Friday, July 29, 2011

Vietnam: Army 'colluding' in Laos deforestation

Trailer stacked with logs

The EU is drafting new legislation to tighten regulation of the timber trade

An international lobbying group has accused the Vietnamese army of involvement in the illegal export of timber from neighbouring Laos.

The Environmental Investigation Agency says the multi-million-dollar trade is causing the rapid disappearance of some of the region's last tropical forest.

A Vietnamese military-owned company named in the report said it acted in full compliance with the laws of Laos.

The timber is processed in Vietnam into furniture with much exported to Europe.

The new EIA report comes at a time when the European Union is drafting new legislation to try to tighten regulation of the timber trade.

'Full compliance'

Working undercover, the EIA said it had discovered that laws banning the export of raw timber from Laos were being routinely and openly flouted.

Most of the logs are being sent over the border to feed Vietnam's booming wood processing industry and to make furniture, much of which ends up in Europe and the US.

The lobbying group traced logs from virgin tropical forest in Laos to a Vietnamese company owned by the military.

Speaking to the BBC, the cited company rejected the accusations made against it, saying it was in full compliance with the laws of Laos.

But the EIA says the trade is illegal and the only beneficiaries are corrupt government officials and well-connected businessmen.

Some of the wood comes from areas being cleared to build hydroelectric dams - part of an ambitious Laotian project to become a major supplier of electricity to the wider Mekong region.

Emotional Funeral For South Vietnam's Ex-Leader Ky

Le HoangKim Nicole, left, wife of South Vietnamese ex-leader Nguyen Cao Ky, cries during a funeral of her husband in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, July 29, 2011. Ky's family paid tribute to him at the tearful funeral Friday, urging people to remember him as a man who loved his homeland profoundly.
Enlarge Associated Press

Le HoangKim Nicole, left, wife of South Vietnamese ex-leader Nguyen Cao Ky, cries during a funeral of her husband in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, July 29, 2011. Ky's family paid tribute to him at the tearful funeral Friday, urging people to remember him as a man who loved his homeland profoundly.

Le HoangKim Nicole, left, wife of South Vietnamese ex-leader Nguyen Cao Ky, cries during a funeral of her husband in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, July 29, 2011. Ky's family paid tribute to him at the tearful funeral Friday, urging people to remember him as a man who loved his homeland profoundly.
Associated Press

Le HoangKim Nicole, left, wife of South Vietnamese ex-leader Nguyen Cao Ky, cries during a funeral of her husband in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, July 29, 2011. Ky's family paid tribute to him at the tearful funeral Friday, urging people to remember him as a man who loved his homeland profoundly.

Mourners pay their last respects to South Vietnamese ex-leader Nguyen Cao Ky during a funeral in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, July 29, 2011. Ky's family paid tribute to him at the tearful funeral Friday, urging people to remember him as a man who loved his homeland profoundly.
Associated Press

Mourners pay their last respects to South Vietnamese ex-leader Nguyen Cao Ky during a funeral in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, July 29, 2011. Ky's family paid tribute to him at the tearful funeral Friday, urging people to remember him as a man who loved his homeland profoundly.

Family members place a South Vietnamese flag on the coffin of South Vietnamese ex-leader Nguyen Cao Ky during a funeral in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, July 29, 2011. Ky's family paid tribute to him at the tearful funeral Friday, urging people to remember him as a man who loved his homeland profoundly.
Associated Press

Family members place a South Vietnamese flag on the coffin of South Vietnamese ex-leader Nguyen Cao Ky during a funeral in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, July 29, 2011. Ky's family paid tribute to him at the tearful funeral Friday, urging people to remember him as a man who loved his homeland profoundly.

Le HoangKim Nicole, second from right, wife of South Vietnamese ex-leader Nguyen Cao Ky, cries while paying her last respects to her late husband during a funeral in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, July 29, 2011. Ky's family paid tribute to him at the tearful funeral Friday, urging people to remember him as a man who loved his homeland profoundly.
Associated Press

Le HoangKim Nicole, second from right, wife of South Vietnamese ex-leader Nguyen Cao Ky, cries while paying her last respects to her late husband during a funeral in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, July 29, 2011. Ky's family paid tribute to him at the tearful funeral Friday, urging people to remember him as a man who loved his homeland profoundly.


The family of U.S.-backed South Vietnamese ex-leader Nguyen Cao Ky paid tribute to him at a tearful funeral Friday, urging people to remember him as a man who profoundly loved his homeland.

The flamboyant former air force general was prime minister of South Vietnam for two of the most tumultuous years of the Vietnam War in the mid-1960s.

Relatives and friends flew from the United States and Vietnam for his funeral in Malaysia after he died at age 80 on July 23 from complications linked to a sudden lung infection. He had been in Kuala Lumpur for two weeks to set up a scholarship for young people to study in the United States.

About a dozen of Ky's closest family members paid their final respects by bowing three times in front of a photograph of a young Ky in military uniform placed on an altar at an upscale Buddhist funeral home.

Nearly 50 other mourners watched as Ky's third wife and children knelt and wept beside his open casket, in which he was dressed in white. Saffron-robed monks chanted prayers before the casket was sealed and draped with the flags of South Vietnam and the United States and taken away for a cremation ceremony.

"He would want to be remembered as a man who deeply loved his country and did everything he could for it," one of Ky's daughters, Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen, told The Associated Press. "I am very proud of my father."

Ky had been commander of South Vietnam's air force when he chosen as prime minister by a junta of generals in 1965, the same year U.S. involvement in the war escalated. He was a low-key but sometimes ruthless leader who crushed a Buddhist-led uprising in Danang and ended a disruptive cycle of coups and countercoups.

At the country's presidential election in 1967, Ky yielded power and served as vice president until 1971. When Saigon fell to North Vietnamese troops in 1975, Ky fled by piloting a helicopter to a U.S. Navy ship. He and his family eventually settled in the United States.

Ky made a controversial return to his homeland in 2004 after decades in exile, praising the communists — his former enemies — and calling for peace and reconciliation. Family members said Ky later split his time between his home in California and Vietnam.

Ky had a reputation as a playboy partial to purple scarves, chic nightclubs and beautiful women. Author Neil Sheehan, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his book on Vietnam, "A Bright Shining Lie," told the AP in 1989 that Ky was among a number of "corrupt Young Turks" who rose to power as U.S. involvement dramatically increased.

Ky's daughter, Ky Duyen, rejected the characterization Friday, saying he "was never corrupt, he never took a penny."

"He established the government system. He could have forced everyone to accept a dictatorship, but he gave up power for the good of the country," she said.

Ky's ashes will be flown to the U.S. on Monday for other relatives and former colleagues to pay their respects, Ky Duyen said. She added that her father had expressed his desire for his remains to ultimately be placed at an ancestral altar in his birthplace of Son Tay province west of Hanoi.

Ky was married three times and is survived by six children and, according to his memoir, 14 grandchildren.

China pledges active support to GMS countries in environment, biodiversity conservation

Jul 29, 2011
Xinhua

The government of China will still continue its active support to the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries in order to strengthen and expand the sub-regional environmental cooperation, Xu Qinghua, special representative of Chinese environment minister, said here Thursday.

"As a long-time supporter for GMS cooperation, China will continue to be an active player in promoting environmental cooperation in the area to promote sustainable development," he told the 3rd GMS Environment Ministers' meeting.

"The Chinese government attaches great importance to cooperating with other GMS countries and we deem good domestic environmental performance as the basis for better sub-regional cooperation," he said.

Xu also said China plans to provide potable water and air monitoring equipment to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to help strengthen the local efforts for environmental protection.

"Besides these, we will also organize policy and technical training programs on urban solid waste management for GMS countries," he said. "We hope to do what we can to help improve regional environmental management capacity."

Meanwhile, Xu said China's Yunnan province and Guangxi region have witnessed improved environmental management capacity.

By 2010, in Yunnan province alone, there are 162 nature reserves, including 16 national reserves, covering a total area of 2.96 million hectares, he said.

In Guangxi autonomous region, there are 78 nature reserves of different kinds with a total area of 1.45 million hectares.

The forest coverage in the two areas reached 47.5 percent and 58 percent respectively.

The GMS countries have engaged in regional environmental cooperation since 2006 through the Core Environment Program and Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative (CEP-BCI). This program, at cost of 30 million U.S. dollar, is expected to end in December 2011.

