A Change of Guard

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Friday 31 July 2009

A changing of the editorial guard


The Post's founder remembers what made the newspaper great - and what will keep it so.
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Photo by: Michael Hayes
In the jungle: a fatigued editor-in-chief during a kouprey hunt in Mondulkiri province in March 1994.

TODAY is my last day as The Phnom Penh Post's editor-in-chief, a position that I have held now for 17 years and 21 days since the first issue of the Post was published on July 10, 1992.

I had actually decided on my title six months earlier and put it on business cards after my older brother Jack explained what the choices were when I was in the process of setting up the paper. I didn't have a clue myself, so he explained the options.

I remember asking him: "Hey Jack, you studied journalism. What should I call myself? Chairman or president or ... what?" Demonstrating the deep affection only a guy can have for his kid brother, he replied: "You numbskull! What are you - a complete moron? You'll be publisher of course, and then if you want to control the content you should be editor-in-chief as well."

There was a lot to be learned in those early days.

Two critical lessons from the 1990s which are no less important today are the need to get the facts right and the dangers involved in attempting to
print the truth.

The day after the first issue came out, a gentleman showed up at the office dressed smartly in a royal uniform.

He delivered our first letter-to-the-editor, and it was from none other than then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk, noting that in our lead front-page story we had published the wrong date for Cambodia's independence.

Ouch!
But what proved to be much more painful was the climate of fear and violence that developed after the new government was formed in 1993.

Sadly, who now remembers Tou Chom Mongkol, Nuon Chan, Sao Chan Dara and Thun Bun Ly? These are the names of Cambodian journalists who were murdered between 1994 and 1997, most on the streets of Phnom Penh and in broad daylight.

Their cases were never resolved.

Add to these tragedies the grenades thrown at newspaper offices, the numbers of publications confiscated or shut down, the reporters sued or jailed, the pervasive use of anonymous death threats to intimidate the press, and the question has to be asked: Why would anyone in their right mind want to practice journalism in Cambodia, especially since after some years of relative calm we seem to have entered a new phase of systematic efforts to muzzle an independent press?

The simple fact is that I've never had much difficulty finding Cambodians who wanted to be reporters. And if turnover was high, it was more because people with marketable skills in the foreign-employer arena found it difficult to live on the Post's pitifully low salaries, or the demands of working till midnight on deadline placed too heavy a price on time with families.

So if this issue seems unduly focused on me, my preference is to use the space to salute the courageous and dedicated Cambodian reporters who have worked, often at great risk to themselves and their families, for me over the last 17 years. These are the real unsung heroes of The Phnom Penh Post.

As a foreigner I have always had the option to call my embassy for help or just head to the airport and catch the next flight out. My Khmer reporters do not have these luxuries, but in spite of this many, if not most, were and still are determined to do something to help their country, to print the truth about issues and problems that were and still are related to helping Cambodia recover from 30 years of civil war and chaos.

I also want to salute and thank the many friends of the Post who as contributors, freelancers, sources from all sectors of society or just plain readers have, in whatever form, taken an active interest in and involvement with what we do.
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Some of the Post’s noteworthy front-page stories.

Over 17 years we've had both the challenge and the pleasure to report on some of the most incredible stories any journalist could imagine covering. Starting with UNTAC (at the time the UN's largest-ever peacekeeping mission), which resulted in the formation of a new government in 1993, the Post team has been on their toes.

The gradual demise of the Khmer Rouge over the next five years, including Pol Pot's death, brought some sense of closure and great relief. The collapse of the coalition government in 1997 just added more bitterness and sorrow to the brew.

Four contentious national elections made hanging chads look like kid's play.

And superimposed on the whole time frame is the cat-and-mouse game played between government, donors, rights groups and aid agencies in the always convoluted, challenging and entertaining process of reform and recovery, reconstruction and reconciliation.

It has always amazed me since day one how many people wanted to get involved with the paper, how serious was the task of publishing words in print, and how many people and institutions preferred to keep what they did in the dark. The pen may not be mightier than the sword, but it sure as hell can scare the daylights out of both saints and sinners.

Seth Meixner will take over as editor-in-chief, but since I've been working only half-time for the past year, Seth has already been running the show.

I expect the transition will be a seamless one and, in any case, I'll still be around as a senior editor.

As for the Post, it will only be useful if it meets the needs of its readers. This issue becomes more critical as we prepare to start publishing an edition in Khmer on September 9, 2009, when the waters of Cambodia's tolerance for press freedoms will be seriously tested once again.

Finally, I said this in the first issue and I'll say it again: If you want a better paper, then let us know what you need.

Go ahead, don't be shy, give us your best shot - in print, please.


New editorial appointments at The Phnom Penh Post

In advance of next month's launch of the Khmer edition of The Phnom Penh Post, the newspaper's owner Post Media Ltd (PML) has announced senior editorial appointments effective on August 1, 2009.

New appointments at the Post – English and Khmer

Group Editor-in-Chief

Seth Meixner
PK Editor-in-Chief
Kay Kimsong
PK Managing Editor
Neth Pheaktra
PE Managing Editor
Philip Bader
PE Lifestyle Editor
Joel Quenby
PE DeputyLifestyle Editor
Mark Roy
National News Editor
Laura Snook
Chief of Staff
Sam Rith
Mr Seth Meixner has been appointed group editor-in-chief of the two editions of the newspaper. Mr Meixner was previously managing editor of The Post's English edition, a role that will now be filled by Mr Philip Bader.

Mr Meixner has wide-ranging experience in Cambodia, having been a former managing editor of The Cambodia Daily and bureau chief for the wire service Agence France Presse before joining PML.

Mr Kay Kimsong will be the inaugural editor-in-chief of "PK" - The Phnom Penh Post's local language edition. He will be backed by Neth Pheaktra who will act as the managing editor.

Mr Kimsong said he was delighted to be leading The Post into its vernacular edition.

"These are challenging and exciting times for Cambodia. The likelihood of a stock exchange soon, the rapid sophistication of business and markets, and a fast-maturing population that desires more from its press, forces us to think carefully," he said.

'Over the past 12 months we have been planning our Khmer edition, and it will be fundamentally different from its English-language sister. The papers will have the same name, but will often make different editorial judgement. That's an exciting concept."

"We are looking forward to competing for readers when we launch in September. We're confident that we have judged our market correctly," said Mr Kimsong.

