Calling it a season

Photo by: Sovan Philong

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:00 Sovan Philong

A man transports fish traps down Street 217 on the last day of May. The annual fishing ban began June 1 and runs until September.

Rebuilding the judiciary

Photo by: Pha Lina

via Khmer NZ News Media

Friday, 11 June 2010 15:03 Cheang Sokha

Workers tear down the old Phnom Penh Municipal Court building on Thursday to make way for the construction of a new five-storey courthouse on the site. Chev Keng, the court’s president, said the new building is to be completed within 18 months.

Fever pitch in Phnom Penh

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:03 Cameron Wells and Thet Sambath

City prepares for soccer spectacle, but many are unsure whom to support

THE 2010 FIFA World Cup – which kicks off in South Africa today and runs through July 11 – has whipped the city into a football frenzy, with locals and businesses alike ensuring the sounds of whistles and goal celebrations will reverberate throughout the capital over the next month.

Mao Smite, a 24-year-old moto-taxi driver, said he cannot wait to watch as many matches as possible, although he’s hedging his bets on who will win.

“I don’t know who to support,” he said. “I like Brazil, France, England and Germany. I like four teams.”

He works on the corner opposite the 24-hour Walkabout bar, meaning he will never be too far from the action. However, he does expect his business to suffer at the expense of his need to watch the big games.

“I have a TV, and sometimes I will go to the Walkabout,” he said. “I love football so much. Whenever there is a football competition I will always watch it. I’ll watch it everyday.”

Glen Press, owner of the Walkabout, said he’s expecting huge crowds at the bar for the four-week tournament. “Last World Cup, it was massive,” he said. “I didn’t know who half of [the crowd] were, to be honest. A lot of expats we hadn’t seen before came just to watch the games.”

Like many establishments in the capital, the Walkabout will be heavily football-themed to attract the fanatics. “We have five screens and we hope to show every game,” he said. “For every Tiger beer purchased we give a coupon, and five coupons gets you a commemorative World Cup shirt.”

Pho Huynh Son, 45, who owns a restaurant on Street 63, also plans to screen the matches in the hope of drawing a crowd.

“I like football, and my restaurant will be showing it,” he said Thursday. “I know tomorrow it will be on and the people will come to the restaurant to watch.”

Pho is another football fan wary of committing to one team. His home country, Vietnam, has never qualified. “I like Brazil, Germany and Spain,” he declared.

But some locals are refusing to get caught up in the hoopla. Ly Sopheap, a 64-year-old car parts vendor at Kandal Market, said he couldn’t care less about the Cup. “I don’t like football, I like boxing,” he said. “Just the [final] I will watch, the number-one and number-two teams.

“I heard the competition is coming, but I don’t know when,” he added.

Update to road law set to raise penalties

Photo by: Sovan Philong
New regulations drafted by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport would introduce fines for helmetless motorbike passengers and raise existing fines for motorbike drivers.

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:03 Chhay Channyda and Brooke Lewis

A DRAFT of amendments to the Land Traffic Law – including an increase in fines for violators as well as a requirement that passengers on motorbikes wear helmets – has been finalised, officials at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport said Thursday.

Preap Chanvibol, director of the ministry’s Land Transport Department, said the draft is set to be delivered to Minister Tram Eav Toek this week.

“Now I am preparing to send a copy of the law to the minister so he can review it before he submits it to legal experts at the Council of Ministers,” he said.

The draft, obtained Thursday, calls for the addition of two new articles and amendments to 24 of 95 pre-existing articles, he said, and added that an inter-ministerial working group had signed off on the document on May 27.

An amendment to the law implemented in January 2009 introduced a fine of 3,000 riels for helmetless motorbike drivers.

If the new draft is approved, that fine will be increased to 21,000 riels (about $5), and will also be applied to passengers.

This last change in particular was praised by road safety activists Thursday.

Sann Socheata, road safety programme manager for the Cambodian branch of Handicap International Belgium (HIB), said that her organisation had pushed for a helmet requirement for passengers since the first helmet regulation went into effect.

“What we recommend the most is to make sure helmet use is required for motorbike passengers, including children,” she said. “We have seen that there have been less head injuries for drivers since the law requiring them to wear helmets was introduced, but why should only drivers be protected? Why not passengers too, especially children?”

Motorbike accidents accounted for around 70 percent of traffic fatalities last year, and 80 percent of the dead succumbed to head injuries, she said, and added that this number would be greatly reduced if more drivers and passengers wore helmets.

“We would like the fines to be increased because, based on our experience and regional comparisons, higher fines mean people have more respect for the law, and this leads to fewer fatalities,” she said.

She added that high fines and strong enforcement in Vietnam have led to almost 100 percent compliance with helmet laws. “The fine for not wearing a helmet in Vietnam is more than $10; here it is less than $1,” she said.

And she noted that 86 percent of more than 300 people surveyed by HIB in Phnom Penh last year said that higher fines would prompt them to wear helmets more often.

Only 4 percent of those surveyed said higher fines would have no effect, and 10 percent said they were not sure.

The draft produced by the ministry stipulates that all fines – not just those pertaining to helmet regulations – would be increased.

But Ouk Kimlek, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Interior, noted that the Council of Ministers may yet decide to revise the amount by which fines are increased.

Kim Yideth, deputy director of the Interior Ministry’s Department of Public Order, which controls traffic police, said his department had requested an amendment to increase fines, but that some officials at the Interior Ministry do not believe the increase proposed by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport was reasonable.

Instead, he said, these officials believe police should focus on collecting fines at their existing levels.

“Our police suggested the point, but the Ministry of Interior says the fines are too much if we increase them, and that the current fine is OK,” he said.

One of the two new articles included in the draft would require that drivers only operate vehicles registered in their own names, and the other would make it easier for insured drivers to retrieve their cars after collisions.

