Suu Kyi was an internal matter.

"Countries should refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Myanmar that will affect peace and security of the region," said Aye Myint.

"It is the universal legal principle that no one is above the law," he said

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, speaking at the same forum on Saturday, pressed Myanmar to free Aung San Suu Kyi and said there needed to be "real change in Burma". Burma is Myanmar's former name.

Ann Taylor, Britain's minister for international defence and security, made a similar call on Sunday.

Myanmar last week hit back at rare criticism from the normally placid fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over the treatment of the democracy campaigner.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, whose country holds the rotating chairmanship of the 10-member bloc, said ASEAN leaders would discuss Myanmar at a summit in South Korea on June 1-2.

Resistance to malaria drug growing

The Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com

Monday, Jun 01, 2009

David Batty

London: Growing resistance to the world’s most effective drug treatment for malaria in Cambodia is a development that could threaten the lives of millions of people, scientists have warned.

Malaria experts said the problem in Cambodia must be contained as there were no other effective drug treatments available. The drugs are now taking upto four or five days to clear all malaria parasites from the blood rather than two or three days, according to the U.K. study by the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit.

Dr. Glenn McConkey, a malaria expert at Leeds University, said: “This could be a major threat in terms of drug resistance.” He said there was a danger that the prevalence of resistance to artemesinin could become as widespread as that to chloroquine, which used to be the mainstay of drug treatment.

“It’s a matter of time before resistance to artemesinin in widespread. The concern is that it will spread before we can develop a new drug to replace it,” said Dr. McConkey. Professor Brian Greenwood, professor of tropical medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said resistance to the drug was at present only partial and patients should still be cured if they took artemisinins in combination with another antimalarial, as recommended by the World Health Organisation.

He said that Cambodian pharmacies were supplying patients with artemisnin alone, or flawed courses of the drug were sold that did not contain enough active ingredients to kill the malaria parasite. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2009

Cambodia women in health battle

Cambodian villagers are encouraged to give birth in the local health centre

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Sunday, 31 May 2009

By Jill McGivering
BBC News, Cambodia

In Cambodia , five women die every day because of inadequate health care during childbirth - making it a leading cause of death among women of child-bearing age.

The government is trying to improve health services but it is proving a long slow process.

Lvea village, in north-western Cambodia, is a collection of wooden stilt-houses along a dirt track, hectic with dogs, piglets and chickens.

Most of the women here have been told to have their babies in the local health centre.
So when one woman, Low't, went into labour recently with her ninth child, she made her way there too.

Sad but common story

Her neighbour, Ron, told me what happened:

"The delivery went well - but afterwards Low't started to feel faint. She was losing blood.

"The health centre didn't have the right medicine - so they went eight kilometres (5 miles) by trailer to a larger one.

"The midwife there couldn't stop the bleeding either, and sent them to the hospital in the nearest town.

"They were still travelling, heading downriver by boat, when Low't died."

It's a sad but common story.

Eighty per cent of Cambodia 's population live in rural areas and the public health system is weak.

In recent years, the government has made it a priority to strengthen its network of trained midwives.

Most Cambodians live in rural areas, where the health system is not strong

They now attend more than half of all births - a significant increase.

Many local clinics function better, even if they're still poorly equipped.

But midwives are paid very little - and can be distracted by running private businesses too.

In Lvea village, the women were cautious about criticising the midwives who tried but failed to save Low't's life.

But one woman made this plea to her government: "Please supply good quality medicine to the health centre so that it can help us."

Progress is being made.

But for women like Low't, it's simply too little, too late.

ASEAN Leaders Express Concern Over NK Threat

The Korea Times

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr

05-31-2009

By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island ― South Korea and Thailand agreed Sunday to make joint diplomatic efforts to help North Korea return to the six-party denuclearization talks and eventually abandon its program to develop nuclear weapons.

At a summit between President Lee Myung-bak and Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva here, they shared the view that the North's recent missile and nuclear tests threaten the peace and stability of not only East Asia, but also the whole world.

The Thai prime minister is one of the 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) who gathered here for a special summit between Korea and the economic bloc, the country's third largest trade partner. ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

``Lee and Vejjajiva called for joint efforts to promote regional peace and stability and agreed North Korea's provocation will put Asia and the rest of the world in danger,'' Cheong Wa Dae said in a statement.

