Tower could flood market

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Friday, 03 September 2010 15:00 Steve Finch

THE surprise announcement that Cambodia may construct the world’s second-tallest building may be good news for Phnom Penh’s prestige, but developer Overseas Cambodia Investment Corp would likely face a considerable financial headache in the process.

At 555 metres, although the project’s sheer scale would no doubt be its greatest draw, a building of this size in Phnom Penh could also become a victim of its huge size. Quite simply, the capital would struggle to absorb the massive increase in space for rent.

Were the building to contain the same ratio of office space as Canadia Tower, for example, at four and a half times as big it would flood the market with roughly 45,000 square metres of work space, equal to nearly 50 percent of the current total in the whole of Phnom Penh.

Although this figure is set to double to 200,000 metres by 2013, according to a 2009 report by international property firm CB Richard Ellis, this would still represent oversupply in the capital even if the tower were not completed for another five years, a realistic time frame.

It is equally difficult to see the required demand for residential or commercial space in the city to justify a building on such a scale.

The world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, suffered a similar problem when it opened this year. The huge additional property it added to the already-bloated market in Dubai further entrenched a slump, albeit one caused by the unprecedented global economic crisis.

OCIC has experienced similar problems in relation to Canadia Tower which has suffered from low demand and falling prices per square metre. The firm would of course expect the property market to be healthier than it is today, but even so, surely Phnom Penh would find it difficult to accommodate such a huge addition to the market.

The world’s four tallest structures aren’t built in Dubai, Taipei, Shanghai and Hong Kong for no good reason – these are cities with huge economies and a large projected appetite for real estate in the longer term.

Accounting for supply and demand in Phnom Penh’s still-small property market would be entirely necessary given that this private venture could cost anything up to US$1 billion, when we consider most projects on a similar scale go over budget.

An added problem in Phnom Penh is that the contractor may be building on sand on Koh Pich, an extremely young land formation that experts believe is likely to change in shape over time.

Considering foundation piling, bank protection and other construction necessities based on this proposed river bank location, the project could incur high structural and engineering costs.

As noted on the Invest in Cambodia website: “Phnom Penh is built on soft foundations which necessitate expensive piling for high-rise buildings, and so construction costs are high.”

Project Manager Touch Samnang’s consideration to bring in South Korean building expertise seems to be the norm for similarly large-scale construction projects – Burj Khalifa, Taipei 101 and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur were all built by Samsung Engineering and Construction.

Still, any firm would face the kind of structural challenges posed by the riverbanks of the Tonle Sap. Even if Phnom Penh is largely immune to other threats such as earthquakes and typhoons, that the city is equally resilient to a huge oversupply in property seems much less likely.

Man About Town 03-09-2010

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Friday, 03 September 2010 15:00 Peter Olszewski

Butterfly centre finally ready to fly again

ONE of Siem Reap’s newest tourism-ventures-cum-social enterprise, the Angkor Butterfly Centre, which opened on October 1 last year, has been caught up in a legal bun fight with some members of its associated NGO, the Angkor Participatory Development Organisation.

But it looks like the legal drama is now mostly over, bar the rustling of a thousand documents. The centre’s founder, Scottish biologist Ben Hayes, told 7Days that after what appears to have been the last court case last month, the centre will this month re-emerge as a commercial entity with a new name.

“The centre is in the process of being registered as a business and as of this month, upon completion of the business license, it will be business as usual – same site, same original objectives – just a new name due to the registering process,” Hayes said.

Hayes came to Cambodia from Zanzibar where he headed up a similar project.

The Siem Reap centre doubles as a farm and helps to replenish native butterfly stocks.

NGO founder in town

ONE of the distinguished visitors to be in town on Sunday is John Wood, the former Microsoft executive who founded the international NGO Room to Read.

Wood is in town as part of the NGO’s global 10th anniversary celebrations and he will be holding court at the Somadevy Angkor and Spa hotel on Sivutha Boulevard on Sunday evening, where he will be awarded an honourable medal and a certificate of admiration, along with noted international education philanthropists, David and Elsa Brule.

NGO lore says Wood was converted to philanthropy in the 1990s during a trip to Nepal where a school headmaster showed him how few books the school’s library had.

Wood wrote in the school book, “Leaving Microsoft to Change the World”, and subsequently founded Room to Read.

Raise your glass

RAFFLES Grand Hotel d’Angor’s Restaurant Le Grande has won a coveted Two Glasses Award in US magazine Wine Spectator’s 2010 listings for its wine menu.

It is the only Cambodian establishment to win the honour this year.

But Le Royal, the restaurant attached to the Grand’s “sister” hotel in Phnom Penh, Raffles Hotel Le Royal, won a One Glass Award. So too did Siem Reap’s ultra-exclusive hotel, Amansara.

Little dancers make big pilgrimage

Ritual dancers perform at the peak of the sacred Preah Vihear. Photo supplied by Nginn Karet Foundation

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Friday, 03 September 2010 15:00 Ravynn Karet Coxen

AT 4am on a Tuesday last month, two police cars escorting the two buses bound for Preah Vihear arrived at the Nginn Karet Foundation for Cambodia office in Siem Reap to pick us up.

All of the foundation’s staff had requested to be part of the pilgrimage so the buses were packed with enough food and water to feed and refresh 92 people for a whole day, as well as more supplies for ritual offerings. On top of that we had a bunch of elaborate outfits and adornments for the tiny passengers we were off to collect next.

The foundation’s dance and music school, the Conservatoire Preah Ream Buppha Devi, in Chhouk Sar Banteay Srey, was the spot for us to pick up the 62 little dancers who had spent the night there with Neak Krou Channou, a borann classical dance teacher.

It was still dark when we arrived so we requested that the police turn off their sirens, which they did, and keep only the cars’ flashing lights on to guide our path.

In a car with my assistant, I was still working on the invocation and prayers that Krou Saroeun, our main dance teacher, was planning to chant at Preah Vihear.

After a roadside rest stop, during which the children consumed an old lady’s entire stock of freshly cooked sweet potatoes, we headed off again, approaching the Dangrek Mountains.

The scenery was eerie in the mist, yet utterly beautiful. Our convoy stopped at the bottom of the mountain range as only some vehicles could manage to make it up the steep new concrete road.