Action urged on maternal death ratios

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:02 Brooke Lewis

WOMEN’S Affairs Minister Ing Kantha Phavi has called on world leaders to renew and increase efforts to achieve a global goal to reduce maternal mortality rates, saying the issue should be a focus of the G-8 and G-20 summit later this month.

“We jointly raise an urgent call to leaders around the world to take immediate steps to ensure the health, dignity and rights of all girls and women,” she said during a speech on the closing day of the Women Deliver 2010 conference in Washington.

Her remarks were made on behalf of ministers from 30 countries with high maternal mortality rates who participated in the conference.

“The most immediate opportunities to demonstrate our seriousness, are the preparations for the G-8 and G-20 leaders’ summit in late June, and the United Nations high level meeting to review the [Millennium Development Goals] in September,” she said.

The conference, which has been billed by organisers as the largest-ever global maternal health conference, started on Monday and ended on Wednesday.

In her speech, Ing Kantha Phavi outlined a seven-point action plan designed to assist governments worldwide in reducing maternal mortality rates, and emphasised the need for a coordinated international effort.

The reduction of maternal mortality should be placed “at the centre of global health initiatives”, she said.

Alice Levisay, Cambodia’s country coordinator for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), who represented her office at the conference, said in an email to the Post that Cambodia’s maternal mortality rate of 461 per 100,000 live births was the third-highest among countries in the Asia and Pacific region.

“Many LDCs [least-developed countries] face the same issues, but Cambodia has particular constraints with infrastructure and human resources given its history,” she said.

To meet its MDG, Cambodia must reduce its maternal mortality rate to 140 per 100,000 live births by 2015.

Levisay said she hoped this week’s conference would result in “increased global and political commitment and contributions to achieve” the goal, and that “participating countries would bring back concrete strategies and best practices to apply at country level”.

Trofimov to remain in Cambodia

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
A guard leads convicted Russian paedophile Alexander Trofimov out of the Appeal Court following an extradition hearing Thursday. Judges ruled to reject the extradition request.

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:02 Chhay Chanyda and Ney Someta

Children’s rights advocates, lawyers praise court’s ruling against extradition of Russian paedophile

THE Court of Appeal has rejected a Russian request for the extradition of thrice-convicted paedophile Alexander Trofimov, who is allegedly wanted on child sex charges in his native Russia. Judge Seng Sivatha handed down the ruling – which drew applause from both defence lawyers and child-protection advocates – during a short closed-door session on Thursday.

“This is what my client wants because he still has problems in Cambodia,” Saing Vannak, Trofimov’s defence attorney, told reporters after the hearing.

He also rejected allegations that Trofimov had abused children in Russia. “There is no evidence that Trofimov has committed any offences in Russia,” he said.

Trofimov, 41, the former director of the Koh Puos Investment Group, which is constructing a US$300 million resort project in Preah Sihanouk province, was arrested in Sihanoukville in October 2007 on suspicion he had sexually abused up to 19 Cambodian girls since 2005.

In March 2008, Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted him under Cambodia’s old debauchery law and sentenced him to 13 years in prison – a term that was later reduced to six years on appeal. He is facing another 11 years in prison in connection with two other child sex charges.

Strange bedfellows

Nuon Phanith, a lawyer from child protection NGO Action Pour Les Enfants who attended the hearing, said afterwards that the case had created an unusual accord between Trofimov’s lawyers and anti-paedophile activists.

“Both sides’ lawyers do not want him to be put on trial in Russia. We have the same objectives,” he said.

Following the decision of the appeal court not to extradite Trofimov, he added, the Russian national will be forced to serve out his sentences in Cambodia.

“If Trofimov was extradited, would justice be served for the 19 children who were abused in Cambodia? No,” he said. He also noted that Trofimov’s three cases were still all at different stages of appeal and thus had yet to fully conclude.

However, Nuon Phanith denied arguments that Trofimov had not been convicted of child sex in Russia, saying that the man’s real name, Stanislav Molodyakov, appeared on a Moscow wanted list in 2008.

Ouk Savuth, general prosecutor at the appeal court, said this was the third time that the court had tried to rule on the extradition request after two failed attempts in 2009.

Trio sentenced in case of child prostitution

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:02 Kim Yuthana

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court on Thursday found three men guilty of purchasing child prostitution in a case involving a woman whose age has been disputed by prosecutors and defence lawyers.

The three defendants in the case – 53-year-old businessman Meas Chanthoeun, 49-year-old Ken Sen and 32-year-old Chan Pov – each received three-year sentences that were suspended to 18 months.

On September 23 last year, police arrested Meas Chanthoeun in a raid at a guesthouse in Prampi Makara district’s Veal Vong commune, where he was sharing a room with the victim.

During a hearing on May 19, Meas Chanthoeun said he believed the victim was 19 at the time, and that he had asked her to become his mistress. He acknowledged having given Chan Pov US$200 to give to the victim, but said he had done so “to help her father in the treatment of his illness”.

He also said he had been introduced to the victim through Ken Sen.

Court officials spent hours debating the victim’s age, and two family books were entered as evidence. One book said that she was born in 1991, indicating that she would have been 18 at the time of the raid, whereas another said that she was born in 1995, indicating that she would have been 14.

Presiding judge Ke Sokhan said Thursday that the court had determined that the victim was younger than 18 at the time of the incident. The verdict he read out did not include any reference to compensation.

The victim and her lawyers were not present at the hearing Thursday.

Tep Monycheat, a lawyer for the defendants, said he had not had the chance to discuss with his clients whether they would appeal.

“I have no right to force my clients to appeal or not,” he said.

Meas Chanthoeun told reporters he had not yet decided whether to pursue the case further.

