DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Cambodia attracts 845 mln USD investment in 7 months” plus 8 more

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has granted licenses to 90 domestic and foreign investment projects worth 845 million U. S. dollars in the first seven months of 2012, a report of the Council for the Development of Cambodia showed Wednesday.

From January to July this year, investment by Cambodian businessmen topped the chart with a total venture of 207 million U. S. dollars, followed by China with 183 million U.S. dollars and South Korea with 108 million U.S. dollars.

ASEAN countries investing in Cambodia during the period are Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore with 84 million U.S. dollars, 83.8 million U.S. dollars and 16 million U.S. dollars, respectively.

The report said that local investors invested in the fields of fertilizer manufacturing, beverage manufacturing, rice milling, tapioca powder processing, garment factories, hotel and resort development and information technology.

Chinese investors put their ventures in Cambodia in garment and textile industry and rice milling, while South Korea in the fields of clothes manufacturing and real estate.

Last year, the country received 164 domestic and foreign investment projects worth 7.01 billion U.S. dollars.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 19 (Xinhua)-- 2012 Cambodia-China book fair kicked off here Wednesday, presenting around 1500 kinds of Chinese books to fulfill local people's desire on the access of Chinese culture and language.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Li Zhigong, political counselor with Chinese Embassy in Cambodia, spoke highly of the practical meanings of such a fair.

Li said with the upward trend of the Sino-Cambodian ties and up- going frequency of people-to-people exchange, the market sees higher-than-before demand of personnel familiar with both Chinese and Khmer language. "Meanwhile, there are more and more local Cambodians want to learn more about Chinese language and culture. I believe that such Chinese book fair will help fulfill their desire on accessing information about China and Chinese culture," Li noted.

Khim Sarith, secretary of state with Cambodian Culture Ministry, called for closer cooperation between publishing institutions of both nations in translating Chinese books into Khmer language. "This would surely elevate the exposure of Chinese culture among ordinary Cambodian people who are shut out because of the language barriers," he said.

A local high school student told Xinhua at the fair that she holds a strong interest in Chinese literature and history. The scarcity of publication, however, limits her from gaining more information in those fields. Thus, she appealed for more similar Chinese book fairs in the future.

The 1,500 kinds of book on exhibition cover a wide range of themes, including Chinese literature, history, economy, culture and agriculture.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- About 3,000 families in Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province bordering with Thailand have been suffering from floodwaters and local authorities have been advised to be on high alert to respond to the disaster, a senior government official said Wednesday.

"About 700 families who are severely affected by the flooding have been evacuated to higher ground," the first Vice-President of the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), Nhim Vanda told Xinhua over telephone.

"They are all safe, there is no report of death so far," he said. "Local authorities and Cambodian Red Cross volunteers are on high alert to rescue people in case of more flooding."

Vanda said that the flooding has been caused by torrential rains in recent weeks both in Cambodia and in Thailand.

The flash floods have also affected some 500 hectares of rice paddy and 1,200 hectares of cassava crops in the province.

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology on Monday warned of heavy rains throughout this week and said some 13 provinces out of the country's 24 cities and provinces could suffer from flash floods.

Possible flood-hit provinces are Oddar Meanchey, Preah Vihear, Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Pursat, Kampong Chhnang, Siem Reap, Kampong Thom, Kampong Speu, Takeo, Kandal, Prey Veng and Kampot.

Floods usually hit Cambodia between August and October. Last year, the floods killed at least 250 Cambodian people and affected some 1.4 million people in the country, according to the NCDM.

Moreover, nearly 3,000 km of gravel roads and some 180 km of national roads had been damaged.

The last year's floods cost the country about 521 million U.S. dollars.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian and Chinese legislators met here on Wednesday to exchange views and experience in environment protection and resource preservation.

The Chinese delegation of the National People's Congress(NPC) is led by Huang Xianzhong, vice-chairman of NPC Environment Protection and Resource Conservation Committee.

Meeting with Acting-President of Cambodian National Assembly Nguon Nhel, Huang said the visit was to study Cambodia's measures and legal frameworks in protecting environment and resource management.

He also hailed Cambodia for its efforts in protecting environment and cultural heritage.

"We believe that, through the visit, the traditional and long- standing friendship relations between the two countries will be further enhanced," he said.

Nguon Nhel said Cambodia has passed a number of laws and international conventions on environment protection, adding that for any investment projects, the country has always taken their possible impacts on environment into serious consideration before approving them.