Cambodian Minister of Environment Mok Mareth said Thursday that the 3rd GMS Environment Ministers' meeting would endorse the action plan 2012-2016 of CEP-BCI for environment cooperation to ensure balanced and sustainable economic growth in the GMS countries which include China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Source: Xinhua

Cambodia trade grows by 56.7%

Jul 29, 2011

HCM CITY — Trade between Cambodia and Viet Nam was worth US$1.35 billion in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 56.7 per cent, trade officials said.

Addressing the Vietnamese Business Forum organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam Le Danh Vinh said trade and transit agreements signed between the two countries have helped promote their commercial links.

Trade between the two countries topped $1.82 billion last year, while Cambodia licensed 89 Vietnamese FDI projects worth nearly $2 billion.

Vinh praised the significant contributions of the Vietnamese community in the neighbouring country, saying they were a major factor in the close ties between Cambodia and Viet Nam.

The chairman of the Vietnamese Business Association in Cambodia, Nguyen Van Dinh, said most Vietnamese businesses operating in Cambodia were medium and small enterprises who wanted easier access to bank loans.

Vinh wanted Vietnamese authorities to simplify import-export formalities, enabling temporary import and re-export of vehicles. — VNS

Cambodian girl dies of avian influenza H5N1

Jul 29, 2011
(Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH-- Cambodia's Ministry of Health and World Health Organization announced Friday that a 4-year old girl from northwestern province of Banteay Meanchey has died of avian influenza H5N1.
In a joint statement sent out to the media on Friday, it said the 4-year old girl from Chork Reaksmey Village, Monkulborey District, Banteay Meanchey Province died on July 20 as a result of respiratory complications after contracting human avian influenza virus H5N1.
"The girl is the 17th person in Cambodia to become infected with the H5N1 virus and the fifteenth to die from complications of the disease,"the statement said.
"All seven cases of H5N1 infections in human in Cambodia this year have been fatal and six of the seven cases were children," it added.
The patient became sick on 10th July and she was initially treated by local private practitioners with no effect and was admitted to a hospital in Siem Reap Province on 18th July. She died two days later.
"Avian influenza is still a threat to the health of Cambodians. Compared to last year, we have seen more H5N1 cases this year and children appear to be most vulnerable," said Minister of Health Mam Bunheng.
"I urge parents and guardians to keep children away from sick or dead poultry, discourage them from playing in area where poultry stay and wash their hands often. If they develop signs of respiratory infection, they should be brought to medical attention at the nearest health facilities and attending physicians be made aware of any exposure to sick or dead poultry," he added.

Cambodia Sends 32 Soldiers To Join Military Exercise In Mongolia

July 29, 2011
(Bernama)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Cambodia on Friday morning dispatched a group of 32 soldiers to take part in the multi-national military exercise 2011 in Mongolia from July 29 to August 13.

Speaking at the Phnom Penh International Airport before departure, Choeun Chamnith, a battalion commander at the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, who leads the mission team, said that the participation would give chance to Cambodian troops to exchange knowledge and skills with other countries' soldiers.

"It will help upgrade our troops' capacity in military skills, rescue and humanitarian activities," Xinhua news agency quoted Chamnith as saying.

He said the participation is a part of international peacekeeping operations under the framework of the United Nations and it reflects cooperation among countries in the region in peacekeeping efforts.

The participating countries in the Mongolia's exercise are Cambodia, United States of America, Canada, India, China, Japan, Singapore, Russia and Vietnam.

This was the third time Cambodia has sent troops to join exercises in Mongolia.

-- BERNAMA

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Thailand to propose GBC meeting

Jul 28, 2011
Source: Bangkok Post

Thailand will seek a meeting of the General Border Committee (GBC) for consultations with Cambodia on implemention of the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) ruling that both countries must withdraw their troops from the designated provisional demilitarised zone adjoining Preah Vihear temple.

Defence spokesman Col Thanathip Sawangsaeng said the Border Affairs Department was assigned the task by a meeting of the Defence Council on Thursday chaired by Gen Kittipong Ketkowit, the permanent secretary for defence.

The meeting discussed ways of implementing the ICJ ruling and agreed that bilateral mechanisms were the best way to solve the border problems with Cambodia.

It was agreed that the Border Affairs Department, which is under the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, would work with Cambodia on organising a General Border Committee meeting for talks on how to jointly implement the ICJ ruling.

Col Thanathip said It was agreed at the meeting that Thailand would decide on an approriate date for the proposed GBC meeting if Cambodia was not ready to do so.

Meawnhile, the situation along the Thai-Cambodian border is calm, he said.

Maid’s death: Cambodian MP wants answers

Jul 28, 2011
Free Malaysiatoday

Mu Sochua pledges to hound Malaysian authorities to get to the bottom of allegations that a Cambodian maid was beaten to death.


PETALING JAYA: Cambodian opposition MP, Mu Sochua (pix), has promised to badger Malaysian authorities to explain the recent death of a teenage Cambodian maid in Penang.

Choy Phich, 19, was found dead outside the back door of her employer’s house in Butterworth on the morning of July 17.

Police attributed her death to pneumonia but new allegations surfaced earlier this week of Choy Phich being beaten to death by her employer.

In an e-mail to over 400 people – including the Malaysian Embassy, the police and the Cambodian Embassy in Malaysia – a neighbour of Choy Phich claimed that many residents had witnessed Choy Phich being mentally and physically abused.

“She had many times sought help from other maids in the neighbourhood,” said Yip Soon Yew.

“Just a day before her death, she passed a note asking that her uncle in Cambodia be informed if she passed away without a valid reason.

“Rumours have been circulating that the local police officer was bribed to cover up the case as the employer is a wealthy and well-known local businessman,” said Yip.

Choy Phich was brought into Malaysia by recruiting agency, AP TSE & C Cambodian Resources Co.

The agency’s director, Seng Sithichey, however, has insisted that she was 21-years-old and that he had received a medical certificate indicating that she had died from pneumonia.

‘Not an isolated case’

Mu Sochua has promised to find answers to Choy Phich’s death and said that local NGOs have also taken up the case.

“I will take the matter up with Malaysian Embassy in Cambodia and also on the issue of the safety and security of Cambodian workers in Malaysia,” she told Cambodian news blog, Khmerization, yesterday.

Khmerization also noted that the Malaysian police had responded positively to its e-mail alert by promising to take “further action as soon as possible”.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW), meanwhile, pointed out that Choy Phich’s death while unfortunate is not an isolated case in Malaysia.

“On June 5, a 26-year old Indonesian domestic worker died allegedly due to abuse by her employer,” said Jyotsna Poudyal of HRW in an e-mail to FMT.

“Ironically, this case came to light just a few weeks after Malaysia signed a new agreement with Indonesia to increase protection for Indonesian domestic workers.”

While HRW will be following the case closely with its partners in Cambodia and Malaysia, Poudyal called on both governments to go beyond a mere investigation into Choy Phich’s death.

“They should also undertake more systemic changes to prevent similar incidents from taking place in the future,” she said.

“Given the Cambodian government’s increasing emphasis on “exporting” its labour abroad, the government and politicians should be concerned about any potential abuses they are facing.”

GMS countries endorse 2nd 5-year environmental cooperation


PM Hun Senshows the opening ceremony of the 3rd GMS Environment Ministers' meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Jul 28, 2011 (Photo: Quoc Viet/RFA)

PHNOM PENH, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The ministers of environment of the six Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries on Thursday endorsed the regional action plan 2012-2016 for environment cooperation to ensure balanced and sustainable economic growth, according to a joint ministerial statement.

The second five-year strategic plan on the Core Environment Program and Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative (CEP- BCI) in the GMS countries will mainly focus on environmental planning systems, methods and safeguards; management of trans- boundary biodiversity conservation landscapes and local livelihoods; climate resilient investments and low carbon strategies; and institutions and financing for sustainable environmental management.

"We expect that our efforts through the CEP-BCI 2012-2016 will further strengthen institutional and human resource capacity which is key to achieving our vision of a poverty free and ecologically rich in GMS," said the statement after the third GMS environment ministers' meeting.

"We encourage the development of a green, inclusive, and balanced economy in the GMS countries," it said. "We welcome the investments in agriculture, energy, tourism, transport sectors."

Cambodian Minister of Environment Mok Mareth said the GMS environment ministers are proposing around 26.5 million U.S. dollars to implement the second phase action plan.

