Cambodia urged to improve business environment

Photo by: Tracey Shelton
The UNDP said Monday that Cambodia needs to widen its skills base beyond labour-intensive industries such as textiles.

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

Written by Nathan Green AND Chun Sophal
Tuesday, 26 May 2009

UNDP, World Bank and International Finance Corporation reports call on Kingdom to address underlying weaknesses in economy to fight downturn.

CAMBODIA urgently needs to improve its business environment and reform its education system to boost its competitiveness and sustain economic growth, said three reports released Monday.

Qimiao Fan, country manager for the World Bank, which released an assessment of Cambodia's investment climate with the International Financial Corporation (IFC), said the global economic crisis had increased pressure on Cambodia to address "chronic" problems in its business environment.

"When the economy was growing at almost 10 percent per year between 1998 and 2007, business environment problems did not seem as serious as they do now", he said. "But now with the global economic crisis significantly impacting Cambodia, continued problems in the business environment may force firms to go out of business and investors may choose to postpone investment or move to more business-friendly countries."

The World Bank's second Investment Climate Assessment showed that corruption was the most pressing concern among 500 entrepreneurs in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, Battambang and Kampong Cham provinces, as it was for a similar survey released in 2003.

Macroeconomic uncertainty ranked as the second-biggest concern, higher than in 2003 because of deteriorating conditions in the global economy.

Anti-competitive practices were the next most pressing issue, followed by economic and regulatory uncertainty.

The report offered five key lessons for improving the business environment. Firstly, it said reforms succeeded when driven by government leaders, international commitments and private sector demand.

Secondly, reforms needed to be tested as pilots, monitored and evaluated, and - if successful - scaled up.

Thirdly, reforms required careful planning, deadlines, coordination and evaluation.

Next, reform of the civil service, which has proven successful in small pilots, should be scaled up. Finally, through the Government-Private Sector Forum, the private sector can play a major role in identifying needed reforms.

The IFC also released its second Provincial Business Environment Scorecard (PBES), published in conjunction with The Asia Foundation, which surveyed business owners in Phnom Penh, the capital cities of Cambodia's 23 provinces and other selected urban areas.

The report showed Kampong Cham province had the best business environment, as was the case in the first PBES survey in 2006, while Phnom Penh ranked last. Sihanoukville and Siem Reap moved from near the bottom in 2006 to the near top in 2009 by making significant advances in the time and cost to start a business, property rights, transparency of regulations and crime prevention.

"Overall, PBES 2009 results show that firms are more likely to expand their businesses if provincial administrators reduce informal charges, prevent crime more effectively, make it easier for entrepreneurs to start businesses and also make it easier for business owners to pay their taxes," said Julia Brickell, IFC's resident representative in Cambodia.

Speaking at the launch of the reports, Finance Minister Cham Prasidh acknowledged that the global economic crisis had increased the importance of providing better access to finance, information on regulations and procedures, export opportunities, reliable dispute resolution procedures, and efficient and transparent government services. "We need to build a conducive environment for business so that businesses can compete in international markets," he said.

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It is now imperative for these changes to be made; it is not a choice.
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The UN Development Programme (UNDP) also focused on Cambodia's competitiveness in a report released Monday that ranked the country near the bottom among southeast Asian countries.

More skills required
Brooks Evans, an economist in UNDP's Insights for Action Initiative (IFA), which authored the report, said one of the recurring themes was the need for an urgent overhaul of Cambodia's human-resource policy.

"The lack of skills or a highly trained workforce is one of the most commonly cited constraints by businesses," he said. "In terms of higher education and training, Cambodia is the biggest laggard in ASEAN. It has a serious lack of highly trained workers and this is something that requires urgent prioritisation."

While the global economic crisis had not affected the policy changes required, it had increased the stakes, he added.

"The focus of the study is on the medium- to long-term policy options Cambodia needs to provide for economic and human development growth, but the economic crisis means the country needs to act now," he said. "It is now imperative for these changes to be made; it is not a choice."

CEDAC launches campaign against GM rice farming

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON
Yay Lin, 75, harvests rice in Bueng Village, Kandal province, in this file photo. A new CEDAC campaign asks farmers to shun genetically modified rice, arguing that seed prices do not justify the yields.

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

Written by Ros Dina
Tuesday, 26 May 2009

Agricultural body says that price of growing genetically modified rice outweighs rise in crop yields in new campaign running until April 2010.

THE Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) has launched a campaign to discourage Cambodian farmers from growing genetically modified rice, which it described as less cost-effective in the long run.

The Year of Rice Action (YORA) officially began May 20 and will last until next April. The campaign is to include workshops, to be held in all provinces and municipalities, promoting the use of domestic rice. CEDAC said it will also spread its message on radio ads.

"We will give farmers ideas for choosing seeds by talking to them directly at the workshops, by holding discussions about natural agriculture and domestic-seed conservation and by arranging exhibitions," Yi Kim Than, the CEDAC official in charge of the campaign, said at an event to launch the campaign last week.

Yi Kim Than said genetically modified rice was first introduced to Cambodia in 1960 and had become increasingly popular "in the 21st century, as some farmers have abandoned traditional seeds to use new ones to get higher yields".

Minister of Agriculture Chan Sarun said that farmers growing genetically modified rice ultimately end up paying more because they must purchase expensive genetically modified seeds every year.

In addition, some farmers have found that the yield gains generated by the use of genetically modified rice are modest or, in some cases, nonexistent, said CEDAC officials.

Prak Chres, a farmer in Takeo province, said that domestic rice seeds had, in his experience, offered higher yields than imported ones.

"In fact, imported seeds do not produce high output because they are not familiar with Cambodian land like domestic seeds," he said.

His current yield was roughly five tonnes per hectare, he said, adding that uses of purer domestic rice seeds could lead to yields of 10 tonnes per hectare.

CEDAC President Yang Saing Koma agreed: "Domestic seeds have great potential, but we never bother to purify them," he said.

CEDAC research indicates that 1.8 Cambodian families depend on income earned from growing rice.

Entertainment industry facing 'collapse'

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

Written by Ngoun Sovan and May Kunmakara
Tuesday, 26 May 2009

NEW data collected by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts indicates that the number of Cambodian companies producing films and karaoke albums has fallen more than 75 percent since mid-2008, a trend officials and company owners attributed to increasingly widespread piracy and the economic crisis.

There were 67 film and karaoke production companies registered in Cambodia last year, according to figures cited on Monday by Sin Chanchhaya, director of the Cinema and Cultural Diffusion Department.

The most recent survey revealed that only 15 companies remained - 11 karaoke production companies and four film companies, Sin Chanchhaya said.

"Our film industry is on its last breath," Sin Chanchhaya said. "Most producers have been forced to shut down, and cinemas almost no longer exist."

In addition to rampant piracy and the economic downturn, he said, low-quality products and steep prices for Cambodian films had contributed to "the collapse of the industry".

Sin Chanchhaya said law enforcement officials had improved anti-piracy efforts toward the end of 2008 but that progress had not lasted.

"In the second part of last year, more than 100,000 [compact discs and video compact discs] were seized for destruction," he said. "But since the start of this year, crackdown activities have dropped to almost zero."

Kirt Chantharith, spokesman for the National Police, said blame over piracy should not fall squarely on the police.

"Police are ready to support [the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts] to crack down on pirated CDs and VCDs," he said. "So they cannot just blame the police. The ministry is the head of the effort."

He disputed the charge that crackdown efforts had all but ceased, saying that "piles of pirated products have been seized and destroyed" recently.

Hvay Sam Ang, owner of Nice Star Productions, a Phnom Penh-based production company, said he had stopped producing films and karaoke albums last year because of the decline in consumer demand.

"In my opinion, our film industry has nearly died because of piracy and the current economic slump," he said. "So how can we continue production?"

He said he would resume production only when the government demonstrated a commitment to tackling piracy.

Kim Leng, director of Chlangden Productions, also based in Phnom Penh, said his company had produced more than 300 karaoke albums since its founding in 1993. He said he had been able to continue operating for years despite piracy but that the economic crisis had made the business climate untenable.

"A karaoke album costs US$10,000 to produce, but revenue ... has recently only been $2,000 due to piracy," he said. "Only a few original copies will sell because of the crisis."