“I will discuss with my lawyer whether to appeal or not,” he said.

Boy describes brutal abuse

Photo by: Photo Supplied
A monitor for the local rights group Adhoc and a school official in Koh Kong say this 12-year-old boy was beaten by his stepmother. A photo taken this week shows wounds he sustained.

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:02 Mom Kunthear

Claim that 12-year-old was regularly whipped illustrates vulnerability of children

AWOMAN in Koh Kong province forced her 12-year-old stepson to scavenge for money, then allegedly beat him on a daily basis when he didn’t earn enough, rights workers said Thursday.

One described the case as the most serious she had ever seen in the province.

Chhin Chamroeun, the Koh Kong provincial monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said her organisation was alerted to the case on Tuesday, when the boy’s neighbour in Khemarak Phoumin district became alarmed after seeing the boy’s bloodied hands and legs.

“It was very cruel for the boy,” Chhin Chamroeun said.

“I saw large wounds on his legs and forearms. It looked like he had been cut with a sharp knife.”

The boy said his stepmother forced him to earn money for the family by collecting rubbish and selling the scraps, Chhin Chamroeun said.

When he didn’t earn enough money, he was beaten, the boy said.

When he earned too much, the stepmother also beat him, accusing him of stealing.

The boy “told me that his stepmother used electric wire and bamboo sticks to beat him,” Chhin Chamroeun said.

“She told him not to cry or shout for help from a neighbour.”

Chhin Chamroeun said the boy has lived with his father and stepmother since he was very young.

However, when he was 7 years old, the stepmother started becoming more aggressive with him in response to his father’s drinking problem.

The boy’s neighbour, 38-year-old Nov Chandararoth, said he never suspected the boy was in danger because he never heard any screams for help.

But on Tuesday, he noticed the boy had blood on his skin, he said.

“When [he] left home and I saw the blood on his legs and hands, I asked him and he said his stepmother beat him,” Nov Chandararoth said.

The boy said he had been too afraid to ask for help, Nov Chandararoth added.

For the time being, it appears the boy is still staying with the stepmother accused of beating him. Attempts to contact her Thursday were unsuccessful.

The boy’s primary school director said he told the woman that the case would be brought to the attention of police and local authorities if the beatings continued.

“I asked the boy’s stepmother why she beat her son, and she said that she did not want to, but the boy is so stubborn and doesn’t listen to her and sometimes he cursed her,” said Lao Linda, the director of Tiroum Khet Primary School.

Lao Linda said she would check on the boy daily to make sure the abuse has stopped.

Adhoc’s Chhin Chamroeun said she was unsure how many similar cases her group has handled, but that the boy’s situation was the most serious she had ever seen in the province.

‘No voice’

Last October, a case in Phnom Penh made headlines when a police raid revealed an 11-year-old girl had been held captive as a domestic worker, facing brutal beatings at the hands of her godmother.

Sue Taylor, manager of the psychosocial services department at Hagar International, which is overseeing the girl’s recovery, said her organisation only occasionally receives cases in which children have been beaten inside the home.

“We don’t get a lot of these kinds of cases, but I’m sure they happen,” Taylor said.

“It’s inside a house, and the child has no voice to get out there.”

Families petition officials to act swiftly on KChhnang dispute

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:02 Khouth Sophakchakrya

REPRESENTATIVES of 64 families in Kampong Chhnang province petitioned the provincial court on Thursday in an attempt to spur officials to hasten the processing of their case against a commune chief accused of illegally selling land to the spouse of a government minister.

The dispute, which dates back to 2001, centres on a 145-hectare plot of farmland in Kampong Tralach district’s Ta Ches commune that is claimed both by the families and by the KDC International Company, headed by Chea Kheng, the wife of Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy Suy Sem.

Muong Sean, a clerk at the provincial court, said 10 representatives from Lorpeang village gathered in front of the court on Thursday and demanded that a hearing date be set soon in the villagers’ case against Ta Ches commune chief Dy Doeun, who they claim illegally sold their land to KDC in 2007.

Reach Seima, a representative of the 64 families, said Thursday that according to a 2008 assessment carried out by provincial court prosecutor Ek Cheng Huot, the thumbprints used in the sale of the land did not belong to the villagers.

“We demand justice and that our 145 hectares of rice fields be given back to us,” he said.

In May, the villagers also requested the release of seven people who were jailed in connection with the land row between 2002 and 2009.

When contacted on Thursday, Dy Doeun said he “did not care” about the villagers’ allegations and would gladly defend himself in court. “I will face them at the court hearing and answer questions in front of the judge,” he said.

Two accused in fishing dispute

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:02 Rann Reuy

SIEM REAP PROVINCE

ABOUT 320 villagers from a fishing community in Siem Reap province’s Puok district filed a complaint to the district governor on Wednesday, accusing a Keo Poa commune councillor and a fishing community leader of exhibiting bias and extorting money in the enforcement of fishing laws.

The complaint contends that commune councillor Vey Oeuth and fishing community leader Nith Sakhan allowed five unknown men to illegally fish in a 4-kilometre pond reserved for spawning.

It also states that two other fishermen were forced to pay a US$95 bribe to the two officials in April after being caught fishing illegally in a similar spawning pond.

“We want them to be punished according to the law and to be removed from their posts,” said Mik Chantho, a signatory to the complaint.

Mik Chantra, another signatory, said that on May 21, he and several other villagers had confronted five men who were fishing in the pond. The men told them that they had been given permission by Nith Sakhan and Vey Oeuth, who later intervened and released the men without a fine or warning.

Vey Oeuth denied the allegations Thursday, saying that his accusers “frequently” fish illegally in off-limits areas. “I will sue them for defamation if I am not wrong,” he said.