"The plan is to protect and conserve our ecosystems and biodiversity in the GMS countries," he said. "It is also to ensure the sustainability of each country's economic development."

The GMS countries consist of China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

100,000 Copies Of Quran For Cambodian Muslims In Next 5 Years

From Rhoma Ahmad Razali

PHNOM PENH, July 28 (Bernama) -- The World Quran Endowment Programme organised by the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) with the cooperation of Restu Foundation will print 100,000 copies of the Quran with translation in the Khmer language for distribution to Muslims in Cambodia in the next five years.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the effort was to fulfil the need of the Muslim community in Cambodia and to ensure that each Muslim family would have at least one copy of the Quran.

"There are about 500,000 Muslims in Cambodia and there is only one Quran for every six families. So, we hope generous Malaysians can assist Cambodian Muslims through this programme so that each family will have at least one Quran," he told Malaysian journalists here Thursday.

Ahmad Zahid had earlier handed over 10,200 copies of donated Quran to the president of the Cambodian Islamic Community Development Foundation Othsman Hassan and Cambodia mufti Kamaruddion Yusof at Chrouk Romeat Mosque in Kampung Chhnang and Amar bin Yazid Mosque at KM9, to be distributed to Muslims here.

The minister said the programme aimed to print and distribute 20,000 copies of the Quran annually over a period of five years and this was expected to commence from the month of Ramadan next year.

"Translation of the Quran into the Khmer language has been completed and we are only waiting for sufficient funds to print the copies of Quran," he said.

Earlier, speaking before 1,500 Cambodian Muslims at Chrouk Romeat Mosque, Ahmad Zahid said the 10,200 copies of Quran given away today showed the concern of the Malaysian government and people towards Muslims in Cambodia.

Kamaruddin said he was touched and thankful for the gift of the Quran, adding that the Cambodian Muslim community depended on outside help for copies of the Holy Book.

"We hope there will be enough Quran for us in future," he added.

At the two presentation ceremonies, Ahmad Zahid also handed over 500 Muqaddam booklets and 1,000 prayer rugs for use by the Cambodian Muslims.

-- BERNAMA

Editorial: Crime complexity

Jul 28, 2011
Source: News-record

Last week’s triple homicide case became more complicated when police charged three men with the murders for allegedly “acting in concert” with suspected gunman Hoanh Rcom.

Only one weapon was used in the shooting deaths of Joshua Prago, H’Ding Nie and Jason Rcom and wounding of Hli Nie and a 12-year-old girl. But police say Ayun Yy, Polly Rcom and Fnu Angu met Hoanh Rcom at the apartment complex where Hli Nie lived with “the intent to commit a felony assault on those victims.” Under the felony murder rule in state law, that subjects them to the same murder charge lodged against Hoanh Rcom.

The crimes are related to domestic violence. Hoanh Rcom and Hli Nie had been in a long-term relationship and were the parents of two children, including 6-year-old Jason Rcom. She ended the relationship and tried to stay away from him. He allegedly threatened her. Police responded to calls about his threats on June 30 and July 2. He surrendered two handguns on the first occasion and a third on the second.

She obtained a protective order against him on July 7. She made many of the right moves — except she did not call police again when she received a final alleged threat from him a short time before the shootings.

The documented threats and witnesses’ accounts could lead to a straightforward prosecution of Hoanh Rcom. But it’s an unusual development in a domestic violence case to have others also charged in the crimes.

To win murder convictions against those others, prosecutors must prove they were present at the scene where the crimes occurred and “acted together” with the actual killer, said Jeffrey B. Welty, an assistant law professor at the UNC School of Government and primary author of the North Carolina Criminal Law blog. They would had to have been “close enough to render assistance if needed.”

Making peripheral participants fully culpable in murder cases is “a valid legal theory,” Welty added.

Yet, police have not spelled out the extent of the three co-defendants’ participation, telling reporters at a press conference Monday that revealing more information could jeopardize further investigations and the prosecution. However, it will be important for police to demonstrate soon that such serious charges are based on solid evidence.

This tragedy has hit Greensboro’s Montagnard population very hard. All of the victims except Prago, and the four men accused belong to the close-knit community. Y Hin Nie, pastor of United Montagnard Christian Church in Greensboro, expressed shock and sorrow in a letter to the News & Record printed today and asked readers to “not forsake the Montagnards.” “This has never before happened among the Montagnard family in Vietnam or here in America.”

The differences in culture and language also complicate this case, said Greensboro police Officer Hien Nguyen, who is Vietnamese but not a Montagnard. Nguyen, who is working as a translator for investigators, said local Montagnards “are very sad” about these terrible events.

They have that in common with so many other city residents.

Political Rivalry May Change Leadership in One-Party Vietnam

Politburo member Truong Tan Sang, right, reads a document while Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung looks on at the opening ceremony of the 11th National Congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party in Hanoi, Vietnam on January 12, 2011
Photo: AP
Politburo member Truong Tan Sang, right, reads a document while Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung looks on at the opening ceremony of the 11th National Congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party in Hanoi, Vietnam on January 12, 2011

Jul 27, 2011
Marianne Brown
VOA

Vietnam's National Assembly held an election for its top leaders this week, which some observers have said could provide a shift forward for a political system long considered mostly ceremonial.

The country's main lawmaking body, the National Assembly voted in two political rivals for the top two positions. One of them, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, was re-elected for a second five-year term. A day earlier, his rival Truong Tan Sang, second-in-command of the communist party was elected president.

Some observers say that while the new leadership is unlikely to herald a revolution in the one-party state's political system, the rivalry between the two men could nevertheless mark important changes.

On the surface, the competition for leadership in communist Vietnam is very muted. There was only one candidate each for the top jobs.

Hoang Tu Duy, who is a member of the banned pro-democracy group Viet Tan, says that although the elections are largely a farce, the government has to hold them to have legitimacy.

"The interesting thing is the regime has to put on this farce because it has to put on this appearance of a normal government operating under laws with elected officials and they are doing this because they have to work with the outside world with investors but also to some extent to a domestic audience," said Duy.

Duy adds that the differences between the reality of Vietnamese politics and its public face is putting pressure on the National Assembly to start behaving as the highest organ of the people, which is how it is described in the constitution.

Martin Gainsborough from the University of Bristol says it is unrealistic to impose liberal values on the election process. Gainsborough says those who hold office are seen as talented people from good families with good backgrounds and they do not need to prove themselves in the eyes of the public.

"Parliament can be seen in that same way, that it's a formal confirmation of the merits of these people, not a competitive electoral contest where may the best candidate win," Gainsborough noted.

As inflation hits 22 percent year-on-year and the international community continues to be dismayed by Vietnam's dismal human rights record, the politicians certainly have their work cut out for them over the next five years.

In his first term as prime minister, Dung, 61, faced a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly about the collapse of ship-building firm Vinashin, which last year defaulted on debts of $4.5 billion. He was also sued by human rights lawyer Cu Huy Ha Vu about controversial Chinese-run bauxite mines in the Central Highlands

Nevertheless, Dung is a resourceful leader, says Ernest Bower, U.S. chair of the Advisory Council on Competitiveness for the Vietnamese Prime Minister.

"I think he has a certain charisma," Bower explained. "He has been pretty careful about trying to guide economic reform within a system where such an approach does cause suspicion among political rivals so I think he has had measured success in that effort."

In run-up to the Party Congress, which determines the top jobs, Truong Tan Sang made a bid to take Dung's job, but failed. Despite this, says Gower says he does not believe it will cause tension because they have worked together in the past.

Duy disagrees. He says differences could lead to more debate in the National Assembly. He points to the example of the assembly's rejection of a $56 billion high-speed train from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City because of its cost.

"I think the spirited debate we will see in the National Assembly is going to come from a number of reasons. One of the reasons is differences in the politburo spilling into the National Assembly, for instance in the case of the bullet train," Duy added.

Duy says the assembly only blocked the proposal because the politburo was not able to come to decision about the train. Competition between the top leaders will mean these kinds of debates will continue into the future.

Gainsborough says that, although the two men may have differing views on major issues, that is unlikely to forge a dramatic change in policy-making. As an example, he points to negotiations with China about competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.

There would be no "fork in the road" for Vietnam over the dispute, Gainsborough says, even though the government has received criticism for its handling of the issue from several high profile public figures.

