Cambodia - Central bank links up for Thai pay system

The Kingdom’s central bank unveiled plans on Wednesday to collaborate with its counterpart in neighboring Thailand to launch a QR code payment system, a bank official said.

The system, which would allow people from either country to rapidly send funds to one another, is aimed at those who travel often for business or tourism.

An announcement from the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) said it would let users bypass the need to use costly exchanges to turn Cambodian riel into Thai baht, or vice versa.

The systems will also allow Cambodian workers in Thailand to transfer money to their families at home.

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 The NBC’s director-general of central banking, Chea Serey, said the initiative will receive support from financial institutions in both countries and that leaders would meet up later this year to define rules and procedures.

She said the system was set to go public next year.

“This is another effort to promote the use of riel. [It] will allow Cambodians to use their own currency abroad and will prove to the public that it is internationally recognised,” she said.

The system will only work for users whose bank accounts utilise Cambodian riel, and aims to be a catalyst to boost riel usage.

Cambodian imports accounted for $15.5 billion in total last year, in which the imports from Thailand was 16.5 per cent of total imports. It is second only to China, whose products account for 41.7 per cent of imports to the country.

In September of last year, the NBC signed an agreement with the People’s Bank of China in Guangxi to set up an official yuan-riel exchange rate, allowing businesses to conduct settlements without having to use the US dollar.

#Cambodia- Human Rights Watch (HRW) to EU: End migrant abuse

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the European Union (EU) to renew efforts to eliminate forced labour and other abusive treatment within the Thai fishing industry, noting that a large number of workers were from Cambodia and Myanmar.

In a letter to EU officials, dated July 5 but published on Monday, HRW claimed that migrant workers were still falling into debt bondage within the commercial fishing sector.

Delayed payment and salaries below the minimum wage were two issues highlighted in the document.

Its statement said HRW found that “captains compelled predominantly Burmese [Myanmar] and Cambodian fishing workers to work overtime beyond those set out in law . . . [owners] frequently paid fishing workers once every six months – or in some cases once a year at subminimum wages”. 

The report said ATM cards and bank books were frequently taken by bosses in order to thwart Thai reforms requiring monthly direct deposits.

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HRW regional director for Asia Brad Adams said: “The Thai government’s reforms in the fishing industry still fall far short of resolving serious labour rights abuses . . . the EU should use its leverage as a major seafood importer to demand changes to the lives of migrant fishing workers on Thai vessels.”

Government spokesman Phay Siphan, said the state was paying attention to Cambodian workers in Thailand, citing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed previously regarding the issue.

“We signed the MoU with the Thai government and also with the Thai fisheries association,” Sophan said.

“Cambodia is working with the Thai government . . . to help our legal and illegal fishermen,” he said, adding that the Kingdom is pushing to give undocumented workers the help they need to get the right papers.

A statement in May from the International Transport Workers’ Federation, which launched the Fishers’ Rights Network, said there were “approximately 600,000 fishermen in Thailand”, predominantly from Cambodia and Myanmar.

Source - PhnomPhenPost

#Cambodia - Poachers destroy wildlife cams

An endangered banteng is photographed by a wildlife camera as it wanders through a forest in Siem Reap province. Environmental authorities in the country’s northeast provinces say at least 107 such cameras have been destroyed by poachers.

 At least 107 cameras deployed for tracking endangered wildlife in the northeast provinces of Cambodia were dismantled or destroyed by poachers, according to a provincial environment official on Thursday.

Mondulkiri Provincial Environment Department director Keo Sopheak told The Post that the dismantling of the cameras showed that poaching in the Sre Pok and Phnom Prich wildlife sanctuaries continued at an alarming rate.

Sopheak said that data his team collected from other cameras indicated that poachers stole and destroyed cameras in the two wildlife sanctuaries. They wore civilian clothing but were armed with AK-47 and M-16 rifles.

“We cannot identify the perpetrators as the data collected from the other cameras’ vantage points allow us to only make out their bodies.

“Nonetheless, the Environment Department has filed a complaint with the Mondulkiri provincial police and the provincial Military Police requesting that they investigate further and arrest those responsible,” he said.

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Mondulkiri provincial police chief Lor Sokha told The Post that police are looking into the case to identify possible suspects, but so far police have not been able to identify them.

“Police are investigating quietly to prevent the suspects from knowing in advance of any action we plan to take. This is because we suspect we are dealing with a group that traffics as part of the illegal wild animal trade,” Sokha said.

Meanwhile, Sopheak estimated that the cost of the damaged cameras was about $30,000.

Sopheak also said that this year wild dogs and foxes had been found dead and diagnosed with diseases associated with domestic dogs as a result of hunters taking their hounds poaching.

