DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Cambodian, Thai PMs agree to redeploy troops at disputed border” plus 6 more

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Thailand agreed on Friday to redeploy military personnel in the Provisional Demilitarized Zone surrounding the Preah Vihear Temple in order to comply with the order of the International Court of Justice.

The verbal agreement was made during a meeting between Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his visiting Thai Counterpart Yingluck Shinawatra.

The meeting was also attended by the two countries' defense ministers - Cambodia's Tea Banh and Thailand's Sukumpol Suwanatat.

"Both sides had agreed and announced to re-deploy military personnel in the Provisional Demilitarized Zone, which is defined by the International Court of Justice," Hun Sen told reporters in a joint press briefing after the meeting. "The redeployment is very important to enhance the two countries' relationship."

"The redeployment is the willingness of Cambodia and Thailand," he said, adding that the military personnel will be replaced by police.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong announced Friday morning that Cambodia will withdraw some 486 military personnel from the PDZ surrounding the Preah Vihear Temple in order to comply with the ICJ's order issued on July 18 last year.

Cambodia and Thailand have had sporadic border conflict over territorial dispute near Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple since the UNESCO listed the temple as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008, but Thailand claims the ownership of 4.6 square kilometers of scrub next to the temple.

Fierce clashes between the two sides' troops had happened in February and April 2011 during Thailand's Democrat Party rule.

The ICJ ordered on July 18, 2011 that Cambodia and Thailand must immediately withdraw their military personnel from the PDZ and refrain from any armed activity directed at that zone.

Also, it ordered both parties to allow ASEAN observers ( Indonesians) to access to the zone to monitor ceasefire.

The redeployment will be done without the arrival of the Indonesian observers.

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Friday that the issue in Myanmar is no longer "a headache issue" for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

His remarks were made here during a meeting with visiting Myanmar President Thein Sein.

Meanwhile, Thein Sein informed Hun Sen about the progress of democratization in Myanmar after the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the country late last year.

He also expressed thanks to Cambodia, saying that as the chair of ASEAN, Cambodia has provided a lot of helps to Myanmar.

In addition, he thanked ASEAN countries for appealing to international community to lift sanctions against Myanmar in April.

Thein Sein came to Cambodia to join the U.S.-ASEAN Business Forum on Friday evening in Siem Reap province.

Speaking at the U.S.-ASEAN Business Forum, Hillary Clinton hailed the progress of democratization in Myanmar.

She said that this week has been a milestone of the relationships between the U.S. and Myanmar. U.S. President Obama announced two days ago the U.S. is easing restrictions to allow more U.S. companies to do business in Myanmar, and on Saturday the largest U.S. business delegation of over 70 businesses will meet with officials, businesses, and civil society in Myanmar.

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Friday called for more U.S. investments in infrastructures, energy, oil and gas in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Addressing the U.S.-ASEAN Business Forum under the theme " Commitment to Connectivity" at Cambodia's Siem Reap province on Friday evening, Hun Sen said, "ASEAN, particularly Cambodia, wants to see more U.S. investments in the fields of energy, oil and gas. "

He said the current ASEAN's priority is "physical connectivity, institutional connectivity, and people-to-people connectivity" towards a community in 2015.

"To achieve this, ASEAN has provided high priority on the investments in trans-border infrastructures including transport, telecommunication, and energy," he told the forum, which was attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Myanmar President Thein Sein, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, as well as more than 70 U.S. company executives and dozens of cabinet ministers and senior policymakers from ASEAN governments.

"The forum was very vital to boost the ASEAN-U.S. ties through discussing and seeking solutions on challenging issues and drawing up direction for cooperation between ASEAN and the U.S.," Hun Sen said.

"I believe that the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton here will give a vital encouragement to U.S investors and businesspeople to Cambodia and ASEAN," he said.

"Cambodia fully supports the U.S.'s foreign policy to increase and strengthen strategic partnership between the U.S. and ASEAN including partnership between governments and private sectors of all countries,"he added.

Also, he initiated ideas to enhance ASEAN-U.S. cooperation such as the establishment of the U.S. and ASEAN Free Trade Agreement or Comprehensive Economic Partnership to ensure that the U.S. and ASEAN have a practical program to boost the development of economic relation and cooperation for mutual benefits.

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said that connectivity is at the heart of ASEAN community when the bloc becomes a single market - a production base - for 600 million people in 2015.

"Connectivity can help ensure that ASEAN becomes a high growth market with increasing opportunities," she said. "We, ASEAN, look forwards to enhancing economic relations between the U.S. and Southeast Asia."

She said currently, China, Japan, South Korea and India have been working with the Mekong region and ASEAN for connectivity. " We also welcome the growing U.S. interest in investing in connectivity in ASEAN."