He said an original VCD costs about $2, while a pirated VCD sells for roughly 37 US cents.

In some cases, even those companies who have been able to continue production said they have been forced to adjust to harsh new conditions.

Kim Heng, owner of KH Productions, another Phnom Penh-based producer of films and karaoke albums, said he had been forced to cut his production in half this year, from roughly 10,000 discs per album last year to between 4,000 and 5,000 discs per album this year.

"If we spend $10,000 to produce an album, sometimes we only get back $2,000 or $3,000, so maybe I should quit ... and go into farming," he said.

High prices still curbing net usage

Photo by: SOVANN PHILONG
A computer user surfs the Web Monday at CSC Net Internet cafe in Phnom Penh.

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

Written by Hor Hap
Tuesday, 26 May 2009

Cambodia still has the second-highest Internet costs in ASEAN, one of numerous factors that continue to slow growth in connectivity rates, according to ISPs and the development community.

ALACK of government policy, local-language content, infrastructure as well as high prices remain the biggest constraints on faster development of the Internet in Cambodia, private-sector entities and development agencies told the Post.

Cambodia currently has just 18,000 Internet subscribers, said internet service provider (ISP) EZECOM, the second-lowest density in the ASEAN region, according to a new report on Cambodia's economic competitiveness released on Monday by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

Among the biggest barriers to development was price, the private sector said. The Kingdom's many ISPs - more than 35 - must pay Telecom Cambodia for the use of fixed lines, costs which mean Cambodia is ranked the second-most expensive ASEAN country for Internet use, said UNDP.

"We pay US$13 [per subscriber] to Telecom Cambodia (TC) ... each month," said Sok Channda, CEO of AngkorNet.

Paul Blanche-Horgan, CEO of EZECOM, agreed that a major factor pushing up prices for consumers was the cost of using state infrastructure.

"The main challenge is bandwidth costs," he said.

Ken Chanthan, president of the ICT Association of Cambodia, said that undeveloped domestic infrastructure was also pushing costs up.

"A lack of local Internet exchange bandwidth results in high Internet prices because internal data transfer needs to be routed out, and back
into, the country," he said.

Sector sources said that part of the battle to gain subscribers lies in content, and particularly developing local content in the Khmer language.

"Localised Internet content is very important to attract more subscribers and users because it can help them gain more benefits from the Internet," said Ken Chanthan. "People can find out prices of market products, improve their means of communication, cut operational costs and market products on the Net."

Sok Channda agreed, adding that households had little reason to subscribe to costly Internet services for what were essentially basic functions such as email and chat. Most of AngkorNet's 1,000 subscribers are commercial organisations or aid agencies, she added, with growth of around 10 percent per month.

Still, infrastructure is improving with more cost-effective options becoming available, sources said.

The country's infrastructure backbone is being expanded to provide better links to the Greater Mekong Sub-region, which includes a fibre-optic cable connection to Laos. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications was unavailable Monday to give an update on progress in developing Internet infrastructure.

Some companies said they were looking to bypass TC in a bid to lower costs and boost subscriber numbers.

"We hope to receive an additional 35,000 subscribers after we launch a special home-package price for students and households ... a high growth rate after we launch Wimax technology - maybe in the next two months - which is cheaper, as we don't need to pay Telecom Cambodia," said Sok Channda of Angkor Net's plans to use wireless satellite technology to build provincial-level connectivity.

EZECOM said it would open a new Siem Reap office soon to cover all the main areas of the country by the end of the year.

Blanche-Horgan noted that ISPs were looking to be among a handful of industries that would expand during the recent economic downturn, predicting a total of 50,000 Internet subscribers by the end of next year, a near-threefold increase on current numbers.

Mobile sector needs regulating, says UNDP

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

Written by Steve Finch
Tuesday, 26 May 2009

IN a report released Monday, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said that Cambodia's mobile-phone market needed to be more closely regulated to improve services and prevent industry malpractice.

"The lack of a clear legal and regulatory framework in Cambodia, as well as the lack of an effective competition law could result in a range of problems," said the report which tracks the competitiveness of the Kingdom's economy.

UNDP noted that mobile-phone operators had blocked connectivity with rival networks, while the government had issued licences to different operators on the same signal, causing poor quality service.

"There appears to be no control over this in Cambodia," said the report.

Both the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and Ministry of Information issue mobile-operator licences, which was partly responsible for the "problem", it added.

Cambodia already has nine mobile-phone providers following the launch of Beeline this month.

"You have to have regulation, it's the biggest thing in this sector ... the lack of regulation," UNDP Country Director Jo Scheuer said Monday at the launch of the report in Phnom Penh.

Brooks Evans, a UNDP economist, added: "[a] telecommunications law is under draft."

UNDP called for the implementation of the draft telecommunications law and the setting up of the Authority of Communications of Cambodia (ACC).

The government has worked on the draft legislation for some time, which would see the ACC set up as an industry regulator. At the early stages of the drafting process, the private sector was consulted for feedback, according to the Government-Private Sector Forum website.

The draft legislation is believed to have reached the Council of Ministers, but its latest progress is unclear. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications was unavailable for further comment Monday.

Police Blotter: 26 May 2009

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

Written by Lim Phalla
Tuesday, 26 May 2009

DRUNKEN HUSBAND CUTS WIFE WITH KNIFE
So Savoeun, 48, was seriously wounded on Friday after her husband, Sorn Sin, 53, attacked her with a knife in Sorng Khlang village, Taing Krasaing commune, Santuk district, Kampong Thom province. The husband, who, according to neighbours, suspected that his wife was having an affair with their son-in-law, came home drunk, and an argument ensued. Police said he cut her twice, rendered her unconscious and fled.
KAMPUCHEA THMEY

MAN CONS DRIVER OUT OF MOTORBIKE
Motorbike taxi driver Chhin Vannara, 28, from Prey Veng province, was cheated out of a motorbike on Friday morning at Calmette Hospital in Sreah Chak commune, Daun Penh district, Phnom Penh. The suspect took the motorbike taxi to the hospital and asked the victim to buy some water and to help carry it into the hospital for a sick relative. He then offered to take the motorbike to the hospital's parking lot. When they were inside the building, the suspect gave a false parking ticket to the victim and told him to wait for him. When the suspect didn't return, the victim went to the parking lot to discover that his motorbike had been stolen.
KAMPUCHEA THMEY

MAN HAS TANTRUM OVER MONEY, PHONE
Kan Neang, 28, was arrested by the police for cursing his parents and destroying household possessions after his parents refused to give him money to buy a motorbike and a cellphone. The event happened at midnight of Friday in their house located in Kalaom Phluk village, Prey Svay commune, Moung Ruessei district, Battambang province. He was arrested after his parents reported him to the police.
KOH SANTEPHEAP

TAXI FALLS INTO RIVER, PASSENGERS FAINT
A taxi slipped into the Mekong River on Sunday evening while it was parked on the edge of the bank while waiting at the Neak Leung ferry dock. No one died in the accident, but one man and two women inside the car fainted after being rescued from the river. The driver, who wasn't inside, tried to run after the car, but he was too late. The three victims were identified as Phat Chan, 36; her husband Satt Thoeun, 26, both from Prey Veng province; and Mao Chanthy, 45, from Svay Rieng province.
KOH SANTEPHEAP

Kao Roomchang scores upset

Photo by: Robert Starkweather
Kao Roomchang from Battambang binds his hands in preparation for Sunday's fight.

Photo by: Robert Starkweather
Lao Sinath (left, blue) battles back from an 8-count in the second round of his fight against Kao Roomchang at TV5 boxing arena Sunday.

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

Written by Robert Starkweather
Tuesday, 26 May 2009

Kao Roomchang outgunned Lao Sinath at TV5 Sunday, scoring an eight count in the second round on his way to earning a decision victory in the main event.

BEHIND two fists and six pieces of magic candy, Kao Roomchang scored the biggest victory of his career over the weekend, upsetting 60-kilogram titlist Lao Sinath in the main event at TV5 Sunday.

Kao Roomchang scored an eight count with a flurry of punches early in the second round and easily outpointed the champion through five to earn a convincing decision victory.