Post Publisher Ross Dunkley said the company had commissioned the designing of unique Khmer fonts for the newspaper. To be known as Post Khmer, the new fonts, written in Unicode, will be widely available for PC users once the paper is launched.

Meanwhile, The Phnom Penh Post today launches its regular Friday insert, called 7Days.

"The lifestyle liftout aims to highlight the growing diversity within Cambodian society and the lifestyle options available to people these days," said Mr Dunkley.

Bright prospects for VN’s exports to Cambodia


Made-in-Vietnam goods are taking the lead among Cambodia’s imports and Ho Chi Minh-based exporters have posted a robust year-on-year growth of 44 percent in January to July, pointing to a bright future for Vietnam’s exports to the market, the city People’s Committee deputy chairwoman, Nguyen Thi Hong, said in a recent meeting.

Three years ago, Vietnamese goods ranked third in Cambodia, after Thailand and China, but the situation has changed, with Vietnam surpassing both countries.
This is partly due to concerns revolving around China’s food hygiene and safety, while Thailand and Cambodia have had some diplomatic issues.
Of Vietnamese exports to Cambodia, many registered sharp growth, like instant noodles – which increased as much as 66 percent – in the past few months.
Cheap prices is the leading competitive factor in Cambodia, as local people’s income remains low, so goods of reasonable quality with low prices will obtain a firm foothold in the market, the HCMC Investment and Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) said.
The range of Vietnamese exports to Cambodia has continuously expanded, including seafood, fruit and vegetables, instant noodles, iron and steel, construction materials, pharmaceuticals, plastics, garment and textiles, cosmetics, cleansers, fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural machinery and equipment, the center said.

Obstacles to remove
However, experts warned that there remain some challenges to Vietnamese exporters, including those in HCMC.
The first, Cambodia’s import duties are high, so they have to compete fiercely with Thai and Chinese rivals in terms of prices.
The second, Vietnamese businesses have yet to set up steady distribution channels in Cambodia to expand their market share.
The third, many Vietnamese companies have yet to create durable prestige for their brand name in Cambodia.

A technician at Thibidi, a manufacturer of electrical equipment, which provides transformers to the Cambodian Electricity Company. (Photo: SGGP)
To tackle these obstacles, Ms Hong said she had asked the ITPC to prepare a program to broadly introduce and promote Vietnamese goods, especially goods with a competitive edge.
The ITPC reported that it has identified four key companies that have capabilities to lead the program, namely Saigon Trading Corp. (Satra), Saigon Commercial Cooperative Union (Saigon Co-op), Saigon Industrial Corp., and Saigon Agriculture Corp.
Of these companies, Satra is a pioneer, which has effectively run a chain of duty-free shops at border-gates Moc Bai and Tinh Bien in the southern provinces of Tay Ninh and An Giang respectively.
It has also set up a system of bonded warehouses at four locations along the border with Cambodia to help the flow of Vietnamese goods into Cambodia.
It has also joined hands with a Cambodian partner, Sokimex, to build a supermarket for Vietnamese goods in the country.
To facilitate exports to Cambodia, as well as to improve Vietnamese goods’ competitive edge there, the Government should help exporters by adopting support policies, such as giving investment incentives and tax reduction or exemption for a certain number of exports to Cambodia, Ms. Hong said.

By Thuy Hai – Translated by Truc Thinh

Cambodia plans to boost lobster farming

Friday, 31 July 2009
By Chun Sophal
Phnom Penh Post

Government plans major hatching programme to develop local market in bid to cut imports

THE government has waded deeper into the crustacean trade with plans to hatch 1 million baby freshwater lobsters by late October.
The juveniles will be sold to domestic farmers looking to rear them for the local market, thereby cutting the need for imports.

Haing Leap, the deputy director of the Department of Fisheries at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, told the Post on Thursday that the Takeo provincial fisheries department had hatched 300,000 baby lobsters since June.

He said the centre sells 45-day-old lobsters to farmers for US$0.06 each.
"We want to encourage farmers to raise baby lobsters because we expect they will be able to supply them to local markets," Haing Leap said.


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In no more than five years' time we will be able to cut lobster imports.

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He added that just 10-20 tonnes of wild freshwater lobsters are caught locally each year, with 3 tonnes a day brought in from Vietnam to satisfy demand.

Breeding areas diminish
Haing Leap blamed the low number of locally caught lobsters on environmental changes and the loss of sheltered areas where breeding females could lay eggs.

"We hope that if Cambodian farmers are interested in rearing lobsters, then in no more than five years' time we will be able to cut lobster imports," he said.

Prum Vath, a lobster farmer in Takeo province's Angkor Borei district, plans to raise 200,000 baby lobsters for the local market before the end of the year.

He said it takes a minimum of six months to raise them, at which point he sells them for US$15-$20 a kilogram.

"Rearing baby lobsters poses no problems because they are easy to look after and it is easy to find markets," the farmer said.
Another farmer told the Post that 3 percent of lobsters die before reaching maturity.

Haing Leap at the Fisheries Department said the hatching season runs between June and October, adding that farmers need at least 1.5 million baby lobsters.

"If farmers can raise 1-1.5 million lobsters a year, then that will supply local markets with 60-90 tonnes of lobster each year," he said.

Haing Leap said that in 2005 the Japanese government funded a five-year, $5 million project to teach lobster-rearing skills to farmers in a number of the Kingdom's provinces.

Self-made man channels fortune into charity


By Rebecca Baillie

ABC's 7.30 Report

Posted Thu Jul 30, 2009


Giving something back: Entrepreneur Steve Killelea in Africa. (Supplied)
Map: Sydney 2000

