Vietnam to increase investment in Cambodia

Monday, December 21, 2009

Vietnamese products sell well at trade fairs in Phnom Penh

A conference to promote Vietnam’s investment in Cambodia will be held in Hanoi on December 26, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) announced in Hanoi on December 21.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen will co-chair the conference, said MPI Deputy Minister Do Huy Dong.

At the event, Cambodian officials will introduce their royal government’s foreign investment attraction strategy and incentives to foreign investors, including those fromVietnam.

The business communities of the two countries will share experiences and work out measures to promote cooperation in investment.

Vietnam has invested in 63 projects in Cambodia, with a total registered capitalization of more than US$900 million. In 2009 alone, Vietnamese businesses poured over US$400 million into Cambodia.

Vietnamese-invested projects have proved efficient in Cambodia, mostly in forestry, agriculture, mining, telecommunications, banking and insurance industries.
Currently, Vietnamese businesses are working on big mining projects in Cambodia.

Thaksin to put on his website FM's classified letter

Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra twittered on Monday, saying he would upload the Foreign Ministry's classified letter to his website for the public to read Tuesday.

"I will upload it to the website so people can read to the content and know that there really are power maniacs,'' he said.

Thaksin was referring to a FM's letter to the premier concerning how the government should handle Thaksin.

Pheu Thai Party party list MP Jatuporn Prompan had claimed that the letter suggested that Thaksin should be assassinated.

Abhisit government denied the claim.

The government also rejected Jatuporn's claims that the report mentioned about  declaring war on Cambodia and there had been interference in the justice system by a person with political clout outside the government.

Killing fields trial has little meaning today

By ZOE DANIEL
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
November 25, 2009

The wizened Comrade Duch (pictured) has become the face of the Khmer Rouge trials. Known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the clunky, UN-backed tribunal will wind up its first case this week with final arguments against Duch, otherwise known as Kaing Guek Eav. To a degree, Duch, 66, is the fall guy for the KhmerRouge regime that's been held responsible for the deaths of about 2 million Cambodians in the late 1970s.

He was the head of the so-called death camp — s21, a former high school that became a prison where more than 14,000 people were held, tortured and

exterminated for being enemies of the communist regime.

Read more ....!

Cambodia tightens economic links with China

Jared Ferrie

PHNOM PENH

Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:08am EST

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia signed 14 deals worth an estimated $850 million with China on Monday, two days after defying international pressure by deporting 20 ethnic Chinese asylum-seekers, underlining growing trade and diplomatic links.

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Tribunal charges Khmer Rouge "First Lady" with genocide

Jared Ferrie

PHNOM PENH

Mon Dec 21, 2009 7:15am EST

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A U.N.-backed Cambodian war crimes court on Monday charged a fourth top Khmer Rouge cadre with genocide, broadening the scope of a long-awaited trial of the ultra-communist "Killing Fields" regime's top ranks.

World

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Party chief wraps up Cambodia visit

VNA 19/12/2009 - Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh wrapped up his official friendly visit to Cambodia on Dec. 19.

Before leaving the neighbouring country, the party chief met with the staff of the Vietnamese Consulate General and representatives of the overseas Vietnamese community in Preah Sihanouk province.

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Lawyers reach out to those in need

By Michael Rappaport Toronto December 25 2009 issue

At the annual office Christmas party at Bennett Gastle P.C. in Toronto on Dec. 3, 2007, the lawyers and staff signed a statement of principles that would give rise to the law firm’s commitment to the Cambodian Law Students Project. Charles Gastle, an international trade lawyer and name partner at the firm and adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, was struck by the poverty he witnessed while advising the Kingdom of Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce on competition and intellectual property laws and lecturing on law at the Royal University for Law and Economics (RULE) in the capital city Phnom Penh, three years ago.