Lee discussed North Korea with other leaders and shared the need to cooperate for a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue.

On Saturday, Lee held summits with Filipino President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the presidential office.

Lee and Arroyo expressed deep concerns over the North's recent nuclear test while calling on Pyongyang to observe U.N. Security Council resolutions and to immediately return to the six-party talks, Cheong Wa Dae said.

Lee and the Vietnamese leader agreed the nuclear test was a serious challenge to the international nuclear nonproliferation regime and a threat to the peace and stability of Northeast Asia and the world, it said.

On the sidelines of the Korea-ASEAN Summit on Monday, President Lee will meet with the leaders of Laos, Brunei and Indonesia to discuss regional security and ways to strengthen economic cooperation.

``The summit will mainly focus on ways to increase trade and investment between Korea and ASEAN, but the leaders will also address North Korea's nuclear threats,'' a Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson said. ``The ASEAN leaders hoped the nuclear issue will be resolved peacefully through the six-party dialogue and promised to help South Korea achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.''

Asians talk of peace, but look to buy more arms

http://www.reuters.com

Sun May 31, 2009

By Nopporn Wong-Anan SINGAPORE, May 31 (Reuters) - Asia's defence policymakers spoke of peace in the region's top security conference in Singapore, but have been also huddling in the corridors of a luxury hotel haggling over deals with arms suppliers.

The annual Asia Security Conference, a forum for discussion, brought together some of the world's main arms-makers with military chiefs nervously eyeing their neighbours' moves and looking to upgrade defences in a region full of long-running insurgencies, potential maritime disputes and growing wealth.

"Defence suppliers find it very important to be here to make a set of contacts," said Jonathan Pollack, professor of Asian and Pacific Studies at the U.S. Naval War College.

Japan's defence minister told the gathering that the country, anxious about North Korea's latest nuclear test, would not strike first but it was still looking to boost its airforce with Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) F-22 fighter jets.

Top executives from firms such as Boeing (BA.N), the Pentagon's No.2 defense supplier, flew to Singapore to rub shoulders with potential clients, as they look to expand foreign sales at a time when the Obama government is starting to cap defence project spending.

"In the event that I'm meeting with any defence suppliers, it will be the last I'll be speaking to you," Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told Reuters, fresh from a military success that ended a two-decade old Tamil Tiger insurgency.

AIR AND NAVAL DEMAND

Boeing's defense chief Jim Albaugh told a briefing he saw growing Asian demand for air and naval forces as the region looks to protect its trade and territory.

Boeing met with India's top military official Vijay Singh at one of the hotel's private conference rooms, but the meeting was brief, and Singh later met with Britain's BAE Systems (BAES.L).

Boeing may not have had much luck, as Cambodia's Defence Minister Tea Banh told Reuters he also met Boeing but was not buying anything for now.

Boeing is vying for a $10 billion Indian contract for warplanes, one of the world's biggest arms deals, together with Lockheed, Saab (SAABb.ST), Russia and a European consortium.

India plans to spend more than $30 billion over the next five years to modernise its largely Soviet-era weapons systems. China is spending 15 percent more on its military budget this year, leading to fears among some of an Asian arms race.

"What you do see in the region is a reaction between the military programmes of certain countries," said Tim Huxley, executive director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the conference's organiser. "There are many players, each of which is looking over their shoulders."

Indonesia, hoping to update its hardware, spoke at the meeting to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates about buying Lockheed C-130 transport planes, and told Reuters it could be in a financial position in 2-3 years to buy jets and submarines.

The world's fourth-most populous nation aims to raise its defence spending to 1.2 percent of GDP within five years, from 0.68 percent or $3.3 billion now, its defense minister said.

Indonesia's southern neighbour Australia this month released a blueprint for a $72 billion military upgrade, though its defence minister told the conference spending was "rather modest" when looking across the region.

Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was asked at the meeting if the defence plan clashed with his vision for a regional security architecture and EU-style community, and replied countries had to pursue that and a defence build-up.

"The chance of conflict can never be ruled out," Rudd said. (Additional reporting by Candida Ng and Harry Suhartono; Writing by Neil Chatterjee; Editing by bill Tarrant)

Gates: N. Korea Nukes a Grave Threat

AssociatedPress

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates uses some of the harshest words yet on the nuclear weapons situation in North Korea, warning the United States will not stand by if the country transfers weapons or technology to other states.