Puok district Governor Pech Sokhalay said district officials would investigate the case and report their findings to fisheries officials, but added that he doubted the two accused men were at fault.

Court to pursue Sochua fine

Photo by: Pha Lina
Police briefly block Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua from leading a protest march after the Supreme Court upheld her defamation conviction on June 2.

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:01 Meas Sokchea

Municipal Court to retrieve damages in defamation case, government lawyer says

A WEEK after it upheld a defamation conviction against Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua, the Supreme Court is set to hand Phnom Penh Municipal Court the responsibility for pursuing nearly US$4,000 in fines and compensation levied against the outspoken government critic.

Ky Tech, who filed the lawsuit against Mu Sochua on behalf of Prime Minister Hun Sen in April 2009, said Thursday that the Supreme Court would send the verdict to the Municipal Court next week.

“I want it soon, but we must do it according to the procedures of the law. We cannot skip through the procedure quickly,” he said.

In August, the Municipal Court found the Kampot parliamentarian guilty of defaming Hun Sen and ordered her to pay 16.5 million riels (around US$3,975) in fines and compensation, a verdict that was upheld on appeal in October, and then again by the Supreme Court last week.

Since her case first went to court last year, Mu Sochua has repeatedly stated that she will refuse to pay the fine, and that to do so would be an admission of guilt.

Ky Tech said Thursday that if Mu Sochua continues to defy the verdict, she could be arrested and imprisoned.

“If the court has decided that she is guilty, but she does not comply, it is impossible – she must comply. If she does not follow the court’s decision she could be imprisoned,” he said.

When contacted Thursday, Supreme Court Judge You Ottara declined to comment on the case, but he said earlier this week that Phnom Penh Municipal Court would be responsible for taking action to enforce the ruling against Mu Sochua.

Municipal Court deputy prosecutor Sok Roeun also declined to comment, except to say he has not yet seen a written order from the Supreme Court.

The case dates back to April 2009, when Mu Sochua accused Hun Sen of defaming her in a speech earlier that month in Kampot province. The prime minister then filed a defamation countersuit, and Mu Sochua’s accusations were thrown out by the Municipal Court in October.

When contacted Thursday, Mu Sochua again confirmed she would not pay the fine and faulted Ky Tech for trying to hurry the court along.

“Do not imprison me so fast. There are many cases where others have not followed the court’s decision but the courts have not imprisoned them,” she said.

Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, confirmed that the usual procedure was for punishment to be handled by Phnom Penh Municipal Court, which first convicted Mu Sochua on the defamation charge.

“For a fine, this is the duty and obligation of the court and prosecutor,” he said. He added that Mu Sochua would likely receive around 60 days in which to pay the fine following a formal request from the court, after which she risked being held in contempt of court.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SEBASTIAN STRANGIO

Major reshuffle as Post eyes phase two of growth strategy

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:01 Uong Ratana

MESSAGE FROM

POST MEDIA LTD

FORMER editor-in-chief of The Australian and South China Morning Post David Armstrong has been appointed chairman of Post Media Ltd as part of a major editorial and commercial reshuffle.

Bernie Leo, a senior editor at the Shanghai Daily, has been appointed the editor-in-chief of the media group, which purchased The Phnom Penh Post in 2008 and took it from a fortnightly to a daily in August of that year. It also added a Khmer-language daily in September 2009 and a weekly sports journal in March of this year.

The Post’s publisher, Ross Dunkley, said the company had been searching for a chairman for some time.

“In the end choosing David Armstrong was simple. He’s one of only a handful in the world today who can claim to have successfully straddled the media both in the East and the West,” Dunkley said.

“He’s enthusiastic and young at heart, but at the same time it is his wisdom and sensibility which we value, and the shareholders are confident he is the right person at the right time. David has already put his stethoscope over our media assets in both Myanmar and Cambodia and understands where we are going.”

Australian miner and entrepreneur Bill Clough is stepping down as chairman but will remain as a director and major shareholder.

Clough is part of the Clough family from Perth. His father, Harold Clough, is also a shareholder and is a former director of West Australian Newspapers.

Armstrong brings to the group more than 40 years’ experience in journalism and newspaper management at the highest level in Australia and Southeast Asia as it eyes a second phase of aggressive growth.

“The company has come a long way in a very challenging financial and media environment, and as we move into our third year of operations we are delighted to have David on board,” Dunkley said.

“We have already successfully turned The Phnom Penh Post into Cambodia’s first international-standard daily and launched a sister publication that is rapidly gaining market share in a crowded Khmer-language market. But there is still plenty of untapped opportunity, and David will guide our new-look team as we move forward to capture them.”

Armstrong, 62, began his career as a reporter for The Australian (Australia’s national daily newspaper) and was most recently president and chief operating officer of Post Publishing, the owner of The Bangkok Post in Thailand.

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The company has come a long way in a very challenging... environment.
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He is a former editor-in-chief of The Australian and group editor-in-chief of Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, where he did two stints. He has also served as editor of The Bulletin, then Australia’s national news magazine, editor of The Canberra Times and deputy editor of Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph.

“Cambodia is moving on from its traumatic past and is a fascinating, rapidly growing country,” Mr Armstrong said. “Post Media’s newspapers are a key part of this development – reporting on it and contributing to it. As with the country, the company and its papers face a lot of challenges, and it will take a lot of hard work to meet those, but I believe all have a strong future.”

Leo, 57, who will replace Seth Meixner at the editorial helm of the group, has been recruited from the Shanghai Daily, where for the past three years he has held key positions, including chief language adviser to the editor-in-chief and senior editor responsible for pages 1, 2, and 3.

He has been a journalist and editor for 39 years, including stints at The Daily Telegraph and a decade at The Australian Financial Review, where he was production editor and associate editor.