Sticking together, everything and everyone was transferred into pick-ups and, after paying our respects to the spirits of the land, water and forest with incense, we set off again, this time with 20 additional police escorting us, adding to the original 15.

Midway up the mountain we stopped at a military base and a pagoda. Along with some of the other staff, I went to pay my respects and give alms to the monks and nuns.

The officer in charge of the journey then briefed us on the military situation at Preah Vihear and pointed out the base camp of 10 armed Thai soldiers, which was just a stone’s throw away.

With the police and military in tow, I approached the Thai soldiers and wished them and their families well, and shared my prayers for a happy, peaceful relationship between our two countries, which, as I pointed out, both descended from the bloodline of the Khmer race.

They were quite surprised and wary, but soon smiled and chatted briefly.

Moving on, our last leg of the journey was making our way up the mountain to the incredible Preah Vihear, majestically perched on the ridge of the Dangrek, where Earth meets Heaven.

We unloaded with the help of 40 soldiers who took our various packages up and down the tiers of the temple while the children were fed lunch under the shade of the surrounding trees.

After filling our bellies, we got the kids dressed in their white muslin outfits and adorned them with crowns and bracelets made out of banana trunk peels, arek nuts, lime, jasmine and lotus.

A moment of frustration occurred when a flock of monks arrived in seriously lavish Land Cruisers, looking more like tourists than the encapsulation of piety, what with their shoes, cameras, phones and sunglasses, each of them trying to take pictures of the children.

A moment later an important official from Phnom Penh asked to have his picture taken with the girls as they prepared for the sacred Buong Suong* ritual.

His request unfortunately had to be declined. We apologised profusely, explaining that this was not a show nor a display meant to entertain, but rather a completely pure and strict ritual for the Gods and Borameis (mystical spirits), and had we granted his request, it could weaken the sacredness of our invocation.

The foundation is strict in that all the girls who perform the sacred rituals are virgins and pure. We also ensure that no rich fabrics are used nor any make-up, so as to reach the spiritual level necessary to evoke divine attendance.

As such, it was wonderful to see how respectful and attentive the soldiers and police were towards our spiritual journey.

In lines of four, walking barefoot on the uneven stone path, our group descended to the bottom of the temple and sat in front of the plaque that reads “Preah Vihear Temple”. We each bowed three times with incense in hand, and Krou Saroeun started the chant.

Planting the incense in the ground, the girls then started their sacred dance, which continued all the way up to the peak.

Engrossed in their prayers, they never faltered in keeping to the rhythm of the classical music being played through a tape machine powered by

a car battery.

At each station of the five gopura (entrance gateway), the 62 dancers and all of the foundation’s staff knelt with incense to pray and evoke the deities to descend and receive the Buong Suong with their blessings.

At the holy Srea Meas (Golden Pond), the dancers completed a loop and the two leading the procession collected its sacred water in an ancient bronze receptacle to take it back to the offering site.

Lighting candles and incense and again at the sanctuary in front of the temple’s precipice, we chanted the invocation and called to all the Gods, the Borameis, and the spirits of the royal ancestors involved in the creation of Preah Vihear.

During the last dance, lightning and storm rumbled on the Thai side of the site and the sky darkened with heavy, looming clouds of rain.

Wrapping up, we distributed offerings to the soldiers and left them to meditate on what they had experienced.

We then all climbed back on to the packed trucks to go down to the buses where the children changed back into their normal clothes.

As the day came to an end and night descended on the Kingdom, the girls were full of joy.

We arrived back at the dance school around 9pm, where their parents eagerly awaited their return.

It was certainly a long day, but one which undoubtedly touched many people’s lives.

*Buong Suong is the term used to describe a hallowed act or rite of supplication to the deities. This dance is one of the few considered sacred enough to be performed as part of such a ritual.

Orange People going global

Photo by: Pha Lina
Employees of The Orange People participate in a discussion at the firm’s high-tech Norodom Boulevard office in Phnom Penh.

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 03 September 2010 15:00 Ellie Dyer

PHNOM Penh-based communications agency The Orange People sees creativity as a valuable commodity, one that has the potential to thrust Cambodia into the international spotlight.

Set up in 2008 and headed by Cambodian-Americans Nathaniel Chan and Sophy Pich, Orange People has developed from an start-up into a burgeoning enterprise employing around 35 staff members.

Marketing experts, graphic designers and animators – around 60 percent of whom are Cambodian – are among those working at its Norodom Boulevard office to produce TV shows, branding campaigns and advertisements for the private companies and NGOs.

“It is about sending a message to the target audience. We tell stories through many forms,” said Orange People Chief Executive Officer Nathanial Chan.

In a domestic market where global giants such as Bates 141 and Ogilvy operate, the company has developed big ideas to differentiate itself from rivals backed by international corporations. Diversifying from traditional branding methods, the company has used “social marketing” to spread brands through new media, TV and word of mouth.

For example, it created a touring television show called ‘You’re the Man’ for NGO Family Health International.Its aim was to challenge traditional male cultural roles by encouraging youths to prove themselves through cooking trials, personality tests and physical competitions.

“You are selling a message and a vision to try and impact change and more positive behaviour,” said Managing Director Sophy Pich, explaining that the show aimed to promote social responsibility amongst young men.

Orange People is also looking ahead to diversify the outlook for the Kingdom’s creative businesses. It is investing in technology to enable outsourcing to the United States. They hope American firms will be attracted by comparatively low Cambodian rates.

As Chan points out, much of the hit cartoon The Simpsons is made in South Korean animation studios, while Argentina has a burgeoning creative outsourcing sector.

“We are very technology-driven and want to put infrastructure in place so if you are sitting in New York you can see what is happening on a second-to-second basis,” he said.

“But having recognition on a global scale – it can’t be accomplished alone. It needs the backing of the entire industry.”

Chan said unity needs to be developed within the Kingdom’s growing marketing and advertising sector, which as yet does not have a cohesive voice and was hit hard by the global financial crisis, when many ad budgets were cut.

Among the survivors of the crisis, competition is still fierce. Chan talks of a “price war” among companies that compete for business through a bidding process.

“That’s how we feel at the moment, although we cannot speak for the entire industry,” he said. “But if we are just focused on competition we are forgetting about the bigger picture five to 10 years from now. We need to move forward as a sector.”