Malaria resistance to most effective drugs proven in Cambodia

Photo by mst7022, Flickr

http://www.digitaljournal.com

■ Paul Wallis

About half the world’s population is exposed to endemic malaria. The ancient disease, which was the plague of early civilizations, kills a million people a year, even today. Now, it’s showing resistance to the artemesinin class of drugs in Cambodia.

The suspected increased resistance (see Bob Ewing’s DJ article on this subject) has now been confirmed by international studies. The story of is much the same as that of increased resistance to anti biotics. Use of the drugs in Cambodia isn’t well controlled, and misuse of the drugs seems to be taking the same path as many other diseases.

There are a lot of ramifications in the development of a new form of resistant malaria. In terms of global health, it’s much like a new war, in the numbers of lives lost. Malaria is one of the most widespread global diseases, and the resistant forms have been known to spread rapidly, particularly in other impoverished areas. Asian strains of resistant malaria have previously spread rapidly in Africa.

The problem remains the Plasmodium parasite. Its extraordinary life cycle makes it hard to fight across all stages, and even massive extermination during the postwar years simply slowed it down. Add to this the difficulty of controlling the 60 species of Anopheles mosquito able to transmit malaria, and Plasmodium is the classic hard case of epidemiology. It's one of the hardest targets in medicine. Generations of work have gone into developing treatments, and this situation adds levels of difficulty nobody needs, and no poor countries can afford.

The World Health Organization has previously warned of serious ramifications to drug resistant malaria as far back as 2001, and has continued to express deep concern about the potentials of the drug resistant strains to spread globally.

This dramatic increase in resistance has happened before, with disastrous consequences. According to the WHO, referring to a previous form of anti malarial drugs:

Resistance of Plasmodium falciparum to choloroquine, the cheapest and the most used drug is spreading in almost all the endemic countries. Resistance to the combination of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine which was already present in South America and in South-East Asia is now emerging in East Africa.

There’s been further complications caused by fake drugs sold in poor countries like Cambodia, which contain enough drugs to pass tests, but not enough to work effectively as treatment. This is roughly the equivalent of inoculating the disease against the cure, and killing a few people on the side for ambiance.

(The fake drugs are said to be sold by criminal gangs. An interesting form of mass murder of thousands of people, if so. No doubt the traditional totally ineffective international law enforcement response will take care of the cosmetic elements, and charge them with the medical equivalent of jaywalking.)

The BBC says that the WHO actually told the drug producers of the current malaria drugs to stop selling the artemesinin drugs on their own, specifically to avoid this scenario.

The routine lack of cooperation from the drug companies is another problem. Medical professionals and organizations routinely cooperate internationally, even dealing with individual cases of infection. Nations usually cooperate and enforce their own regulations. But there are no effective global governing laws or coherent mechanisms to deal with the many cases of global spreads of diseases. The WHO doesn’t have the authority to demand enforcement of its policies. An enchanting international ad hoccery, as usual, pervades international law, and the pharmaceutical companies have exploited it. They can't be compelled to comply with WHO.

From the look of the malaria situation, the drug companies haven’t even noticed there’s a problem. For the sake of a few bucks extra on sales, millions of people could be put at risk. Even media terminology hasn’t quite found a name for this process, where health risks are monetized and sold to the world’s poor.

I can only think of one, off the cuff: Free Market Genocide. Catchy, isn’t it?

Civil Society: The US$18 Million Budget Can Only Assist Farmers Indirectly – Saturday, 30.5.2009

Posted on 31 May 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 614
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

“Phnom Penh: A civil society organization which works in agriculture claimed that the US$18 million allocated by the National Assembly as a foundation to assist agriculture and agro-industry can only help farmers indirectly, and some said that it is not oriented into the right direction.

“The president of the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture – CEDAC – Mr. Yang Saing Koma, said on 29 May 2009 that the resources allocated by the National Assembly are good news for farmers, but they can only help them indirectly.

“He explained, ‘These resources can only help big enterprises, but there is no direct benefit for farmers.

“Mr. Saing Koma added that farmers might not benefit from them unless they are used to help farmers enhance their ability in doing farming, or to help them technically while the farming season is arriving, and to increase their yields and find specific markets for them. Doing this they will directly gain benefits, but the presently allocted resources can only help them partly.