Entrepreneur Steve Killelea enjoys all the trappings of wealth - a waterfront house on Sydney's Northern Beaches, a booming business empire, and a European sports car.
Having left school at 16, the 59-year-old is a self-made man.
In his 20s he moved from spending his time surfing into investing in the computer industry - a move that paid massive dividends.
Not one to keep his millions to himself, he is now one of Australia's largest individual foreign aid donors.
"We just felt we wanted to give something back. My goal is to have 50 per cent of my wealth at any one time working towards a charitable means," he said.
Ten years ago Mr Killelea and his wife Debbie set up The Charitable Foundation, donating $5 million a year to more than 60 development projects around the world.
Their charity bankrolls programs in Africa and South East Asia which provide clean water, build medical clinics and schools, rehabilitate child soldiers and perform eye operations.
"About one third of the developing world is blind, 40-50 per cent of that is cataracts," Mr Killelea said.
"For $40 you can give somebody back their eyesight. It doesn't matter if they have been blind for a decade or 20 years, you clean out the cataracts and they can see."
Cambodia is one country which is benefiting from Mr Killelea's generosity. Home to 14 million people, it is one of the poorest nations on Earth.
The World Bank estimates more than a third of Cambodians are living below the poverty line, on about 50 cents a day.
As the capital city Phnom Penh grows, more and more of its residents are being forcibly evicted from their homes.
Mr Killelea is helping to relocate people like these into new houses on the city's outskirts, on land provided by the Cambodian government.
Few donors
His money sponsors the work of Habitat for Humanity, a global charity which provides housing and infrastructure for the world's neediest people.
"We've been working in Cambodia with Habitat for Humanity for six years now - working with minority and poor groups that have been displaced from housing and providing them with loans so that they can build their own houses with cheap interest rates and then pay it back," he said.
Habitat for Humanity international's director in Cambodia, Bernadette Bolo-Duthy, says the entrepreneur's support has allowed the charity to expand its operations in the country.
"In Cambodia there are many NGOs, there are 1,000 NGOs, and there are hundreds of international NGOs doing lots of things, but there are very few donors that are into providing housing infrastructure support to poor people," she said.
Mr Killelea's philanthropy not only takes him to the developing world. He also rubs shoulders at the highest levels with political and business leaders.
Last month he was in London to launch another of his initiatives, the Global Peace Index.
The index is the first to rank nations by their peacefulness, based on a number of criteria including the imprisonment rate, level of violent crime and military expenditure.
It is a cause he is very passionate about.
"Peace is a prerequisite for survival of society as we know it," he said.
"It does have economic benefit for society. It is really quite clear. You can create a bomb and blow a house up or you can build a second house with the same amount of capital."
The index is being embraced by global business as a tool which basically gives peace an economic value.
Mr Killelea is not sure what motivates him to give so much but he does know that practising Buddhism and meditating gives him a focus.
"You stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about others and when you stop thinking about yourself you are actually happier." he said.

THAI-CAMBODIAN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES


Pattaya, July 30 (PDN): as part of the resurrected Silk Route Project, key countries en route are pledged to help their less privileged neighbours develop their road and rail networks. Cambodia currently qualifies and is to be recipient of a Bt1.4 billion soft loan from the Thai government to improve Highway Route 68 from Kralanh to Samrong and O-Smach. This highway is located the subsection designated GMS (Greater Mekong Subregion), connecting SW Cambodia to Eastern Thailand.
On July 28, the Thai Cabinet approved the Bt1.4 billion loan, which was originally proposed in 2008, in the form of a ‘soft loan’ whereby Cambodia will pay 1.5% annual interest, with a grace period for the first 10 years, and will begin repaying the principal after 2019. PM Abhisit Vejjajiva is also interested in strengthening and expanding existing bilateral co-operation, especially by opening more border crossings with Cambodia to boost cross border trade. Previously, the Thai government provided another soft loan of Bt1088 for the improvement of Route 48, the 150 km-long highway betwen Koh Kong- and Sre Ambel, including four bridges en route. Route 48 is also a key tourist route, the improvement of which will boost trade, speed intercommunication and strengthen social networking ties.
The far eastern section of the Silk Route Project links China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Thailand by road and rail. The intention is to significantly reduce trade barriers and facilitate fast transit across borders so that some of the fabled wealth of th original Silk Road may return to stimulate especially the depressed economies of the region, notably Cambodia and Laos, as well as bringing greater prosperity to the others.

violations of citizen's rights in Cambodia

Dear Christine and Khmerization Readers:
I was saddened to read your account of yet another series of violations of citizen's rights in Cambodia. I lived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for a year (1998-9) while seconded to the World Bank under a Technical Assistance contract, where we were tasked to review Cambodia's commercial laws and regulations, and to make recommendations as to how to improve them. Sadly, our small team of lawyers was unable to make much progress in eliminating the countless contradictions in the existing legal framework, as there were simply too many incongruous code law and common law templates adopted by the national government over the years. Accordingly, it was certainly the case 10 years ago -- and it is quite possibly still true today -- that Cambodia's legal framework is in a state of "relentless confusion."
Christopher A. Muessel
Singapore
muesselc@usa.net

Japan provides $33 million in aid to Cambodia

The signing ceremony: Mr. Hor Namhong (R) and the Japanese ambassador (L).

Source:
Deum Ampil newspaper
Reported in English by Khmerization

Japan has provided a $33 million financial grant to Cambodia for road and infrastructure developments.

The grant agreement was signed by Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and Japanese Ambassador Mr. Katsuhiro Sinohara on Thursday morning 30th.

The grant was for the developments of three projects. One is the upgrade of National Highway One. Two is for the construction of Centre for Marine Agri-Business and, three, is for the development of a clean water system in Memot District im Kampong Cham province.

The signing ceremony was presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Thai Foreign Ministry: Cambodia's oil concession doesn't affect Thailand

BANGKOK, July 30 (TNA) - Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said Cambodia's concession granted to a French company to explore petroleum in the disputed maritime area will not affect Thailand's rights over the areas.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Vimol Kidchob said the ministry is now verifying information after Cambodia reportedly granted oil exploration rights to the French company Total in the overlapping zone in the Gulf of Thailand.

"Any concession granted by the Cambodian government would not affect the rights of Thailand," Mr Vimol said, "as both countries agreed in 1975 that any concessionaire would not be allowed to explore or develop petroleum resources in the disputed maritime zone unless Thailand and Cambodia successfully resolve the dispute."

Director-General Kurujit Nakhonthap of Thailand's Department of Mineral Fuels said the two governments must negotiate on how to deal with the 26,000 square kilometre overlapping maritime area.

Mr Kurujit said the Thai government once granted exploration licences to Chevron and PTT Exploration and Production in 1971, but four years later the licences were suspended as the dispute has yet been settled.

Regarding the concession given to Total, Mr Kurujit said, the rights to explore petroluem will be possible only when the two countries reach an agreement over the area first.

Meanwhile, the People's Assembly of Thailand (PAT), led by activists Chaiwat Sinsuwong and Admiral Bannavit Kengrian went to Government House to submit a letter urging Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to preserve Thailand's rights over the overlapping maritime area and protect Thailand's sovereignty.

They cited the World Bank and International Monetary Fund studies which earlier estimated that there are about 2 billion barrels of oil reserves, and more than 10 trillion cubic metres of natural gas reserves in the disputed area.