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Vath Chamroeun pleased with Cambodia's improvement at SEA Games

By Ung Chamrouen

Photo by: Nick Sells (www.nicksellsphotography.com)

Cambodian SEA Games delegation chef de mission Vath Chamroeun.

VIENTIANE – Vath Chamroeun, chef de mission for the Cambodian SEA Games delegation, shares his thoughts on last week’s tournament in Laos.

How do you evaluate the organisation of host nation Laos in their first SEA Games?
First of all congratulations to Laos, who did very well after preparing their infrastructure in just three or four years with support from other countries. I think that it was a great success for the Laotian government. Now they have good human resources and sports facilities. Laos arranged their of communications and technology well.

How were conditions for the Cambodian athletes?
It was first time that the athletes live with each other in the same place [at the SEA Games village]. The training camps were not so far from their accommodation, and divided neatly into categories. The Cambodian athletes also adapted well to weather.

Are you satisfied with the results?
Why not? It was suprising that we could get 40 medals [in total] from the tournament. It shows that sport has developed in Cambodia. This is because of the good cooperation between all relevant sectors. I’m so happy.

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CAMBODIA: Media Still Struggling to Break Gender Barriers

By Lynette Lee Corporal

PHNOM PENH, Dec 21 (IPS) - Cambodia's media organisations are a 'battleground' for old ways and new approaches when it comes to gender.

While more media entities are recognising the role women play in and outside newsrooms, prevailing mindsets and traditions, as well as the lack of training and experience tend to slow down progress in gender sensitivity and equality.

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Thai note said to hint at attack on Cambodia

THAILAND has developed a contingency plan for military action against Cambodia should the dispute between the two countries over fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s appointment as an adviser to Cambodia’s government escalate further, a parliamentarian from the Thai opposition alleged on Friday.

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Does the US know who it's dealing with in Cambodia?

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy is rushed from the scene moments after a grenade attack on a political rally outside the parliament in Phnom Penh, March 30, 1997. Sixteen people were killed and more than 100 were injured in the explosions. (Reuters)

By Douglas Gillison — Special to GlobalPost

Published: December 20, 2009 08:26 ET

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The local police not only failed to cooperate but actively tried to sabotage the FBI's investigation of Cambodia's worst peacetime atrocity.

Key evidence was doctored. Highly placed witnesses stormed out of interviews. Mischievous leaks to the media intensified threats to the FBI agents' safety. And according to the lead FBI investigator, who is now retired, Cambodian and US officials warned him that he was marked for assassination.

Read more ....!

China praises Cambodia as Uighurs deported

Sunday, December 20, 2009

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will deal with 20 ethnic Uighurs who were deported from Cambodia over the weekend as illegal immigrants, praising relations with the Southeast Asian country as a model of good cooperation.

World  |  China

The comments came as a top Chinese official began a visit to Phnom Penh to boost commercial ties.
The Uighurs, a Turkic Muslim minority involved in rioting in western China that killed nearly 200 people in July, were smuggled into Cambodia in recent weeks and applied for asylum at the United Nations refugee agency office in Phnom Penh.
They were deported for breaking immigration laws, the Cambodia government said.
"Recently, Cambodia deported 20 Chinese citizens in accordance with immigration laws for illegal entry into Cambodia. China received these people in accordance with usual practices," China's Foreign Ministry said in a brief faxed statement.
"China is resolutely opposed to and will crack down hard on people smuggling, and believes the international community should step up cooperation to combat these crimes together," it added.
Human rights groups have said they feared for the lives of the Uighurs if they were deported to China. The U.N. refugee agency also condemned the deportations.
The case coincides with a visit to Cambodia by Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, seen as frontrunner to succeed President Hu Jintao. Xi is expected to sign 14 pacts related to infrastructure construction, grants and loans.
On Sunday evening, Xi praised ties with Cambodia.
"It can be said that Sino-Cambodia relations are a model of friendly cooperation," the Foreign Ministry paraphrased Xi as saying, in a statement on its website (www.mfa.gov.cn).
China is Cambodia's biggest investor, having poured more than $4 billion in foreign direct investment into the country.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

US 'deeply disturbed' as Cambodia deports 20 Uighurs to China

WASHINGTON -(AFP)— The United States is "deeply disturbed" by Cambodia's move to deport 20 Uighur asylum-seekers to China and warned it will affect Cambodia's ties with Washington, the State Department said Sunday.