Phnom Penh odds makers had predicted a much different outcome to Sunday's non-title bout, offering Lao Sinath as a 3-10 favourite at the opening bell. But Kao Roomchang, a Battambang native and soldier with Brigade 43 in Anlong Veng, arrived with plans of his own.

"Punches and kicks," Kao Roomchang said of his strategy. And magic candy.

In the dressing room before the fight, Kao Roomchang bit the wrapper corners off six pieces of coffee-flavoured candy his trainer had blessed and given him. Holding the candy loosely in his left hand, his whispered his own incantation into his fist and then one by one squeezed the pieces into his mouth. "For good luck," he said.

In the opening minute of the second round, Kao Roomchang connected cleanly to Lao Sinath's chin with a looping right-hand punch - something between an overhand right and a schoolyard hook. The punch sent Lao Sinath backpedaling into the ropes.

As Kao Roomchang barreled in after him, Lao Sinath tried to escape down the ropes, but an unrelenting Kao Roomchang stalked him into the neutral corner.

With no place left to run, Lao Sinath and Kao Roomchang stood on each other's toes and tried to put the other man to sleep.

Kao Roomchang, 21, landed the first clean shot, a hard right hand that stunned Lao Sinath.

Kampong Speu native Lao Sinath fought back with straight punches and elbows, but the sneaky Kao Roomchang slipped and countered, then landed another right, and then a hard right-left combination that prompted referee Chaum Chaury to step in and give the eight count.

"Bop! Bop! Bop!" Lao Sinath said after the fight, whipping his head from side to side with each word as he recounted the exchange. "My head was spinning."

It was a stunning turnaround from events just a round earlier.

In the first round, Lao Sinath looked completely dominant. He used his jab and his reach to keep Kao Roomchang on the outside. Behind the jab, he scored with low kicks and knees and then moved away. By late in the round, Lao Sinath was landing stiff jabs so cleanly and easily the crowd broke out in laughter.

Even after the knockdown, Lao Sinath mostly fought well.

In the fourth round he pummeled Kao Roomchang with four hard knees and twice cut him with elbows - one a razor-thin cut on the left eyelid and the other a deep cut on the head.

"From the left, bang! From the right, bang!" Kao Roomchang said after the fight. "It will need stitches," he added, pointing to the cut on his head.

Although Lao Sinath landed nearly as many shots as did Kao Roomchang during the seesaw five-round battle, ultimately the difference appeared to lie in the power.

Kao Roomchang weighed in at 63 kilograms for a fight announced at 63.5. Lao Sinath weighed in at just 60 kilograms, and the champ's punches never seemed to land with the same ferocity as his opponent's.

A spinning back-kick that caught Lao Sinath flush on the jaw in the third surely did not help, either. The kick probably would have ended the fight had it not come so late.

Lao Sinath pulled himself up and stumbled back to his corner. Referee Chaum Chaury wagged his finger at Kao Roomchang. But the damage was done.

With the victory, Kao Roomchang improves to 25-5-2. Lao Sinath drops to 44-4.

Talk of a rematch surfaced in the second round, but no date has been announced.

Thousands gather to cap off hip-hop festival

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON

MC Curly raps for a crowd estimated at more than 2,000 at Wat Botum park on Sunday during the finale of the Phnom Penh Hip-Hop Festival.

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON
Grafitti artist Clevz One entertains the crowd with spray-paint art executed throughout the more than 3-hour hip-hop concert Sunday at Wat Botum Park.

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON
A dancer from Tiny Toones performs Sunday on stage at Wat Botum Park during a concert capping off the first Phnom Penh Hip-Hop Festival, a two-week event that included hip-hop films, performances and dance workshops. Organisers say the festival could become an annual event.

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

Written by Tracey Shelton and Sovann Philong
Tuesday, 26 May 2009

Inclement weather was not enough to dampen the energy and enthusiasm of performers at the finale of the inaugural Phnom Penh Hip-Hop Festival.

Early rains were not enough to deter the crowds from turning out in the thousands for the Phnom Penh Hip-Hop Festival's grand finale at Wat Botum park on Sunday. Rappers, hip-hop artists, DJs and breakdancers performed on a damp stage to a mixed crowd of foreigners and locals as graffiti artist Clevz One demonstrated his skill with a spray can painting a graffiti backdrop behind the performers.

The event was the culmination of a two-week-long training and promotional festival organised by Meta House and the French Cultural Centre.

As dance, music and fashion associated with hip-hop grows in popularity throughout the Kingdom, organisers said the festival was planned to bring these elements together for the first time in Cambodia through a cooperative and promotional event.

International collaboration
On stage at Wat Phnom, young musicians from Cambodian Living Arts, DJs, drummers and hip-hop vocalists joined together to create a blend of traditional Khmer music, jazz and hip-hop while Klap Ya Handz Collective entertained with its hip-hop mix.

DJ Sdey, DJ Illest and MC Curly revved up the crowds before the Tiny Toones crew took to the stage for a break-dancing session displaying their new skills learned during a workshop with internationally renowned dancers and choreographers Niels Robitzky, better known as Storm, and Raphael Hillebrand.

The Toones way
KK, who founded the Tiny Toones breakdance group in 2004 with a goal of giving kids a safe place to hang out away from the drug scene, said he did see an improvement in the kids throughout the workshop. He was particularly proud of how they performed on Sunday despite the added difficulty of dancing on a wet stage.

"They learned how to feel the vibe and improved their freestyle," he said. "The workshop gave them more confidence."

Twenty-one-year-old Tiny Toones member T-Boy, who began learning to break-dance with the group four years ago, was one of eight chosen from the workshop to perform Sunday.

"In the workshop, they showed us how to create a new style," he said. "Before my dance style was simple, but the technical advice on how to improve has helped me create a more interesting style with complicated moves."

Mixed-media hip-hop
The festival also included performances by both local and international artists and a range of films exploring the history of hip-hop and its impact worldwide.

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A LOT OF INTEREST WAS GENERATED DURING THE TWO WEEKS, ESPECIALLY AMONG THE YOUTH.
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Nico Mesterharm, director of Meta House and co-organiser of the event, said hip-hop began to emerge in Cambodia around 2002 and gained support as Khmer-American returnees moved back to Cambodia, bringing their music, dance and style with them.

Since then, Cambodian hip-hop music has advanced from being an imitation of the American hip-hop scene and developing into a unique Cambodian trend, Mesterharm told the Post in an interview earlier this month.

Festival with a future
Kor Borin, head of the department of culture at the French Cultural Centre, said the idea behind the festival was to expand Cambodian understanding of hip-hop culture.

"All of the events were very successful," Borin said, adding that around 2,000 were in attendance for Sunday's performance. "A lot of interest was generated during the two weeks, especially among the youth."

Borin said plans to repeat the festival annually will depend on funding but he seemed confident of a second festival next year.

Auction for orphans

Grace Charters with an orphan in Cambodia

Gazette
http://www.gazette-news.co.uk

Monday 25th May 2009

By Gareth Palmer

HAVING a ball will help to raise money for disadvantaged children in Asia.

A masquerade ball in Colchester will support the Care for Cambodia charity, which works with street children and orphans.

The ball, on July 10, at Lexden Wood Golf Club, has been organised by the town’s Kesed church group.

Organiser Grace Charters said she hoped the ball, with a hog roast and auction, would be a glamorous occasion.

A similar event, held at Colchester Town Hall in 2007, raised £3,000 for Care for Cambodia.
Grace, who went to Cambodia in February to see the charity’s work, said the aim is to gather £10,000 from this year’s events.

She said: “There’s a piece of land next to the orphanage that they want to buy to extend the centre, and that’s what we’re raising money for.

“As well as looking after children, some of whom have been sex trafficked, the charity does a lot of work on education and health.”

Tickets costs £30 or £400 for a table for ten at the ball with wine and gifts. To book tickets, visit www.kesed.org/charityball or call 01206 248886.

Film about acid-scarred singer airs Tuesday

By the Gazette-Times
http://www.gazettetimes.com

The documentary film “Finding Face,” which recently premiered at The International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva, will make its Northwest premiere at Oregon State University on Tuesday.

The screening will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Gilfillan Auditorium, 2601 S.W. Orchard Ave., Corvallis. It is free.