Joining him from Shanghai is his partner, Sarah Macklin, a journalist who won a Walkley Award during a 10-year stint at The Sydney Morning Herald.

“Cambodia is a country with a sad and tragic yesterday, a promising today and a limitless tomorrow,” Leo said.

“The Phnom Penh Post will be an integral part of Cambodia’s growth ride, and I relish the challenge of taking the newspaper to even greater heights.”

From July 1, Meixner will be acting as an editor at large. He will leave The Post at year’s end to return to the United States with his family.

“Seth has been a rigorous editor, and his ability to shoulder the workload and commitment to the ideals of The Post made him the backbone of the newspaper as we went about going daily,” Dunkley said.

“As Seth moves on to new challenges in his career he leaves a hole to fill, but Bernie Leo is more than up to the task, and we look forward to taking advantage of Mr Leo’s skills.”

In other changes, Brian Gow, a Perth media professional, has been appointed as the company’s first commercial director, and Charles Amery will edit special sections. Staffer Ellie Dyer has been confirmed as business editor of The Post’s English edition.

Removal of tariffs urged

Photo by: Pha Lina
French Ambassador Jean Francois Desmazieres (left) and French Minister of State for Foreign Trade Anne-Marie Idrac (right) are given a tour Thursday of the Sofitel hotel under construction off Sothearos Boulevard.

via Khmer NZ News Media

Friday, 11 June 2010 15:00 Jeremy Mullins

French trade official calls on other countries to follow EU’s lead

THE European Union’s 2008 removal of import duties for Least-Developed Countries (LDCs) on all but a handful of goods directly benefited Cambodia’s economy and was worthy of emulation by other developed countries, the French minister of state for foreign trade said Thursday during a visit to Phnom Penh.

“It doesn’t make sense if there is aid for economic production but no imports due to trade barriers,” Anne-Marie Idrac said after touring Phnom Penh’s Sofitel building site.

The Cambodian people directly benefit from Europe’s tariff elimination, she said, and it “would be very good if other nations would follow”.

Following the EU’s August 2008 adoption of the generalised system of preferences (GSP) legislation favouring LDCs, Cambodia’s exports to France rose despite the global financial crisis, statistics show.

The Kingdom exported US$100.2 million last year, $99.0 million in 2008, and $85.7 million in 2007, according to a French Foreign Trade Advisers white paper on bilateral trade obtained Wednesday.

Meanwhile, French shipments to the Kingdom dropped year on year, widening the country’s trade deficit with Cambodia, figures show.

Cambodia imported $54.3 million of French goods in 2009, $66.3 million in 2008, and $65.2 million the year previous.

Large French firms were involved in discussions aimed at investing in Cambodia, with Paris-based France Telecom and energy giant Total SA looked to enter the domestic market, Idrac said.

“Total has lots of hope for Cambodia,” she said, but she declined to elaborate on the present state of discussions. The oil giant’s dealings in the Kingdom have been criticised by watchdog group Global Witness for a lack of transparency.

Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly stated in April that Total had paid $20 million in a signing bonus and $8 million earmarked for a social fund as part of its October agreement for the Area 3 offshore oil concession, but it remains unclear where the money will go.

Several smaller French firms had recently stepped up investment in the Kingdom, Idrac said. She highlighted $4.5 million milled-rice exporter Golden Rice (Cambodia) Co, which was opened in 2009 by Soresum Group from Reunion Island, a French overseas department.

French efforts significantly contributed to Kampot pepper and Kampong Speu palm sugar’s attainment of geographical indication (GI) status in April, Attwood Import Export Co President Lim Chhiv Ho said Wednesday. Speaking at the signing of an accord promoting increased bilateral economic cooperation, she added that a weeklong event promoting French products would be held in Phnom Penh in November.

Bank of China to open PP branch

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:00 Nguon Sovan

THE Bank of China (BOC) has been given in-principle approval by the National Bank of Cambodia to open a branch in Phnom Penh, becoming to first Chinese commercial bank to operate in the Kingdom, an NBC official said Thursday.

Thai Saphear, head of the NBC governor’s office, said a courtesy call from China’s new ambassador to Cambodia, Pan Guangxue, resulted in NBC Governor Chea Chanto giving the green light for the BOC to establish itself in Cambodia as early as the end of this year.

The Bank of China would come to facilitate trade and investment between Cambodia and China, Thai Saphear said.

“It’s a positive sign for the bank because they have the green light from the NBC already,” he said. “It’s up to the bank if it wants to open its branch soon or not, but if they want to open soon, it could be done this year.”

Following the in-principle approval, the bank has six months to prepare the required documentation to obtain the full operating licence, he said.

Figures from the Council for the Development of Cambodia show China-backed fixed asset investments in Cambodia were worth $4.37 billion in 2008 and $892.6 million last year. China-Cambodia trade figures were unavailable.

The Bank of China is the third foreign bank to receive NBC approval this year, following approval for the Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam (Agribank), and the CIMB Group of Malaysia.

In Channy, president and CEO of ACLEDA Bank, said Thursday that he is not concerned about tougher competition from more players, despite the market already having 27 commercial banks.

“We’re glad to welcome new players because they bring in new sources of capital, new technology in banking systems, and new experience,” he said.

According to the Bank of China’s financial report for the quarter ending March 31, net profit was $384 million at the close of the quarter – a 41.25 percent increase on the same period last year.

The bank’s total assets increased 11 percent during the quarter to $1.42 trillion, while total liabilities rose $137.8 billion to $1.34 trillion. Total deposits reached $1.07 trillion, a 10 percent increase during the quarter, while total loans rose 8 percent to $777.78 billion.

Inflation worries hinder recovery: World Bank

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:00 Jeremy Mullins

REBOUNDING foreign trade is generating economic growth among Asian nations, including Cambodia, but inflation is an increasing regional concern, the World Bank says.