"Different personalities can bring different things to the table in terms of nuance, but in broad terms Vietnam does not want to have a bad, antagonistic relationship with China, this huge country on its doorstep, but obviously it does want to find ways to hold its own," Gainsborough noted.

Gainsborough says politics in Vietnam is not about personalities and rivalries. Instead, the landscape is made up of factions united through personal relationships rather than ideology. Serving in government involves jockeying for positions behind senior leaders.

"The absolute key driver of politics in Vietnam is to position yourself in order to make money through a variety of means," Gainsborough added. "That explains so much of what goes on in Vietnam. Public offices are routes for private advancement that is how people view public office. It doesn't mean people are flagrantly fleecing the system, but there is a close connection between holding public office and private gain."

Whether relations between the two men worsen in the coming months, analysts say their rivalry is unlikely to revolutionize the face of Vietnamese politics. They say what is more likely to drive substantive political changes is public pressure to reform an ailing economic system that threatens to put more people into poverty.

Canada demands release of jailed Vietnam priest

OTTAWA — Canada on Wednesday joined an international chorus calling for the release of a frail dissident Vietnamese priest who has been re-arrested after being freed for medical reasons more than a year ago.

The United States and international rights groups have also urged authorities in Hanoi to free Nguyen Van Ly, who is in his 60s and was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2007 for propaganda against the state.

Prosecutors in Vietnam say Ly -- who was taken into custody on Monday -- was a founding member of the banned "Bloc 8406," considered by analysts as the first organized pro-democracy coalition inside the country.

"We are disappointed that Father Nguyen Van Ly has been returned to prison, and we remain very concerned about his health," Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said in a statement.

"Canada urges the government of Vietnam to permanently release Father Ly and the many others imprisoned for peacefully expressing their opinion," Baird said.

"Our government will continue to pursue Canada?s principled approach to foreign policy to advance freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law."

Ly's arrest followed months of uncertainty over his sentence after the expiry of a one-year suspension of his prison term ordered by a court in March 2010.

In March this year, a government spokeswoman said Ly would be sent back to jail if his health returned to normal, but there was no official follow-up until he was taken into custody on Monday.

U.S. cluster munitions haunt Southeast Asia

By Elise Labott, CNN
Jul 28, 2011

This weekend in Bali, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a series of programs for Southeast Asia’s poorest countries as part the U.S. Lower Mekong Initiative.

The initiative aims to help countries along the Mekong River - Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam - by improving their infrastructure, health and education systems while quietly expanding U.S. influence in the region.

But for Laos, Washington’s forward-looking agenda is held hostage to its prior actions. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military dropped two million tons of bombs - more ordinance than was dropped in all of World War II. Put another way, one planeload of bombs were dropped every eight minutes, 24 hours a day for 9 years.

These bombs have killed more than 34,000 Laotians during the bombing campaign and afterwards. Many of the dead have been children.

The casualties continue to this day. In May, three children ages 9-10 were digging for bamboo when a cluster bomb exploded. One of the children was paralyzed, another killed.

The bomb was just one of more than 75 million unexploded cluster bombs that litter Laos' forests, rice fields and villages. Cluster munitions split open before impact and scatter hundreds of smaller bomblets over a wide area. Many of these bomblets failed to explode on contact. They can remain hidden for decades, waiting to maim or kill civilians.

More than 20,000 people have died at the hands of these remains of cluster munitions in Laos.

Meanwhile, funding to clean up the problem is relatively low. The U.S. spent $2 million ($17 million in today’s dollars) per day for 9 years to bomb Laos, but only an average of $3.2 million a year for clearance of UXOs over the past 16 years. Put another way: the U.S. spent as much in three days of bombing Laos as it did in the last 16 years trying to clean the bombs up.

In 2010, Congress mandated that the U.S. government give at least $5 million for unexploded ordinance removal. That’s about a third of the $14 million Laos receives each year for UXO clearance from all donors. Still it’s a pittance compared to the $145 million the U.S. spent for clearing Afghanistan and Iraq.

Advocates for demining efforts in Laos admit the legislation marked progress, but they find the levels woefully inadequate to deal with the magnitude of the problem. They fear current budget cuts and make even this level of funding uncertain.

The slow, painstaking process of demining has never been a sexy issue. So-called “legacy” issues of wars like the one in Vietnam are overshadowed by current events. In Asia, major political and economic relationships with close allies like South Korea and Japan and major powers like China suck up most of the U.S. attention.

Some dedicated U.S. officials are working to clean up unexploded ordinance in Laos. Despite the low levels of funding, officials worked with the United Nations, the government of Laos and about 18 other countries to help clear up several provinces, support victims and initiate educations programs.

With the Obama administration making engagement of Southeast Asia a priority, many officials hope there will greater funding for UXO clearance. After all, the sheer amount of unexploded ordinance in Laos hinders development and poverty reduction. Laos has less land to build factories, schools and farms on. With 70 percent of the country under 35, Laotian youth need, and deserve, a better future.

State Department officials acknowledge that one of the main drivers of funding for UXO clearance is the guilt Americans rightly feel. Surely American soldiers didn’t risk their lives decades ago in Vietnam only for a young child to be killed 40 years later by bombs they dropped in the line of duty.

In recent weeks seven former U.S. ambassadors and diplomats to Laos wrote Secretary Clinton recommending the U.S. increase demining funds to $10 million per year over the next ten years to clear high priority land and reduce the number of casualties. This funding level which could go a long way toward helping the Laotian government meet its goal of having all mines cleared by 2025. The government estimates it will take $30 million a year to do that.

War is expensive. The cost of picking up what was left behind is comparatively low and it is an important investment in the future, not just for the people of Laos, but for the U.S. seeking influence in an evermore important region.

Thai rice dealers warn government initiatives would hurt exports

Jul 28, 2011
Source: Monsters and Critics

Bangkok - Thailand's rice exporters have warned that overseas shipments of the staple could drop by half next year if the government goes ahead with a proposed price intervention scheme, a news report said Thursday.

The price guarantee would push up prices of Thai rice on the international market, making it less competitive and potentially causing exports to drop by half from the 10 million tons predicted this year, the Thai Rice Exporters Association honorary president Chookiat Ophaswongse told a meeting Wednesday, according to The Nation newspaper.

Thailand has been the world's leading rice exporter for five decades, but the kingdom faces growing competition from Vietnam, Cambodia and India.

In addition to foreign competition, the sector is now threatened by the incoming government's policies, the exporters' association said.

The Pheu Thai party, which won the July 3 election and is due to set up a new cabinet next month, has promised farmers fixed prices of 15,000 baht (500 dollars) a ton for plain white rice and 20,000 baht a ton for jasmine, a high-quality variety that is popular in premier export markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore.

The party said the scheme will be in place by November, in time to purchase the winter crop, the largest of the harvest cycle.

But Chookiat warned that 'Thai exporters would certainly lose their competitiveness to their rivals.'

Export prices on plain Thai rice will increase from 545 dollars per ton at present to 850 dollars, he warned, while jasmine prices would jump from 1,050 dollars per ton to 1,400 dollars.

The outgoing Democrat-led government also supported rice farmers, but pegged the domestic price to the international market price, and supplemented it with direct subsidies.

Called the income-guarantee scheme, the programme benefited an estimated 4 million farmers and cost the government 80 billion baht (2.6 billion dollars) over a two-year period, which went directly into the farmers' pockets.

The scheme replaced the so-called pledging scheme devised by the former Thai Rak Thai Party of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra during his premiership between 2001 and 2006.

Thaksin is also the de facto leader of the Pheu Thai Party, and the new programme is a reincarnation of the pledging scheme, in which the government essentially buys up huge stocks of rice at inflated prices and then stockpiles it for the export market.

The scheme was prone to corruption, with about 30 per cent of the subsidy ending up in the pockets of rice millers and politicians instead of farmers, according to the Thailand Development Research Institute, a think tank.

Asia's most populous countries, China and India, have huge stockpiles of rice, while Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and even Myanmar have growing surpluses.

Thailand has been the world's leading rice exporter since 1963, when it replaced Myanmar, also called Burma, which had previously claimed the top slot.

Myanmar's socialist regime nationalised all industries including the rice industry when it took power in 1962.

In 2010, Thailand exported 9.05 million tons, earning the country 5.3 billion dollars.

Cambodia's 'orphan tourism' sparks concern

Pictures of hundreds of former volunteers line the walls of a muddy courtyard in Cambodia's tourist hub of Siem Reap, their faces once familiar to the orphans playing there but now long gone.