The film, directed and produced by Skye Fitzgerald and OSU faculty member Patti Duncan, documents the case of Tat Marina, a young woman who was attacked with acid in 1999.

At 16, Marina was a rising star in Phnom Penh’s karaoke music scene. She was coerced into an abusive relationship with Cambodia’s undersecretary of state, and subsequently attacked with acid.

The film took more than two years to make and involved multiple trips to Cambodia and to the Boston area, where Marina now lives.

Duncan, an associate professor in the Women Studies Program at OSU, wrote the script for the film.

Fitzgerald, founder of Spin Film and producer and director of 2006’s “Bombhunters,” co-produced the film and is the principal cinematographer. Both will be in attendance on Tuesday.

The event is sponsored by OSU’s Women Studies Program.

For more information, see www.spinfilm.org or www.findingface.org.

Chevron should consider reputational risk

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

Written by Gavin Hayman, Global Witness
Monday, 25 May 2009

Dear Editor,

Your article "Chevron deal still unresolved as crisis impacts exploration" (May 20, 2009) cites the economic crisis as the reason for delays in renewing Chevron's oil exploration agreement with Cambodia. Chevron should consider other factors in negotiations with the government - not least of which is reputational risk.

Earlier this year, Global Witness exposed major governance failings in Cambodia's emerging oil sector. Our report, "Country for Sale", revealed that the institution in charge of Cambodia's oil industry - the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority (CNPA) - is a constitutionally dubious body under the direct control of Prime Minister Hun Sen and his deputy Sok An.

Centralisation and politicisation of power within the CNPA has created a dysfunctional organisation over which the Cambodian parliament has no oversight. A setup like this leaves the industry wide open to corruption and exploitation.

Companies such as Chevron have a role to play in improving the governance of the country's extractive industries to help reduce poverty. As a key member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Chevron should lead by example. To start, it should disclose any payments it makes to the Cambodian government.

Given recent events in Ecuador, reputational risk should be at the core of Chevron's approach to Cambodia.

Gavin Hayman, Global Witness
London


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Send letters to: newsroom@phnompenhpost.com or P.O. Box 146, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Post reserves the right to edit letters to a shorter length.

China element behind overseas offices: MOFA

Taiwan News

http://www.etaiwannews.com

Office in Bangladesh unable to issue visas, make contacts: Hsia

Taiwan News, Staff Writer

2009-05-26

Taiwan will close its offices in Bangladesh, Bolivia and Venezuela but is encountering problems in setting up offices in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar because of pressure from China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
For the four years of its existence, the Taiwanese representative office in Bangladesh has been unable to issue visas, unable to hang out a plaque with its name, and unable to make any contact with that country's foreign ministry, Vice Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia told lawmakers. He defended the decision to close the office in June as an effort to cut waste of resources in the face of restrictions imposed under pressure from China.

Left-wing governments in Bolivia and Venezuela took similar attitudes toward Taiwanese offices in their countries, demanding diplomats renew their visas every three months, Hsia said.

Efforts to set up new offices in the Southeast Asian nations of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar were meeting with difficulties for the same reasons, namely that those governments were wary of antagonizing China, Hsia told lawmakers.

The difficulties occurred despite the government of President Ma Ying-jeou's policy of a "diplomatic truce" with China, meaning Taiwan would for the time being no longer try to persuade Beijing's allies to switch recognition to Taipei. China has not officially responded to Ma's policy, but since his inauguration in May last year, Taiwan has not lost a single ally.

However, a special taskforce set up more than six months ago to prepare for the opening of more Taiwanese offices in Southeast Asia has achieved little progress, Hsia admitted. Even assistance from Taiwanese business people in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar failed to overturn the countries' reservations, he said.

"Usually when we meet with restrictions overseas, there is only one element, and that is the Mainland China element," Hsia told lawmakers.

UN study advises caution over dams

Guardian News
http://www.guardian.co.uk

AP foreign, Monday May 25 2009

MICHAEL CASEY

AP Environmental Writer= BANGKOK (AP)” A dam-building spree in China poses the greatest threat to the future of the already beleaguered Mekong, one of the world's major rivers and a key source of water for the region, a U.N. report said Thursday.

China is constructing a series of eight dams on the upper half of the Mekong as it passes through high gorges of Yunnan Province, including the recently completed Xiowan Dam, which — at 958 feet (292 meters) high — is the world's tallest. Its storage capacity is equal to all the Southeast Asia reservoirs combined, the U.N. report said.

Laos, meanwhile, has started construction on 23 dams expected to be finished by 2010 on the Mekong and its tributaries, the U.N. said, as a means to spur development and lift the country from poverty. Cambodia and Vietnam also have ambitious dam-building plans.

"China's extremely ambitious plan to build a massive cascade of eight dams on the upper half of the Mekong River, as it tumbles through the high gorges of Yunnan Province, may pose the single greatest threat to the river," the report said.

The report went onto to say that the impacts of the proposed dam development include "changes in river flow volume and timing, water quality deterioration and loss of biodiversity."

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a regular briefing the government pays equal attention to the development of the Mekong and its protection. The Mekong is known as the Lancang river in China.

"I would like to point out that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the exploration and the protection of cross-border rivers and conducts the policy of equal attention to development and protection," Ma said.

The proposed dams would add further pressure to the Mekong, which runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The 307,000-square-mile (795,000-square-kilometer) river network is home to dozens of rare bird and marine species, including the Mekong giant catfish, and is a source of food and jobs for the 65 million people who live in the river basin.

The river and its vast tributary network already face threats from pollution, climate change and the effects of earlier dams that were built in China and have caused water levels to drop sharply on the upper Mekong.

Still, the U.N. report said for the time being, the Mekong's pollution levels were not at "alarming levels" while water shortages and conflicts over water on the Mekong have so far not emerged.

"The Mekong is in good condition at this time and can take more pressure such as irrigation development or industrial development," said Mukand S. Babel, one of the reports' authors.

The report, however, found several river basins in the Mekong that are under threat, including the Tonle Sap in Cambodia, Nam Khan in Laos and Sekong-Sesan Srepok in Vietnam and Cambodia due to increasing development and demand for water.

It called for countries bordering the Mekong to work more closely together to ensure that the region's growing population and expected economic development doesn't further strain the capacity of the delta.

"The time to tackle these challenges is now, otherwise the projected growth and development may impact on the basin's ability to meet future water needs," said Young-Woo Park, a U.N. regional director.

Holes Are Drilled into the Angkor Wat Temple to Attach Electric Bulbs

Holes Are Drilled into the Angkor Wat Temple to Attach Electric Bulbs – Who Is Wrong? The Sou Ching Company, the Tuy Nasy Company, or the Apsara Authority? – Monday, 25.5.2009

Posted on 25 May 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 614
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com

“Siem Reap: It has been five days already that the Sou Ching company, which is responsible for collecting money from foreign tourists who visit the Angkor Wat Temple during the night, drills some holes into the walls of the Angkor Wat Temple, in order to install electric bulbs to light different places of the Angkor Wat Temple. On Saturday morning of 23 May 2009, this resulted in strong criticisms from national and international tourists, because they think that it is destroying the Angkor Wat Temple, and this action should not be allowed.

“In that morning, obviously, there were about 20 bulbs attached, fixed into the holes drilled into the walls of the Angkor Wat Temple, at the northern and western long corridors.

“Pieces of stone were found on the ground, dropped down from the drilling to set up electric lights. When journalists asked experts of the Apsara Authority and of the Sou Ching company who was drilling the holes in the temple walls, they denied that they were doing it.

“But when journalists, tourist guides, and international tourists standing near the place showed pieces of stone of the temple which had dropped down on them as evidence to the head of the department for temple conservation in the Angkor Park of the Apsara Authority, Ms. Mao La Or, they admitted they had drilled holes into the walls to install electric bulbs.

“First, Ms. Mao La Or said that nobody had drilled holes as they were accused, but then she admitted it had happened. She said so after she had called an expert of the Apsara Authority at the Angkor Wat, an expert on the weathering of stones to check, Mr. Kham Mao, to check the site, and he found that holes had been drilled into the stones.