"If the government remains indifference, we will file a complaint to the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission charging that government for negligence of duty for its failure to protect national sovereignty," Adm Bannavit said.

He said his group urged the Thai government to protest to Cambodia to make it clear that Thailand opposes its neighbour's move.

Cambodian FM to visit Thailand in early August on border issues


PHNOM PENH, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Thailand will have a meeting of multi-committee in Bangkok to push the measurement for border demarcation, a senior official said on Thursday.

"I will go to Thailand for the meeting of multi-committee on August 3 and 4," Hor Namhong (pictured), deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation told reporters after the signing ceremony of receiving over 33 million U.S. dollars grant aid from Japanese government at his ministry.

"I will require Thai side to continue discussion on the border issues and the Border Committee from both countries will meet soon to discuss on the measurement of the border to plant border posts," he added.

"The situation at areas near Preah Vihear temple is calm now, and Thai troops are deployed on there soil," Hor Namhong said. "There are no tension at the border, not like the media reported," he stressed.

At the same time, Hor also thanked Thai government cabinet for its approving on Tuesday to provide 41.2 million U.S. dollars for road improvement projects in Cambodia. The fund will be used to build Road 68 near border with Thailand, which will help facilitate the trade and tourism between the two countries, he noted.

Moreover, Cambodia and Thailand will open more border gates to push and facilitate the trade and tourism, he said.

Cambodia and Thailand share over 800 km-long borders. The troops from both sides have some confrontation since July 15, 2008, mainly near 11th century Preah Vihear temple.


Editor: Anne Tang

Learn to make Cambodian-Style Fish Amok Step-by-Step

Cambodian-Style Amok Fish features fresh seafood with a lush coconut milk custard steamed in a natural container. It's easy to make at home with our step-by-step instructions.

Cambodia Style Fish Amok at Fort Lauderdale's Origin Pan Asian & Sushi restaurant.

Cambodia Style Fish Amok at Fort Lauderdale's Origin Pan Asian & Sushi restaurant. (Michael Laughlin, Sun Sentinel / July 30, 2009)

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Fish amok is a traditional Khmer or Cambodian dish. It's not only attractive but tastes and smells tempting. It's fish mixed with a coconut curry sauce and steamed in a boat made origami fashion from a banana leaf. The sauce firms up to form a rich, velvety custard layer over the seafood and napa cabbage. The banana leaf adds its own fragrance and flavor to the experience.

You don't often get to taste a dish like this in South Florida, but Tahnu "Joe" Sinevong has Cambodian-Style Amok Fish on the menu at his Origin Asian Bistro in Key Biscayne and South Miami (his Origin Pan Asian restaurant in Fort Lauderdale recently closed). Here, he features the Thai food of his homeland, along with the cuisines of Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam and Cambodia.

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, authentic amok fish is made with freshwater fish; a pounded spice paste called kroeung, which is a yellow curry paste that contains krachai, a ginger-like rhizome; and an herb called slok ngor, which is a bitter leaf.

Traditionally, fish amok is eaten by hand with Sticky Rice. "No need to use a spoon," Sinevong says.

At his restaurants, where he's substituted Thai ingredients for some of the elusive Cambodian ones, the banana-leaf boat is delivered to your table so the aroma of the leaf, the coconut milk and Thai basil waft up from your plate. The green leaf container is a work of art.

Having eaten this delectable dish, we wanted to try making it for ourselves. When we asked Sinevong to show us how, he invited us into the kitchen to watch his cook, Heidi Chan, go through the steps.

Putting together the dish is simple. But if you want to try it, you will have to visit an Asian market to get ingredients. Sinevong stresses you must use a red-colored Vietnamese fish sauce or nuoc mam (he uses the Viet Huong brand), and the fish must be fresh. In South Florida, you'll be able to find fresh Thai basil. The recipe also calls for kaffir lime leaves, which are available frozen, as are the banana leaves for shaping the boat.

Sinevong makes an entree using an 8- or 9-ounce tilapia fillet and a smaller appetizer version using salmon, scallops, squid and shrimp. But feel free to use any mild white fish, such as snapper.

You also have to do a little knife work.

Chan begins with long, thin bell peppers that she cuts in half lengthwise and then cuts diagonally across each half to form thin julienne slices. The lime leaves she stacks and rolls, then slices crosswise into thin strips.

The tilapia fillet she trims down the center, removing a dark line of flesh, which results in the fillet being cut into two parts. Then, working from the thick end of each piece, she cuts it crosswise on the diagonal into thin slices.

When the preparation is complete, she combines Thai red curry paste (this replaces the kroeung), coconut milk, an egg, sugar, red fish sauce, curry powder, kaffir lime leave strips and sliced fresh lemon grass with the fish.

Now she cuts two pieces of banana leaf that are about 9 inches wide. She stacks them with their bright green sides facing outward. Working with one end at a time, she creases each corner into a point and then folds both the wedge-shaped points in onto the end and secures them with a toothpick. This forms the end of the banana-leaf boat.

She fills the bottom of the boat with pieces of napa cabbage.

Then she spoons the fish mixture into the boat, adds a garnish of Thai basil and the red and green pepper strips and drizzles on more coconut milk. She puts the banana-leaf boat onto a plate and places it in a steamer, where it cooks gently about 15 minutes. We discovered that if you cook it at too high heat, the custard curdles instead of setting up into a creamy smooth topping.

You can check that the dish is done by making sure the custard is set. But Sinevong warns you must also check that the fish below is cooked through. "The custard sets up pretty quickly," he says.

Chan adds a drizzle of coconut milk to the top of the dish before serving.

The banana-leaf boat is a lovely presentation that adds flavor and aroma to the ingredients it nestles within. If you don't want to bother folding the leaf, but still want what it contributes to the dish, use a double thickness of banana leaves to line a small bowl, add the napa cabbage and fish mixture to the bowl and steam as described.

Serve the fish with sticky rice. At the restaurant, the rice comes in its own miniature bamboo steamer.

Farmers forgotten in oil-for-food deals

By Brian McCartan

BANGKOK - Southeast Asian countries took big steps towards formalizing food-for-oil deals with Gulf states at a June meeting between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Proponents of the deals cite the benefits of more foreign investment for the region's often backward agricultural industries, but the lack of transparency surrounding the investments is raising concerns about their ultimate economic impact.