The colourful gallery at the Acodo orphanage illustrates a growing trend of holiday makers donating their time and skills to children in the impoverished country -- but experts fear they could be doing more harm than good.

Marissa Soroudi, a student in her 20s from New York, is one of the many volunteers teaching English at Acodo, near the famed temples of Angkor and home to more than 60 orphans between the ages of three and 18.

The young American, who pays $50 (Dh183.65) a week to work at the orphanage, plans to stay for a few days before travelling on but she knows it is tough on the children to watch volunteers like her come and go.

"There are so many people volunteering that it's kind of like, one leaves and another swoops in," she said.

"They say better not to talk about it with them. Don't say 'I'm leaving in a week,' don't do any of that because then they get upset. Better to just not come."

Short-term volunteers may have good intentions, but childcare experts say they are putting some of the most vulnerable children at risk.

"Constant change of caregivers gives emotional loss to children, constant emotional loss to already traumatised children," Jolanda van Westering, a child protection specialist at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) told AFP.

"And the constant exposure to strangers poses risks of harm, of violence and abuse, because we know that oftentimes volunteers come to an orphanage without having their backgrounds checked."

As the gateway to the ancient temples of Angkor -- which attract more than a million visitors a year -- a steady stream of tourists passes through the sleepy riverside town.

And many want to do more than just sightsee in one of the region's poorest nations.

-- 'They want to do something' --
=================================

On notice boards in hotels, cafes and souvenir shops, wide-eyed children stare from posters for schools and orphanages, encouraging travellers to donate time and money for their particular cause.

"Visitors see some poverty and they feel bad about it," said Ashlee Chapman, a project manager with Globalteer, an organisation that matches volunteers with local organisations.

"They want to do something," she adds, saying they might visit a children's project for a few hours, donate money and toys, "take a holiday snap and feel that they've contributed."

As the so-called volunteer tourism sector flourishes, so too does the number of institutions housing children.

In the past six years, the number of orphanages in Cambodia has almost doubled to 269, housing some 12,000 children, according to UNICEF.

Friends International, a local organisation that works with marginalised urban children and youths, says tourism has contributed to the increase.

Visiting orphanages has become a tourist "attraction" in big cities like Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, said Marie Courcel, alternative care project manager at Friends International.

That in turn encourages the institutionalisation of youngsters, many of whom are very poor but actually have at least one living parent, she said.

Only one in 10 of the orphanages are funded by the state, the rest rely on charitable contributions to survive.

At Siem Reap's Acodo, huddled with the children in the shade of the only tree, Soroudi organises the afternoon activity.

Following her lead, the orphans make headpieces out of grass and add licks of paint to green and yellow conical hats, costumes they will wear in that evening's traditional Khmer dance show.

The daily half-hour event attracts a tourist crowd who thank the young performers with donations of money.

Van Westering said she worried about the dangers for children who are expected to raise funds for their care by begging or putting on shows for tourists.

"They have to do their best and they hear that also if they don't there isn't enough money for their care," said Van Westering. "You can just imagine what that does to children to live in that kind of insecure environment."

Her advice to tourists pondering a brief working stint at an orphanage is simple: "Don't go. Give blood, support a community-based organisation that provides day activities for a child but where the children go home at night."

Betsy Brittenham, an interior designer in her 50s from Arizona, and her 15-year-old daughter Alex are spending three weeks as volunteer teachers at one such place, the Grace House Community Centre, where the children return to their families each evening.

The mother and daughter team, who planned their trip months in advance, say volunteering at a reputable centre is a chance to make a difference in a country with fewer resources and opportunities than their own.

Like the volunteers at Acodo, Betsy pays for the privilege of working on her holiday but she sees no downsides to the experience.

"When you volunteer like this you're bringing your money and you're making tremendous strides and teaching their children," she said. "It's something you can't put a price on."

Cambodia, DPRK sign deal to speed up implementation of economic, trade cooperation

Jul 27, 2011

Cambodia and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday signed an agreement to boost the implementation of economic and trade cooperation.

The deal was inked between Ouch Borith, secretary of state for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Ri Myong San, visiting DPRK's vice-minister of foreign trade, after the first Cambodia-DPRK Joint Commission meeting on economic, trade, scientific and technical cooperation. After the signing ceremony, Ouch Borith told reporters Cambodia and DPRK have signed seven cooperation agreements since 1993.

They include the agreement on economic, trade, cultural and technical cooperation, trade exchange deal, investment protection deal, Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between Cambodia and DPRK foreign ministries, IT joint committee establishment agreement, cultural exchange cooperation, and water way transportation agreement.

"Even though all these agreements have been in place for nearly 20 years, the implementation of the agreements has not been materialized," he said. "Therefore, the deal we signed today is to boost the implementation of these agreements for the interests of the two countries' peoples."

Ouch Borith said that Cambodia has also seen DPRK as a potential market for Cambodian rice, corn, cassava and bean; in exchange, Cambodia expects to import agricultural machinery from DPRK.

On the investment side, Cambodia wants to see DPRK investors in small hydroelectric dams, agriculture, industry and mineral resources, he added.

Source:Xinhua

GMS deal ratification 'crucial' for this year

Jul 28, 2011
Source: Bangkok Post

GMS deal ratification 'crucial' for this yearThailand is being pressed to ratify cross-border transport agreements before the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) meets in December in order to benefit from greater regional cooperation.

The six GMS members have reached 20 agreements to facilitate the movement of goods and people, but Thailand has ratified only 14 of them.

Two draft agreements were scheduled to go before parliament earlier this year, but the House was dissolved in May before they could be approved.

Under the agreements, goods arriving in transit to a third country will be inspected once at a checkpoint, then sealed and sent on without the need for further inspection at the final destination.

The agreements also include implementation of World Health Organisation regulations for immigration procedures.

Thailand, Laos and Vietnam have ratified agreements for two checkpoints _ Mukdahan/Savannakhet and Aranyaprathet/Poipet.

Only Thailand and Burma have yet to ratify all the agreements, while Laos, Cambodia, southern China and Vietnam have fulfilled their commitments.

Poramathee Vimolsiri, a deputy secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), said his agency expects parliament will approve the agreements soon, hopefully in time for Thailand, Laos and southern China to implement them early next year.

Thailand and other GMS members must also speed up improvements to their information technology systems to facilitate customs and immigration procedures, he said.

Mr Poramathee also said Thailand needs an economic restructuring in which cheap-labour industries are relocated to neighbouring countries, with the Thai government supporting them in term of loans and other facilities.

The NESDB recently hosted a seminar in various border towns aimed at educating the public and investors on both economic opportunities and effects of the agreements.

Mr Poramathee said regional road development is almost complete, with only a few missing stretches of road, rail and bridge left.

Since 2000, the Thai government has provided aid and loans for 19 projects worth a combined 12 billion baht for infrastructure linking neighbouring countries _ 14 projects in Laos, two in Burma and three in Cambodia.

The agency estimates 189 billion baht will be needed for further infrastructure development over the next five years to strengthen links under various cooperation agreements and the Asean Economic Community.

These include a high-speed rail network, roads, border town development and border economic zones.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Montagnard community unites after tragedy

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

GREENSBORO — Five days after a man was charged with shooting five people — killing three of them — the Montagnard community of which he was a member still wanted clarification on what happened.

Jerry Wolford (News & Record)

Photo Caption: Greensboro police Chief Ken Miller (left), H Nguyen (center) and Lt. Dennis Willoughby talk with the Rev. Y' Hin Nie during a meeting between the police department and members of the Montagnard community Tuesday, when they

About 30 Montagnard Christians — about three-quarters of them men — from local churches gathered Tuesday with Greensboro Police Chief Ken Miller and investigators to get answers. At a nearly two-hour meeting, police with the help of interpreters tried to help the group better understand how the case is developing.

“The importance of this meeting is really to share information that we can about this case investigation to a community that I think is reeling from the events and to help them understand the process by which this case will be judged, the things that police do and don’t do,” Miller said.

He told them that the police are there to help them, not hurt them, and that they needed to work together to prevent crimes such as last week’s triple homicide.

Hoanh Rcom, his brother Polly Rcom and friends Fnu Angu and Ayun Yy are each charged with three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon in Thursday’s shooting deaths of 6-year-old Jason Rcom , 43-year-old Josh Prago and 23-year-old H’ding Nie at 1501 Brandonshire Court, Apt. 303 .