“According to the camera images our team gathered, rare and endangered animals such as elephants, gaur, banteng, bears, tigers and others are living in Cambodia,” Sopheak said.

He appealed to people and relevant parties to jointly protect wildlife by stopping the hunting and eating of endangered animals, and urged locals not to accidentally damage the cameras, as they are being used to track, study and observe wildlife.

Source - PhnomPenhPost

Cambodia - Firm caught making copy motorcycles

The Interior Ministry’s Counter Counterfeit Committee (CCC) cracked down on a China-owned motorbike company, Boding Investment Co Ltd (BD), in Por Sen Chey district, Phnom Penh for producing fake Honda motorcycles.

CCC officials found a total of 444 imitation bikes on Thursday morning on BD premises.

The company also imports and sells motorbikes from China, said CCC chief Liv Sophanarith.

“After we received the lawsuit from Honda Motor Company, we went straight to the premises to investigate,” he said, adding that they found production equipment for manufacturing popular Honda models such as the Zoomer X, Scoopy and Dream.

Officers held two suspects who are thought to be the company’s owners. Documents on the copyright violation have been filed in court.

The factory is believed to have been open for some time and distributes fully assembled cycles and parts to shops around the capital.

Boding officials could be reached for comment.

Source - PhnomPhenPost

Why #American tourists don't come to #Indonesia

Water Palace of Tirta Gangga in East Bali, Karangasem

 Over 75 million US citizens travel abroad each year. Only about 7 percent of them visit Asia, but that is still roughly 5 million people. But only a tiny percent of that number comes to Indonesia. Most of those who do come focus almost entirely on Bali, which has, of course, been the face of Indonesia for the international jet set for decades.

Most people I know back in Canada, where I’m from, and the US where I lived for 20 years, thought that “Bali” was a country – a picture-perfect tropical isle floating somewhere in the Pacific. The fact that Bali is part of a nation called Indonesia, which has the fourth-largest population on the planet (right behind the US, in fact) would come as quite a shock to most North Americans.

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 There are some logical reasons for this lack of American interest in Indonesia as a vacation destination.  There are easy links between the US and many other Asian countries. Americans fought wars in Vietnam and Cambodia and welcomed large groups of refugees after those wars – families who now go back to their homelands regularly.  Our large military presence in the Philippines and Thailand established many natural links there and a significant amount of inter-marriage. Chinese immigrants helped to build the North American railroads and have always had a prominent place in our cultural heritage. And not only is there a large and very successful diaspora of Japanese immigrants in America, there is also a sophisticated taste for all things Japanese including architectural and garden design, Zen Buddhism, sushi (and Japanese food in general), martial arts, cult movies and literature.

Indonesia on the other hand has remained unknown. There are very, very few Indonesian immigrants in America. Apart from the movies The Year of Living Dangerously and the Bali-focused Eat, Pray, Love, (plus, of course, the tsunami of 2004), Indonesia simply doesn’t come up on the American radar.

There are also some serious negatives that have filtered through the global press, including what The Jakarta Post contributor Duncan Graham calls one of the country’s “self-inflicted wounds”:  “a cruel and illogical approach to the drug problem by maintaining the death penalty”.

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 Graham is right. It’s not that American tourists would be stashing drugs in their backpacks or Gucci bags. It’s that countries with a law this primitive and archaic seem to demand some kind of conscientious-objector status, even one as simple as picking a different place to holiday.

But this issue is probably not a deal breaker. Instead, when Americans do start exploring Indonesia online, or when the word spreads about a friend’s trip here, it is a series of pretty basic lifestyle issues that inevitably comes up to muddy the waters.

There is no doubt that getting around the country outside of the Bali infrastructure is challenging. The government’s proposed new digital tool, Travel X-Change Indonesia (TXI), should be a good start toward addressing this problem. There is also the well-publicized issue of local amenities.

The backpackers may be willing to accept hostel accommodation with no air conditioning and Indonesian-style bathroom facilities, but most older American travelers will not. So providing at least some “full-service” accommodation and, just as importantly, making them accessible online, is clearly one key to attracting this market.

 Another issue that bothers many actual or potential visitors from North America even more than these inconveniences is: the garbage. America recognized its litter problem back in the 1950s and anyone caught throwing anything on the ground in that country can face a stiff fine and be required to do community service.

It should come as no surprise then that American travelers are appalled and often disgusted by the garbage strewn around many Indonesian cities and towns. People here genuinely don’t seem to consider it a problem to toss refuse on the ground or in the rivers, or to wade through piles of garbage at the side of roads.

Much of the admiration and interest the Western traveler feels for the customs, the idiosyncrasies, the good humor and the warmth of the people dissipates at the sight and smell of the garbage. It is everywhere, and very few tourists pass through without noting it and spreading the word through online reviews and social media.