“Ms. Mao La Or told journalists with tearful eyes that the Sou Ching company, responsible for collecting money from tourists who visit the Angkor Wat Temple during the night, had nothing done wrong, but the blame should be put on the Tuy Nasy company, because this company is responsible for installing electricity. Though she claimed so, tourist guides and national and international tourists still accused the managing officials of the Angkor Wat Temple, the Apsara Authority, of making a most serious mistake, destroying national property, because the Angkor Wat Temple is a World Cultural Heritage, listed as a World Heritage Site since 1992.

“A tourist guide from the Siem Reap Angkor region, Mr. Sar Arun, who stood at the wall into which holes had been drilled, said that they should not have done so, and it is absolutely not a good idea, because the drilling has already destroyed many parts of the temple.

“Mr. Sar Arun added the question about setting up bulbs which get very hot at the wall of the temple. It will make the priceless temple get cracks and decay, and the future life of our Angkor Wat Temple will be shorter.

“Another tourist guide from the Siem Reap Angkor region, Mr. Sim Sokunthea, said the Apsara Authority, which has authority in this sector, should not allow this. He said so while he was looking with regrets at the continuing dropping pieces of stone from the Angkor Wat Temple walls into which holes were being drilled.

“A Spanish woman, Ms. Carolina Armandi, who was visiting the Angkor Wat Temple, saw what was happening; she said that everything should be kept natural without making any changes. She wanted to state that historical things must not be changed from their original status.

“A Cambodian tourist, who was also visiting the Angkor Wat Temple, said that the plan of the Apsara Authority seems not to be the development or the conservation of the temple, but its destruction, adding that the Apsara Authority should have come to study the details and make decisions before implementing this plan of drilling.

“The same tourist continued to say that if the Apsara Authority had checked and studied the plan thoroughly, there would not have happened such destruction on our temple.

“The Apsara Authority always takes UNESCO as basic reference, but why didn’t they asks UNESCO first, before there such drilling to set up electric bulbs at the temple.

“On 23 May 2009, after there had been follow-up reactions from the general public, the working team of the Apsara Authority, led by the chairperson of the Apsara Authority Mr. Ngo Hongly, the director of the Apsara Authority, Mr. Bun Narith, and Ms. Mao La Or, led a big group of journalists to see the setting up of electric bulbs. The working team explained that they have a technique to set up electric bulbs which causes no harm to the temple. They install bulbs by using cork stoppers put into already existing holes, and they set up lights only where it is possibly, and also at the lower layers of the stone. The working team claims that the heat of the bulbs is weak and does not affect the temple.”

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #4902, 24-25.5.2009
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Monday, 25 May 2009

CARGO SHIP DETAINED

Bernama - Tuesday, May 26

PASIR PUTEH, May 25 (Bernama) -- The Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency detained a Cambodian registered cargo ship for plying with an expired licence and not equip with safety equipments, today.

Its district operation director, Commander Rozali Mohd Said said the captain and crew of the ship would be handed to the Marine Department for further action.

The licence of the ship expired in March 2007 but it had been taking five shipments of palm oil from Teluk Bali port here to Cambodia for the past three years, he told reporters here today.

He said the ship would face RM1,000 fine under Sections 474(1), 474 (2) and 483(1) of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952.

As the ship is not equip to fight oil spill, it could pose a danger to the country's maritime, he said, adding that, it would not be allowed to sail until it complied with the requirements.

-- BERNAMA

Seoul urges Asean to go green

http://www.yehey.com

Manila Times

26 May 2009

By Llanesca T. Panti, Reporter

South Korea has called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for more investments in developing new and renewable sources of energy.

Its President Lee Myung-Bak noted that if South Koreas green technologya fusion of information technology, biotechnology and nano technologywas combined with Aseans opportunities in green growth, both parties could move closer to creating low-carbon smart cities.

Lee disclosed that Seoul is working to put in place smart grids that would help South Korea and Asean to drastically reduce carbon emissions, increase efficiency and reduce overall consumption.

Asean, composed of the Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam, is South Koreas third-largest trading partner. It constitutes the second-largest overseas investment destination of South Korea.

President Lees speech

Seoul is making bold investments in developing new sources of clean energy in order to remain globally competitive. With climate change accelerating at such an alarming rate, we can no longer be complacent, Lee said in his speech ahead of the Asean-South Korea Commemorative Summit on Jeju Island on June 1 to 2. The Manila Times had obtained a copy of the speech.

The South Korean president said that while his countrys journey toward economic progress has been marked by many proud achievements, South Korea also made mistakes, particularly on its over-reliance on fossil fuels.

He revealed that South Korea used to get more than 97 percent of its energy needs from abroad and, in the past, Lee said, many thought such situation was unavoidable.

As such, he suggested that South Korea and Asean cooperate in research activities to develop various forms of alternative energies, as well as forestation projects that would play a pivotal role in tackling global warming.

Climate change is a daunting challenge that requires concerted global effort, but it can also be an historic opportunity for promoting cooperation between South Korea and Asean, Lee pointed out.

Through this [cooperation] and much more, South Korea and Asean can become the worlds pioneering leaders and the worlds green research hub that introduces new innovations and turn green ideas into reality, he said.

The East Asia Climate Partnership that Seoul launched in 2008, according to Lee, can also strengthen such green partnership. Additionally, the impending Asean Free Trade Agreement is expected to be a factor such team-up as it will facilitate not only trade and investment but also promote cultural, tourism and educational exchanges.

Having spent a great deal of my time in Asean countries as a young businessman, I recall the warm hospitality, thriving entrepreneurship and the magnificent cultural splendor of Asean. This is why I know that there is so much South Korea can learn from and share with our Asean friends, he said. Until Lee became the president of South Korea, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Hyundai Corp.

Leaders meeting

He will meet with the leaders from the 10 Asean member-states and the secretary-general of Asean at the Jeju summit but will hold separate summits in Seoul with four Asean leadersPhilippine President Gloria Arroyo and Prime Ministers Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, Hun Sen of Cambodia and Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam. All four will make official visits to South Korea on the occasion of the commemorative summit.

Based on Department of Foreign Affairs records, South Korea is one of the Philippines most dynamic bilateral partners. Bilateral trade between the two countries stands at around $5.06 billion, while over $3 billion in South Korean investments have topped the list of the Philippines foreign direct investment inflows. Furthermore, at least 600,000 South Korean tourists visit the Philippines annuallythe largest share of the visitor arrivals to the Philippines.

North Korea conducts nuclear test

The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk

By Jonathan Thatcher

Monday, 25 May 2009

North Korea has "successfully" conducted a nuclear test today, according to its state media.

"We have successfully conducted another nuclear test on May 25 as part of the republic's measures to strengthen its nuclear deterrent," the North's official KCNA news agency said.

It added that the underground test "was safely conducted on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control."

The news knocked South Korean financial markets with the main share index falling 4 per cent at one stage on fears the test will raise tension in a region which accounts for one sixth of the global economy.

"The reported test appears to be aimed at securing ultimate endorsement of its nuclear power status from the United States and bringing Washington to the negotiation table," said Kim Sung-han, a professor at Korea University.

"It could increase investor concerns about South Korea as the test may further worsen already soured inter-Korea relations," he added.

North Korea has for weeks threatened to conduct the test - its first was in October 2006 - in response to tighter international sanctions following its launch of a rocket in April.

The communist state said that launch was to put a communications satellite into space. The international community said it was a disguised long-range missile.

Following the added sanctions, Pyongyang also said it would no longer be a party to regional talks on giving up attempts to build nuclear weapons in exchange for massive aid and an end to its status as a pariah state.

Some analysts have said the test may also be aimed at boosting the position at home of leader Kim Jong-il, widely believed to have suffered a stroke last year.

Several say Kim, who succeeded his father to create the world's first communist dynasty, may be trying secure the succession for one of his three sons and that a nuclear test in defiance of world opinion could help him win support to do so from his hardline military.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called an emergency meeting of cabinet ministers over the test.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency also claimed in an unsourced report, that North Korea launched two additional short-range missiles, hours after Pyongyang announced it had conducted a successful nuclear test.

North Korea earlier fired a short-range missile off its east coast, Yonhap said.

replacement market in focus

http://www.nationmultimedia.com

By Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul
The Nation
Published on May 26, 2009

Group changes emphasis as OEM segment slides

The Siam GS Battery Group has shifted its sales strategy to focus on the replacement-equipment manufacturing (REM) market, as original-equipment manufacturing (OEM) is expected to shrink 40 per cent, in line with overall automotive production this year.