“Export volumes bottomed out toward the end of 2008 and early 2009, but have recovered rapidly since that time,” its Global Economic Prospects Summer 2010 report released Thursday said.

Price inflation is becoming a growing concern for Asian nations as regional economic conditions improve, it warned. “As spare capacity has been absorbed and with growth at double-digit rates, there are increasing signs of supply bottlenecks and incipient evidence of localised asset bubbles emerging.”

Ministry of Commerce figures show an average 4.5 percent price increase for a basket of 50 common goods to June 10 this year. The same basket, including goods ranging from sugar to steel to sarongs, deflated 0.7 percent during 2009, according to its Trade Promotion Department statistics.

The World Bank forecast a slightly revised estimate for Cambodia’s GDP growth this year, expecting a 4.8 percent increase in 2010, compared to its April prediction of 4.4 percent.

Many regional economies specialise in producing goods for foreign consumers, it said, and exports have “dropped off sharply with the global collapse of investment spending and retrenchment by households”.

East Asian economies generally avoided the initial shock of the financial crisis, but have almost immediately been challenged by its secondary effects, it said. “Both equity markets and currencies were hard hit as international capital fled to perceived safety, and/or given mammoth losses by financial institutions.”

European sovereign debt sustainability issues are the largest short-term roadblock to the international economy’s recovery, it said.

“Should these problems not be resolved in a smooth manner, global GDP could be much weaker.”

The Kingdom exported US $247.6 million in garments to the European Union from January to May this year, up 10.4 percent from $224.3 million for the same period 2009.

Police Blotter: 11 Jun 2010

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Friday, 11 June 2010 15:00 Sen David

WOMAN ROBBED WHILE BUYING COW

She just wanted to have a cow, but instead, a Battambang woman lost US$1,000 after she was robbed during a bovine-buying trip. The robbery occurred on Monday, when the woman went to a local village to purchase a cow for her farm. Three assailants came up to her and started fighting with her, and they eventually made away with her cash, police said. Police eventually managed to catch two of the suspects. The victim was sent to hospital to receive treatment for her injuries.

DEUM AMPIL

CAUTIOUS MAN DIES IN LIGHTNING STORM

A 28-year-old motorist died after he was hit by lightning while driving during a furious storm on Tuesday, police in Banteay Meanchey province said. Police said the man drove his motorbike in the pouring rain as lightning crackled in the sky above him. He was struck and tumbled from his motorbike. A passing resident took the man to hospital, but it is believed that he died immediately. The man’s wife said her husband was usually extremely cautious during storms, refusing to even leave the house when it rained. But on this day, she said, he left the house to look after the family field. The woman said it would be difficult for her and her two children to live without the family patriarch.

DEUM AMPIL

FAMILY FEUD ENDS IN MAN’S KILLING

A family brawl has ended in the death of a 38-year-old man who was stabbed by his brother-in-law, police said. The incident occurred in Kratie province on Tuesday. The victim’s mother said her large extended family all lived together in the same house. On this occasion, her son returned home drunk and in a foul mood. He proceeded to curse loudly and pick fights with every single member of the family. The man’s brother-in-law was angered by this terrible behaviour, the mother said, so he took a knife and stabbed the victim. The man allegedly threw the knife into a small lake, but he was soon caught by police.

KOH SANTEPHEAP

CARELESSNESS LED TO DEADLY FALL: AUNT

An 18-year-old man is dead after he tumbled from the third floor of the house he shared with his aunt in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district Tuesday. Police and the aunt are both blaming the death on the man’s own carelessness. The aunt said she had ordered her orphan nephew to plaster an ageing wall. But he was careless, she said, and fell and died immediately. Police examined the body and agreed with the aunt’s findings.

DEUM AMPIL

Much still to do as Cambodian enterprises prepare to go public

Photo by: Steve Finch
A lorry laden with a shipping container enters a terminal at the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port last month.

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The first thing is due diligence, and with the result ... we’re going to have a meeting again with the government and ... companies.”--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

via Khmer NZ News Media

Friday, 11 June 2010 15:00 Steve Finch

THE stakeholders in Cambodia’s forthcoming stock exchange all agree on at least one point: the CSX should start trading as soon as possible.

However, just how prepared these different parties are remains a more complex issue, as is apparent in the case of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA), one of three state-owned enterprises due to list from the outset along with Telecom Cambodia (TC) and Sihanoukville Autonomous Port.

“We’re in the early stages of the process of preparation,” Ek Sonn Chan, the general director of PPWSA said last week.

His appraisal, however, could appear to totally contradict that of Chief Financial Officer Ros Kim Leang, who on Monday told the Post that PPWSA is “nearly 90 percent ready”.

In fact, both assessments are about right. Although the water authority has expanded significantly in recent years, improving its business practices, raising revenues and efficiency, and continuing independent auditing by the firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers, much remains to be done.

Analysts say the PPWSA has become a strong and well-prepared candidate to list but it certainly could not do so tomorrow, mostly because Cambodia has not finalised the necessary legislation, training, licensing and, indeed, physical location for the exchange to go public.

Yet, compared to Sihanoukville Port and TC, the water authority is considered much further along the process. Whereas PPWSA received its first independent audit in 1997, TC only did so in 2008 and Sihanoukville Port is yet to receive an audit from outside of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) meaning it is still to achieve compliance with listing regulations set by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia.

“Some [enterprises] ... already meet our requirements,” SECC Director General Ming Bankosal said Thursday.

Clearly though, some still do not. Luu Kim Chhum told the Post last week that the port adapted its accounting system to meet government requirements this year and would receive an external audit from a third party “very soon” and almost certainly during 2010, but at that time the exchange had been scheduled to start trading by December.

