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Thursday, December 3, 2009

Villagers decry govt order to destroy reservoirs for farms

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Photo by: Photo Supplied
Villagers survey the ruins of a home in Kampong Thom that was destroyed by Typhoon Ketsana when it hit Cambodia at the end of September. The storm killed 43 people.

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Our people don’t have enough food to support their families.
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STILL reeling from Typhoon Ketsana, farmers in Kampong Thom province say a government order to destroy 16 manmade reservoirs will put even more pressure on villagers still struggling to feed themselves.

The farmers have been digging the large reservoirs every year in a flooded forest area. During the wet season, the banks of the Tonle Sap river swell and douse the land, creating the flooded forests. When dry season comes, however, the farmers dig reservoirs in low-lying areas of the forest to retain a stock of water meant to feed their parched rice fields.

“We will have no food to eat, and we will starve to death if the government does not allow us to plant rice crops this dry season,” said Kim Sokhen, a representative of the farmers in Kampong Thom’s Baray district.

The government ordered the reservoirs destroyed last month after a Ministry of Water Resources report suggested that they were impacting natural fish habitats.

District and provincial governors are backing the farmers.

“Our people don’t have enough food to support their families because of the flooding caused by Ketsana,” said Kampong Thom Governor Chhun Chhorn. “The typhoon devastated their rice crops.”

He urged the government to delay destroying the reservoirs until next year, giving the farmers time to harvest their rice this dry season.

However, officials with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the farmers’ unsanctioned moves have wrecked swathes of the flooded forest and could have “serious impacts” on the fisheries sector.

“We do not want the rice crops to destroy our fisheries resources,” said Khem Chenda, director of the Department of Administrative Affairs at the ministry.

“We can’t delay destroying these illegal reservoirs because we need to open the channels for the fish to spawn in the flooded forest.”
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DuPont to sell farming products in Cambodia

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Photo by: Heng Chivoan
A woman sells corn last month on a Phnom Penh street. Three of Dupont's hybrid corn varieties have been approved in the Kingdom.


US giant’s hybrid seeds, crop-protection products win approval

US multinational DuPont launched eight of its chemical crop-protection products and three varieties of its Pioneer Hi-Bred corn seeds in Cambodia on Wednesday after winning approval from the Ministry of Agriculture.

Although DuPont’s agricultural products have been available in the Kingdom previously through third parties – as has its car paint line Centari – the Delaware-based chemical giant will now offer its seeds as part of a service that will include training and local outreach for farmers, an approach it has already taken in six other ASEAN countries.

“We think this is not a dropped-shipment type of business. It requires a lot of face-to-face interaction. We come in to Cambodia offering full service,” Carl Lukach, president of DuPont Asia Pacific, said at an official launch in Phnom Penh.

Domestic firm Nokorthom Agriculture Development will distribute eight of DuPont’s crop-protection chemical products within Cambodia, including Prevathon and Steward lines of insecticides, as well as herbicides and fungicides.

The company has not confirmed distributors for its three Pioneer Hi-Bred corn seed hybrids, used primarily for livestock feed.

DuPont executives said that Wednesday’s launch was just the beginning of its sales efforts in the Kingdom, and that other products will follow.

“We intend to go aggressive into the Cambodian market. We will gauge if we are successful, if we are reaching through, but we will err on the aggressive side,” said Hsing Ho, DuPont’s director for business development in South and East Asia.

The company – which produces 35,000 products from the technology behind bulletproof vests to genetically modified seeds – opened its Cambodia office in March 2008 and employs just four staff members, but Ho said it would expand.

Lukach and Sakorn Tripetchpisal, the Thailand country manager for Pioneer, predicted that DuPont’s corn seeds could help Cambodia improve its yield from an average of less than 6 tonnes per hectare to levels similar to those in the United States, which is close to 11 tonnes per hectare.

“We have the technology to improve this,” said Lukach.

According to company statistics, corn is grown on about 100,000 hectares in the Kingdom, making it the second-most prevalent crop behind rice, which occupies a much larger area at more than 2.5 million hectares.

DuPont rice seeds planned
Lukatch said hybrid rice seeds were also planned for Cambodia, but did not give details of the specific products or timeline.