A meeting in Bahrain on June 30 was notably the first between ASEAN and GCC foreign ministers, signaling growing trade ties between the regions. ASEAN secretary general and former Thai foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan summed up the commercial outlook of those attending at a press conference following the gathering. "You have what we don't have, and we have plenty of what you don't have, so we need each other."

ASEAN is composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Growing population and economic pressures on land and water contributed to the 2007-2008 global food crisis, which saw prices spiral and already impoverished global populations go hungry. That prompted several food-producing nations to restrict exports of certain staples and caused governments everywhere to rethink their food security policies.

The food price scare, which has for now receded with falling commodity prices dragged down by the global economic crisis, has pushed many oil-rich and food-poor Gulf states to seek long-term lease rights to overseas farmlands.

Gulf states, which last year imported 80% of their staple foods at a cost of US$20 billion, have shown an increasing interest in Southeast Asian farmland. China, which in recent years has leased large tracts of regional land to grow rubber and crops for biofuels, is also seeking land to feed its rapidly urbanizing population. South Korea, with one of the world's highest population densities, and India, the second-most populous country, are both challenged by shrinking agricultural areas and are also in the hunt.

The deals brokered so far have been substantial. According to an October 2008 briefing paper by GRAIN, a Spain-based grassroots organization that promotes sustainable agriculture, Cambodia had at that time as much as US$3 billion in agriculture-related foreign investment under negotiation, apparently involving millions of hectares of land.

Agreements signed or under consideration included a $546 million loan from Kuwait for agricultural projects, a $200 million venture with Qatar, the lease of 1.6 million hectares to Saudi Arabia, a similar lease arrangement for 1.2 million hectares to China and another for 20,000 hectares to South Korea.

In the Philippines, Saudi Arabia announced it would allocate $238.6 million to establish fruit plantations and support aquaculture and halal food processing projects. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo opened talks with Qatar in December to lease around 100,000 hectares of agricultural land.

Bahrain agreed in March to set up a $500 million joint agri-business venture and around 10,000 hectares have already been allocated to grow rice, corn, sugarcane, pineapple and various vegetables. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been granted 3,000 hectares for agriculture projects. A South Korean company was granted a 25-year lease in April for 94,000 hectares of farmland on Mindoro Island for growing feed corn.

An additional 1.5 million hectares is to be made available to foreign and domestic investors for agricultural projects, the Philippine Department of Agriculture announced on May 7.

In Indonesia, China has paid for the rights to 1.24 million hectares of land. That lags only Saudi Arabia's agricultural investments, which encompass 1.6 million hectares across the country. A planned $4.3 billion investment in rice production on 500,000 hectares by the Bin Laden Group of Saudi Arabia was recently put on hold for undisclosed reasons.

Even political pariah and agricultural laggard Myanmar is in on the Gulf action. Chinese companies are investing in contract farming of rice for export in the country's northern regions. In September 2008, Myanmar's ruling generals signed a deal with New Delhi to produce pulses exclusively for export to India. Kuwaiti officials visited Myanmar in September last year to finalize an agreement to produce rice and palm oil on a contract farming basis.

Estimates of land leased to foreigners in Laos now runs as high as 15% of total viable agricultural land - although some non-governmental workers dispute that figure as excessively high. GRAIN's figures in 2009 indicate that China has leased some 70,000 hectares in Laos for food, rubber and biofuel crops. Kuwaiti firms were reported by the Vientiane Times earlier this year to be interested in investing in rice and agarwood production.

Thailand and Vietnam, the world's two leading rice exporters, have also cut Gulf state deals. A big Thai exporter signed a memorandum of understanding in 2008 with Bahrain to secure rice supplies for the next two years. Earlier this month, Thai ambassador Suphat Chitranukroh told the Bahrain-based Gulf Daily News that Bahrain had been selected as a hub for the distribution of Thai food across the Gulf, with plans to build a Thai food distribution center in the country.

Meanwhile, Vietnam agreed in September 2008 to establish a $1 billion investment fund in cooperation with Qatar, funds from which will be earmarked for investment in food production for export. Talks held with Saudi Arabia in June were aimed at exchanging food for energy supplies.

Capital-starved lands
Proponents of the deals say they could help capital-starved Southeast Asian countries faster develop their often backward agriculture industries and in the process bridge the yawning wealth gap between urban and rural areas. They say rural-focused investments will result in more jobs, better infrastructure and improvements in agricultural techniques and technology. Foreign funds could also provide much-needed capital for small farmers, particularly as they face funding difficulties amid the current global credit crunch.

Cambodia has said it hopes foreign investment will improve its average rice yields from 2.5 tonnes per hectare to levels comparable to neighboring Thailand's 3.5 tonnes. The government is also eager to increase rice exports, which lag due to quality control problems caused by a shortage of storage and milling facilities. The Philippines says it expects an agreement with Bahrain will create 20,000 new jobs on the impoverished and insurgency-prone southern island of Mindanao.

At the same time, activists and food-security experts express concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding deals cut between Southeast Asian governments and their Gulf area suitors. Details of land areas, locations, lengths of leases and amounts invested have been scant in government statements, and news reports on the deals often present contradictory information. That, they venture, could open the way for abuse and corruption.

Jacques Diouf, the head of the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), warned in August that a new kind of "neo-colonialism" could emerge from land deals where poor Southeast Asian countries produce food for export to rich Gulf states at the expense of their own underfed people.

Figures for deals brokered between Cambodia, Kuwait and Qatar, which media reports indicate could involve hundreds of millions of dollars, have not been publicly disclosed. Despite a string of prime ministerial visits and the official announcement last year of a $546 million loan for an agricultural land-related deal between Cambodia and Kuwait, official statements have been devoid of exact financial details.

In Laos, there is widespread suspicion that government officials are lining their own pockets from foreign-invested land deals. Many rural Lao are known to be upset by the ease with which foreign firms have been able to buy rights to farmland long worked by their families. There has been no public debate about Lao land deals in the state-dominated media. At least one Lao businessman who protested against China-invested rubber plantations mysteriously disappeared in 2007.

Loose laws
Land rights throughout the region are largely customary rather than secured through legal title deeds. Land entitlement and reform has been slow in coming in most Southeast Asian nations. In many villages across the region, land ownership is recognized by agrarians and village headmen, but formal legal titles provided by the central government are seldom granted. In Vietnam and Myanmar, land is formally owned by the state with farmers holding only land-use rights.