“In terms of auditing, there are really not many companies being audited, being properly audited” in Cambodia, said Kyung Tae Han, chief representative of Tong Yang Securities in Cambodia, a South Korean financial firm assisting the government in CSX preparations.

And although the likes of Tong Yang Securities say the PPWSA is the most advanced of the three CSX frontrunners, it has not yet appointed an internal auditor or an independent board of directors, both requirements under newly passed regulations by the SECC designed to govern the exchange.

Lao Sarouen, director general of TC, said Wednesday that his enterprise needs to implement “corporate governance and a standard accounting system” following an internal appraisal of what steps are still required ahead of a public offering.

Further necessary measures cannot be undertaken by the listing companies without the necessary legislation in place. For example, the SECC has not yet issued a prakas required to transform these state enterprises into public companies, a process that would come closer to IPO time.

Still, Kyung said that progress has been made since he first met with TC more than three years ago – the first encounter he had with a Cambodian firm about a possible listing on a future exchange in Phnom Penh.

Starting with what he terms an exchange listing “101 workshop”, the likes of TC have examined case studies on international floated firms in the same sectors such as China Telecom and Telecom Korea so that Cambodian businesspeople – who until recently knew very little about the workings of a bourse – could get a feel for a successful IPO.

Part of that success will depend on the business practices and profitability of the companies involved, and in that respect they are mostly moving in the right direction, according to recently issued financial results.

PPWSA announced Monday that revenues had risen 11 percent this year up to the end of May compared to the same period in 2009, an average US$200,000 per month increase. The authority is expected to post strong 2009 results next week once audited figures are signed off by Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Although TC profits fell 10 percent last year to $27 million, the company brings in millions of dollars above the SECC financial requirement that asks for 1.5 billion riels ($370,000) in net profit in the previous financial year and an aggregate of 3 billion riels over the previous three years.

Like TC, Sihanoukville Port saw less business last year mostly due to a fall in trade on the back of the economic crisis.

But Luu Kim Chhum said cost-cutting measures meant the port’s fundamentals had improved since 2008, and that traffic has risen in each month of this year so far compared to 2009.

“According to the information I got on these three SOEs – financial information – they all meet the requirements [to issue IPOs],” said Tong Yang’s Kyung, who added, however, that he has in some cases seen only unaudited results.

But financials are of least concern at this stage because balance sheets are expected to be in order – all three companies were chosen by the MEF for the very reason that they represent the cream of Cambodia’s companies and face little commercial competition.

“The three companies ... are near-monopolies and hence [have] strong fundamentals,” Kwan Tock Pong, a manager at Frontier Investment and Development Partners, an investment fund operating in Cambodia, Laos and Mongolia, said Wednesday by email.

Other key areas remain much greater priorities in preparation for the opening bell on the first day of trading on the CSX.

The SECC still needs to pass more legislation – despite signing regular edicts so far this year – including a prakas on corporate bond issuance and another on fund management, said Ming Bankosal.

The commission also needs to issue licences to auditors, brokers and underwriters, he added, a process expected to be completed in the next few weeks.

Kyung said he will shortly establish an IPO team that will comprise key elements of the government and the three listing companies, along with an as yet unnamed accounting agency and a law firm, so that the various parties can work through the issues that still may need to be ironed out.

“The first thing is due diligence, and with the result of the due diligence we’re going to have a meeting again with the government and issuing companies,” he said.

That could take up to 12 months he added, which combined with the lack of a physical stock exchange means the CSX is unlikely to start trading before the second quarter of 2011.

South Korea’s World City Co Ltd has still not started building the proposed four-storey structure at Camko City outside Phnom Penh.

Law firm DFDL and Cambodia Capital are due to hold their first “IPO breakfast” this morning, outlining steps firms must take in order to list. The presentation is to point out that the listing process usually takes around six months for a compliant company in a developed market.

In Cambodia, the same process can be expected to take much longer. At the end of this process comes the marketing of an IPO, according to this typical schedule.

Still, none of the three listing companies has started to court potential investors, a process that involves distributing a slick prospectus to create interest ahead of a launch.

And Ming Bankosal noted that the SECC will likely not even finalise the template for disclosure documents – the all-important information designed to entice investors – until next month.

In terms of the other preparations for the exchange, Inpyo Lee, project director at exchange joint-venture partner Korea Exchange, said that in the past three years more than 700 people have been trained to use the electronic trading platform that will run the CSX.

“Our system is pretty much ready,” even if training in the clearing system is still needed, he said.

Except Lee doesn’t yet know where the CSX will be housed when trading starts, a problem that presents added logistical challenges.

Because of delays in the construction of the exchange building at Camko City, other temporary options are understood to be under consideration. This would mean an expensive removal of the trading system to Camko City once the permanent exchange building is completed.

Ultimately, however, the physical location of the exchange is just one of a number of issues that still need to be addressed. Other questions remain.

Which currency will stocks be listed in? To what auditing standard will listing firms have to adhere? In most markets compliance is more specific than simply enlisting an “outside auditor”.

Exactly when Cambodia will finally launch the stock exchange is therefore a moot point. Of more importance, particularly to investors, remains how exactly the SECC intends to get the CSX operating to the required standards. On that front all sides involved still have a great deal of work left to do.

Photo by: Pha Lina
The state-owned electric utility’s main office in Phnom Penh.