To put this in a global perspective, Singapore is king in terms of cleanliness, while India and Indonesia are pretty close to the bottom of the list.

READ CONTINUE

 

#Cambodian football on the right track: FIFA chief Infantino

FIFA president Gianni Infantino speaks at the world governing body’s Executive Football Summit at Phnom Penh’s Sofitel Hotel today as FFC acting general-secretary May Tola looks on. In Sopheng.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino today told the world governing body’s Executive Football Summit in Phnom Penh that the Football Federation of Cambodia’s academy development programme is on track to achieve its goals in nurturing the Kingdom’s young talent.

After the meeting at the capital’s Sofitel Hotel, the FIFA president told reporters: “The Cambodian Football Federation is doing very well in its development of youth academies across the country in 25 provinces and cities.” 

The FIFA summit was held in the Kingdom for the first time and attended by the presidents of member associations from three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. 

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FFC vice president Kiev Sameth told The Post: “It was an honour to host the summit, and I want to say thank you to the FIFA president for his faith in Cambodia. This will further strengthen the friendship between us, the FIFA president and member associations from Africa and Europe.” 

According to Sameth, FIFA has increased its support budget from $250,000 to $1,250,000 per year to help develop the FFC’s youth programmes and academies. 

Infantino also backed a possible joint ASEAN 2034 World Cup bid, calling it “a good idea” and recommending that a youth World Cup be held in the region before then so that experience could be gained in hosting such a huge tournament.

Source - PhnomPenhPost

#Cambodia - Deal for yuan trade with China in works

China’s currency, the renminbi, or yuan, being counted in stacks next to US dollars. 

Officials in Cambodia and China’s Guangdong province are cooperating to establish trade using yuan instead of US dollars, part of the two countries’ increasingly close economic relationship. 

The suggestion to use yuan directly, instead of using US dollars as an intermediary currency, was made by deputy-director of Guangdong province Ouyang Weimin during a visit to the province by Cambodian Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak on Friday.

Seang Thay, a spokesman at the Ministry of Commerce, said yesterday that as trade between the two countries continued to grow, Chinese currency should also increasinglly be used in bilateral trade.

“The fluctuation of exchange rate is risky for businesses, because sometimes the US dollar could be appreciate or depreciate compare with the Chinese yuan,” he said.

“We are trading with China more and more, so accepting Chinese yuan for trade deals is also good for businesses.” 

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While the two countries appear in-sync on promoting trade in yuan, there is not yet an official agreement to establish such a system in Guangdong, according to Thay.

Last September, the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and the People’s Bank of China in the autonomous Guangxi region in southern China launched an official yuan-riel exchange rate, which allowed banks in Guangxi to exchange the two currencies directly. That marked the first time riel could be exchanged in China and eliminated the need to use US dollars as an intermediary currency.

According to NBC data, there were 17 banks in Cambodia that could handle yuan transactions last year, up from 11 in 2014. Only four – ICBC, the Bank of China, Canadia Bank and First Commercial Bank – allow deposits to be made in yuan.

 In 2016, cross-border trade in yuan amounted to about $377 million, accounting for about seven percent of the two countries’ total trade and investment, according to the NBC. The remaining 93 percent was done using US dollars.

Source - PhnomPenhPost

Lao Inmates Break Out of Cambodian Prison

Five Lao prisoners made an attempted escape from Stung Treng provincial prison on Saturday, but were recaptured before venturing far.

Security guards fired warning shots into the air as the five prisoners, all from Laos, broke through an exit gate. The inmates made their escape attempt during shower time as guards were not paying close attention, according to reports.

“They ran from the prison at 2:45PM and took their chance to make an escape when we let them have a bath,” said prison director Chhim Thida. “There were a total of five inmates. All of them were from Laos and had committed drug-related offences. Three have already been convicted, while the other two inmates are awaiting trial.”

Security guards fired warning shots into the air which stopped the escapees in their tracks.

Laos year a Lao national and four Cambodian inmates were also caught attempting to escape from the ceiling of their cell.

Source -  Laotian Times

Indonesia-Cambodia trade grows to $492M

Bilateral trade between Cambodia and Indonesia amounted to $492.7 million in the first 11 months of last year, a 23 percent increase compared to the same period in 2016, according to a report from an Indonesian state-run news agency.

Indonesian Antara reported the growth in bilateral trade on Saturday, noting that Indonesia had invested primarily in the fields of culinary arts, housing, transportation and infrastructure improvements in Cambodia. The news came at the end of a three-day visit by Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs Prak Sokhonn, who left Indonesia on Saturday.