Land ownership laws that do exist are often inadequate, with vague language and numerous loopholes that are frequently exploited by businessmen and corrupt politicians to justify land seizures. In other countries laws are simply ignored by local elites and corrupt government officials with links to influential agriculture corporations.

Numerous reports have detailed heavy-handed expropriation in Cambodia and the Thai press regularly carries stories of land scandals involving politicians, businessmen and high-ranking army and police officers. Land-grabbing in Cambodian rural areas is rampant, human-rights groups allege, despite a land law that limits economic concessions to less than 10,000 hectares. LICADHO, a Cambodia-based rights group, estimated in a May report that over 250,000 people in 13 provinces had been adversely affected by land-grabbing and forced evictions since 2003.

British-based rights group Amnesty International said last year that on top of those already evicted another 150,000 Cambodians across the country were at risk of forced relocation. The Cambodian government's recently brokered and opaque deal with Kuwait for farmland in Kampong Thom province has farmers concerned that their eviction may be part and parcel of the deal, according to rights activists.

In the Philippines, which has a history of farmer demands for land redistribution and agrarian reforms, an agreement with China to lease 1.4 million hectares of agricultural land worth an estimated $4 billion was suspended in 2007 after protests by local farmers' groups, politicians and the Roman Catholic Church. Fishing and agricultural groups last month came out in opposition to the government's recent deal with Bahrain, calling it "unlawful and immoral" at a time when millions of Filipinos are landless.

In Myanmar, the government often uses the legal justification that the state owns all lands to forcibly remove peasants from their land for development projects. Human rights groups have for years documented forced relocations of whole villages and the seizure of farmland for commercial agriculture projects linked to the ruling military junta. Refugees arriving in Thailand have claimed that they were forcibly removed from their land to make way for rubber plantations, including deals cut with Chinese companies.

In export-geared Thailand, agribusiness giant Charoen Pokphand Foods (CP) signed a deal on June 22 with the Bahrain-based Islamic Bank, al-Salam, to jointly invest in agricultural businesses. According to CP Group vice chairman Eam Ngamdamronk, "Investment in any project will be supplied by Bahrain, while the CP Group will provide knowledge and expertise to support them." The group is apparently looking at investment opportunities not only in Thailand but throughout the region.

What troubles activists is that land seized and committed to growing food for export may drive up prices in domestic markets and crowd out small farmers. Several regional countries, including Myanmar and Laos, receive food aid from the World Food Program (WFP) due to chronic agricultural production shortfalls.

Last year, Cambodia requested $35 million in food aid from the WFP at the same time as it was negotiating deals to lease large tracts of farmland to Kuwait and Qatar. The Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture said last October that as many as 100,000 Cambodian families suffered from insufficient food.

Food security experts, including the UN's special rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier de Schutter, have called for a "code of conduct" over land-lease deals to better protect host countries and local farmers. At an April 6 forum in New York, de Schutter said, "States all too often are led to make such deals because they are attracted to immediate rewards. But they should look at the long-term consequences."

The US-based International Food Policy Research Institute has similarly called for the creation of a code of conduct to govern commercial relations between foreign investors, whether corporate or governmental, and host countries which also protects the interests of small farmers and the environment.

In an April 2009 policy brief, the institute said that such a code of conduct should include transparency in negotiations, respect for existing land rights, shared benefits, environmental sustainability, adherence to national trade policies and strong enforcement mechanisms. Brian McCartan is a Bangkok-based freelance journalist. He may be reached at brianpm@comcast.net.

New figures show large decline in tourism arrivals to Cambodia


Ministry releases full data for arrivals for first six months with Vietnam
the only country to see increased tourist numbers among top six nations

Tourism Decline
H1 tourist figures by country:
  1. Vietnam - 147,700, up 40pc
  2. SKorea - 106,300, down 34pc
  3. Japan - 70,100, down 14pc
  4. China - 62,100, down 11pc
  5. Thailand - 50,800, down 25pc
  6. Australia - 38,900, down 10pc
Source: Ministry of Tourism
THE Ministry of Tourism on Wednesday released its full figures for the first six months of the year, showing an overall decline in the numbers of foreign visitors.

The number of South Koreans visiting Cambodia dropped more than any other, down one-third from 160,400 to 106,300.

The numbers of tourists from other key visitor nations such as Japan, China, Thailand and Australia were also down between one-quarter and 10 percent.

On Tuesday the ministry released partial figures showing that Vietnamese nationals now comprise the largest number of foreign tourists, with numbers up 40 percent to 147,700, while also issuing data for tourist arrivals from South Korea, previously the No 1 visitor to the Kingdom.

The ministry warned that the effect on employees in the industry was pronounced. In a survey of 72 hotels the ministry determined that between a third and a half of jobs had been cut at 12 hotels, and that working hours had been reduced by the same proportion at the remaining 60 hotels.


We expect that the number of tourists ... will leap later this year.


Around 300,000 Cambodians work in the tourism sector, with "between 50 and 60 percent" employed at hotels, guesthouses and other tourist accommodation.

Tourism Ministry Secretary of State So Mara said Wednesday the main factor in the lower numbers is the global economic crisis.

But he is optimistic the clouds over the sector will lift, and said the government and private sector are working on strategies to reverse the decline.
"We expect that the number of tourists from these five countries will leap later this year because we already preparing to hire airtime in those countries to woo tourists," So Mara said.

The ministry spent around US$340,000 on its "Kingdom of Wonder" ad campaign that aired on CNN in July 2008. So Mara said the ministry would replicate that and buy airtime from TV channels in South Korea, China and Japan.

The ministry's campaign was welcomed by Luu Meng, the president of the Cambodian Hotel Association. He said television advertising and this week's launch of national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air would both help.

"And we hope the number of tourists visiting Cambodia will pick up from the end of September, because that is the start of the tourism season," Luu Meng said.

Cutbacks necessary
He added that moves by hotel operators to cut staff numbers and working hours was understandable as a short-term solution to the problem of lower visitor numbers.

"There will be nothing to worry about provided they don't actually close down their hotels," he said.

Thursday 30 July 2009

Journalist groups appealed for financial donations to help jailed editor

Mr. Hang Chakra talked to the press before his arrest.

Source: Khmer Sthapana newspaper
Reported in English by Khmerization

The Cambodian Centre for Independent Media (CCIM) and the Association of Democratic Khmer Journalists are launching an appeal for the support of the jailed editor, Mr. Hang Chakra, who was sentenced to jail term for publishing a series of articles about corruption by officials working under Deputy PM Sok An.