Sophy Pich said he believes skills have to be valued. “We have to stick firm on quality over price,” he said.

And Orange People must keep a close eye cash flow. It is especially important in an industry where clients pay a portion of fees upfront.

Though Chan declined to discuss exact finances, besides saying that the firm had no monetary concerns, he emphasised that “diligence” was needed to balance creativity with cash.

Chevrolet importer celebrates anniversary

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 03 September 2010 15:00 May Kunmakara

AUTO Sales (Cambodia) Ltd, which imports Chevrolet, will celebrate two years of operation in Cambodia tomorrow, counting among its achievements a 50 percent increase in sales quarter-on-quarter this year. Chanchal Singh, facility manager, said the company was proud of its growth and was responding with the launch of a “new product” next month which would target young people.

Vietnam's Complicated Relationship with the US

A soldier holds a rifle in front of a giant image of the late Vietnam's founder Ho Chi Minh during National Day celebrations in Hanoi on September 1. (Photo: Reuters)

By RICHARD S EHRLICH / ASIA SENTINEL
Thursday, September 2, 2010

via Khmer NZ

HO CHI MINH CITY — Cheap facsimiles of $100 bills waft in the tropical breeze, littering Ho Chi Minh City's sidewalks with Benjamin Franklin's face. Elsewhere in Vietnam, US President Richard M. Nixon has become a gritty fashion icon, giving politicized street cred to "urban wear" clothes.

Thirty-five years ago, victorious Communist North Vietnam's troops fought their way into South Vietnam's southern port of Saigon and renamed it Ho Chi Minh City to honor their dead, charismatic, wispy-bearded leader. Ho's ubiquitous portrait, however, now competes with symbols of America, one of his worst enemies. Today, on the chaotic streets of Ho Chi Minh City and the northern capital Hanoi, virtually anything linked to the US is prized, including iPhones, Pepsi, and made-in-Vietnam Converse shoes.

In short, it appeared during a recent visit to Ho Chi Minh City, on Vietnam's streets as well as its ministries, it is engaged in a forked relationship with the United States that can't just be described as love-hate. It appears more complicated than that. Three and a half decades years after the war ended, both countries are still trying to come to terms with the other. Despite Vietnam's feverish adoption of the US's cultural symbols, other American political landmarks—a free and unfettered press, universal suffrage—remain too difficult for the one-time Communist regime.

London-based Amnesty International and other organizations criticize Vietnam for an array of human rights violations. Last September, the Committee to Protect Journalists cited Vietnam for continuing interference and arrests of Web-based journalists and political bloggers. Reporters remain in jail for reporting on corruption and political harassment. Wary of allowing too much American-style freedom, the one-party government heavily censors the Internet and is now targeting online games.

"Game designers will be instructed to produce healthy online games relating to history and cultural traditions," the Vietnam News Service reported in August, outlining new measures issued by the Information and Communications Ministry.

Since diplomatic relations were established in 1995, “bilateral ties have expanded to the point where leaders on both sides describe each other as partners on a number of issues,” according to a study for the US Congressional Research Service by Mark E. Manyin that was published in July, eclipsing the horrors meted out by the Americans from 1965 to 1975. Those are now enshrined in museums that display grim evidence, weaponry, and portraits of devastated Vietnamese from a time when US soldiers called their burnt napalm victims "crispy critters."

"They decide on a water torture," says the caption of a black-and-white news photograph in The War Remnants Museum which documents five American soldiers, including one pouring a canteen onto a horizontal victim's cloth-covered head. "A rag is placed over the man's face and water is poured on it, making breathing impossible. Members of the 1st Air Cavalry use water torture on a prisoner in 1968."

Outdoors sit captured US weaponry including an F-5A jet fighter, A-37 light attack aircraft, M-41 tank, a UH-1H Huey and a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, alongside other pieces. The museum's gift shop sells what looks like US soldiers' metal identification "dog tags" including one issued to B. P. McKenna, serial number B407854 USN, a Protestant with A-Positive blood.

Vietnamese forgers have made a fortune reproducing the tags and selling them to tourists since the 1990s, so it is difficult to determine their authenticity. Genuine or not, their sale at The War Remnants Museum, and at the nearby Ho Chi Minh Museum, symbolizes how Vietnam regards booty linked to the US military's defeat.

Around the corner from The War Remnants Museum, however, a shop boldly calls itself The Death, and showcases Goth-themed shoes, dresses and handbags, indicating a younger generation's different attitude toward the West. The Death shop's sign on Le Quy Don street, in inexplicable broken English, reads: "bitchy me passion over you."

Within sight of Death's door is the former South Vietnamese President's Palace—now Reunification Palace—where the war's final showdown occurred. But that US failure to protect an ally is largely ignored by today's Vietnamese who eagerly watch Hollywood's newest films, subtitled in Vietnamese, including "Inception" at the MegaStar Cineplex in Hanoi, and "Salt" playing at Ho Chi Minh City's Dong Da theater.

While an increasing number of Americans now refer to "Vietnam" as shorthand for the US military's confusion, quagmire and countless killing of innocent people in Afghanistan, the one-party regime in Hanoi is looking toward Washington to improve commercial, cultural and military ties.

Today, the US buys most of Vietnam's exports, and Americans are the biggest investors in the country. In 2009, two-way trade topped more than US $15 billion.

Whatever the rhetoric emanating from the war museum, Vietnam continues to seek a closer embrace, having applied for acceptance into the US General System of Preferences, participating in negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty with the US and working towards membership in the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership, a trade group the US is also considering joining.

And, 15 years after the two countries normalized relations, they conducted joint naval exercises in the strategic South China Sea for a week during August. In what has to be considered a symbolic gesture for both countries the destroyer USS John S. McCain, named for the father of the 2008 Presidential candidate who spent five-and-a-half years in a Hanoi prison after his plane was shot down over North Vietnam, was also allowed to dock in central Vietnam's former US-occupied port of Danang.

America is influencing Vietnam in other ways.

"Many students like to learn English, and it is the number one foreign language which we want to know, so that we can get a good job and progress," said Tu, a young waitress at a new but empty middle-class restaurant. "The second favorite language for young Vietnamese is Japanese, but it is too difficult," she said.