#Cambodia / #Thailand - Silence on suspended dam deal as Prayut and Hun Sen agree to stronger bilateral ties.

ONLY DAYS after Thailand halted the Bt40-billion Stung Nam hydropower project, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen yesterday agreed to enhance economic ties and connectivity.

Prayut led a Thai delegation at the 3rd Thailand-Cambodia Joint Cabinet Retreat in Phnom Penh yesterday to discuss cooperation in various fields including trade, investment, border security, migrant workers and culture.

Thailand is willing to provide more assistance to Cambodia to improve its farm products and speed up the opening of more border checkpoints to facilitate trade and travel, Prayut said in a joint press conference after the meeting.

 On connectivity, both sides agreed to fulfil an agreement on the rail link from Thailand’s border province of Sa Kaew to Cambodia’s capital city of Phnom Penh, he said. It would be a historic railway project to connect Thailand and other neighboring countries in the Mekong basin, he said.

Hun Sen said both countries would boost bilateral trade and Thailand had agreed to buy more farm products from Cambodia as well as open four additional border checkpoints in the near future.

Both countries have set targets to improve bilateral trade to reach US$15 billion (Bt496 billion) by 2020, according to Thai Deputy Government Spokesperson Werachon Sukhondhapatipak. To reach the target, the two countries have to facilitate border crossings and trade as well as contract farming, he said.

The two premiers also witnessed the signing of two documents – the Joint Declaration for the 3rd Thailand-Cambodia Joint Cabinet Retreat, to reaffirm both countries’ commitment to promote “Enhanced Partnership for Peace and Prosperity” and the Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who was also part of the delegation, said relations and cooperation between the two countries on security matters was excellent at all levels. 

The defence ministries, armed forces and other joint mechanisms had good relations and worked well, he said, and they would establish a communication hotline at all levels to coordinate security matters, he said.

Among the issues for border security was illegal logging, notably of rosewood, according to spokesman Werachon, who added that the number of timber smuggling cases, as well as clashes between smugglers and Thai security forces, reduced significantly over the past year.

However, the controversial Stung Nam hydro power project, which was suspended by Prayut shortly before his departure to Phnom Penh, was not discussed, Werachon said. 

The plan to purchase electricity from the 24-megawatt dam in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province and get free fresh water for the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) was put on hold because the electricity price was too expensive and the investment cost for a pipeline to transport water from the border to the EEC was too high. 

Cambodian investor Ly Yong Phat of LYP Group told local newspaper Khmer Times that the delay in the deal was due to time constraints by both sides that could not process the documents on time.

Source - TheNation

#Cambodia - Breaking news: CNRP leader Kem Sokha arrested for 'treason'

Phnom Penh - Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha was arrested early Sunday accused of treason, the government said in a statement, the latest in a flurry of legal cases lodged against critics and rivals of strongman premier Hun Sen.

 His surprise arrest raises the stakes as Hun Sen's political opponents, NGOs and the critical press are smothered by court cases and threats ahead of a crunch general election next year.

Hun Sen is determined to extend his three decade rule and withstand the burgeoning popularity of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

The government statement alleged "a secret plan of conspiracy between Kem Sokha, his group, and foreigners that harms Cambodia," adding he was arrested early Sunday.

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"The above secret conspiracy is the act of treason," the statement said, without giving further details of the alleged crime.

Kem Sokha is the leader of the CNRP which has been battered by court cases, bans and threats against its key figures.

He was handcuffed and "taken away by 100-200 police without warrant after they raided his home," his daughter Kem Monovithya said in a Twitter post.

On Saturday night, a pro-government website -- Fresh News -- alleged that Kem Sokha had discussed overthrowing Hun Sen with support from the United States.

It did not provide any evidence for the claim.

Last week the US expressed "deep concern" over the state of Cambodia's democracy after the government there ordered out an American NGO and pursued a crackdown on independent media.

Among the media in the firing line is the well respected Cambodia Daily, which often criticizes the government.

It faces closure on Monday if it fails to pay a $6.3 million tax bill, a threat it says is a political move to muzzle its critical reporting.

Source - TheNation

Seed giant East-West opens #Cambodia branch.

East-West Seed Group, one of the world’s largest vegetable seed companies, has stepped up its presence in Cambodia by officially launching a local branch and taking over distribution operations in the Kingdom to better address local market conditions, a company representative said yesterday.

Heng Rithea, country representative of East-West Seed (EWS) for Cambodia, said the company’s business model was focused on serving the needs of smallholder farmers, the vast majority of whom produce vegetables on plots smaller than a hectare. 

“Smallholder farmers can increase the yield and quality of their crops with improved seed varieties,” he said. 