“Apparently, the resources might be offered in the form of loans by the government to support different enterprises financially, and especially to those related to increase capital to buy rice to store it and other products from farmers for export, after several rice millers had announced that they lack capital to buy rice in the country. However, it was criticized that this measure seems to be somewhat late, because the harvesting season this year has almost finished.

“Mr. Saing Koma said, ‘I think that such a budget should have been adopted since December or January 2008, because so far, the harvesting season has almost passed, but if it is for next year, then it is good.’

“Regarding the adoption of this budget, an official from a farmer association who asked not to be named seems to agree with Mr. Saing Koma; he said that helping mainly big enterprises can only provide jobs to people with low salaries, while obviously about 80% of the farmers in Cambodia still encounter difficulties. He added that if they really want to help farmers, they have to ensure that there is a real market for farmers, and this should be enough.

“He went on to say that so far, 70% to 80% of the local market is occupied by neighboring countries’ products, as farmers are not much cared for directly.

“Related to the market for local products, Phnom Penh is not the only place, but farmers can hardly find markets for their products also at provinces.

“A vegetable vendor in Siem Reap, Mr. Sim Veasy, said that generally, farmers in Siem Reap nowadays say that vegetables for this well-known tourism city are all imported from neighboring countries, and many local farmers cannot produce much vegetables because they do not have the necessary capital.

“He added, ‘The 10 tonnes of vegetables in Siem Reap are all imported, while most Khmer farmers have only one basket of vegetables to sell.’”

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #4907, 30.5.2009
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Saturday, 30 May 2009

S. Korea Criticizes N. Korea Over Nuclear, Missile Tests

KCNA via AFP
An undated photo released in January 2009 shows a firing drill of two missiles at an undisclosed location in North Korea.

May 30: South Korean marines man at their positions at the South Korea's western Yeonpyong Island, near the disputed sea border with North Korea.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Associated Press

SEOGWIPO, South Korea — South Korea and Thailand criticized North Korea on Sunday, saying the country's nuclear test threatens world peace and stability and harms efforts to prevent atomic proliferation.

The two nations' leaders discussed Pyongyang's latest nuclear blast on the sidelines of a summit between South Korea and Southeast Asian countries being held amid heavy security.

The event was planned months ago, but North Korea's underground nuclear test and a series of short-range missile launches last week threatens to steal the limelight from economic matters, the main focus of the agenda.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed that the test goes against international efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and "undermines peace and stability not only in East Asia but also in the whole world," Lee Dong-kwan, the South Korean president's chief spokesman, told reporters.

They also agreed to exert diplomatic pressure to assure North Korea complies with U.N. Security Council resolutions and "promptly returns to six-party talks" aimed at ridding it of nuclear weapons.

The summit venue of Seogwipo — on the island of Jeju off the southern coast — is the South Korean city farthest away from the North. Still, the nervous South Korean government is taking no chances, positioning a surface-to-air missile outside the venue aimed toward the north.

Some 5,000 police officers, including approximately 200 commandos, and special vehicles that can analyze sarin gas and other chemicals have been deployed nearby, security authorities said in a press release. Marines, special forces and air patrols also kept watch on the island.

Leaders of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations began arriving for the two-day summit, which officially begins Monday and commemorates 20 years of relations between South Korea and the bloc. South Korea's president planned to use Sunday for individual meetings with ASEAN leaders.

But concerns about North Korea's most recent bout of saber-rattling loomed. South Korean officials said Saturday that spy satellites had spotted signs that the North may be preparing to transport a long-range missile to a launch site.

The North has attacked South Korean targets before, bombing a Korea Air jet in 1987 and trying to kill then-President Chun Doo-hwan in Myanmar in 1983. But Pyongyang has largely abandoned such overt tactics in the past two decades.

The U.N. Security Council is still weighing how to react to the North's belligerent moves that have earned Pyongyang criticism from the U.S., Europe, Russia and even the North's closest ally, China.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday that North Korea's progress on nuclear weapons and long-range missiles is "a harbinger of a dark future" and has created an urgent need for more pressure on the reclusive communist government to change its ways.

Gates, speaking at an annual meeting of defense and security officials in Singapore, said Pyongyang's efforts pose the potential for an arms race in Asia that could spread beyond the region.