Many Vietnamese, meanwhile, worship dead ancestors by performing a Chinese-influenced ritual of burning small, paper, look-alike items—such as tissue-thin dollhouses, clothing patterns and other symbolic necessities. Believers say the smoke rises to heaven, where deceased family members can grab the goods to make life easier in the afterworld.

In recent years, many Vietnamese have chosen locally-printed facsimiles of $100 US currency notes, sold in funeral shops. The practice is so popular that unburnt fake $100 bills, apparently blown away during spontaneous curbside rituals, occasionally appear underfoot on sidewalks, amid other debris.

The late, disgraced President Nixon is also wedged into modern Vietnam's pop culture. Step inside Mai's, a trendy gallery on Dong Khoi street—which links the colonial French-built Catholic Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Opera House. Designer Mai Lam offered a new, bulky, olive green US army overcoat with a large embroidered American flag on its back, partially obscured by the vividly stitched face of Mr. Nixon wearing a black suit and tie while speaking into a microphone, angry and defiant. Price: $3,500.

"Her much celebrated vintage US army flak jackets, beautified for urban wear with embroidered Buddhas and embellished with precious stones [are] a poignant healing symbolism for someone who has suffered during the war," Mai's Facebook page said. Other distressed fashions bear a portrait of Ho Chi Minh.

Richard S Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist who has reported news from Asia since 1978. His web page is http://www.asia-correspondent.110mb.com/

New Malaria Drug Candidate Holds Promise

http://online.wsj.com/

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SEPTEMBER 2, 2010
By GAUTAM NAIK

An international team of scientists has identified a promising drug candidate that represents an entirely new class of medicines to treat malaria, one of the biggest killers in the developing world.

The new drug was shown to be effective when tested in a small number of mice, according to a study appearing in the journal Science. Human trials, backed by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG, could begin later this year.

Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

Khmer families lined to give blood samples at a WHO malaria screening project in July along the Thailand-Cambodia border.

The discovery comes amid two key developments in the fight against the mosquito-borne illness. Several parts of Africa are showing a decline in malaria deaths, thanks to wider use of insecticides and bed nets to ward off mosquitoes that carry the disease, as well as use of artemisinin, a potent drug.

At the same time, there are worrying signs that the malaria parasite in parts of Southeast Asia is becoming resistant to artemisinin, which is the mainstay of combination therapy for as many as 100 million patients world-wide. Resistance has already rendered some older therapies less effective.

"We welcome a new class of drug because it could help us stay one step ahead of the parasite," said Robert Newman, director of the global malaria program at the World Health Organization, who wasn't involved in the Science study. However, he cautioned, "it's a long route to making the drug marketable … many drugs fall by the wayside."

The malaria parasite can cause fever, joint pain and death. Last year, there were an estimated 240 million cases of malaria. Of total deaths, 91% occurred in Africa and 85% were children under the age of five, according to the WHO. But the battle against malaria is making progress, and a potent new drug could help sustain the momentum.

AFP/Getty Images

A mosquito on the prowl

In 2009, malaria deaths world-wide fell to 836,000 from more than one million a few years earlier, including declines in Eritrea, Rwanda, Zambia and Zanzibar. Over the past decade, malaria cases have fallen in nine countries in Africa and in 29 elsewhere.

Most anti-malaria compounds being tested today are derivatives of existing drugs. Many common medicines treat malaria by essentially making the parasite's blood meal toxic. For other medicines, the mechanism is more of a mystery, said Thierry Diagana, co-author of the Science study and malaria program head at the Novartis Institute of Tropical Diseases in Singapore. Finding a drug that can kill malaria in a new way is hard.

When malarial parasites infect people, they spend part of their life cycle in the blood and part of it in the liver. In 2007, Elizabeth Winzeler of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., who also works for Novartis, used robots to screen 12,000 naturally occurring chemicals against plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest malaria parasite. The chemicals were supplied by Novartis, which leads a big effort to develop drugs for tropical diseases. Dr. Winzeler and colleagues at Novartis and elsewhere came up with NITD609, a compound that killed two species of parasites in their blood stage and also proved effective against drug-resistant strains.

The drug, a class of compounds known as spiroindolones, was then tested in mice. A mouse with malaria usually dies within a week. But when NITD609 was orally given to five infected mice, they were cured with no side effects. Other mouse tests also showed promising results.

"The next step would be to go into humans" for early-stage safety testing, said Dr. Winzeler. "As far as I can tell, there are no red flags."

Further studies are in the works, and "provided the outcomes of these studies are favorable, the compound could progress to clinical trials later this year," a Novartis spokeswoman said.

What makes the discovery unusual is that it harks back to an older way of finding novel drugs. The modern, "molecular" approach is to first identify a protein vital to the survival of the malaria parasite, and then screen various drugs until one is found that targets the protein. In the past few years, this approach has been tried on millions of compounds against malaria, with modest success.

The more traditional way is to bombard the entire parasite with various chemical compounds, and see what happens. The hitch is that even if a particular compound is effective, no one knows exactly how it worked. That uncertainty can make it harder to develop the drug for people.

Still, Dr. Winzeler opted for the traditional approach, which yielded a pre-clinical candidate in three years—quick by industry standards. She and her co-authors then figured out that the compound acted on a protein called PfATP4, which allows substances to cross cell membranes. No other malaria drug acts on this protein, though its exact mechanism has yet to be pinned down.

"This approach is upside down. It flies in the face of modern drug discovery," said Tim Wells, chief scientific officer at the Medicines for Malaria Venture, a Swiss-based nonprofit group that helped pay for the Science study.

Other funders, besides Novartis, included U.K.-based Wellcome Trust, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Keck Foundation.

Write to Gautam Naik at gautam.naik@wsj.com  

Glimpses of heaven — and hell — in Cambodia

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Posted by: Erik Tryggestad on September 2, 2010

A Buddhist temple, or wat, in rural Cambodia near Phnom Penh (Photo by Erik Tryggestad

Just after finishing our Global South feature on Cambodia, “Life, death and rebirth in The Killing Fields,” I left on an Africa reporting trip. So I didn’t get the chance to share some insights from my visit to Cambodia earlier this year.