EWS began providing seeds to Cambodia in 2005 through a local distributor. In 2009 the Thai-based company expanded to knowledge-transfer activities in cooperation with the government and German development agency GIZ, training farmers in Siem Riep on improved techniques that result in higher productivity. This was followed by other partnerships with the government and development organisations in other parts of the country.

Rithea said a stronger local presence would help improve the company’s understanding of the local market and allow it to develop new seed varieties under local farming conditions to ensure suitability and adaptability for Cambodian farmers.

“We breed for what the market wants,” he said. “We understand the local needs and see what is happening in the market and [in people’s] diets.”

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He said innovation was crucial to raising the standards of the agricultural industry, adding that EWS invests around 15 percent of its turnover into research and development.

“This allows us to develop tropical vegetable seeds that help farmers grow better crops,” he said.

Rithea explained that Cambodia’s agricultural industry faces numerous challenges, including a hot, humid climate subject to heavy rains and extreme weather conditions.

“This kind of environment results in high pest and disease pressure,” he said. “Farmers also lack access to technology, basic infrastructure like farm-to-market roads, irrigation and post-harvest facilities and lack of access to credit and finance.”

He said another challenge here was the amount of unregistered seeds that flow into the country from different channels and which, while sold at very competitive prices, are of dubious quality.

“Some farmers who used those seeds without any information or warranty wasted lots of time, money and labour as the seeds did not germinate or provided low yields,” he said. 

Cambodian farmers are increasingly turning to specialised companies to provide high-quality seeds for their crops, according to Khan Samban, director of the Industrial Crops Department at the Ministry of Agriculture, who said 21 registered seed companies now supply the local market.

“All the registered seed companies are growing currently on the potential to increase the productivity of farmers,” he said.

Author: Cheng Sokhorng - PhnomPenhPost 

#Thailand - Police set up team to hunt Yingluck after ‘easy’ escape.

Interpol to assist as anti-corruption activist accuses authorities of negligence.

AMID a flurry of blame, accusations and speculation, authorities remain unable to explain how former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra was so easily able to escape justice.

Anti-corruption activist Srisuwan Junya yesterday lodged a petition with the National Anti-Corruption Commission, asking it to investigate the failure of top security officers to prevent Yingluck from fleeing the country.

 Srisuwan focused on Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who oversees security matters, and police chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda, accusing them of being negligent in their duties. 

Prawit, who is also Defence Minister, said the activist has the right to do so, but reiterated that the authorities had no way to prevent Yingluck from fleeing the country.

“How could the authorities know when and where she would flee? Who would know it?” Prawit said at the Defence Ministry, in response to a reporter who pointed out that the authorities had closely monitored Yingluck’s movements even when she went to temples to make merit. The former premier had always complained that security officials and spies followed her everywhere.

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 “Yingluck’s escape was unexpected because she earlier always insisted that she would not flee. And there were police in front of her house all the time,” Prawit said. 

The authorities still have no official explanation as to how Yingluck failed to show up at the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions last Friday. Her whereabouts since have been the subject of intense speculation by the media, activists and observers. 

The court has postponed the verdict delivery to late next month, and has issued an arrest warrant, but nobody has a clear answer as to whether she will return to Thailand. 

Police have set up a team to track her, and the relevant agencies have been closely following movements around border areas, including natural land borders. Officers had been instructed to report the results of the operation every five days, deputy national police chief Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said.

Police in Lat Phrao have been instructed to check all the surveillance cameras around Yingluck’s house as well as her other residences in Bangkok and her hometown of Chiang Mai, but they have failed to find her, Srivara said.

Speculation denied

According to Srivara, Yingluck was last seen in her Bangkok home at 2pm on Wednesday. Officers from Lat Phrao Police Station, who were responsible for supervising Yingluck’s residence, said other people in the house had confirmed that she no longer lived there. 

Royal Thai Police will now seek the cooperation of Interpol to alert police forces in 190 countries around the world about Yingluck’s current legal status. 

Media citing unnamed sources reported that she had fled via Cambodia and Singapore to Dubai to join her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, who has a home there. The government in Phnom Penh dismissed the report, and authorities in Dubai also said they know nothing about Yingluck’s whereabouts.

Pol Maj-General Apichart Suriboonya, head of the police foreign affairs division, said the police had contacted officials in Cambodia and the United Arab Emirates but had received no information. 

Apichart told reporters about normal procedures, saying that Interpol could take “quite some time”. If any member of Interpol located Yingluck, Thai police could seek an international arrest warrant to have her apprehended. However, it would be up to Interpol how the case was conducted. 

Like everybody else, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday denied speculation that the National Council for Peace and Order deliberately let Yingluck slip out of the country, saying it was beyond his expectation that she would flee.