Hli Nie, the ex-girlfriend of Hoanh Rcom, and a 12-year-old girl, who police identified as Hli Nie’s niece, are recovering from gunshot wounds. Hli Nie and Hoanh Rcom’s 10-year-old daughter was not injured, police said. H’ding Nie’s sister, H’wit Nie, said the 12-year-old is their youngest sister. She also said police gave a different spelling, Hdingh, for her slain sister.

Police said Hoanh Rcom sent a threatening message to Hli Nie while she was at a movie theater with Prago and the three children. The shooting occurred shortly after the group returned to Hli Nie’s apartment.

Hoanh Rcom and Hli Nie had a history of domestic violence, according to police and court documents. Police urged the group to pay attention to warning signs of escalating violence among their friends and family and to contact local agencies for help.

Lindy Beauregard , program director of the Child Response Initiative , explained how the nonprofit works with the police department to help children who need help coping with traumatic experiences, including domestic violence.

She said she had been involved in education programs with the Montagnards before, but she was impressed with Tuesday’s dialogue between the two groups.

“Part of what we have to do is recognize there are some cultural differences there and make sure that our services respect those difference but still get to where we need to be,” Beauregard said. “But that was critical. I thought it was wonderful that they were sharing.”

The Rev. Y’Hin Nie of the United Montagnard Christian Church in America in Greensboro, who helped assemble the group that met with police, said because of the language barrier people have been scared to contact the police. But now they are equipped with knowledge on how the police can help and who to call, he said.

Two people at the meeting expressed interest in giving police more information about the shootings.

“From that perspective, to know that there are two people out there in this community who had something to share about this case — that to me, that’s enormously helpful,” Miller said after the meeting.

The night ended with Montagnards shaking the hands of the chief, other command staff and detectives.

“Although tragedy brings us here tonight, I hope it won’t be the last time we get together around safety in the Montagnard community,” Miller said.

China’s Sun TV to Document Life of Hun Sen

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011
VOA News

Cambodia says representatives of a Chinese television network have arrived in the capital, Phnom Penh, to open talks on a documentary about the life of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The official AKP news agency reported Tuesday that Chen Ping, chairman of China's Sun TV, discussed the plan this week with the minister of information, Khieu Kanharith. It said the network plans to make a documentary that will outline the activities and personal history of Hun Sen.

AKP said the minister welcomed the idea and promised to assist the network, providing coordination and all relevant documents.

Sun TV is based in Hong Kong and broadcasts in Mandarin to the Asia Pacific region.

Cambodia's 'orphan tourism' sparks concern

Cambodian students learn computer skills in a class at a community centre near the famed temples of Angkor (AFP/File, Tang Chhin Sothy)

SIEM REAP, Cambodia — Pictures of hundreds of former volunteers line the walls of a muddy courtyard in Cambodia's tourist hub of Siem Reap, their faces once familiar to the orphans playing there but now long gone.

The colourful gallery at the Acodo orphanage illustrates a growing trend of holidaymakers donating their time and skills to children in the impoverished country -- but experts fear they could be doing more harm than good.

Marissa Soroudi, a student in her 20s from New York, is one of the many volunteers teaching English at Acodo, near the famed temples of Angkor and home to more than 60 orphans between the ages of three and 18.

The young American, who pays $50 a week to work at the orphanage, plans to stay for a few days before travelling on but she knows it is tough on the children to watch volunteers like her come and go.

"There are so many people volunteering that it's kind of like, one leaves and another swoops in," she said.

"They say better not to talk about it with them. Don't say 'I'm leaving in a week', don't do any of that because then they get upset. Better to just not come."

Short-term volunteers may have good intentions, but childcare experts say they are putting some of the most vulnerable children at risk.

"Constant change of caregivers gives emotional loss to children, constant emotional loss to already traumatised children," Jolanda van Westering, a child protection specialist at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) told AFP.

"And the constant exposure to strangers poses risks of harm, of violence and abuse, because we know that oftentimes volunteers come to an orphange without having their backgrounds checked."

As the gateway to the ancient temples of Angkor -- which attract more than a million visitors a year -- a steady stream of tourists passes through the sleepy riverside town.

And many want to do more than just sightsee in one of the region's poorest nations.

On noticeboards in hotels, cafes and souvenir shops, wide-eyed children stare from posters for schools and orphanages, encouraging travellers to donate time and money for their particular cause.

"Visitors see some poverty and they feel bad about it," said Ashlee Chapman, a project manager with Globalteer, an organisation that matches volunteers with local organisations.

"They want to do something," she adds, saying they might visit a children's project for a few hours, donate money and toys, "take a holiday snap and feel that they've contributed."

As the so-called volunteer tourism sector flourishes, so too does the number of institutions housing children.

In the past six years, the number of orphanages in Cambodia has almost doubled to 269, housing some 12,000 children, according to UNICEF.

Friends International, a local organisation that works with marginalised urban children and youths, says tourism has contributed to the increase.

Visiting orphanages has become a tourist "attraction" in big cities like Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, said Marie Courcel, alternative care project manager at Friends International.

That in turn encourages the institutionalisation of youngsters, many of whom are very poor but actually have at least one living parent, she said.

Only one in 10 of the orphanages are funded by the state, the rest rely on charitable contributions to survive.

At Siem Reap's Acodo, huddled with the children in the shade of the only tree, Soroudi organises the afternoon activity.

Following her lead, the orphans make headpieces out of grass and add licks of paint to green and yellow conical hats, costumes they will wear in that evening's traditional Khmer dance show.

The daily half-hour event attracts a tourist crowd who thank the young performers with donations of money.

Van Westering said she worried about the dangers for children who are expected to raise funds for their care by begging or putting on shows for tourists.

"They have to do their best and they hear that also if they don't there isn't enough money for their care," said Van Westering. "You can just imagine what that does to children to live in that kind of insecure environment."

Her advice to tourists pondering a brief working stint at an orphanage is simple: "Don't go. Give blood, support a community-based organisation that provides day activities for a child but where the children go home at night."

Betsy Brittenham, an interior designer in her 50s from Arizona, and her 15-year-old daughter Alex are spending three weeks as volunteer teachers at one such place, the Grace House Community Centre, where the children return to their families each evening.

The mother and daughter team, who planned their trip months in advance, say volunteering at a reputable centre is a chance to make a difference in a country with fewer resources and opportunities than their own.

Like the volunteers at Acodo, Betsy pays for the privilege of working on her holiday but she sees no downsides to the experience.

"When you volunteer like this you're bringing your money and you're making tremendous strides and teaching their children," she said. "It's something you can't put a price on."

Vietnam businesses eyeing the Kingdom

Wednesday, 27 July 2011
May Kunmakara and Sim Virinea
Phnom Penh Posy

Cambodia offers plenty of opportunity for Vietnamese investors, though challenges such as high transportation costs and a shortage of skilled labour remain, experts said yesterday.

Represents of about 100 Vietnamese firms met with Cambodian counterparts yesterday for a one-day Oversea Entrepreneur Forum in Phnom Penh, organised by the Vietnamese embassy, said Vietnam commercial attaché Tran Tu.

“I think Cambodia is making improvements to infrastructure, but it could be developed more as the cost of transportation is higher than Vietnam,” he said.

Increased intra-ASEAN linkages also stood to improve the human resources situation, he added.

Vietnam Rubber Group President Leng Rithy said that further cooperation among government officials could also benefit the economy.

“Lower-ranking officials should pay more attention to the country’s development rather than their own,” he said.

Vietnam Rubber Group operations in Cambodia comprise of 17 companies with 100,000 hectares of concession land, and aims to invest millionsof dollars in rubber plantations.

Vietnam Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Danh Vinh said the two countries had signed a number of important agreements facilitating trade.

“Now there is a good and favourable environment for entrepreneurs from both side to seize the chance to strengthen investment and trade activities,” he said at yesterday’s event.

Tran Tu said that over 200 companies from neighbouting Vietnam are presently operating in the Kingdom.

University of Cambodia Business and Economics lecturer Chheng Kimlong said the government had done plenty of work upgrading connectivity at international border points in order to reduce unnecessary payments.

The total direct investment from Vietnam to Cambodia rose by 87 to $156 million in the first half of the year a jump from $83 million for the period in 2010, according data from CDC. Bilateral trade increased by 57 percent in the period to $1.351 billion, figures from the Vietnam trade office in Phnom Penh show.