I flew to Phnom Penh, the capital, from Singapore and stayed for a few days before traveling northwest to Siem Reap, where I made a brief visit to the Angkor of Faith 4 youth camp. While in Phnom Penh, I stayed at the home of Rich and Ronda Dolan. They moved to Cambodia a few years ago to work with the Cambodia Bible Institute, a satellite campus of Lubbock, Texas-based Sunset International Bible Institute. Rich is the former youth and family minister for the Broken Arrow, Okla., Church of Christ, so we spent some time talking about mutual friends in the Sooner state.

Dennis and Sharon Welch (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

I also met Dennis and Sharon Welch, who also help with the institute. Dennis was an air-traffic controller in Dallas for 20 years before enrolling in Sunset’s mission program in Lubbock. Joy and Lynn McMillon interviewed him in 2007 for a feature on Sunset. It was nice to see him and his wife at work in the mission field.

The Welches are transitioning into a new ministry role. They will oversee the rural nutrition program I wrote about in the Cambodia feature. The program, which provides nutrition and education for 1,600 children in 11 villages, formerly was overseen by Arkansas-based Partners in Progress.

Now the Central Church of Christ in Stockton, Calif., is taking over support of the ministry.

I got to see the nutrition program firsthand while I was in Cambodia. I took some photos and video of happy children lining up to get a nutritious snack from the Cambodian Christians who work with the program. My favorite part was watching the Cambodians hold up flash cards with words like “ear” and “nose” and teaching the children how to say and spell them in English.

Snacks in hand, girls in rural Cambodia are all smiles. (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

Troy Snowbarger took me from village to village as he showed me the program in action. He and his wife, Tabitha, have overseen the program for a few years, but plan to return to the States to pursue master’s degrees. They formerly worked with the Peace Corps in East Timor. (I’m guessing they were the first Church of Christ members to set foot in that tiny, impoverished nation, but I could be wrong about that.)

Troy Snowbarger watches as children line up for snacks in rural Cambodia. (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

The Central Church of Christ already has funds committed to oversight of the nutrition program, but more money is needed. If anyone is interested in helping out, please contact the church. (Check out Dennis and Sharon’s blog for more information.)

Church members also teach English using the Bible to Cambodian students in Phnom Penh.

I visited a ministry center where volunteers were doing just that, using the World English Institute curriculum. Partners in Progress had oversight of the program at the time, but in the months since that has changed.

Now the program is called Bible English Study and Training, or BEST. Julie Broyles oversees the program, and she’s looking for teachers to come to Cambodia on short-term mission trips. Contact World English Institute for more info. (Julie is Ronda Dolan’s sister, by the way. They both grew up in Thailand, where their father, Loren Hollingsworth, served as a missionary for 30-plus years.)

Cell block at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Memorial in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

In the Cambodia feature, I wrote about Sokhom Hun, the Cambodian-born minister who endured prison and torture at the hands of the brutal Khmer Rouge.

While I was in Phnom Penh I visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Memorial. It’s a former school that became the infamous S-21 prison during the Khmer Rouge years. Vietnamese troops discovered the prison when they ran the Khmer Rouge out of Phnom Penh in 1979. They took photos of the dead bodies strapped to iron bed frames in former classrooms that had become torture chambers.

Those photos hang on the walls of the rooms in which they were taken. The bed frames and the torture implements are still there. The Khmer Rouge kept meticulous notes and photos of the people they imprisoned and murdered there. The photos are on display in the museum. You can see the terror behind the prisoners’ blank stares. An estimated 17,000 people entered those walls and never left.

I can barely put into words what walking through that museum was like. A Cambodian walked up to me while I was looking in one of the rooms.

“Where you from?” he asked, in broken English. I told him I was from Oklahoma.

“This my first time,” he said. Then he shuddered and pointed to his forearms.

I knew what he meant — goosebumps. I had them too.

An interrogation room at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Memorial in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

While preparing the report on Cambodia, I was blessed to come across “Survival in the Killing Fields” by Haing Ngor with Roger Warner. Ngor won an Oscar for his portrayal of Cambodian journalist Dith Pran in the 1984 film “The Killing Fields.” Ngor himself was a physician in Cambodia who was tortured repeatedly by the Khmer Rouge. (In fact, what he endured during the regime makes Dith Pran’s experiences seem almost mild.) Ngor is a tragic figure (he was killed in 1996 in an apparent robbery) and his insights into the paranoid mentality of the Khmer Rouge really helped me to understand the regime — as much as it is possible to do so. The parts of the book that deal with torture are graphic, but it’s a compelling read. I highly recommend it.

New Book Examines All Forms of Human Trafficking

Thai Military Officials Arrive for Preliminary Talks

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
Thursday, 02 September 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: AP
Bangkok continues to insist that a 4.6 kilometer stretch of land near Preah Vihear temple belongs to Thailand.

“Because they are not limited to the border, but relate to many issues, so I have allowed talks at this level.”

Senior Thai military officials arrived in Phnom Penh Thursday to hold talks with their Cambodian counterparts over border issues.

The preliminary talks will set the stage for a general border committee meeting that was postponed last month, defense officials said Thursday.

The resumption of talks at the military level comes after the resumption of diplomatic ties between the two countries last week and could pave the way for more discussions on a contentious border dispute over land near Preah Vihear temple.

Thailand's military commander for border affairs, Ni Phatthongleng, will meet with Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh over the weekend to discuss border issues like security and immigration.

But he could also work on a date for the general border committee meeting, Chhum Socheath, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said.

Border committee meetings are generally led by Tea Banh in conjunction with his Thai counterpart, Prawit Wongsunwon. It a the basis of discussions on issues ranging from landmine disposal to drug smuggling and human trafficking.

The larger problem of the Cambodian-Thai border dispute will have to be solved on another level, and Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Thursday those talks, between foreign ministers, would have to wait until Thai parliament agrees to several agreements already discussed in border meetings.

Military talks can continue, however, he said, “because they are not limited to the border, but relate to many issues.”

“So I have allowed talks at this level,” he said.

Philadelphia Selected for Third Cambodian Consul in US

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC
Thursday, 02 September 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: by Taing Sarada
The US government has green-lighted the establishment of a consulate for Cambodia in Lowell, Mass., home to around 35,000 Cambodians, in 2009.

“Our purpose in opening the consulate is first to facilitate paperwork for Cambodians, whether they hold US citizenship or still have Cambodian citizenship.”