“The growth drivers in agriculture are outstanding. The demand side keeps growing, but acreage is not going up much. That’s where we come in,” he told the Post.

Tout Saravuth, DuPont’s representative in Cambodia, said the Ministry of Agriculture had conducted testing on its seeds before approval.

“DuPont’s [newly introduced products] will increase food production in Cambodia; it will help farmers with more income by increasing their productivity, which is directly involved in poverty eradication in rural areas,” Lim Sokun, secretary of state for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said at the launch.

DuPont generated US$800 million in sales in ASEAN last year. Lukach told a media forum in Jakarta last week that DuPont expected 2009 revenues to fall around 15 percent in ASEAN on the back of the economic crisis.
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Domestic rubber prices rose 44pc on '08

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RUBBER prices in Cambodia have soared more than 44 percent in the past year, said a Rubber Department official.

Ly Phalla, director general of the department, told the Post Tuesday that the Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 variety was up to $2,435 per tonne at the end of last month from $1,686 per tonne a year earlier as global demand improved.

“There is high demand for rubber in the global vehicle industry, especially from China, while production [globally] has fallen,” he said, adding that the recent rise in crude oil prices on global markets has also pushed up rubber prices.

Rubber tends to track crude on world markets.

Prices have recovered spectacularly in the past five months, he said, following an average price of just $1,500 per tonne in the first half.

“Our rubber price has soared on the Chinese market due to high demand while other [producing] countries like Malaysia, Indonesia … were affected by storms and flooding which damaged production,” said Mak Kim Hong, owner of a 16,000-hectare rubber plantation in Kampong Cham province and president of the Cambodian Rubber Association.

He said he had exported 8,000 tonnes of rubber to China already this year, adding that the usual October slump in prices had not materialised this year.

The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) – which Cambodia joined in September – said that production among its 10 members fell 5.1 percent in the 12 months to September.

In 2008, ANRPC members produced over 9.13 million tonnes of natural rubber, but 2009 production is expected to be only 8.68 million tonnes.
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Trade with Korea fell more than 11pc in first 10 months

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Photo by: NGUON SOVAN
Containers wait at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port at the end of last month. Cambodia increased exports to South Korea 21.3 percent in the first 10 months year on year as rubber shipments soared.


Decline less severe than those with other trade partners as Kingdom manages to raise exports despite global downturn

BILATERAL trade between Cambodia and South Korea, fell 11.63 percent over the first 10 months of this year, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), a division of the country’s embassy in Phnom Penh.

Although not as severe as the decline experienced with bigger trading partners Thailand and Vietnam over the same period, trade with South Korea – the Kingdom’s second-largest foreign investor – fell to US$232.8 million up to the end of October from $263.4 million over the same period in 2008.

Lee Hyoung Seok, KOTRA’s deputy director in Cambodia, was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Cambodian exports, a tiny fraction of the trade between the two countries, increased 21.3 percent in the first 10 months to $14.48 million from $11.94 million last year as the Kingdom shipped 11.8 percent more garments and accessories to South Korea. Exports of rubber soared 42.2 percent, and metal products fell 27.4 percent, the data showed.

South Korea’s exports were down 13.2 percent over the same period to $218.3 million from $251.49 million.

“Korean products are very good in quality. However, the price is higher compared to other imported products from the likes of Vietnam or Thailand because of the high transportation costs involved,” said Mao Thora, secretary of state at the Ministry of Commerce.

Cambodia imported 4.2 percent fewer garments from South Korea up to the end of October compared with last year, and 44.4 percent fewer automobiles. Imports of fibre climbed 24 percent over the same period.

In 2008, total bilateral trade between the two countries hit $308.76 million from $290.12 million the previous year, an increase of 6.42 percent.
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Police Blotter: 3 Dec 2009

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LOCAL COPS UNRAVEL GARMENT THEFT
Two men suspected of breaking into a shipping container and stealing about US$6,000 worth of clothing in September were arrested in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district on Sunday. The break-in occurred on September 21, but it was not until the container reached Singapore that the crime was discovered. The suspects were arrested in Samrong Kroum commune, police said.
DEUM AMPIL