The groups were asking for financial, material and food supports for the jailed editor's family as well as to pay for the 9 million riels ($2,500) fines imposed by the court.

Mr. Sok Sovan, president of the Association of Democratic Khmer Journalists, said Mr. Hang Chakra fell sick sometimes while in jail and some of the donations will be used to purchase medicines for his illness. Parts of the donations will be used to pay the 9 million riles fines and to support his children who, without him, have no other sources of incomes to survive.

Mr. Sok Sovan said his association is making an effort to seek an intervention from the government for Mr. Hang Chakra's release.

However, Mr. Phay Siphan, spokesman for Deputy PM Sok An, the plaintiff against Mr. Hang Chakra, said the case has gone out of the plaintiff's hands. It now rests with the court, he said.

Mr. Hang Chakra had instructed his lawyer to lodge an appeal against his sentence, but few hope his appeal will be successful.

Donations can be made at CCIM Office at: No. 14A, Street 392, Boeng Keng Korng I, Khan Chamkar Morn, Phnom Penh or call 090 580 130.

Illegal Vietnamese migrants arrested for the murder of a Cambodian official

Source: Radio Free Asia
Reported in English by Khmerization

A Banteay Meanchey provincial court has decided to detain a Vietnamese migrant on suspicion of the murder of Mr. Tob Saroeun, a provincial councillor at Reaksmei Santepheap Restaurant in Banteay Meanchey recently.

Mr. Sous Sam Ath, the investigating judge, said suspect Quang Hung was arrested on 25th July while on the run for the murder of Mr. Tob Saroeun on the night of 24th. He said: "He (the suspect) confessed everything that he really did it (the murder), with the other two people."

Quang Hung and other two suspects, 18 year-old Hai Hung and Trinh Anh, who work as carpenter in the local area, were arrested on 25th July, but Hai Hung and Trinh Anh were released after the police found out that they were not involved in the murder.

Gen. Hun Hean, the provincial police commissioner, said the trio are illegal Vietnamese migrants because at the time of their arrests they carried no indentification papers.

The 62 year-old Mr. Tob Saroeun is a provincial councillor was chopped several times on the head with a samurai sword while he and other officials, who were dressed in civilian clothes, had reprimanded the Vietnamese trio for being too drunk and too loud in the middle of the night while drinking at the restaurant.

Tourists from Vietnam up by 40%

Source:everyday.com
Reported in English by Khmerization

Figures released by the Cambodian government on Tuesday have shown a 40% increase in the arrivals of tourists from Vietnam in the first six months of 2009.

This increase will see Vietnam overtaking Korea as the first spot in tourist numbers visiting Cambodia. Tourist numbers from Korea dropped by one-third from 160,400 in the first half of 2008 to 106,300 in the same period in 2009.

Officials said the increase in the numbers of Vietnamese tourists was attributed to the recent visa-free agreement between the two countries.

The figures show that in the first half of 2009, there were 147,700 Vietnamese tourists visiting Cambodia as opposed to 105,200 for the same period of last year. Last year, there were a total of 209,500 Vietnamese tourists visited Cambodia.

Cambodia, Vietnam open more border checkpoints

Source:everyday.com
Reported in English by Khmerization

Sources from the Ministry of Public Works have said that Cambodia and Vietnam have on 26th July agreed to open six more border checkpoints a long the borders between the two countries.

The sources said during the third quarter of 2009, three border checkpoints such as Phnom Den Checkpoint, Prek Chak Checkpoint and Tropeang Tlong Checkpoint have been opened.

Cambodia has asked Vietnam for a permission to build a border bridge at Dak Dam in Mondulkiri to be financed by the Chinese government. Vietnam does not object to Cambodia's request but asked it to deal with the local Vietnamese authority. The plan is for Cambodia to build half of the bridge and the Vietnamese side builds the other half with costs splitting one million U.S dollars each.

However, Cambodia wants to request for Vietnam to cover the whole costs for the building of the entire bridge or Vietnam offers loans to Cambodia with low interest rates.

New Book Hammers Judicial System



29 July 2009

Post-war Cambodia has failed to produce a strong, independent judiciary, but instead has produced a system where judges move cases around according to bribes and potential earning power, a new book concludes.

The book, “Beyond Democracy in Cambodia: Political Reconstruction in a Post-Conflict,” edited by two professors from Sweden’s Gothenburg University and written by a number of Cambodian and international researchers, launched Friday.

Its authors, Cambodian and international researchers both, found weaknesses in the courts and other sectors of Cambodia’s burgeoning democracy.

Specifically, researcher Un Kheang, who wrote a section of the book on the judicial system and democratization, found a court without the confidence of the people.

“If you ask people whether or not the regime is legitimate, the general answer is, ‘yes,’” Un Kheang said at the book’s launch in Phnom Penh Friday. “But if you ask people if the court is legitimate, if the court is independent, the overwhelming is, ‘no.’”

Major donors to Cambodia, including the US, France, Australia and Japan, have provided millions of dollars in aid to help Cambodia reform its rule of law, but the courts remain heavily criticized by independent monitors and the public.

Joakim Ojendal, a professor of peace and development research at Gothenburg, who edited the book with fellow professor Mona Lilja, told VOA Khmer in an interview Friday that when a judiciary is compromised, it impedes the deepening of democracy and hurts investment.

People lose their confidence in the legal system as well as other political institutions, he said.

Government officials say the book doesn’t accurately portray a system that is under reform.

“One has the right to write a book, but before we start writing, we have to do a deep survey with balance,” said Cheam Yeap, a CPP lawmaker. “If the book mentions all bad things about our management, it will affect what were are trying to seek in foreign investment.”

“Democracy in Cambodia” highlights a number of irregularities in the court system, at a time when the judicial system is under heavy scrutiny for political bias and favoritism.

“Very often judges manipulated those who came into contact with the judiciary to ensure the maximum bribe,” Un Kheang wrote. “On some occasions judges employed delaying tactics in their rulings in order to extract more bribe money from litigants.”

Low salaries made judges and other court officials “susceptible to compromise and bribery,” Un Kheang wrote. “Corrupt and incompetent judges are able to maintain their jobs because of the extensive corruption within the judicial system and the entrenched patron-client network. Meanwhile, appointments and promotions are based on patronage and bribery.”

This “widespread corruption” hurts the poor, who don’t have the money to pursue their cases, he wrote. “It also creates injustice for the poor when they face legal battles with the rich.”