Cambodia will open a consulate in the city of Philadelphia, Penn., later this month, aiming to provide services to Cambodians there and help draw investment back home.

Hor Namhong is expected to open the consulate, Cambodia's third in the US, on Sept. 25. Consulates already operate in Seattle, Wash., and Lowell, Mass.

“Our purpose in opening the consulate is first to facilitate paperwork for Cambodians, whether they hold US citizenship or still have Cambodian citizenship,” Cambodia's ambassador to the US, Hem Heng, told VOA Khmer. “Secondly, to protect their interests in the US. And thirdly, we want to expand trade and cultural relations and cooperation. We want to promote investment in Cambodia and attract US tourists to visit Cambodia.”

Sok Savoeun, a 48-year-old US-Cambodian, has been named consul for the office.

“This area is central to Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese communities and other ethnic groups who like to visit Cambodia,” he said. “As for the investment I have observed that the Korean community here likes to go to do business in Cambodia.”

The consulate will offer visa and passport services and certification of documents, such as marriage and birth certificates, he said.

However, supporters of Cambodia's opposition parties worry the consulate, located in a city of diverse political views and 18,000 Cambodians, will be used to further the interests of the ruling Cambodian People's Party.

“I don't expect much from the consulate,” said Ou Kimhuot, an activist for the minority opposition Human Rights Party. “In my view, the consulate will serve [CPP] political purposes rather than serving the people here. It is placed as their eyes and ears to keep vigilance over the opposition, to see how strong the opposition is, so they can devise a strategy to cope with that.”

Hem Heng rejected the idea. He said the consulate will serve people from all political walks, “so long as they are Cambodians.

“We'll help them all,” he said. “There is no discrimination. Once he begins performing his duties, the consul will be neutral, although he supports the government. It is not set up to counter the opposition.”

International Report Highlights More Abuses Over Land, Press

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
Thursday, 02 September 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: AP
Cambodian Buddhist monks read local opposition newspapers at a ceremony in Phnom Penh.

“I do not think the violence is calming down,” he said. “But I think that arrests are increasing.”

The Cambodian government is facing more accusations it has cracked down on freedoms of expression and the media in the past several years.

In a new report by the Paris-based Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, researchers found “trade union leaders, land rights activists and journalists have faced among the worst human rights violations [and are] facing new legal restrictions and fierce retaliation for documenting and denouncing abuses.”

Dozens of land rights activists were detained on charges “designed to remove them from the role as community leaders,” the research group said in a statement.

The group cited the case of venerable monk Loun Sovath, who is embroiled in a land dispute in Siem Reap province, as an example.

Two of Loun Sovath's family members were shot during land protests in Anlong Samnor commune, Chi Kreng district, where villagers and the owner of a water reservoir were disputing ownership of nearly 100 hectares of rice fields.

Loun Sovath, who has led a number of awareness campaigns over the dispute, told VOA Khmer on Thursday the arrests of nine protesters and the wounding of others was “unjust for villagers who led a protest against a land grab.”

“I do not think the violence is calming down,” he said. “But I think that arrests are increasing.”

The international researchers also pointed to the jailing of opposition newspaper editor Hang Chakra as further evidence of the erosion of free expression.

Hang Chakra, the editor of the Khmer Mchas Srok newspaper, was jailed for nearly a year in 2009, after he published articles alleging corruption within the Council of Ministers.

“Since I was in jail, I think media expression has gone down,” he told VOA Khmer Thursday. “The Cambodian government should open their hearts to receive criticism and consider what the NGOs and media are doing. That's better than thinking about a dictatorship against criticism.”

Cheam Yiep, a lawmaker for the Cambodian People's Party, said freedoms of expression and media were not on the decline. “Right now the Cambodian government is reforming step by step on human rights issues,” he said.

Discover Pristine Cambodian Beaches Ranked by Forbes' Magazine as 'Asia's Best' with Travel Indochina's 'Buy One-Get One Half Off' Offer

 

via Khmer NZ

 

Published: September 02, 2010

 

LOS ANGELES - (BUSINESS WIRE) - For vacationers dreaming of walking barefoot on white sandy beaches that are virtually untouched, and who relish in the sensory delights of discovering fascinating cultures, Asia travel specialist Travel Indochina's small group journeys to Cambodia combine the best of everything, including a significant savings on select tours for the rest of 2010.

 

Of the 2.16 million visitors to Cambodia last year, a great majority missed experiencing the exquisite beauty of pristine Cambodian beaches that Forbes Magazine recently named as "Asia's Best Beaches," including O'Tres Beach in Sihanoukville, Ream Beach in Prey Nop and an environmentally planned resort island just 30 miles off the Cambodian coast, Koh Rong.

 

"The world's attention is now starting to focus on the beautiful coastal areas of Cambodia, which our small group journeys have consistently included on our itineraries," said Paul Hole, president of Travel Indochina. "Our philosophy of providing unique, 'real' experiences in small groups means all our journeys include some surprising or undiscovered hideaways that definitely should not be missed," he added.

 

Travel Indochina's 'Buy One-Get Second Half-Price" sale is valid on two popular Small Group Journeys for the remainder of 2010. These tours offer travelers a way to experience Cambodia in depth along with time to relax and enjoy its unspoiled beaches.

 

• Cambodia Revealed is a 12-day journey offering the best of Cambodia with visits to the capital of Phnom Penh, colonial port town of Kampot, the un-crowded beaches of Kep and Sihanoukville, as well as the majestic temples of Angkor and the remote Boeng Mealea. Pricing starts at just $1,695 per person (twin share) with the second person receiving half off and availability includes seven departures through the end of the year.

• Cambodia Kings, Temples and Elephants is a family oriented 10-day journey that explores the ancient temples, monuments and the beachside towns in various forms of transportation including tuk-tuk, hot air balloon, bicycle and speedboat. Pricing for Cambodia Kings, Temples and Elephants starts at $1,545 per person (twin share) and the second person at just half price and is available for the December 18, 2010 departure.