“I didn’t think it would happen. In the morning [of the verdict], I still thought that she would go to court, following the procedure. I respected her,” Prayut said. 

Bombarded with questions about the incident, Prayut said furiously: “Who would let her flee? How come, why did you think like this?”

Prayut said he had instructed security officers to find out how the former premier left the country. They would also look at flaws in the process in order to prevent it happening again.

Prayut, who is also the head of the junta, said it was difficult for the authorities to follow Yingluck |before the court had made its judgment because they respected her privacy. 

Officers had been criticised over their possible violation of human rights, Prayut noted, adding that that had made everything difficult.

Prayut said he didn’t want people to blame the security officers, saying that the media should tone down its criticism. It would be “insane” if officers intentionally let her flee, he said.

Source - TheNation

 

#Cambodia closes 15 radio stations

The Ministry of Information on Thursday claimed its shuttering of 15 radio stations across the country was not targeted at independent broadcasters, and took aim at the Cambodia Daily for failing to pay a huge tax bill, hours after the US State Department labelled the tax measure exorbitant and biased.

On Aug. 21, Phnom Penh-based Moha Nokor – a radio station airing shows produced by Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and the Cambodia National Rescue Party – and its three provincial affiliates were asked to stop broadcasting and to shut down operations for allegedly violating their contract with the ministry.

Meanwhile, near-identical documents on the Information Ministry’s website showed that seven other media owners were asked to stop broadcasting from the 11 radio stations they owned across 10 provinces, in line with ministry spokesman Ouk Kimseng’s claim on Wednesday that more than 10 stations would be closed.

Pa Nguon Teang, director of independent news outlet Voice of Democracy, said broadcaster Sarika FM had cited “administrative and technical” reasons for taking its content off the air.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith Thursday maintained that the closures were not linked to the station’s programming – a claim keenly contested on Wednesday by CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann – but because they had failed to report how much airtime they were selling, and to whom.

“So some radios have not asked for permission from the ministry. The ministry has to shut them down in order to uphold the law on media,” he said, adding that VOA and RFA broadcasts were still available on other stations.

Kanharith said the directive was in line with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s call for authorities to ensure there wasn’t a repeat of the 2013 post-election protests, saying media reports questioning the soundness of ink used for voting, accusations of voter fraud and false reports on votes being cast by “Yuon”, a derogatory term for ethnic Vietnamese, fuelled the demonstrations.

Kanharith said the radio station run by the Women’s Media Centre of Cambodia (WMC) had similarly erred by giving more airtime to RFA and VOA, but had been granted leeway in light of its social work.

The closures come as part of a government clampdown on NGOs and media organisations, which have found themselves answering to the Tax Department.

The Cambodia Daily has been singled out with a $6.3 million tax bill that was leaked to the media, with Prime Minister Hun Sen and Tax Department Director Kong Vibol asking the English-language paper to pay up or face closure.

Shifting his focus to the Daily, Kanharith made two new claims yesterday – that the Daily’sstaffers had leaked a document showing their own $6.3 million tax bill, and that a foreign-owned news outlet in Cambodia had reported the Daily’s alleged tax fraud.

“If the tax man had leaked it, he would leak all the details. Therefore the one who leaked it was from the taxpayer,” he said.

“I cannot talk about it since I do not want the problem to happen, but they [the foreign-owned newspaper] have paid the tax. So they have demanded for two years already to tell Cambodia Daily [to] pay the tax so that they can compete fairly,” he said.

Kanharith’s comments come shortly after US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert pulled up the government for targeting the Daily and other independent news organisations, saying US Ambassador William Heidt had taken up the issue with the Tax Department.

“So our ambassador has had conversations with the head of what I’ll just refer to as the tax agency there to try to get them to regard taxes or impose taxes in a fair and neutral fashion,” she said on Wednesday.

Referring to Cambodian government officials’ frequent use of US President Donald Trump’s attacks on the media as a justification for similar assails in Cambodia, a reporter questioned Nauert if Trump’s remarks undermined the State Department’s push for free speech across the world.

“Our conversations between the ambassador and his counterparts and also the prime minister of Cambodia – I do not anticipate that changing,” she said. “We care about freedom of the press; that’s not going to change.”

Reacting to Kanharith’s allegations, Daily Deputy Publisher Deborah Krisher-Steele once again placed the blame at the feet of “government mouthpiece” Fresh News for leaking the tax assessment.

“If the Minister really is at a loss for who is leaking, perhaps he could ask his own mouthpiece,” she said in an email, adding the tax bill was a thinly veiled attempt to “seize a foreign investor’s assets”.