N. Korea wants to buy Cambodian rice, invest in mining

July 27, 2011
(Reuters)

PHNOM PENH - North Korea wants to import Cambodian rice to try to ease food shortages and has offered in return to provide machinery and expertise to develop Cambodia's fledgling mining and energy sectors, a Cambodian official said on Wednesday.

A North Korean delegation led by Deputy Trade Minister Ri Myong-san visited Cambodia this week and the country is keen to import rice as soon as possible, said Ouch Borith, Cambodia's secretary of state for foreign affairs.

It would help Cambodia develop its mining sector and invest in hydropower dams.

The amount of rice North Korea wanted to import was not disclosed, he said. Further specific details, such as how North Korea would fund its purchases and investments, were not available.

Cambodia is the world's 15th biggest producer of rice and has set a target of exporting 1 million tonnes of the grain within the next four years.

According to the Economic Institute of Cambodia (EIC), an independent think tank, the country is expected to ship about 100,000 tonnes of milled rice this year, up from 50,000 tonnes in 2010. More goes to Vietnam to be milled and shipped from there.

North Korea is one of the world's poorest countries and it rarely produces enough food to feed its 24 million people, often as a result of bad weather affecting harvests.

International sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme combined with neighbouring South Korea's refusal to provide help have led to a substantial decline in food aid from its traditional donors.

Although Cambodia and North Korea have no trade ties, they have a diplomatic relationship. Cambodia's former King Norodom Sihanouk has a house in North Korea and was once a special guest of the country's late ruler, Kim Il-sung.

Ouch Borith said North Korea had offered to sell agricultural machinery to Cambodia, such as tractors, at cheaper prices than Western countries and wanted to provide expertise in developing mines.

"We have only small and medium-sized enterprises, not big industries, but Cambodia's natural resources are huge, such as minerals, gold, iron and aluminum," he told reporters.

"Our friends the Koreans said they would do studies and use their experience to help Cambodia make an industry from these natural resources."

Agriculture forms the biggest part of Cambodia's $10 billion economy, followed by tourism and garment manufacturing, but it is also trying to develop its energy and mining sectors.

(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Martin Petty)

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Military withdrawal depends on new gov't: Thai army

BANGKOK, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Second Army Region commander Lt Gen Tawatchai Samutsakorn said on Tuesday that the decision to pull Thai troops from the frontier now depends on the decision of the incoming government.

Now the troops from the 2nd Region Army which oversees northeastern region still remain at the Thai-Cambodian border, according to the commander.

Lt-Gen Tawatchai insisted that both Thai and Cambodian army will continue to coexist peacefully and avoid confrontation in order that some 100,000 residents along the border would not be affected.

Following the Cambodia's application in late April for reinterpretation of the World Court's 1962 ruling and provisional measure, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on July 18 ordered both countries to remove their troops from the disputed area.

Tensions have mounted between the two neighbors since 2008 when the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization listed the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site, triggering sporadic clashes along the border, and periodic clashes between Cambodian and Thai soldiers have resulted in the deaths of troops on both sides.

Editor: Yang Lina

CAMBODIA: Garment exports rise 32% in H1

Author: | 26 July 2011

Cambodia's garment exports in the first half of this year rose 32% on last year to reach US$1.858bn, according to the latest figures from the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

The data shows the US remained the largest export market during the period, accounting for 51.66% of total export turnover. Shipments to the country rose 17% to US$960m.

Mr Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), told just-style this growth is due to a combination of factors, including "relaxed EU rules of origin, the global economic recovery, and a shift in business away from China and other countries due to labour shortages."

Helped by their duty-free status, exports to the European Union rose 54% to US$532m in the first six months of 2011.

Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar seeking further economic integration

Jul 26, 2011
Source:Xinhua

A seminar was held here on Monday among senior officials and delegates from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam who shared their experience in devising and implementing international economic integration policies to serve their countries' sustainable development.

According to Vietnam News Agency (VNA), participants agreed that their countries should promote cooperation in the sub-regional, regional and inter-regional frameworks to make the best use of opportunities and minimize challenges from international economic integration.

Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Doan Xuan Hung suggested the four countries continue to actively take part in international economic integration and closely coordinate to contribute to building the ASEAN community.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director Tomoyumi Kimura spoke highly of prospects for cooperation in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), saying that 55 projects worth 14 billion U.S. dollars in total have been carried out in the GMS framework.

ADB will further cooperate with the four countries and assist existing sub-regional cooperation mechanisms to help them in their international economic integration and maintaining sustainable development, said Kimura.

The seminar is part of a cooperation project between the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Germany's Hanns Seidel Foundation to help Vietnam and regional countries in international economic integration, VNA reported.


Monday, July 25, 2011

Abhisit: Noppadon to blame

Jul 25, 2011
Source: Bangkok Post

All current border problems with Cambodia are a consequence of former foreign minister Noppadon Pattama signing a joint communique with Cambodia and supporting Phnom Penh's unilateral request for the listing of Preah Vihear temple as a world heritage site, caretaker Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Monday.

He was responding to criticism by Mr Noppadon of the Abhisit government's performance at the hearings at the International Court of Justice, where Cambodia has filed a case requesting an interpretation of the 1962 ruling on ownership of Preah Vihear temple, which awarded the actual ruins to Cambodia.

Mr Abhisit said Mr Noppadon's support allowed Cambodia to advance its case in demanding the right to manage the 4.6-square-kilometre disputed area around the temple ruins, and his government was then left to find ways to protect the Thai territory.

Asked if there would be any problem in protecting Thai soil when the new government headed by the Pheu Thai Party, which Mr Noppadon supports, takes office soon, Mr Abhisit said he hoped the new government would do its best to protect the national interest.

The border issue had a number of sensitive factors in terms of military strategy and law.

He said his government had been able to block Cambodia's attempts to occupy the 4.6-square-kilometre disputed area over the past three years, and presenting its case to the International Court of Justice had led to the court ordering the withdrawal of Cambodian and Thai forces from the disputed area.

Mr Abhisit said he hoped the new government would listen to the armed forces, which were determined to protect the nation's sovereignty.

Fears of crackdown as Vietnam PM set for new term

61-year-old Vietnamese premier Nguyen Tan Dung has presided over a worsening rights record in the country (AFP/DDP/File, Axel Schmidt)

HANOI — After skilful consolidation of his growing power, Vietnam's prime minister is poised for a second term in office, with observers predicting his return heralds a further assault on freedoms.

Nguyen Tan Dung is expected to be chosen for another five years on Tuesday, in a symbolic vote by the communist-controlled National Assembly that will cement his place as the country's most powerful politician.

The 61-year-old, a former deputy in the influential security ministry, has presided over a worsening rights record and activists predict the one-party state will try to further tighten its grip on freedoms in the face of worries about Arab Spring-style unrest and economic discontent.

Both the US and Britain said the Internet and free expression were increasingly stifled last year, as the ruling Communist Party prepared for its secretive January Congress, which determined the top leadership positions that are to be confirmed next week.

In April, Amnesty International voiced concerns about the continuing detention of dozens of political critics and activists jailed since late 2009.

Dung is now in a strong position after he was re-elected to the Politburo with support from security and defence delegates that helped him fend off a leadership challenge, said an Asian diplomat on condition of anonymity.

He said the government is concerned over the Arab Spring uprisings against authoritarian governments.

"They are going to nip everything in the bud. I don't think they will allow a single spark," he said.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at US-based Human Rights Watch, said the security ministry had been "empowered".

"It reflects, I think, the level of challenges that the Party thinks it's facing," he added.

Congress upped the number of security ministry officers in the elite Politburo, which sets government policy, from one to two.

Minister of Public Security General Le Hong Anh is expected to move up the hierarchy, becoming the party's de facto second-in-command.

Anh's deputy Lieutenant General Tran Dai Quang is widely touted to take over the ministry controlling the secret police, as well as the regular force.

Quang is "a hardliner" who will not tolerate online political activists, said a blogger, who asked for anonymity.

"Just after the coming parliament, they will begin to crack down. I find the situation more and more hopeless," the activist said.

Two small protests against China's alleged aggression in the South China Sea were forcibly dispersed in July, despite authorities' decision to allow similar protests earlier.

Traditional media, all linked to the state, have carried almost no news about the rallies or the police action against them, but independent blogs have widely covered the events.