The group comprises two companies in the automotive-battery industry: manufacturer and exporter Siam GS Battery and domestic distributor Siam GS Sales.

Siam GS Battery projects revenue of Bt3.8 billion this year, declining 21 per cent from Bt4.8 billion in 2008. Of last year's revenue, it sold 60 per cent to Siam GS Sales to serve demand in the REM market, 25 per cent was supplied to the OEM market, and 15 per cent was exported.

With an optimistic outlook for the REM market, its sales to Siam GS Sales will be raised to 70 per cent this year, with the rest generated equally by the OEM market and exports.

SM GS Battery exports to Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia.

"We've been hit by the global economic crisis, which has resulted in a drastic drop in automotive production in OEM and exports. However, growth in the REM market remains robust, thanks to more demand from the maintenance of used vehicles," said Siam GS Battery and Siam GS Sales director Prakasit Phornprapha.

Siam GS Sales, which has a market share of 35 per cent in the REM market, therefore expects to boost its battery sales by 30 per cent from 1 million units last year.

However, sales revenue will increase only slightly this year, from Bt2.98 billion to Bt3 billion, due to cheaper product prices in line with a drop in the price of lead since last year. Lead is a major raw material in the making of batteries.

The company cut its prices by 25 per cent at the beginning of the year but has no plan to boost them despite the upward price trend of lead over the past three months.

Saran Chinprahat, managing director of Siam GS Sales, said it planned to expand its distribution channels by increasing the number of dealers from 250 to 300 across the country this year.

He said the company targeted increasing its market share to 40 per cent in the next three years by developing and launching new products, as well as using below-the-line marketing activities to promote the understanding of new products.

Medical Council issues new decree to control stemcell research

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/

By Sirinart Sirisunthon,
Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation
Published on May 26, 2009

The Medical Council's plan to issue new regulations requiring stemcell researchers to seek approval from a newly set up national regulatory body, was met with opposition yesterday, with study teams saying the longwinded process would force researchers to conduct their studies in neighbouring countries like Laos and Singapore.

"They will move to another country if they face any more strict regulations controlling their studies," said Dr Ahnond Bunyaratvej, secretarygeneral of the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT)

The move comes after the Medical Council said yesterday that it had just completed the final version of its decree - expected to come into effect after three months - to regulate the use of human stemcells treatment in diseases related to veins, organ transplants and heart disorders. Stemcell technology is already being used in bonemarrow transplants and blood disorders.

"The relevant agencies should handle the issuance of this new regulation carefully, otherwise it will affect the researchers," he added.

At present, all studies on stemcell treatment need to be approved by an ethics and academic committee at each medical school, hospital and educational institution. Scientists who wish to do their stemcell studies under the auspices of the NRCT also need an approval from impartial experts.

The process of waiting for another approval from the national regulatory body would only delay things, Ahnond said. He also expressed concerns over the conflict of interest and the impartiality of members of the national committee who will oversee stemcell studies.

Pissamai Laopattarakasem, a stemcell researcher from Khon Kaen University, said the Medical Council's regulation would affect research in universities and medical schools, as it would introduce more delays in the process.

She said she felt discouraged by the new regulation and was considering dropping her study all together. She was planning to propose two new stemcell research projects, but has cancelled them after learning about the new regulation. Pissamai said that since it already took five months to get an approval from the ethics and academics university, an additional okay from the national body would extend the waiting period to a whole year.

One stemcell researcher from Chiang Mai, who wished to remain unnamed, said he would be moving his studies to neighbouring countries such as Laos, Cambodia or Singapore as the regulations there were friendlier.

"Personally, I back the Medical Council's plan to control the misuse of stemcell technology, but the council should not control studies into the subject as it would not help the country develop," he said.

The Medical Council's president, Dr Somsak Lohlekha, said the regulation would not block the development of stemcell research but would instead improve standards and the quality of studies.

Only studies in relation to human stem cells will need mandatory approval from a national regulatory body, but it will not allow the use of human stem cells in medical treatment, he added.

Moreover, he said, researchers should not have to wait too long for the approval because the regulatory body will have to work within a strict deadline.

He said the international committee had already condemned some clinics and hospitals in Thailand for using unproven stemcell therapies. "Many physicians do not inform patients that stem cell research is still underway before using the technology on their patients," he said. "That is why we need to issue this regulation."

PetroChina to Pay $2.2 Billion for Singapore Refining (Update1)

BloomBerg
http://www.bloomberg.com/

By John Duce
May 25, 2009

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- PetroChina Co. agreed to pay as much as $2.2 billion to buy Singapore Petroleum Corp. to gain a foothold in Asia’s largest oil trading centre in an acquisition that may extend China’s influence over global resources pricing.

PetroChina, China’s biggest oil producer, will buy 45.5 percent of the Singapore refiner for S$1.47 billion ($1 billion), or S$6.25 a share, from Keppel Corp., 24 percent higher than the last-traded price of S$5.04 at the May 22 close. The transaction, when completed, will trigger a general offer for the remaining shares, the Beijing-based oil company said yesterday.

About 10 million barrels of oil, or 12 percent of the world’s daily output, pass through the Straits of Malacca off Singapore each day, according to the International Energy Agency. The Chinese government introduced a market-based fuel-pricing system in December that takes into account crude oil costs and ensures refiners a profit.

“The deal gives PetroChina immediate access to increased refining capacity to take advantage of higher domestic prices down the road,” said Gordon Kwan, an energy analyst at Mirae Asset Securities in Hong Kong. “On the flip side, if China fails to enforce the domestic product pricing reform, PetroChina can utilize SPC as an vehicle to sell fuel prices at international levels.”

Singapore Petroleum shares rose 20 percent to S$6.05 while Keppel Corp., the world’s largest maker of oil rigs, climbed 4.6 percent to close at S$7.28. PetroChina shares rose 1.9 percent to 13.1 yuan at the close in Shanghai and fell 0.8 percent to HK$8.32 in Hong Kong.

Offshore Platforms

The Beijing-based oil producer, whose market value is exceeded only by Exxon Mobil Corp., has gained 23 percent in Hong Kong trading this year, while the benchmark Hang Seng index advanced 18 percent.

Keppel Corp. expects a profit of S$660 million from the sale of its stake in Singapore Petroleum, the company said in a statement to the Singapore stock exchange today.

“The sale is in line with Keppel Corp.’s strategy to divest its non-core assets and concentrate on its core business activities,” the company said.

PetroChina and Keppel Corp. also agreed “in principle” to cooperate in offshore oil platforms, the Chinese company said in a statement on the Web site of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission today, without elaborating.

Singapore Petroleum has stakes in oil fields in Indonesia, Australia, Vietnam and Cambodia and also owns undersea pipelines carrying gas from Indonesia to Singapore and storage terminals. The company jointly owns Singapore Refining Co., one of the three biggest oil-processing plants in the city state, with Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. oil company. The refinery has capacity to process 285,000 barrels of oil a day.

$100 Billion of Trades

Singapore refines, stores and re-exports oil to countries including Indonesia, Vietnam and China. About $100 billion worth of fuels are traded a year in the city state.

The acquisition is meant to “become a platform for the implementation” of PetroChina’s international strategy and “to provide a broader foundation and stable path for development,” the Beijing-based oil producer said.

PetroChina won approval from shareholders May 12 to sell as much as 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) of bonds to fund exploration, pipeline and overseas projects. Chairman Jiang Jiemin told the annual general meeting the company plans to spend 233 billion yuan this year to buy and upgrade assets.

“China is flush with cash and commodities aren’t inexhaustible, so it makes sense for them to go out and buy resources for future use,” Ong Eng Tong, a Singapore-based consultant with Hamburg-based oil trader Mabanaft Gmbh., said in a telephone interview.

Loans-for-Oil Agreements

China agreed to give Russia, Kazakhstan, Brazil and Venezuela $49 billion in loans this year in exchange for oil supplies. The government plans to tap its $1.95 trillion foreign-exchange reserves, the world’s largest, for acquisitions.