WALLET SNATCHER NABBED BY POLICE
A 20-year-old wallet snatcher was arrested in Phnom Penh’s Sensok district on Thursday, according to police, who said the suspect was riding a motorbike with his friend when the two approached a man from behind and snatched his wallet, which contained US$70. Police said the suspect explained that he stole the wallet because he did not have enough money for food and that it was the first time he had committed such a crime. He was arrested and sent to Prey Sar prison Sunday.
KOH SANTEPHEAP

IN-LAWS’ DISPUTE LEADS TO STABBING
A 38-year-old man was stabbed in the stomach by his brother-in-law in Kandal province’s Kien Svay district, witnesses said. The victim was drinking with the suspect and four friends when the incident occurred. Witnesses said they believe that the attack stemmed from an argument between the two men earlier in the day. The victim was first escorted to Kien Svay Referral Hospital but was later moved to Calmette Hospital. Police say they are searching for the suspect.
DEUM AMPIL

THIEF FAILS IN ATTEMPT TO ROB MOTOBIKE TAXI
An 18-year-old who seriously injured a motorbike taxi driver during a robbery attempt was arrested in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district on Monday, police said. The suspect had asked the victim to bring him from Tuol Kork to Slen Rolerng village. Halfway through the ride, the suspect used a sharp iron object to cut the victim’s throat. The suspect was unsuccessful in stealing the motorbike and was immediately arrested by police.
DEUM AMPIL

VILLAGERS THWART GENERATOR THEFT
A brazen 42-year-old who tried to steal a generator was stopped by villagers in Kampong Chhnang province’s Samrong Village on Monday, witnesses said. The thief’s wife said she had tried to convince her husband not to engage in theft, but he would not listen and hit her with a boat paddle. During the theft, angry villagers showed up and apprehended the thief. Police said the suspect had been imprisoned twice before.
KOH SANTEPHEAP
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Firms show greater interest in border SEZ

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SVAY RIENG

ENQUIRIES have picked up at the Manhattan Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in recent months after a period of slower interest since the beginning of the year, Yu Chao-Kuan, deputy general manager of Manhattan International Co, the developer of the SEZ, said last week.

“The number of investors interested in our SEZ declined at the beginning of the global financial crisis late last year, but within the last few months a number of mostly Japanese investors have again shown interest in our project,” he said.

Although no new deals have yet been inked, the companies interested in setting up shop in the Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province, SEZ are involved in industries such as transport, garments and pharmaceutical products, he added.

Chao-Kuan said that the six factories presently occupying the site exported a total of US$65 million in goods over the first 10 months of 2009, a 30 percent increase compared with the same period last year.

The firms operating at the SEZ manufacture bicycles, construction materials such as screws, and shoes for the European market, and plastic foam, chair cushions and plastic bags destined for the United States, in addition to wetsuits and diving gear for other consumers.

The Pi Que garment factory from Russia has indefinitely halted its plans to produce women’s undergarments at the SEZ, he said. The company “bought land in our zone last year, but has not begun construction because of the impact of the global financial crisis”.

About 157 hectares of land has been set aside for the zone. Development on the first phase of 57 hectares started in 2005, and factories began operations at the site last year.

Developing the second phase of infrastructure and remaining 100 hectares at the SEZ will begin early next year to accommodate a further 20 factories, Chao-Kuan said.

All of the factories’ international imports and exports were being conducted through Vietnamese ports in Ho Chi Minh City, he said.

The Bavet International Border Checkpoint with Vietnam had collected $3.85 million over the first nine months of the year, a 52 percent rise in customs and excise tariffs revenue from $2.52 million in the same period last year, said acting Director Khiev Sameth.

“In the first half of the year, imports and exports through the checkpoint had declined slightly, but the numbers began turning around in July, and sharply increased in recent months,” he said.
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Region told to keep stimulus

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THE Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) recommended Wednesday that Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam maintain stimulus spending “until economic recovery is clearly under way”.

However, Ricardo Varsano, a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund’s Fiscal Affairs Department, told seminar attendees at Raffles Hotel Le Royal that in the medium term the region needs to ensure fiscal sustainability and develop budget-consolidation plans as the global downturn subsides.

“Expenditure measures may have advantages over tax cuts or increases in transfers,” he said, adding that existing programmes should not be cut for lack of resources.