The Tax Department and Krisher-Steele have tussled for the past three weeks on the fairness of the purported $6.3 million in back taxes and penalties. Krisher-Steele has said she was unaware of the “debt” she took over when buying the newspaper from her father and founder Bernard Krisher and asked that his charitable donations – in the tens of millions of dollars – be accounted for in the assessment.

Tax authorities have refused both those claims and, in a detailed rebuttal, said the acquisition of a company was never exclusive of its financial liabilities and that Krisher’s charitable activities were never reported.

Douglas-Steele, the newspaper’s general manager, said he will meet with the tax authorities today and would be accompanied by the outlet’s operations manager and an accountant.

“I’ll take the meeting, take notes and request information on how they arrived at the $6.3 million figure and why a process that should take many months in accordance with the law is being done in days,” he said.

 This article appeared on the Rasmei Kampuchea Daily newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post

#Thailand - Sa Kaeo immigration officers step up vehicle checks in search for Yingluck

Immigration police and troops at the Aranyaprathet border checkpoint in Sa Kaeo province on Friday stepped up their checks of vehicles leaving the country as part of the search for former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The ex-PM had failed earlier in the day to attend the Supreme Court to hear the judgement in the rice-pledging case against her.

At 10am, Sa Kaeo immigration police chief Pol Colonel Benjapol Rodsawat issued an urgent order for officials manning the checkpoint to strictly check all vehicles leaving the Kingdom.

Following the order, the immigration police and troops opened all vehicles to check the passengers. They especially examined vehicles with Cambodian licence plates.

Benjapol also sought help from Colonel Nirot Thongmuan, commander of the 12th Ranger Taskforce, Maj-General Hathaitep Kirati-angkul, commander of the 19th Army Circle, and Aranyaprathet district chief Soawanit Suriyakul to intensively check vehicles travelling on border roads in the district.

Source - TheNation
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Hun Sen calls Lao to withdraw its forces from #Cambodia territory

Addressing at the official nomination ceremony of the President of the Royal Academy of Cambodia held at the Peace Palace, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Lao forces have to withdraw from Cambodia’s land.

Cambodia’s sides called Lao’s counterparts at different level several times to respond this territory dispute, but Lao seemed ignoring this, therefore Hun Sen put the ultimatum.

According to Hun Sen, a group of Lao forces mobilized to Cambodia’s territory by boats in April to prevent the Cambodia to build the road along the border in O’ Alay and O’ Ta Ngav in Stung Treng, northeastern province border to Attapeu - a province of Lao. After this Lao forces are mobilizing, they haven’t normalized those areas until today.

“If necessary, I will flight to talk this with my Lao counterpart, but Laos have to withdraw from Cambodia’s territory, Cambodia doesn’t want war, but Cambodia has to protect our territory," he stated.

In the context of this issue, Hun Sen used to written a letter to his Lao’s counterpart since Aug. 2, 2017.

Cambodia and Lao have shared common border some 540 kilometers.

 Last information received from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hun Sen will lead a high level delegation to Vientiane on Saturday.

 his article appeared on the Rasmei Kampuchea Daily newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post

#Cambodia - Sihanoukville port rides wave of increasing container traffic.

Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (PAS), which operates the Kingdom’s only deepsea port, reported a modest increase in container traffic during the first six months of the year, compared to a year earlier, a trend its director said should result in higher profits for the listed company.

Data obtained from PAS yesterday showed a total of 211,719 20-foot equivalent units, or TEU, passed through the seaport between January and June of this year, an 8 percent increase compared to the same period in 2016. The higher throughput follows a slowdown in growth last year in which container traffic increased by just 2 percent.

Lou Kim Chhun, director general of PAS, said yesterday that the rebound in container traffic growth was the result of Cambodia’s vibrant import and export market, which should be expected for a country that is enjoying 7 percent GDP growth. PAS also recently added new rubber-tyred gantry cranes, which expanded its handling capacity and helped to build more confidence in the port’s operations, he noted.

“Based on the good performance in the first half, we expect double-digit growth of container traffic this year,” he said. “The increased growth of cargo traffic will enlarge our profit margin, which in turn will enable us to distribute high dividends to our stock investors.”

The increase in port container traffic was distributed evenly between imports and exports. 

According to PAS data, imports increased by 8.4 percent year-on-year to 107,181 TEU during the first half, while exports increased by 7.7 percent year-on-year to 104,538.

PAS debuted on Cambodia’s stock exchange in June after an initial public offering that raised $27 million. It was the fifth company to list on the Cambodian Securities Exchange. 

Source - PhnomPenhPost

#Cambodia - As region cracks down on migrants, agencies provide costly, illegal passport service.

Amid crackdowns on undocumented migrants in Malaysia and Thailand, demand for passports among Cambodian migrants has seen large spikes in recent weeks, with many making the costly journey to Phnom Penh to get their paperwork in order. 