An incensed North Korea said last month that it was quitting the six-party negotiations after the U.N. Security Council condemned its April 5 rocket launch, widely believed to be a test of its long-range missile technology. The Security Council has imposed sanctions against the North over its first nuclear test in October 2006.

The six-party framework, which began in 2003, consists of the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

In addition to the summit, a gathering of South Korean and Southeast Asian business leaders began Sunday with addresses by Lee and Abhisit, who both called for further cooperation to overcome the global economic crisis.

South Korea, Asean to Boost Investment, Lee Says (Update2)

Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com

By Heejin Koo

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will agree to boost investment and trade to speed recovery from the global economic crisis

South Korea and Asean’s 10 members will sign the accord during a two-day summit that starts tomorrow, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak said today in a speech. The countries will also pledge to elevate their yearly trade to $150 billion by 2015 from $90 billion last year.

“A global crisis needs global countermeasures,” Lee told Korean and Asean business executives on the southern South Korean island of Jeju, where the summit will be held. “A joint effort between Korea and Asean, nations full of potential, is vital.”

Lee has pushed for free-trade agreements with the U.S., the European Union and with Asean to buoy exports and avoid a recession. South Korea’s economy unexpectedly expanded 0.1 percent in the first quarter after contracting 5.1 percent the previous three months.

The won has fallen 18 percent against the dollar and 26 percent against the yen in the past 12 months.

An earlier agreement between South Korea and Asean to lower tariffs on merchandise took effect in 2007 and another on services took hold this month. South Korea exported $49 billion worth of goods to Asean nations last year and imported $41 billion.

Regional Cooperation

“Regional cooperation and integration are no longer a luxury, but a necessity,” Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a speech following Lee at the business leaders’ gathering. “In light of the global economic and financial crisis, we need to work more closely together to ensure that our trade and investment ties will not be seriously affected.”

Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

To contact the reporter on this story: Heejin Koo in Seoul at hjkoo@bloomberg.net

South Korea calls for enhanced ties with ASEAN

South Korean president calls for common 'economic community' with Southeast Asian bloc

Kelly Olsen, Associated Press Writer
On Sunday May 31, 2009

SEOGWIPO, South Korea (AP) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called Sunday for closer business and cultural ties with Southeast Asia to create a common economic community that is a leader in green growth.

Lee, who invited leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian nations to commemorate 20 years of relations between the Seoul and the bloc, hailed the expansion of their economic ties.

Total trade has grown 11 times over the past two decades to $90.2 billion last year, he said, and is expected to increase to $150 billion by 2015.

"We must strengthen our economic partnership, expand cultural exchange and become partners in our common goal of taking the lead in the new era of green growth," Lee told business executives from his country and ahead of a summit on Monday and Tuesday. "We have the vast potential for future growth."

The two sides have concluded free trade agreements in goods and services and plan to sign an investment accord at the summit.

"We must strive to become one business and economic community where business is done in a free environment," Lee said.

The ASEAN bloc is South Korea's third-largest trading partner and second-largest investment destination. South Korea is the grouping's fifth-largest trading partner.

The summit was being held amid tight security after North Korea carried out its second nuclear test and a series of short-range missile tests over the past week.

The business gathering was also attended by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh and Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein. Other ASEAN leaders were arriving Sunday.

The summit has been in the works for months, but the tensions with the North have threatened to overshadow it, though Lee did not mention them in his speech.

ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Associated Press Writer Kwang-tae Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.

South Korea, Thailand criticize North over tests

A North Korean Navy ship, second from right, moves past North Korean fishing boats off South Korea's western Yeonpyong Island, near the disputed sea border with communist North Korea, Sunday, May 31, 2009. Spy satellites have spotted signs that North Korea may be preparing to transport another long-range missile to a test launch site, South Korean officials said Saturday, as the U.S. defense secretary issued his harshest warning to the North since its recent nuclear test.(AP Photo/Yonhap, Ahn Jung-won)

A South Korean anger looks at a Navy base near South Korea's western Yeonpyong Island, near the disputed sea border with communist North Korea, Sunday, May 31, 2009. Spy satellites have spotted signs that North Korea may be preparing to transport another long-range missile to a test launch site, South Korean officials said Saturday, as the U.S. defense secretary issued his harshest warning to the North since its recent nuclear test.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

By KELLY OLSEN, Associated Press Writer

SEOGWIPO, South Korea – South Korea and Thailand criticized North Korea on Sunday, saying the country's nuclear test threatens world peace and stability and harms efforts to prevent atomic proliferation.