The London-based Economist Intelligence Unit said in its November outlook for Cambodia that the government’s scope for additional fiscal stimulus “will be limited by the budget deficit”.

In the long term, Varsano recommended, the four ASEAN neighbours should accelerate structural reforms to raise competitiveness.
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Robotic cultural exchange wows crowds at university

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Photo by: Bun Tharum
Autobots, roll out: the triumphant onstage arrival of Tmsuk-4 last month during the Mekong-Japan Exchange Year 2009.

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When someone gets into the house, the robot automatically knows.
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Cambodia was recently invaded by robots. But never fear – these artificially intelligent visitors came in peace, if not pieces.

Crowding a hall at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, folk young and old excitedly awaited a glimpse of the future. Onstage, traditional taiko drummers, hinting at Mekong-Japan Exchange Year 2009, prepared to hail the unusual special guest.

It eventually rolled on like an oversized, upright skittle on wheels – voicing smooth, female Khmer tones. Curvy Tmsuk-4 thus drew a hearty ovation, virtually magnetically. This was the first time Cambodia had been invaded by any robot – let alone a robotic roller-girl whose meticulously programmed charm offensive triumphed like a sci-fi fanatic's wildest dream.

Having long pioneered and dominated futuristic technology, Japan proudly leads the global robot march; it already boasts numerous automated assistants playing various everyday roles – with plenty more on the way.

The metallic models that paraded at the exchange event, hosted by the Japanese embassy and its Cambodia-Japan Cooperation Centre in late November, were the mechanised brainchildren of Tmsuk. This unpronounceable company somewhat ominously claims on its Web site to want to "create a safe and comfortable society in which people and robots can coexist".

The 1.2-metre-tall, 100-kg Tmsuk-4 is almost 10 years old and primarily used for household chores, performed at a 3kph trundle. It retails in Japan for about US$20,000. Tmsuk's advertising chief, Mariko Ishikawa, thought her company's creation resembled an 8-year-old girl; let's hope the authorities don't apply labour laws to bionic maids, then.

With resilient hands built for everyday errands, the computer-driven trooper is surely no stranger to collecting mail or fetching handbags. Her capabilities are relatively limited, though – for now, at least. Free will, for example, is surely still numerous upgrades away.

"The robot cannot move independently by itself without an operator," confirmed Ishikawa. Phew! Instead, Tmsuk-4 is directed by wireless LAN, controlled remotely via two robotic hands that prompt the machine to move, change direction, pick things up, speak and so on.

At this point, an electronic quadruped named Banryu walked onstage, ever so dynamically. Forget Clone Wars, this was becoming a cyborg love-in (though any flying sparks would create a fire hazard on campus). Although only 15 inches tall, Banryu is a hyper-vigilant security android – dubbed "Robocop", but infinitely less trigger-happy than his murderous movie namesake, yet still smartly customised for home protection.

Ordered around by a master-slave remote control – allowing the human operator to view Banryu's real-time movements on videophone – this night-watchman blows the whistle on intruders. Amazingly sensitive, he can overhear strange noises, sniff out alien odours or track temperature hikes in an empty house – then sneakily phone any misdemeanours in to his owner.

"When somebody gets into the house, the robot automatically knows and can set off the home's alarm and security system," said Ishikawa, neglecting to mention how titchy Banryu handles street-fighting assailants.

Besides the present pair, Ishikawa mentioned Artemis, not a musketeer but an elevator assistant that never gets bore, having been designed to push all the right buttons. And displayed at November's International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo were a noodle-making, pancake-flipping automaton – plus an educational 'bot that can speak three languages, read a roll call and set students' assignments from a textbook. (Actually, when I think back to some of my old teachers...)

Whatever next? Well, there's hydraulically operated Tmsuk T-52 Enryu, a 3.45m Transformer-like giant weighing in at a whopping 5 tonnes, making him one of the world's heftiest "HyperRescueRobots".

Even the most psychotic assailant would be advised not to mess with this sturdy edition. He looks like he'd deck "Optimus Prime". His powerful, eight-jointed arms offer fully ranged motion – hoisting a tonne, the weight of a hatchback car, with literally no sweat (perhaps a little oil seepage).