"The United States is deeply concerned about the welfare of these individuals, who had sought protection under international law," said State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid.

"We are also deeply disturbed that the Cambodian government decided to forcibly remove the group without the benefit of a credible process for determining refugee status and without appropriate participation by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees," he added.

"The United States strongly opposed Cambodia's involuntary return of these asylum seekers before their claims have been heard. This incident will affect Cambodia's relationship with the US and its international standing."

The 20 Uighurs, who were seeking refuge in Cambodia after unrest in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, were sent back to China on Saturday.

The Uighurs' presence in Phnom Penh was made public two weeks ago as they sought UN refugee status in Cambodia, saying they risked torture in China.

Clashes between Xinjiang's Uighurs and China's majority Han ethnic group in July left nearly 200 dead and 1,600 wounded, according to official tolls.

Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said the group must be expelled in accordance with domestic law, but rights experts argued the deportation would breach an international convention on refugees.

"Now that the group has been returned to China, we urge the government of China to uphold international norms and to ensure transparency, due process and proper treatment of persons in its territory," Duguid said.

"We continue to stress to all parties concerned the importance of respecting human rights and honoring their obligations under international law."

China Praises Cambodia as Uighurs Deported

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will deal with 20 ethnic Uighurs who were deported from Cambodia over the weekend as illegal immigrants, praising relations with the Southeast Asian country as a model of good cooperation.

The comments came as a top Chinese official began a visit to Phnom Penh to boost commercial ties.

The Uighurs, a Turkic Muslim minority involved in rioting in western China that killed nearly 200 people in July, were smuggled into Cambodia in recent weeks and applied for asylum at the United Nations refugee agency office in Phnom Penh.

They were deported for breaking immigration laws, the Cambodia government said.

"Recently, Cambodia deported 20 Chinese citizens in accordance with immigration laws for illegal entry into Cambodia. China received these people in accordance with usual practices," China's Foreign Ministry said in a brief faxed statement.

"China is resolutely opposed to and will crack down hard on people smuggling, and believes the international community should step up cooperation to combat these crimes together," it added.

Human rights groups have said they feared for the lives of the Uighurs if they were deported to China. The U.N. refugee agency also condemned the deportations.

The case coincides with a visit to Cambodia by Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, seen as frontrunner to succeed President Hu Jintao. Xi is expected to sign 14 pacts related to infrastructure construction, grants and loans.

On Sunday evening, Xi praised ties with Cambodia.

"It can be said that Sino-Cambodia relations are a model of friendly cooperation," the Foreign Ministry paraphrased Xi as saying, in a statement on its website (www.mfa.gov.cn).

China is Cambodia's biggest investor, having poured more than $4 billion (3 billion pounds) in foreign direct investment into the country.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

US decries Cambodia's deportation of Uighurs

WASHINGTON -(AP)— The U.S. is condemning Cambodia's decision to forcibly deport 20 Muslim asylum-seekers back to China.

The State Department says U.S. ties with Cambodia will suffer as a result.

The department said in a statement Sunday that it was "deeply disturbed" by the move, which may have violated Cambodia's international obligations to asylum-seekers. The U.S. also says its concerned about the welfare of the Uighurs (WEE-gurz). There are fears the Uighurs may be mistreated in China.

Spokesman Gordon Duguid says the incident would affect Cambodia's relationship with the United States and its international standing.

The Uighurs fled China after ethnic rioting in July. China says they are criminals but their role in the rioting remains unclear.