The two nations' leaders discussed Pyongyang's latest nuclear blast on the sidelines of a summit between South Korea and Southeast Asian countries being held amid heavy security.

The event was planned months ago, but North Korea's underground nuclear test and a series of short-range missile launches last week threatens to steal the limelight from economic matters, the main focus of the agenda.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed that the test goes against international efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and "undermines peace and stability not only in East Asia but also in the whole world," Lee Dong-kwan, the South Korean president's chief spokesman, told reporters.

They also agreed to exert diplomatic pressure to assure North Korea complies with U.N. Security Council resolutions and "promptly returns to six-party talks" aimed at ridding it of nuclear weapons.

The summit venue of Seogwipo — on the island of Jeju off the southern coast — is the South Korean city farthest away from the North. Still, the nervous South Korean government is taking no chances, positioning a surface-to-air missile outside the venue aimed toward the north.

Some 5,000 police officers, including approximately 200 commandos, and special vehicles that can analyze sarin gas and other chemicals have been deployed nearby, security authorities said in a press release. Marines, special forces and air patrols also kept watch on the island.

Leaders of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations began arriving for the two-day summit, which officially begins Monday and commemorates 20 years of relations between South Korea and the bloc. South Korea's president planned to use Sunday for individual meetings with ASEAN leaders.

But concerns about North Korea's most recent bout of saber-rattling loomed. South Korean officials said Saturday that spy satellites had spotted signs that the North may be preparing to transport a long-range missile to a launch site.

The North has attacked South Korean targets before, bombing a Korea Air jet in 1987 and trying to kill then-President Chun Doo-hwan in Myanmar in 1983. But Pyongyang has largely abandoned such overt tactics in the past two decades.

The U.N. Security Council is still weighing how to react to the North's belligerent moves that have earned Pyongyang criticism from the U.S., Europe, Russia and even the North's closest ally, China.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday that North Korea's progress on nuclear weapons and long-range missiles is "a harbinger of a dark future" and has created an urgent need for more pressure on the reclusive communist government to change its ways.

Gates, speaking at an annual meeting of defense and security officials in Singapore, said Pyongyang's efforts pose the potential for an arms race in Asia that could spread beyond the region.

An incensed North Korea said last month that it was quitting the six-party negotiations after the U.N. Security Council condemned its April 5 rocket launch, widely believed to be a test of its long-range missile technology. The Security Council has imposed sanctions against the North over its first nuclear test in October 2006.

The six-party framework, which began in 2003, consists of the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

In addition to the summit, a gathering of South Korean and Southeast Asian business leaders began Sunday with addresses by Lee and Abhisit, who both called for further cooperation to overcome the global economic crisis.

___

Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim in Seogwipo, Lara Jakes and Vijay Joshi in Singapore, Kwang-tae Kim in Seoul, and AP photographer Bullit Marquez in Seogwipo contributed to this report.

Cambodian PM Hun Sen to visit RoK

VOV News
http://english.vovnews.vn

05/31/2009

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will pay an official visit to the Republic of Korea (ROK) from June 3-5, according to news reports.

During the official visit, Cambodia and the RoK will sign several cooperation agreements including the grant to Cambodia, loans for Cambodia's road rehabilitation, waste water treatment, Siem Reap River's development and cooperation in the fields of construction, energy, mines and communications.

The delegation included Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Senior Minister and Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh, Senior Minister and Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction Im Chhun Lim and other members of the royal government.

The RoK became the largest foreign investor in Cambodia in 2007.

VNA/VOVNews

More markers built on Vietnam-Cambodia borderline

VOV News
http://english.vovnews.vn

05/31/2009

Vietnam’s southern Kien Giang province and its Cambodian neighbour, Kampot province, have put into use 13 new border markers built on their common borderline.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony on May 29, Kampot’s President Khuoi Khunhua said the event marked a new step in the development of the bilateral relations between the two provinces.

The event also showed the unceasingly efforts at the two countries’ border areas in building a borderline of peace, stability and development.

At the ceremony, the two sides agreed to upgrade a couple of border gates – Ton Hon (Kampot) and Giang Than (Kien Giang), in order to facilitate trade and travel between people of the two provinces.