Marika Ishikawa admires the way robots heedlessly perform jobs that would endanger mere mortals, like clearing land mines or defusing bombs. "Some serve as kids' toys, but others work to protect or save people."

However, she recommended their makers reduce robots' energy guzzling consumption levels – as well as consider unstable environmental factors that may damage their mechanical progeny.

She should know. After all, Ishakawa has seen the future – and few spectacles are more pathetic than a 'state-of-the-art' robot being risibly defeated by a piddling puddle.
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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Cham Muslims Homeless After Fire

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Firefighters race to put out flames in the Reussey Keo district of Phnom Penh, Nov. 19, 2009. (RFA)

A fire in Cambodia's capital leaves hundreds of ethnic Muslims homeless.

2009-11-20
Radio Free Asia

PHNOM PENH—Hundreds of ethnic Cham Muslims are now homeless after a fire razed their crowded section of the Cambodian capital.

The blaze erupted early on Nov. 19 in an area dominated by the city's Muslim Cham minority, local police chief Som Bunny said.

Some 300 houses were destroyed in Reussey Keo district, Ly Rossamy, deputy district chief, said.

It lasted from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., she said, adding that an explosion of a cooking gas or electricity in the area may start the fire.

"No one was killed or injured. They all were evacuated," she said. An investigation into the cause is under way.

"Some removed their belongings and went by boat to the other side of the river. Some others moved to the main road."

Although large neighborhood fires are increasingly rare in Phnom Penh, a series of suspicious blazes several years ago destroyed a number of slum areas, forcing tens of thousands to flee.

"Each of us has [lost] hundreds of thousands of dollars," one resident said.

"We lost everything... The firefighters didn't even try to stop it."

Under Secretary of State for Vocational Training Okgna Ousman Hassan, who was at the scene, said fire trucks didn't have sufficient road access to put out the blaze.

Some 240,000 Cham Muslims live in Cambodia, making them about 1.6 percent of the population in the predominantly Buddhist country, according to a recent survey by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center.

Original reporting by Sek Bandith for RFA's Khmer service. Khmer service director: Sos Kem. Executive producer: Susan Lavery. Written for the Web in English by Sarah Jackson-Han.


Source: http://ki-media.blogspot.com/
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Thai businesses fear closure of border

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Bangkok Post

As the Thai-Cambodian media skirmish continues, Thai executives are starting to fear their operations will suffer.

Gamblers are staying away from casinos in Koh Kong and Poipet, while tourist numbers are on the slide. Kasikorn Research Center said the escalating tensions could affect businesses and populations on both sides of the border.

The conflict between the Thai and Cambodian governments recently reached a new and alarming level when both countries withdrew their ambassadors after Cambodia named fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic adviser and refused to extradite him when he visited the country.

But the Thai-Cambodian border remains open so the border trade, which accounts for as much as 80% of bilateral trade, continues as usual.

If the conflict is quickly resolved without either side resorting to force, trade will not be disrupted, said K-Research.

Even a temporary border closure, similar to that caused by the earlier Preah Vihear temple dispute, would only have a limited impact, the researchers said. But a prolonged closure would inevitably damage trade, causing Thai exporters to lose their share in Cambodia's market.

Thai exports to Cambodia last year were worth 67 billion baht, while imports from Cambodia were only 3 billion baht.

Thailand's trade surplus reflects Cambodia's inability to supply its market's demand, while Cambodian consumers are accustomed to imported Thai products such as sugar, beverages, cosmetics, soaps and related products. The Cambodian business sector also relies on imported processed oil and cement.

Thailand is currently the largest exporter to Cambodia, supplying 23% of its imports, followed by Vietnam with 17% and China with 15%.

Like Thailand, Vietnam benefits from close proximity with Cambodia, with significant border trade. Vietnam's exports to Cambodia have soared from US$178 million in 2002 to $1.43 billion last year. The country is now competing directly with Thailand in oil, sugar and cement.

Chinese goods, currently in third place, also have good opportunities for growth due to the strength of the Chinese economy and the development of the logistics system linking China and Asean.

But Cambodia would also face losses from this scenario. Materials and intermediate goods from other countries for its production sector would likely have higher prices due to the logistics costs. Similarly, Cambodian consumers would likely have higher living costs.
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