However, several Cambodia-based travel agencies told The Post that they could, defying official policies, make passports for Cambodian citizens abroad – if the citizens had the wherewithal to pay around $600, or six times the official amount.

 BR

Though the agents stopped short of using the word “bribe” to describe their payments to Passport Department officials, by taking advantage of the “unofficial process”, the agencies fill in for a service that advocates say should be readily available at Cambodian embassies overseas – with one official insisting that it technically is, for workers and students.

But apparent confusion over that policy, along with what some have characterised as a lack of political will, leaves often low-paid migrant workers in the unenviable position of having to choose between paying to return home, or paying exorbitant fees from abroad to obtain the essential documents.

One travel agency employee, speaking on conditions of anonymity, said that while her agency took $115 to $235 to facilitate normal and express passports, respectively, for customers inside Cambodia. Her agency asks $590 from customers abroad, with $570 going to the Passport Department directly. 

Officially, passports cannot be made from abroad, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The documents cost $100 for a normal passport and $200 for a one-day expedited passport at the department’s offices in Phnom Penh.

However, the travel agency employee said migrants could send a photo of themselves, their old passport, a copy of an ID card, their family book and a copy of the passport of another Cambodian guarantor who confirms the person is abroad.

“The Messenger brings all of those documents to the Passport Department, then leaves the documents with the police there. The police process everything,” she said. 

And if, for example, the person did not have the family book, “we can still do it”, she said.

As those applying from abroad cannot give their thumbprints, the department “may reload it from the previous thumbprint of the passport owner when they made the old passport”, the employee added.

Thus, the new passport would have the same information as the old one, except for the updated photo.

She gave the example of a student in Canada who was unable to return. “His old passport nearly expired. He had an exam and couldn’t come home – so we did it for him,” she said.

The deputy director of the Passport Department, Sok Sophorn, denied the claims. “I don’t know about this service … I don’t know how they do it,” he said. 

Sophorn maintained that there was one possibility of getting a new passport when abroad, namely going to the embassy, which would send a diplomatic note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which in turn would submit a request to the Interior Ministry to issue a new passport.

This was only applicable, he said, for “migrant workers or students if they are busy and cannot go back”, and only the older five-year version of the passport could be issued. “For the new [10-year] one, we need the person to come back, as we need their finger prints.” 

Foreign Ministry spokesman Chum Sounry said he had never heard of this procedure. “For the moment, Cambodians have to go back [to Cambodia to get a passport],” he said. 

Despite the denials from the Passport Department and Foreign Ministry, Cambodian migrants in Malaysia told The Post earlier this month that they had to pay agencies fees of more than $800 to obtain new passports abroad, with multiple Cambodian agencies giving similar accounts.

Oeung Hong, the general manager of the RTR agency in Phnom Penh, also said migrants could get passports made from abroad through his company. “For $600, we can do it,” he said.

Of this, about $590 went to the passport department. “This is an unofficial process,” he said.

He said the Interior Ministry checked “the background of the passport owner” to confirm that the person was unable to travel back.

Another agency also confirmed that they offered the service – again for $600. An employee said it would take three weeks to process the passports, and that they would bring all documents – copy of ID card, photo and old passport – to the Interior Ministry. 

It remains unclear whether passports can be bought without an old passport.Preap Kol, Transparency International executive director, said the Interior Ministry “should promptly conduct an investigation to find out if there is any misconduct or corruption as being alleged”.

“If any misconduct or corruption is found, the punishment shall be made according to the laws,” he said.

Moeun Tola, of labour rights group Central, said that such high passport fees forced migrants into illegality. “If true, that is the main root cause that puts migrants into the undocumented status. If you can’t afford $600, you have to stay illegally,” he said. 

In the first two weeks of July, 79 Cambodian undocumented migrants were arrested in Malaysia in a crackdown by the Malaysian government, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. 

Officials at the Cambodian Embassy there said yesterday that they did not have updated figures, but noted that about 30 Cambodians were seeking shelter at the embassy. The officials directed all other questions to the Foreign Ministry before hanging up. 

Tola said the embassy indicated it didn’t have the resources to repatriate arrested undocumented workers because the Cambodian government allocated no resources.

“It’s not even about mass repatriation – also for individual cases they always approach the [International Organisation for Migration]. But IOM doesn’t fund unless they’re victims of human trafficking.”

The IOM could not be reached for comment yesterday. If passport and recruitment fees weren’t reduced, he said, migrants would continue to be pushed into undocumented status.

“That’s a big failure of the Cambodian government.” 

Additional reporting by Touch Sokha

Source - PhnomPenhPost