Speaking at the forum, Hillary Clinton said that the forum was the largest U.S.-ASEAN Business event ever assembled in Cambodia, saying that the U.S. was certainly elevating its engagement across the board with Asia, especially ASEAN.

"Our economic ties are already strong. ASEAN and the U.S. are large trading partners," she said, adding that last year, U.S. export to ASEAN exceeded 76 billion U.S. dollars, up 42 percent since 2009.

"We have more than twice as much in investment in ASEAN as we do in China, so that is a great deal potential for continuing to grow our economic activities. We want to do more to deepen our economic partnership," she said.

U.S. businesspeople have begun to look into ASEAN business potentials after the Obama Administration elevated the U.S. engagement across Asia as a strategic priority of its foreign policy.

At the event, Hillary also appreciated growing ties between the U.S. and Myanmar.

"This week has been a milestone of the relationship between the U.S. and Myanmar. Two days ago, President Obama announced the U.S. is easing restrictions to allow more U.S. companies to do business in Myanmar," she said. "And tomorrow (July 14), the largest U.S. business delegation of over 70 businesses will meet with officials, businesses, and civil society in Myanmar."

Myanmar President Thein Sein said that after nearly a century, Myanmar has embarked on democratic path in building a new nation through peaceful transition.

"Myanmar is at a crucial juncture, where she has evolved from the military administration putting an end to armed conflict to achieve sustainable peace and moving toward a new democratic era while endeavoring for the development of the country," he said.

He said that the country is preparing to enact Myanmar Foreign Investment Law in the hope to attract more foreign investors.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

YANGON, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The Myanmar Airways International ( MAI) will launch a new route of direct flight from Myanmar's second largest city of Mandalay to Thai capital city of Bangkok in October, local media reported Friday.

In addition to the Mandalay-Bangkok air route, the airline will also increase its flight frequency to Singapore, China's Guangzhou, Cambodia's Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in the same month, said the Myanmar Post Global News.

The airline will also increase flight frequency with the Yangon- Gaya route, it said, adding that two more new A-320 aircraft will be added to the existing four A-320 aircraft.

An extra flight a week to Singapore will be added on Oct. 1 while flights to Gaya and Siem Reap, which were suspended, will be resumed in October for winter schedule.

MAI is now known as a joint venture between the state-owned Myanmar Airways and the private Royal Myanmar Transport Co., which was transformed from that with a Singapore-based company -- Jester Asia in 1993.

The share of the Jester Asia was taken up by the Royal Myanmar Transport Co.

Besides the MAI flying internationally as Myanmar's national flag carrier, there are also 13 foreign airlines flying Yangon.

PHNOM PENH, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Southeast Asian foreign ministers failed to issue a customary joint communique Friday after their annual meeting here, as some claimants in the South China Sea disputes were "taking the communique as a hostage," said the conference's host.

In an unprecedented development, the 45th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was not wrapped up with a statement showcasing common ground.

"I have informed the ministers from ASEAN nations that Cambodia feels regretful for not reaching consensus to release the Joint Communique, but this is the decision made by all attending countries," said Foreign Minister Hor Namhong of Cambodia, host of the regional conference.

Speaking at a press conference, he blamed the failure on some individual ASEAN members that were "taking the communique as a hostage and insisting on turning the 10-nation group to a tribunal."

Some countries wanted to use strong language in the to-be-released document over their South China Sea disputes with China, which cannot be accepted by Cambodia, said Hor, naming Vietnam and the Philippines.

"Cambodia is not a court. We cannot decide on territorial disputes, which should be resolved by involved countries through abiding international laws in peaceful manners," he added.

Meanwhile, Hor urged ASEAN members to lay aside disputes and focus on achievements, saying that, although without a joint communique, the meeting "reached many fruitful results."

In a similarly positive tone, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said: "ASEAN will move on even if no joint communique was released. We have to focus on what had been accomplished and work on for the future."

The meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers was part of a series of regional gatherings held in the Cambodian capital this week, which were also attended by top and senior diplomats of China, Japan, South Korea and the United States among others.

Touching upon the South China Sea disputes during the meetings, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi reiterated Beijing's stance of shelving differences and seeking joint development.

China, he said, is open to launching discussions on a code of conduct on the basis of full compliance with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea by all parties.

It is "essential that all parties exercise self-restraint ... and refrain from taking moves that will escalate and complicate the disputes and affect peace and stability," he said.

China has also insisted that the South China Sea disputes are not between China and ASEAN or any other organizations, but between China and other individual claimants, and thus should be settled through nation-to-nation negotiations.