VNA/VOVNews

CAMBODIA Rice bank helps poor families

Yem Nuon, cashier of the rice bank program in Kandal’s Stueng district

http://www.ucanews.com
May 29, 2009

KANDAL, Cambodia (UCAN) -- Caritas Cambodia is seeing positive results four years after establishing its rice bank program to help poor rural families.

In Lavear Am and Kandal Stueng districts in Kandal province, for instance, the program has significantly benefited impoverished households, says Chhay Meng, Caritas Cambodia's program manager in this province.

The program here is just one of the many rice bank schemes that Caritas is involved in across the country. Caritas is the Catholic Church's social service agency.

"Confronted by immense poverty and suffering, our most fundamental response has been supporting marginalized communities by sharing resources, supplying seeds for farmers, increasing their output and supplies, and helping to reduce their dependence on high interest loans," he said.

Meng said that Caritas has managed to help six communes and 13 villages in the province, directly benefiting up to 250 of the poorest families.

The good thing about the program, he said, is that although Caritas is the principle sponsor, it is the local people who are mainly responsible for the day-to-day running of the rice bank.

Farmers contribute 20 kilograms of rice to the bank on joining the scheme.

Participants wishing to borrow rice to feed their families will have to pay 20 percent interest on what they borrow. However, the interest rate goes up to 50 percent on rice seed for planting, which they pay back at harvest time. If they default on a repayment, then it can affect their ability to borrow in the future.

The scheme also allows farmers to save rice, said Meng.

Rice bank officials are elected by rice bank members in the villages and staff from Caritas Cambodia. There are three main officials per district: director, deputy-director, and cashier.

According to Yem Nuon, 54, cashier in Kandal's Stueng district, Caritas Cambodia in 2005 provided 250 kilograms of rice to poor families in her district. Since then the rice bank has grown significantly so that there is now a reserve of about three tons.

"I'm very thankful to Caritas Cambodia for assisting the poor families in our village," she said "If our crops fail, we can borrow seed from the bank. If we borrow from other sources, we have to pay double the interest (almost 100 percent)," she said.

Hem Pring, 60, director of the rice bank in the same village, said her village has 26 families already registered as members of the program and 56 other people are about to join. "The members are living better lives now," she added.

StockSource.us reports on ELRA's Cambodia Mineralized Deposit.

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(EMAILWIRE.COM, May 31, 2009 ) Del Mar, California – StockSource.us Reports on Stocks to Watch:

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Featured Stock:

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StockSource.us reports on ELRA's Cambodia Mineralized Deposit.

Elray Resources, Inc.(OTC BB:ELRA.OB) has confirmed the discovery of a fourth mineralized deposit at their exploration site in Cambodia. The site looks very lucrative and a drainage ditch on the eastern side of the site will allow for further investigation.

The Porphyry Creek prospect area has been the subject of sporadic exploration activity for the last 50-years. All work to date has focused on a small area of known outcrop originally discovered in the bed of Porphyry Creek. The most comprehensive exploration work was carried out by the French in the 1950's when they completed a large excavation locally known as "French Pit" on the east bank of Porphyry Creek, approximately 50m downstream of the original outcrop.

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Cambodia's dump dwellers face eviction

A boy (left) sits at a garbage dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (AFP)

Emirates Business 24/7
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By AFP on Saturday, May 30, 2009

Scavenging for bits of plastic, metal and glass that earn them an average $10 (Dh36.70) a month, the children of Phnom Penh's municipal rubbish dump are among Cambodia's poorest.

Hundreds of families live on and around the 100-acre (40.5-hectare) site, making their meagre living from the materials they collect on the steaming rubbish heap, replenished daily with 900 tonnes of the capital's refuse.

"We don't go to school. I'd like to but I need to pick the litter and earn money. I have nine siblings and they all work the same job as me," said 13-year-old Mek.

Dump trucks rumble in and out of Stung Meanchey landfill site throughout the day, while the toxic waste that covers sink holes burns in the sun.

"I really worry about the children working on the dump especially because of the rubbish trucks that sometimes hit the children, because it's hard to see them up there," said 26-year-old father-of-two Chan Samon.

His fears are not unfounded – in February a 16-year-old girl was killed when a bin fell on her head. There have been numerous victims like her since the site opened more than 45 years ago.