There is no way the government can completely muzzle the web chatter but it does not want it to translate into real action in the street, the diplomat told AFP, predicting it would be "harder" for dissidents in the future.

Economic uncertainty has increased the pressure on the Vietnamese authorities.

Long focused on growth, the government this year shifted towards stabilising an economy facing a complicated mix of challenges including a struggling currency and trade deficit as well as increasingly high prices.

Vietnam's inflation is among the highest in the world and even official media have said the number of strikes is soaring as workers struggle to cope.

A credit squeeze aimed at taming accelerating prices has ramped up the cost of borrowing, hitting small businesses.

Public distress over the economy "is bubbling to the surface", the diplomat said. "The prime minister and the minister of public security will not want any voice of dissent coming out in this critical period."

Another dissident, whose identity AFP has withheld for his own protection, said the coming Vietnamese leadership are "very conservative" and predicted further problems for the under-pressure democracy movement.

He was meeting AFP in a near-empty restaurant recently when plainclothes policemen sat down. They said nothing, and did not need to.

"I think we have to stop now," the dissident said.

Vietnam to Maintain Tight Policy to Curb Inflation Pressure

Vietnam will maintain a tight monetary policy in August after inflation accelerated for an 11th month in July, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, chairman of the government office, said at a briefing in Hanoi today.

Consumer prices jumped 22.16 percent from a year earlier, compared with June’s 20.82 percent pace, data released by the General Statistics Office yesterday show. That’s the highest inflation rate tracked by Bloomberg among 17 economies in Asia.

Inflationary pressures are still high, Nguyen Dong Tien, deputy governor of the nation’s central bank, said at the same meeting and Nguyen Tien Thoa, head of price control at the finance ministry, said “there are still risks that would affect the economy and prices from now to the end of the year.”

State Bank of Vietnam will continue managing credit for “non-production business” as part of measures to curb rising prices, Tien said. Banks must restrict lending to sectors that invest in stock and property markets to 22 percent of loans by June 30, and to 16 percent by the year-end, he reiterated.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said in February that he aims to curb credit growth to less than 20 percent this year from an earlier target of 23 percent. He also intends to narrow the budget deficit to below 5 percent of gross domestic product and cap the jump in money supply at 15 to 16 percent in 2011.

--Nguyen Kieu Giang. Editor: Ravil Shirodkar

To contact the Bloomberg News staff on this story: Nguyen Kieu Giang in Hanoi at giang1@bloomberg.net

Trade, tourism along Thai-Cambodian border active after World Court ruling

Jul 24, 2011
(MCOT online news)


SI SA KET, July 24 – Cross border trade at Chong Sa-ngam border crossing with neighbouring Cambodia in Si Sa Ket on Sunday has reportedly been revived as many Cambodians queued up for the opening of the border crossing in the morning to exchange products with Thai traders.

Cambodians crossed the border to buy and sell large amounts of consumer products. Border trade activities was seen as active again amidst security provided by police officers of Phu Sing Police Station and local army rangers.

Apart from the trade, tourism along the Thai-Cambodian border was also boosted as many tourists have been visiting the area, asking for information about cross-border excursions to attractions such as Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in Siem Riap, according to Hattachai Pengchaem, head of the trade and tourism operators association in Chong Sa-ngam.

Mr Hattachai said that the return of the active trade and tourism can be attributed to the July 18’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court rulings on the Thai-Cambodian border, adding that both Thai and Cambodian traders have expressed their confidence in the border situation.

The rulings applied to both Thailand and Cambodia, requiring that both countries withdraw troops from the disputed border area near Preah Vihear Temple.

Meanwhile, the overall Thai political situation in Thailand is becoming clearer, as a new coalition government led by Pheu Thai Party will be formed after the July 3 general election.

Asean gets recognition, now it must act


Asean centrality has moved up one notch with the Hague-based International Court of Justice mentioning Asean in its decision recently in regard to the Thai-Cambodian dispute. No wonder, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told his Asean colleagues a few hours later at their closed-door meeting in Bali that "Asean is in the equation".

As such, Asean will have to prove its worthiness in the weeks and months to come. Although the grouping's international profile has many facets involving a myriad of issues, for the time being the reputation of Asean will be judged on its effectiveness in handling the Thai-Cambodia conflict as well as its response to Burma's request for be regional chairman in 2014.

Last week, both Cambodia and Thailand were quick to agree to comply with the court's verdict demanding their troops pull out from the disputed areas near Preah Vihear Temple. Indeed, it was in line with one of the key recommendations at a meeting held within 24 hours by Thailand's top security leaders chaired by outgoing prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. It set in motion preparation for full compliance and an eventual troop pull out by the incoming government.

At the moment, Indonesia is waiting anxiously for the Pheu Thai-led government to make the next move. A new Cabinet is expected to be announced in the second week of August, ahead of the Queen's birthday.

By then, the agreed terms of reference drawn up previously between Indonesia and Thailand under the previous government would be amended following the court's recent ruling, especially the newly defined demilitarised zone on both sides. Certain procedures will still need to be worked out. Cambodia prefers dispatching the observers during the pullouts, while Thailand wants them in after the withdrawal.

Looking forward, the current Asean chair is racing against time to ensure some progress in the next 150 days before its term ends. After the 19th Asean summit at the end of the third week of November in Bali, Cambodia will effectively assume the new Asean chair - although officially the term starts in January.

Tense discussions have already started concerning an appropriate role for the incoming chair, if the Thai-Cambodia conflict continues, which is highly likely. Frequently asked questions include: Will Indonesia continue its current responsibility uninterrupted? Will Phnom Penh, as the future Asean chair, agree to such a plan while it is a party to the conflict?

Lessons drawn from the group's experience in Cambodia in July 1997 could be helpful. At the time, the country was in turmoil due to the coup and political fighting among factions headed by Prime Minister Hun Sen and now leader in exile Prince Norodom Ranariddh. During the Asean meeting in Kuala Lumpur, they decided to delay Cambodia's membership in Asean, which upset Hun Sen very much. To mediate the crisis, the late Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas was quickly named by Asean ministers to lead a 'troika' together with Thailand and the Philippines. After the scheduled 1998 election with the return of Hun Sen, Cambodia was admitted to Asean in 1999.

With this backdrop, Cambodia is expected to invite Indonesia, unless Jakarta says it wants to quit, to stay on in its current role with the consent of Asean. This way, Cambodia can focus on other important Asean agendas. In particular, Phnom Penh has an important task to secure the visits of leaders from key major powers attending the East Asia Summit at the end of next year - including the Asean-US leaders' meeting. The new chair has to follow up various schemes and initiatives aimed at promoting Asean's profile in the global community.

After 14 years of membership, Burma remains a continuing burden for Asean. The Asean foreign ministers have learnt some lessons and are wiser now. They decided to avoid making a recommendation for Asean leaders in November on the 2014 chair. The issue was not included on the agenda of senior officials and foreign ministers. Apart from the briefing Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin gave to his colleagues on the country's political situation and readiness to host the chair, other Asean members, except Laos, were muted. During the post-ministerial meetings with dialogue partners, China was the only country to support Burma's chair and commended the progress accomplished after the November election, which had been criticised as faulty.

So far Asean has remained "ambivalent" on whether to award the chair to Naypyidaw. That helps explain why Burma has been enthusiastic to have Marty and his team there for a fact-finding tour. But for the past three months, no trip has eventuated. Indeed, it has been quite embarrassing for Asean to have US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton constantly warn Asean of the dire consequence of having Burma as the 2014 chair. In Bali, she asked Burma to release political prisoners, begin dialogue with the opposition and address nuclear proliferation issues, otherwise Naypyidaw would not win the trust of the international community.

Before that eventuates, Burma has to gain Asean's trust. Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand, want to see substantive reforms and some progress registered on dialogue with the opposition as well as the ethnic groups before granting the chair to Burma. They also support the US call for the releasing of some political prisoners. Without positive development on these fronts, Marty will certainly delay his visit. In more ways than one, his visit is considered a pre-condition.

Otherwise, without satisfactory progress inside Burma before 2014 that is accepted by the international community, the credibility of Asean would be forever tarnished. Worse still is the prospect of having a chair from a country dreaded the world over, to reign over the preparation of the launch of the Asean Community in 2015 or in 1,255 days. It would not be an auspicious way to launch a 600-million plus community.