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Dollar dilemma

A Poll on the SECC website highlights one of the key challenges still facing policy makers before the new bourse can start trading: In which currency should the Cambodian exchange list stocks, it asks, US dollars, riels or both? Analysts say that making the right decision is likely to mean the difference between a high level of interest among investors and a frontier market whose offerings are just too risky. “In order for the launch of the stock exchange to be successful, the investor base must include foreign investors,” said Kwan Tock Pong, a manager at Frontier Investment and Development Partners. “Listing in dollars will reduce currency risk and overall, it will have no impact on local investors, as the dollar already accounts for 90 percent of all transactions in the Kingdom, as well as over 90 percent of the deposits in major local banks.” The risk, analysts say, lies in a local currency that has shown a downwards trend over the longer term and weakness in the face of a strong dollar in the shorter term, as the exchange rate has remained around 4,250 riels to the greenback in recent weeks. “From a foreign investor standpoint, they would of course prefer to invest in US dollars,” said Douglas Clayton, CEO of the Leopard Fund, an investment vehicle operating in Cambodia and Sri Lanka. According to SECC regulations, up to 80 percent of shares listed by any one company on the CSX will be available to foreign investors, meaning that capital from overseas could make up a large part of investment. Whether shares are listed in riels or dollars will also likely determine the schedule for the launch of the exchange, said Kyung Tae Han, chief representative of Tong Yang Securities in Cambodia, as preparations for a riel-based bourse would take much longer to initiate. “If the Cambodian government has a time frame that they’re going to open the stock exchange … in the first half of next year, I don’t think … we have any time to discuss [riel listings],” he said. One option under consideration is to list in dollars first and then move to riel listings over time, but as Kyung admited: “I haven’t heard of any [such] case before.”

Which firms will list next?

FOLLOWING a lengthy selection process by the government, Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, Telecom Cambodia and Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority were told they would list first on the forthcoming Cambodian exchange. But who will go public among the second wave of IPOs? The government on Sunday confirmed it had already earmarked another state-owned enterprise – the postal service – to move towards a stock listing, and Electricite du Cambodge, another utility, has also been mentioned previously by officials. “We would ... hope that quality private-sector companies would also list,” says the Leopard Fund’s Douglas Clayton. However, few have shown a desire to do so as yet, at least publically, with many thought to be taking a “wait-and-see” attitude. Only Cambodia Air Traffic Services, a local subsidiary of Thailand’s Bangkok-listed Samart Corporation, has stated in public its desire to float in Cambodia within the private sector. Analysts note that Cambodia’s banking sector would likely produce the most plausible candidates in the shorter term given that many – particularly ACLEDA Bank – already meet the necessary standards of transparency and corporate governance. Although ACLEDA has shown few liquidity problems in the past 12 months, it does already operate a share scheme for employees and was recently the subject of a 12.5 percent acquisition by Hong-Kong listed Jardine Matheson Holdings. Mobitel is another company that already operates to the standard required to go public. Until last year, Millicom International, a multinational listed on the Nasdaq, held a majority stake in the country’s leading mobile operator. Other mobile companies – including Beeline and Hello – are also listed outside of the Kingdom, but it remains to be seen whether they will look to the Cambodian exchange in the future to raise capital. Generating funds would usually be the main factor behind a decision to list, analysts say, in which case commercial operations with high start-up costs – particularly in the construction sector – would also make prime candidates for an IPO.

The Phnom Penh Post News in Brief

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Sofitel state visit

Friday, 11 June 2010 15:00 Soeun Say

French Foreign Trade Secretary Anne Marie Idrac visited the 12-storey Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra Hotel construction site on Thursday in recognition of the French-backed investment in the facility, according to the hotel’s area general manager Didier Lamoot. The hotel, slated to open in November this year, is a three-way joint venture by French, Thai and Cambodian firms, he said, but he declined to comment on the amount of capital invested. The hotel is being built on 12 hectares of land – the site of the former Royal Phnom Penh Hotel on Sothearos Boulevard that was burned out during the 2003 anti-Thai rioting. Once complete, it will have 201 rooms, a spa, swimming pool, restaurant and conference hall with a daily cost of up to US$2,500 for a room, Lamoot said. He said he expects the hotel would do well with the growth in tourism, saying the sector had remained bouyant, despite the world economic crisis last year.

ICT growth bright

Friday, 11 June 2010 15:00 May Kunmakara

Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand will lead developments in the information communication technology (ICT) sector in the Greater Mekong, according to Korea Intergovernmental Cooperation Centre director general Lee Hyuk, who was speaking after a five-day ICT workshop attended by around 150 delegates from the Greater Mekong sub-region and Korea. Delegates discussed constructing an information superhighway network across the region at the workshop, organised by the Korean Internet & Security Agency with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Lee said there was much room for growth in the region, with its combined 200 million-plus population and underdeveloped ICT infrastructure. “The possibility of the region’s growth is very and very high. Right now Korea is also working in cooperation with ASEAN, but the GMS is the core of ASEAN, I believe,” he said. “I think Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand will be the leaders in the region, while Lao and Myanmar will follow.

Immigration: Group calls for migrant disclosure

Friday, 11 June 2010 15:01 Tep Nimol

Immigration

In a letter to the Ministry of Interior dated Thursday, the Cambodia Watchdog Council (CWC) requested the publication of statistics detailing the number of legal and illegal immigrants living in Cambodia. Rong Chhun, a CWC representative, said that the number of Vietnamese immigrants is on the rise, threatening job security for Cambodian citizens. “They enter Cambodia to compete for jobs with Cambodian people,” he said. “Moreover, too great a flow of illegal immigrants into Cambodia can make Cambodian people lose their national identity.” Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said the ministry had not yet received the letter, but added that it is not compelled to produce the figures. “The Interior Ministry cannot be ordered by the CWC. It is under the fourth government mandate, which has the role of serving Cambodian citizens and not Rong Chhun.” He did not disclose the number of immigrants in Cambodia, but said that the ministry is conducting an immigrant census. A 2007 report by the ministry said that there were between 70,000 and 100,000 Vietnamese immigrants living in Cambodia.