The government of the world’s second-largest oil user is encouraging local companies to buy commodities and energy assets made cheaper by crude’s 58 percent decline from a record in $147.27 a barrel in July.

“This is just the beginning for PetroChina to buy assets directly to boost its oil and gas reserves,” China Merchants Securities Ltd. analyst Qiu Xiaofeng said by telephone from Shanghai. “But the value of this acquisition isn’t very large, so it won’t have a big impact on PetroChina’s profit.”

PetroChina’s main markets include Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, China and South Korea, according to the company’s statement. The company and smaller rival China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, have announced plans to expand refining capacity to meet demand for fuels in the world’s third- largest economy.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Duce in Hong Kong at Jduce1@bloomberg.net

PetroChina buys 45.5% of Singapore oil refiner

File photo shows drivers lining up at a PetroChina station in Beijing. PetroChina, the listed unit of China's biggest oil and gas producer, said it had agreed to buy a stake in refiner Singapore Petroleum Co. for 1.02 billion dollars.(AFP/File/Frederic J. Brown)

by Peter Harmsen – Mon May 25, 2009

BEIJING (AFP) – Oil major PetroChina said Monday it had agreed to buy nearly half of refiner Singapore Petroleum Co. for 1.02 billion dollars in China's latest move to secure resources for its energy-hungry economy.

PetroChina, the listed unit of the nation's biggest oil and gas producer, said in a statement it intends to acquire 45.51 percent of the Singaporean company's issued share capital at a premium on the market price of 24 percent.

The statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange added PetroChina will make an offer for the rest of the company upon completion of the deal.

"SPC will become a new platform for the implementation of our international strategy and will provide a broader foundation and stable path for development," PetroChina said on its website.

The deal is the latest high-profile bid by China, which sits on 1.9 trillion dollars in foreign exchange reserves, to fuel its economy, which is now the world's third-largest.

This month alone has seen a 10-year Chinese agreement with Brazil for the import of eventually 200,000 barrels of crude a day, as well as a pledge by Venezuela to increase oil exports to China eight-fold within "a few years".

PetroChina bought the shares in SPC from Keppel Oil and Gas Services, part of Singapore-based conglomerate Keppel Corp., according to PetroChina's statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

SPC, a regional energy company with interests in petroleum refining and marketing, owns a 50 percent stake in Singapore Refining Co., one of city-state's three major petroleum refiners, PetroChina said.

The Chinese firm added that Singapore Petroleum Co. is engaged in oil and gas exploration, with production properties in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia.

PetroChina, a unit of China National Petroleum Corp., was likely to benefit significantly from its new presence in Singapore, analysts said.

"This gives them a tremendous amount of flexibility," said Jason Feer, a Singapore-based analyst with Argus Media, a provider of business intelligence for the energy sector.

"If you refine a barrel of crude in China, then all of the products are in China and you have to pay an export tax to export them," he said.

"So now they can just refine what they need in Singapore, bring that product into China and then export the rest out of Singapore and not be subject to Chinese taxes and restrictions on exports."

In addition, Singapore's key position in Asia's oil product market was a boon for PetroChina, as it sought to develop its business, according to analysts.

"It is a large oil products distributing centre and it has an oil product exchange, which is significant in terms of the pricing power," said Wang Jing, a Shanghai-based analyst with Orient Securities.

She added that the agreement would give PetroChina an advantage vis-a-vis China's other energy giant Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner.

"PetroChina has been strong in the upstream business while weaker than Sinopec in refining and sales in the country," she said.

"So the takeover will probably strengthen PetroChina's competitiveness in the middle and downstream businesses," she said.

Court System Being Overhauled, Slowly

http://www.voanews.com

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
25 May 2009

The government has already publicly recognized the importance of legal and judicial reform for development, but, despite millions of dollars in aid from donors, progress has been slow.

The new Council for Legal and Judicial Reform has so far focused on updating laws crucial to the functioning of the maligned court system and training judges and prosecutors.

And now, the government testing a project in 20 different districts where local mediation is favored over courts that may be costly for the average rural villagers.

The government has selected local courts in the provinces of Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Cham and Kandal, as well as Phnom Penh, to serve as model courts where high standards of justice are to be ensured.

“The main purpose of judicial reform is to do whatever we can to properly bring justice to people, but this reform is difficult and tough,” said Suy Mongleang, secretary-general of the General Secretariat for Legal and Judicial Reform, in a phone interview with VOA Khmer last week.

France is one of major donors building the rule of law in Cambodia, and since 2001 has been focusing on legal work such as supporting training of judges and prosecutors.

“The main challenges for legal and judicial reform in Cambodia are capacity building,” such as familiarization with legal texts and a professional code of ethics, “and deployment of this training throughout the country,” Fabyène Mansencal, a spokeswoman for the French Embassy, told VOA Khmer by e-mail.

Gaining trust is another tough job for a court that is quite often under criticism from civil society and the public for providing justice to select groups, like the rich or powerful.

Seng Theary, executive director of the Center for Social Development, acknowledges that technically the system has seen progress via training of its personnel, but the court remains influenced by politics and corruption, making the poor vulnerable.

“The court system here is a system that is corrupt and does not have the confidence of the people, because they are still afraid to use the court to find justice,” she said in an interview. “They see the court as a market where justice can be bought.”

Cambodia’s Bar Association, which receives support from Japan International Cooperation Agency, has trained more than 200 lawyers. These lawyers are free to represent any client they want, but critics say they are not independent yet.

“Sometimes, when we are independent and abide by the law too much to pressure judges, they are not happy with us,” Ang Engthong, a former president of the Bar Association who is now in charge of lawyer training, told VOA Khmer. “There are a lot of problems, and as you know in Cambodia there is lot of corruption. This has become a habit.”

Some lawyers now even act as a go-between, he said, negotiating prices between a client and a judge to ensure a favorable outcome.

Cheam Yiep, a National Assemblyman for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, admitted corruption could be found in the court system, but argued that the system was being improved through the training of judges and prosecutors.

“It is inevitable that certain individuals in the court system commit corruption or acts of injustice and various inappropriate behaviors, as accused,” he told VOA Khmer. “There must be some, but not too many. The court system is step by step being given education, training, and self-study, to improve knowledge and technical professionalism.”

In 2005, Prime Minister Hun Sen set out an “iron fist” campaign to review irregularity in the courts. Despite much criticism from national civil parties and the international community as being a violation of judicial independence, and in what was seen as a move to please donors, Hun Sen’s public campaign was a clear acknowledgement that time was running out for judicial reform.

Cambodian-Muslim Woman Earns Grant for US Studies

http://www.voanews.com

By VOA Khmer, Sothearith Im
Original report from Washington
25 May 2009

Ohio University graduate student So Farina is a Cambodian Muslim. She was awarded the Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund Grant on May 19 in Washington, one of ten award recipients worldwide. She is the first Cambodian to receive the award. So Farina impressed the selection committee with her research on Muslim women under the Khmer Rouge.

She hopes to found a center for gender studies under the Documentation Center of Cambodia. The $12,000 grant will help her focus on her studies, she said in an interview with VOA Khmer.

So Farina is a graduate student in Southeast Asian Studies at the Center for International Studies at Ohio University, where a professor encouraged her to apply.

He “warned me that the scholarship was very competitive,” she said. “He asked me to look at the criteria and whether it matched my qualifications. When I saw the criteria, I knew my qualifications fit the criteria.”

So Farina impressed the MMMF selection committee with her research, “Muslim Cambodian Women’s Experience in Khmer Rouge Regime,” and her future potential for creating an oral history project, which she has been working on for about five years.

“First, it not only helps me solve financial problems, but also gives me value, respect, and hope, because it enables me to focus on my study and work more to make my dream a reality,” So Farina said.

The MMMF awards grants to women from developing countries who are studying subjects that benefit lives of women and children. The applicants must be enroll at accredited institutions in the United States and Canada at the time they submit their applications. They must use the grant toward their studies.

Sarah Brau, a member of MMMF’s board of directors, said there are a lot of competent applicants applying for MMMF grants. Besides their impressive qualifications, successful candidates must go back either to their home countries or other developing countries.

“We have tremendous applicants of all ages, and they have to have had experience volunteering or working for women or children in their own countries, and they have to already be here studying in the US or Canada when we add our scholarship money to them,” she said.