The courts are also open to interference from the executive branch and powerful officials. Judges and prosecutors who go against the status quo can lose their jobs.

“Although there was no threat involved, we judges have to follow, because we know in advance the dimension of their power,” one judge told Un Kheang.

Un Kheang also found that in political cases, judges delivered verdicts that followed the guidelines of the government, led by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

As an example of the court system at work, Kheang Un pointed to the ongoing court battle between opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua, who sued the premier for allegedly derogatory remarks in the 2008 election campaign, and Prime Minister Hun Sen, who then countersued.

Mu Sochua’s case has been dropped, but a verdict in Hun Sen’s countersuit is expected Aug. 4.

“With the argument between the prime minister and Mu Sochua, you will see the role of judiciary in the country,” Un Kheang said Friday.

The researcher pointed to a shortage of resources hampering an independent court system.

“The judiciary faces a severe shortage of material resources and human resources, including judges, prosecutors and lawyers,” he wrote. “Lawyers are either fearful or inexperienced in challenging prosecutors or judges during trials. Cambodian lawyers are not competent, and they didn’t present solid evidence.”

Money from the budget was “significantly lower” than that for defense and security, the author found, “and usually arrived at the court late and irregularly.”

The findings in the book met with favorable review from Adhoc rights investigator Chan Saveth.

“This independent study is good and accurate, and I support it,” he said. “The Cambodian government has to accept it and make changes accordingly.”


Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Recess After Hearing Grisly Testimony



29 July 2009

Television in press room shows live video footage of witness Sous Thy testifying at Extraordinary Chambers of Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) in Phnom Penh, 28 Jul 2009
Television in press room shows live video footage of witness Sous Thy testifying at Extraordinary Chambers of Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) in Phnom Penh, 28 Jul 2009
In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge Tribunal has headed into a short recess after hearing grisly evidence from guards at S-21, the regime's most notorious extermination center.

Since the trial of Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, began in March, Cambodians have flocked to the court to hear testimony of how he ran the notorious S-21 prison in the capital, Phnom Penh.

Reach Sambath, the tribunal's chief spokesman, says more than 13,500 people have attended 51 days of public hearings held since the tribunal opened its doors.

"They consider this court is their court, this court is working for them. That means for the people of Cambodia. That is the reason they keep coming more and more," he said.

Seeing Khmer Rouge leaders brought to justice is a personal matter for many Cambodians. Almost every family in Cambodia lost members during the rule of the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s.

More than a million Cambodians died of hunger and disease, or were executed before invading Vietnamese troops ousted the Khmer Rouge in early 1979.

The court audiences heard guards testify that prisoners were malnourished to the point of starvation and tortured with electric shocks and waterboarding. At times they had their blood drawn, for use in hospitals.

Finally, the prisoners were told they would be freed. It was a ruse that allowed Duch's staff to ferry their victims to the outskirts of town where they were bludgeoned with an ox-cart axle, had their throats slit and bodies dumped in mass graves, now known as the Killing Fields.

About 14,000 people are believed to have perished at S-21, just one of hundreds of camps the Khmer Rouge established after they came to power in April 1975.

The victims of S-21 included up to 200 children and a handful of Westerners who strayed into international waters.

Duch is the first surviving member of the Khmer Rouge leadership to face trial. It took the government and the United Nations more than a decade to establish the tribunal to handle human rights abuse cases. During that time, many of the top leaders died, but four are awaiting trial.

His trial resumes next Monday, and may head into the final phase within several weeks.

Cambodia Angkor Airlines: Another airline for Cambodia


By Luc Citrinot,
eTN Staff Writer |
Jul 29, 2009

Since the bankruptcy of Royal Air Cambodge in 2002, Cambodia has struggled to get a new national carrier. Many failed joint ventures or dubious and corrupted businessmen launching their own airlines have naturally failed to offer Cambodia a credible air transport alternative. Cambodia then relies exclusively on the good will of foreign carriers to be linked to the rest of the world. It remains an unsustainable position, especially as the kingdom has large ambitions for its tourism.

Welcome now to Cambodia Angkor Airlines, which might open a new chapter in Cambodian aviation history. The airline is backed by Vietnam Airlines, which sent two ATR 72s to the new joint venture owned 51 percent by the Cambodian government. The agreement between Vietnam Airlines and Cambodia stipulates that CAA will acquire two Airbus A320s and A321s for regional routes, with delivery due by the end of the year or early 2010.

The airline will start flying with four daily flights between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap and will rapidly open a flight between Siem Reap and Sihanoukville. In parallel, Cambodia is officially opening the new Sihanoukville Airport, officially renamed Preah Sihanouk International Airport, after the former Cambodian King.

Germany injects over $1 mln to Cambodia, Laos for fighting against hunger

Editor: Anne Tang

PHNOM PENH, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Fearing with the continued impact by global economic crisis, the government of Germany has provided another 1.3 million euros (approximately 1.8 million U.S. dollars) to Cambodia and Laos to fight against hunger.

In a statement released Wednesday, German embassy in Phnom Penh said of the above total amount, one million euro was destined for Cambodia which is expected to help assist about one million Cambodians in 2009.

It said the fund was donated through the United Nations agency, World Food Program for its operation in this country.

The fund will help improve immediate food security and nutritional status of the Cambodian people while enhancing social stability through interventions in three priority areas: education, health and nutrition, and disaster risk reduction.

In April, the U.N. Office in Cambodia issued a statement saying the country's positive trends of its economy will be slowdown after it has enjoyed over decade of increase. And less demand from foreign markets and reducing of foreign direct investment have forced a mass of people losing their jobs, such as in garment and construction sectors.

The U.N. data also indicated some 80 percent of Cambodians are living in rural areas, and where many poor families depend upon migrant remittances as their major source of income.

It is, then, citing fear that Cambodia's rural poor might adopt "unhealthy" coping measures such as reducing their number of meals per day or eating less-nutritious foods, and cutting back on health services.

Safety nets in health, education, food, and work can help break the poverty cycle, it added in the statement.

According to the World Food Program, Cambodia might need 76.3 million U.S. dollars for three years project in curbing with people in crisis.

It said the project that began in January 2008 and which is due to last until the end of 2010 has, so far, received 33 million U.S. dollars or bout 43 percent of its appeal, and that Germany has donated 2.3 million U.S. dollars or 3.1 percent of the total donated fund.