Chan Samon told AFP he earns a pittance selling mostly bottles and cans to Vietnamese buyers. Middlemen come to nine storage depots at the dump's entrance, before selling it on to recycling companies for profit.

One kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of plastic fetches 10 cents, while one kilogramme of iron or a glass bottle goes for 2.5 cents.

But these slim pickings are all these families have. Many of them arrived in Phnom Penh from the rural provinces in the hope of finding better work, only to discover their only option was to join those foraging for rubbish.

Now Cambodia's authorities are closing down the site and moving the dump several miles outside the capital.

None of the residents are clear who is evicting them, only that they have been told to expect to move at any time.

"I heard something about the dump moving but I don't know what's going to happen," said Mek, who has worked at the site since he was three years old.

The move has been discussed locally since 2003, residents said, but a recent letter sent out by municipal authorities to all Phnom Penh residents confirmed the closure would take place in the "second quarter" of the year.

It said rubbish collection prices would need to rise because of the move, which it said was necessary because of the "environmental impact" of the site, citing the noise, smell, smoke and poor underground water quality.

Until the proposed eviction a few lucky children had escaped the grimy work thanks to about a dozen charities set up around the landfill site.

The organisations pay parents for lost income while they provide their offspring with schooling, clothes, food and a clean place to sleep.

"When I was up on the dump I met (charity outreach worker) Theary and he was interested in helping me and he brought me here," said 10-year-old Srey Neat, one of 96 children being looked after by Theary, who goes by only one name, and the charity "A New Day Cambodia".

The centre pays parents 10 dollars a month to keep their children away from the scavenging work.

But with the dump's closure, that helping hand may not be able to stretch far enough if the dump dwellers move further afield.

"We have some concern about whether some of the parents will need to move away and would like to take their children with them," said the centre's director Annette Jensen.

The landfill site is expected to be rebuilt next to Cambodia's infamous Killing Fields, where thousands of people were killed and buried by the communist Khmer Rouge regime during its 1975-1979 rule.

Chan Samon said he will have no choice but to take his wife and two children and move over to the new site.

"If the dump moves we will have to move with it. I have no choice because I don't have any other job," he said.

Vietnam, Cambodia: two border gates to be upgraded

http://english.vietnamnet.vn

30/05/2009

Two border gates in the southern province of Kien Giang in Vietnam and Kampot province in Cambodia will be upgraded to become national border gates.

They are Giang Thanh border gate of Kien Giang and Ton Hon border gate of Kampot.

The People’s Committee of Kien Giang province and the Administrative Committee of Kampot province on May 29 held a ceremony to launch the work and also inaugurated border landmark No. 302.

Representatives of the Cambodian consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnamese consulate in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville port city and senior officials from the two border provinces attended the event.

The upgrading of the two border gates aims to satisfy the daily needs of people from both countries and add an impetus to trade and import-export activities.

Apart from the Giang Thanh border gate, Kien Giang province also has another border gate at Ha Tien, which has become one of the busiest international border gates in the Mekong Delta region over the past three years.

In the first five months of this year, exports passing through Ha Tien’s border gate reached nearly 30 million USD, a year-on-year increase of 30 percent.

State President Nguyen Minh Triet granted the Independence Order, First Class, to the National Academy of Public Administration at a meeting to mark the 50th anniversary of its opening, in Hanoi on May 29.

The State President praised the contributions made by the academy’s professors, lecturers and staff over the last 50 years for training officials and providing professional administrative human resources for public offices.

The academy also plays a key role in conducting research on administrative science, to speed up the country’s administrative reforms, he added.

The public administration academy and other agencies play an important role in administrative reforms and improving the quality of the State’s apparatus, which is now an urgent and basic demand for the success of the country’s international integration process, he stressed.

The State leader also urged the academy to upgrade the syllabus used in administrative science to ensure better quality training and work with other countries to train public administrative officials.

During its half-century of operations, the academy has given refresher courses to more than 90,000 staff and officials from ministries and the relevant agencies as well as 10,000 officials who are chairmen and deputy chairmen of the People’s Council and People’s Committee at communal levels.

The academy has run over 10 official tertiary courses training thousands of public administrators, 14 postgraduate courses and several doctorate courses.

The academy boasts a strong pool of lecturers with 40 professors and associate professors and more than 200 others holding doctorate and master degrees.

VietNamNet/VNA