Brau said So Farina was the first candidate from Cambodia selected for the scholarship and was chosen for the intellectual ability to tackle difficult issues and pursue an educational goal. She encouraged women from Cambodia to apply for the scholarship.

“She was an extraordinary candidate,” Brau said. “She had exerted a great deal of intellectual rigor…and she both had intellectual analysis, the heart of the problems, and had been able to take a small step to implement the solution.”

The Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund was founded in 1981 to honor the life of Margaret Craig McNamara, whose husband was World Bank President from 1968 to 1981. The MMMF has awarded 134 grants to women from 57 countries since 1983. MMMF scholarship is available at mmmf-grants.org.

Notre Dame Student Outlines Obama Speech

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By Im Sothearith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
25 May 2009

Soeng Sophat is a graduate student of international peace studies at Notre Dame University. He watched carefully as President Barrack Obama spoke to his university earlier this month, in what has become a well-publicized appearance thanks to the abortion debate and interruptions of protesters.

Soeng Sophat spoke to VOA Khmer both before and after the speech.

“I think that what he raised is important for the application of democracy as well as conflict resolution,” Soeng Sophat said of Obama. “In general, parties have different views on certain issues. The important thing is to create the opportunity for discussion and dialogue so that we can find common ground.”

Before Obama’s speech to his graduating class, Soeng Sophat told VOA Khmer that Notre Dame represented a large Catholic community in the US, and therefore there would be a lot of opposition to a pro-abortion stance.

He explained the debate between pro-life, which favors the life of an unborn fetus, and pro-choice, which favors options for pregnant women, such as abortion.

“Pro-life is a fundamental moral principle of Catholics,” he said, citing a 2004 decision by Catholic bishops.

As a student, Soeng Sophat said he was interested in freedom of expression and the decentralization of government, such as the US’s federal, state and local authorities. He was also interested in the possibilities for conflict resolution within a democracy, he said.

“That’s what our country should learn,” he said. “We usually use violence to solve problems. In order to solve problems non-violently, first we need independent institutions acceptable to all parties, and we all must hold to the ideas that we can solve problems together non-violently. Obama’s appearance encourages debate about the differences, especially the abortion issue. I expect to learn how they deal with it.”

Obama’s Notre Dame appearance thrust the new president into the abortion debate. During the speech the president challenged notions of conflict resolution by saying that there may in fact be intractable differences between the two camps.

Following that speech, Soeng Sophat described the appearance of less than 50 demonstrators, including 38 people who sneaked onto campus and were arrested. A low-flying plane dropped anti-abortion banners before the university created a “no-fly” zone, he said.

“During his speech, there were interruptions from four people shouting out,” he said. “Someone shouted out, ‘Stop killing our children! How can problems be solved while you allow people to kill our children?’ Then students booed back and shouted out, ‘Yes, we can.’ His 30-minute speech focused on the disagreements over abortion, the identity of Notre Dame University, the American people’s beliefs, both Catholic and non-Catholic. He said that when we don’t agree on a particular issue, we need to seek common ground and start from there.”

To Soeng Sophat, the president raised important questions about the application of democracy and conflict resolution, saying that, in general, parties usually have different views on certain issues.

“I was lucky to be an eye-witness to United States president and to how he dealt with this issue,” Soeng Sophat said. “It was interesting to see the president’s reaction to those who opposed him. He said he agreed that they have their reasons to oppose. In this sense, I think they have a culture of debate. At the family, community and national levels, they have a tradition of discussion and debate based on reasoning, to solve complicated problems.

“Freedom of expression and debate has been rooted in their society for a long time,” he said. “I think in our country, we have not yet had a culture of non-violent solution to problems. We have not yet had the culture of debate and discussion based on reason, because everyone sticks to his views, and they sometimes use violence to oppose opponents without listening to their reasons and views. A culture of debate and non-violent conflict resolution can be created through an education system, which educates a younger generation to use non-violent solutions to problems.”

Three Test Negative for H1N1 Virus

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By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
25 May 2009

Three US-Cambodians have tested negative for the H1N1 virus, after they shared an international flight where one passenger was found to have the illness, health officials said Monday.

Sok Touch, director of Health Ministry’s communicable disease control department, said Chay Cerone, 62, was found in Battambang province, while Pann Thy, 46, and Pann Saroun, 26, were found in Kampot province.

All three tested negative for the virus, which appeared in Mexico last month and has sparked concerns of a pandemic. They were tested by the Pasteur Institute in Phnom Penh.

Authorities began searching for the three visitors when South Korea issued an alert saying that one passenger on a May 17 flight from Seattle to Incheon had tested positive for the illness.

Cambodia has no known cases of the H1N1 flu, but officials say they remain vigilant.

Chhour Kimny, chief of immigration police at Phnom Penh International Airport, said his personnel continue to watch for travelers with flu-like symptoms.

Between 1,300 and 1,500 passengers have been investigated through temperature scanners, which were installed at both international airports a few days after the first reported outbreak of the H1N1 flue was reported from Mexico.

The World Health Organization says 43 countries have officially reported more than 12,000 cases of infection, which has caused 86 deaths worldwide.

Cambodian Conservationist Looks to Save Fish

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By Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
25 May 2009

Chouly Ou, a conservationist and biologist, hopes to use her education to save the fish of the Mekong river. Her plan is to pursue a PhD to gain technical knowledge on fish population modeling.

“I plan to develop a model for sustainable management of the fish population in the Mekong river, the largest and most important river in Cambodia,” Chouly Ou said in an interview with VOA Khmer.

Chouly Ou was born and raised in Battambang province. After finishing high school, in 1999, she pursued an undergraduate degree in biology at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

After graduating in 2003, she was given a scholarship to study for a master’s in natural resources management, at the Asian Institute of Technology, in Thailand. High marks earned her a fellowship at Roskilde University, Denmark, in 2005.

She returned to the Royal University, in 2006, this time as a lecturer at the department of environmental science.

She worked for a conservation organization, Birdlife International, monitoring the Biodiversity Conservation Corridor Initiative. This allowed her to conduct fieldwork in forest areas like the Cardamom mountains and the eastern plains of Mondulkiri province.

She is now working for a PhD on fish population modeling.

“I believe that the fish population modeling I aim to develop will serve as a guide for sustainable management of fishery resources in the country,” she said.

Later this month, the conservationist will travel to Cambridge, Mass., to attend a Fulbright Enrichment Science and Technology Seminar.

She will be among the first Cambodian students to pursue a PhD with Fulbright funding.

“Participating in the seminar, I will learn about applied sciences, micro-enterprises and research and development laboratories,” she said.

Before attending the seminar, she plans to spend one week visiting the US capital and New York City, she said.

In Trial, Duch Discusses Vietnam Factor

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By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
25 May 2009

Jailed Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch explained to tribunal judges Monday the influence of Vietnam’s “Indochina Plan” in the calculations of the regime.

The guerrillas were originally supported by communists in North Vietnam, but later broke from them. By the time the Khmer Rouge were fully in power, they were opposed to the Vietnamese, and it was in part the fear of Vietnamese infiltration in the group’s ranks that led to a series of internal purges.

Duch ran Tuol Sleng prison, known to the Khmer Rouge as S-21, where many of the accused infiltrators were sent for confessions made under torture.

Duch said he appreciated the struggle of Pol Pot against the Vietnamese and a plan for Indochinese federation.

“Pol Pot was very wise in his struggle to defend Cambodia,” Duch told the judges during questioning.

Duch, 66, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev is facing charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder for his role as chief of the prison, where prosecutors say more than 12,000 Cambodians were tortured and sent to their deaths.

“I did not clearly know about the armed clashes between the Cambodian communist party and the Vietnamese communist party,” Duch said. “But I knew about armed clashes in the south of Modulkiri province and the border.”

Duch said he was not privy to decisions surrounding armed clashes, but said he put his faith in Pol Pot to defend the nascent country, which was undergoing an agrarian revolution and the policies of Democratic Kampuchea, the official name for the Khmer Rouge.

In testimony at the UN-backed court, Khmer Rouge expert Nayan Chanda described armed clashes between Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese soldiers, stemming from border disputes.