Entertainment Gaming Asia Reaches 670 Gaming Machine Seats in Operation at NagaWorld

via khmer NZ

Posted on: Thu, 02 Sep 2010

HONG KONG, Sep 02, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Entertainment Gaming Asia Inc. (NYSE Amex: EGT | PowerRating) ("Entertainment Gaming Asia" or "the Company"), formerly known as Elixir Gaming Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of electronic gaming machines on a participation basis to the Pan-Asian gaming industry, announced today that as of August 31, 2010 it had reached 670 gaming machine seats in operation at NagaWorld casino resort. This fulfills the total number of machines under the Company's most recent Machine Operation Participation Consolidation Agreement with NagaWorld Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong listed NagaCorp Ltd. (HKSE:3918). Despite the increase in installed base, average net win per unit per day for the Company's operations at NagaWorld continues to be strong, achieving $214 for the month of August 2010. NagaWorld is a luxury casino resort in Cambodia and is the only licensed full service casino in and around the capital city of Phnom Penh.

Due to the strong performance of Entertainment Gaming Asia's operations at NagaWorld, the Company recouped in mid-August 2010 all remaining commitment fees paid to NagaWorld. Entertainment Gaming Asia and NagaWorld will continue to share the revenue and certain operating costs, such as marketing and floor staff, at a 25% / 75% split, respectively, on the total installed base of 670 gaming machine seats.

Clarence Chung, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Entertainment Gaming Asia, commented, "Our slot operations at NagaWorld, which we jointly manage and operate with NagaWorld, have experienced dramatic growth since our first placements of approximately 200 gaming machine seats in January 2009. We attribute our strong performance to our targeted marketing efforts to build customer loyalty, the right machine mix, favorable positioning on NagaWorld's prime casino lobby floor spaces, and the benefits of the closure of all slot clubs previously operating in the Phnom Penh region early in 2009. We believe these factors along with our proactive management will enable us to drive continued improvements in our operating performance at NagaWorld."

About Entertainment Gaming Asia Inc.

Entertainment Gaming Asia Inc. (NYSE Amex: EGT), formerly known as Elixir Gaming Technologies, Inc., is a leading provider of electronic gaming

machines on a participation basis to the Pan-Asian gaming industry. The Company secures long-term contracts to provide electronic gaming machines and related systems to premier hotels and other well-located gaming venues in Asia. The Company retains ownership of the gaming machines and systems and receives recurring daily fees based on an agreed upon percentage of the net gaming win per machine and provides on-site maintenance. Entertainment Gaming Asia Inc. also holds a casino license in Cambodia and intends to build and operate Dreamworld Casino and Resort, a casino hotel in the Takeo Province near the Vietnam border. For more information please visit www.EGT-Group.com.

About NagaCorp Ltd.

NagaCorp Ltd. (3918.HK) operates NagaWorld, the only licensed 5-Star Hotel Casino Resort in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. NagaCorp holds a casino license issued by the Royal Government of Cambodia, which gives the company the rights to operate the casino for 70 years commencing January 1995 with 41 years exclusivity within a 200 kilometer radius of Phnom Phen (except the Cambodia-Vietnam boarder area, Bokor, Kirirom Mountains, and Sihanoukville.) One of Cambodia's most popular tourist destinations, NagaWorld currently has, among others, 508 rooms, 176 table games, a premium meeting, incentive travel, convention, and exhibition (MICE) facility, a retail shopping area, a collection of restaurants and bars, a karaoke lounge, and a spa. NagaCorp Ltd. is incorporated in Cayman Islands with limited liability and its securities are listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Entertainment Gaming Asia, formerly known as Elixir Gaming Technologies, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Those forward-looking statements include statements regarding expectations for the business of Entertainment Gaming Asia, its working capital requirements and future revenue and profitability, the project schedule for its Dreamworld Casino and Resort and Entertainment Gaming Asia's ability to fund the Dreamworld Casino project. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual circumstances, events or results may differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to differences include, but are not limited to, risks related to the costs incurred by Entertainment Gaming Asia in defending shareholder litigation and the outcome of any judgment or settlement with respect to such litigation, Entertainment Gaming Asia's inability to place gaming machines at significant levels, whether the gaming machines placed generate the expected amount of net win, Entertainment Gaming Asia's ability to successfully execute its plans to build and operate a casino hotel, the ability of Entertainment Gaming Asia to acquire additional capital as and when needed, the ability of Entertainment Gaming Asia to collect revenue and protect its assets and those other risks set forth in Entertainment Gaming Asia's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 filed with the SEC on March 30, 2010 and subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Entertainment Gaming Asia cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Entertainment Gaming Asia does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur.

SOURCE: Entertainment Gaming Asia Inc.

Cambodian rights groups face worsening repression: activists

Rights group Licadho said that as of mid-July around 60 activists were being held in Cambodian prisons

via Khmer NZ

PHNOM PENH — Human rights workers in Cambodia face "an increasingly hostile environment" as authorities use violence, intimidation and "trumped-up" criminal charges to silence them, activists warned Thursday.

Rights group Licadho said that as of mid-July around 60 activists were being held in Cambodian prisons on a range of charges.

"Cambodian human rights defenders have faced an increasingly hostile environment over the past two years, enduring physical violence, illegal arrests, trumped-up criminal charges," the group said in a statement.

In a new report, "Attacks and Threats Against Human Rights Defenders in Cambodia", it said courts were being used to obstruct human rights workers' lawful activities while defamation and disinformation laws were restricting freedom of expression.

In a separate statement, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) said that rights groups faced "shrinking space" in Cambodia.

"Time and again we see the same pattern -- those who dare to speak out against injustice are arrested, imprisoned and intimidated," said Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH president.

"The message to human rights defenders is clear: Be quiet, or the government will forcibly silence you," he added.

The groups' warning came just a few days after Licadho staff member Leang Sokchouen was jailed for two years for disinformation after he allegedly distributed anti-government leaflets.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, FIDH and OMCT condemned the conviction in joint statement released late Wednesday and called for his immediate release.

"Unfounded charges of disinformation or defamation are well-worn tactics used by the Cambodian government to create a climate of fear," Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement.

AKP - Agent Kampuchea Press

via Khmer NZ

Cambodian PM: Relations between Cambodia and Thailand Go Down Due to Thailand’s Encroachment on Cambodian Territory

Phnom Penh, September 2, 2010 AKP -- Cambodian premier said the relations between Cambodia and Thailand went down due to Thailand’s encroachment on Cambodian territory and ex-Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra’s resignation does not comply with a request of Bangkok.

Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia said this while presiding over a ceremony held at the National Institute of Education to confer certificates to students who graduated from the private University of Human Resources.

The Cambodian premier also blasted Thai politicians in Bangkok for misunderstanding him.

On the part of Thaksin's resignation, he said, Cambodia only approved his request to do so and his resignation had nothing related to any interest for Cambodia and Thailand.

He said he cannot be satisfied with relation with Thailand as long as Thai soldiers maintain a presence inside Cambodian territory.

The Cambodian premier also appealed to Thai parliament to approve agreements made by the foreign ministers of the two countries in order to help solve the border problem.

He said once the three agreed minutes approved by the Thai parliament, after then it will pave the way for the two governments to continue smooth talks and will help solve the border problem.

“Cambodia is still patient to solve the border dispute by peaceful means in a framework of bilateral talks and if there is nothing changed in a withdrawal of Thai army from Cambodian soil, the third mediation is still necessary to solve border conflict between the two nations,” he said.

The Cambodian prime minister also said he is ready to hold talks with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and such meeting will be learned in the several upcoming venues and events such as Asia-Europe to be held in Brussels early in October, ASEAN Summit to be held in Vietnam in late October or leaders' meeting of ACMECS to be held in Cambodia in November. --AKP

(By THOU Peou)

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PM Urges All Educational Establishments To Pay Much Attention on Quality

Phnom Penh, September 2, 2010 AKP -- Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen has reminded the educational institutions to pay much attention in strengthening the quality of education.

The remarks were made known here on Wednesday when he presided over a graduation ceremony at the National Institute of Education.

"Paying attention to the quality of education is a priority to develop the country, he said.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen asked all educational institutions to further promote the training programs and enhance the education on sciences, technology, culture, arts, sports, as well as to combine the theoretical knowledge and practice in law policy, disciplines, ethics and morality to students.

He also urged all educational establishments to pay much attention in increasing the scholarships for poor students to enable them to continue their studies in higher education.

According to the figures of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, over 160,000 students are studying in 88 higher educational establishments, of them 54 are private and 34 public, while some 3,500,000 others are going to primary and secondary schools across the country. --AKP

(By LIM Nary)

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Cambodia To Build 555-meter Tower in Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh, September 2, 2010 AKP -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen has announced a project to build a 555-meter tower on Koh Pich Island, Phnom Penh.

The Royal Government of Cambodia is planning with the private sector to build a 555-meter-tall tower, which would be shorter than the Dubai’s tower (828 meters) and taller than other buildings in Asia, the Cambodian premier said at a graduation ceremony yesterday.

“I think we can do it. I have sent the building’s plan to H.E. Im Chhun Lim (minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction), H.E. Kep Chutema (Phnom Penh governor) and H.E. Pung Kheav Se (director general of Canadia Bank),” he added.

With this highest building, people will be able to see the beautiful landscape of Phnom Penh and Tonle Sap River, he said. --AKP

(By CHAN Soratha)

-------------------

S. Korean Garment Manufacturers Eye Cambodia’s Markets

Phnom Penh, September 2, 2010 AKP -- Representatives of 10 garment factories from South Korea had met with about 30 local companies related in garment industry on Wednesday in Phnom Penh to discuss investment opportunities in Cambodia.

Gue-Bae Yeoum, team manager of Korea Federation of Textile Industries, was quoted by Chinese News Agency Xinhua as saying at the sideline of Cambodia-Korea business matching forum on Wednesday that so far about 30 garment and textile factories owned by South Korean investors have been operating in the country, but it is still low compare to Vietnam.

“The Cambodian government does not do intensive promotion about the industry in Korea that’s why many of (South) Korean investors don’t know clearly about the sector and they hesitate to invest in Cambodia,” he added.

Ian Cheong, manager of Daehyun Textile based in South Korea, which has been working with a lot of partners in Vietnam said that he will learn more about the Cambodian industry and try to have connection with local business persons.

“We come here to make a new partner with Cambodia, but, I need time to study more about this new market because we don’t know much,” he said.

Despite global economic crisis, Cambodia’s garment sector still remains strong in terms of providing jobs to Cambodian people, a government data released earlier showed.

The data provided by the Ministry of Commerce showed that there are currently 320,734 workers, among them 293,664 are women -- all are working in 269 factories across the country.

In 2009, it showed the total garment exports to foreign countries amounted to US$2,385 million. And in the first half of 2010, garment and textile exports increased by 11 percent to US$1.33 billion from US$1.2 billion in the same period in 2009, according to the Commerce Ministry’s figure published recently. --AKP

-------------------

EU Supports Kampot Pepper Promotion Association

Phnom Penh, September 2, 2010 AKP -- The European Union has encouraged the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association to improve the quality of pepper production for the European Union market.

Mr. Rafael Dochao Moreno, chargé d’affaires of the EU Delegation to Cambodia, said this during his recent visit to Kampot province to inspect some EU funded projects.

Cambodia’s pepper can be sold from US$30 to US$100 per kilogram in the European market, while in Cambodia the price is only from US$10 to US$12 per kilogram, he said.

Mr. Nguon Lay, president of the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association said pepper plantations in Kampot and Kep provinces can harvest more than 17 tons annual. --AKP

(By Théng)

-------------------

Children’s Library Opened in Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh, September 2, 2010 AKP -- A library for kids, a donation from the residents of Japanese city of Hiroshima was officially inaugurated here last Sunday.

Located on the first floor of the Hiroshima House in the Ounalom Pagoda complex, the library has hundreds of illustrated children's books, mostly of Cambodian and Japanese folktales translated into Khmer language.

Venerable Lim Long; Katsuhiro Shinohara, a former Japanese ambassador to Cambodia; Takashi Hiraoka, a former mayor of Hiroshima and now director general of the Association for Exchange between Hiroshima Citizens and Cambodia; representatives of NGOs; and students attended the inaugural ceremony.

According to the former Japanese ambassador who speaks fluent Khmer, the library, contributing to increasing Cambodian children’s reading habit and knowledge, is the result of cooperation between Japanese and Cambodian people and Ounalom Pagoda’s monks.

The four-floor Hiroshima House was built from 1995 to 2006 with the financial support from Hiroshima’s residents in favor of peace and Cambodia-Japan relationship. --AKP

(By SOKMOM Nimul)