He also reaffirmed Cambodia's commitment to "One China Policy," considering Taiwan and Tibet as part of China.

He expressed Cambodia's gratitude to China for its unconditional support and is pleased to see more and more Chinese investors here.

Later in the day, Huang Xianzhong met with Ai Khan, acting- chairman of the National Assembly's Commission on Planning, Investment, Agriculture, Rural Development, Environment and Water Resources.

He is also scheduled to meet with Cambodian Minister of Environment Mok Mareth.

The delegation arrived here on Tuesday for a four-day visit. It is part of the exchange of visits between Cambodian National Assembly and China's National People's Congress.

BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Norodom Sihanouk, the King-Father of Cambodia, has sent donations to quake-hit areas in China's Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday.

Multiple earthquakes hit a mountainous area in Yunnan on Sept. 7, leaving 81 people dead and 821 injured. Neighboring Guizhou was also affected.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, on behalf of Prime Minister Hun Sen, will lead a delegation to participate in the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York from Sept. 25 to Oct. 4, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry said in a statement that Hor Namhong will deliver a speech at the Assembly on Sept. 29.

On the sidelines of the meeting, he will chair the Informal ASEAN Foreign Ministerial Meeting and attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Roundtable Meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Also, there will be the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting with the President of the U.N. General Assembly Vuk Jeremic of Serbia, and the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

In addition, Hor Namhong will attend the High Level Meeting of the Chemical Weapons Convention with the theme "Fifteen Years of the Chemical Weapons Convention: Celebrating Success, Committing to the Future" and sign four UN conventions, the ministry said.

Those will be the convention on civil liability for damage caused during carriage of dangerous goods by road, rail and inland navigation vessels; UN convention on international bills of exchange and international promissory notes; UN convention on the assignment of receivables in international trade; and UN convention on the use of electric communications in international contracts.

YANGON, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Western Union Company will offer international money remittance services in Myanmar in collaboration with Myanmar Oriental Bank (MOB) to facilitate Myanmar people overseas in sending money back to their families in homeland, local media reported Tuesday.

The money remittance services will be provided by the U.S.- based company under a recent deal with MOB, one of the leading domestic banks in Myanmar, in a reliable and swift way starting from the end of this month, said the Myanmar Times.

The deal covers only incoming remittance, while the outbound one will follow soon after the prior is in place, the report added.

MOB has 19 branches in Myanmar mainly in Yangon and Mandalay. It is preparing to open two new branches in Nay Pyi Taw and Myan Aung.

Previously, Myanmar workers abroad rely on the Hundi network, an informal international remittance network, to transfer money back to their families at home.

Myanmar citizens working abroad are mainly in such countries as Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Libya, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Switzerland, Brunei, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, France, Germany, Qatar and Kuwait.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday met with former Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, chief patron of the Great Indonesia Movement Party, at the capital Peace Palace.

Successful businessmen Prabowo is an Indonesian Presidential candidate in the 2014 presidential election.

"Mr. Prabowo just paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Hun Sen--it was a private talk," Eang Sophalleth, personal spokesman for Prime Minister Hun Sen, told reporters after the meeting.

Sophalleth said during the meeting, Prabowo expressed his appreciation to Cambodia for rapid development and hailed Prime Minister Hun Sen for his strong leadership in bringing Cambodia towards full peace, political stability and sound macroeconomic development.

Meanwhile, Hun Sen welcomed Prabowo's visit in Cambodia again. The premier informed him about the progress in Cambodia.

He said Cambodia has been using its all sectors of potential for development. In the last decade, the country saw two-digit economic growth and turned from a country that used to face rice shortage to a country that exports rice in recent years.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine is willing to set up its embassy residence here in order to strengthen and expand bilateral ties in diplomatic affairs, economics and trade, the Hanoi-based Ukraine ambassador to Cambodia Oleksiy Shov Koplias said Tuesday.

The ambassador disclosed the plan during a meeting with Sun Saphoeung, Cambodian secretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He said in the first phase, Ukraine wants to open an honorary consulate-general in Cambodia and wishes to have visa exemptions for diplomatic and official passports.

He did not give the details of timeframe for these initiatives.

Meanwhile, Sun Saphoeung expressed her welcome for the plans, saying that they will help boost bilateral ties between the two countries.

She said that Ukraine has potential in energy, trade and national defense, so Cambodia also wanted to see broader cooperation with Ukraine in these fields.

She said that currently trade, tourism and investment relations between the two countries are still relatively small.