DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Mekong security in focus as China tries Myanmar drug lord” plus 5 more

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The United States will sign up to provide 18.5 million U.S. dollars to Cambodia to support the country's priorities in agriculture, food security, and climate change adaptation and mitigation, according to a media release from the U.S. Embassy here on Thursday.

The agreement will be signed in Phnom Penh on Sept. 21 between Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of the Council of Ministers Sok An, and Flynn Fuller, director of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to Cambodia, said the press release.

The aid will be used for programs such as Helping Address Rural Vulnerabilities and Ecosystem Stability and others that will support Cambodia's development strategy by enhancing agricultural production, developing post-harvest management capacity, increasing access to food, and helping Cambodian farmers adapt to climate change, it said.

These programs will also strengthen the ability of civil society, the private sector, and the government to address food security and climate change challenges in Cambodia.

The press release added that the U.S. also supports a broad range of programs designed to benefit all Cambodians, including programs in health, education, democracy, governance, and combating trafficking in persons.

USAID expects to provide a total of 65 million U.S. dollars in assistance to Cambodia in 2012, it said.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia is expected to attract 7 million foreign tourists by 2020, with an estimated annual revenues of 5 billion U.S. dollars that year, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday.

"To achieve this ambitious goal, it is necessary to strengthen law implementation to safeguard tourists, and tourism quality and services should be improved," he told the Conference on Tourism Development Strategic Plan 2012-2020.

The premier said that the government has been focusing on the development and improvement of physical infrastructures such as roads, seaports and airports in order to facilitate travelers.

He disclosed that Cambodia has planned to build two new international airports -- one in Phnom Penh and the other in Siem Reap province. Each is capable to receive 10 million passengers a year.

He did not unveil specific locations or time frames for the construction.

Meanwhile, Hun Sen advised tourism officials to target Chinese, Japanese, South Korean and Indian tourists to push the country's tourism growth.

Tourism Minister Thong Khon said at the conference that Cambodia is the destination of cultural and eco-tourism.

"Tourism is the country's green gold," he said, adding that last year, the sector attracted 2.88 million foreign visitors, earning 1.9 billion U.S. dollars.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia officially launched the Telecommunications Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) on Thursday in a bid to supervise the country's fast-growing telecoms sector, officials said.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, So Khun, Minister of Posts and Telecoms, said the TRC will govern rules and regulations in the sector with authority over spectrum and fair price setting for telecoms operators.

"This is a new achievement for the country in reforming telecoms sector," he said. "The regulatory body will help to build more confidence among investors."

The TRC is authorized to inspect and supervise on techniques and administration on the construction, operation, distribution and use of networks and telecommunications as well as information technologies.

At the event, Mao Chakrya, TRC's newly-appointed director general, vowed to strengthen existing laws and regulations, to formulate new rules and regulations to keep up with the development of sophisticated technologies and to ensure a fair and transparent atmosphere for telecommunications operators.

Telecommunications witness a significant progress in recent years.

According to the ministry's report, by June this year, the country's eight mobile phone operators have sold out 19.64 million SIM cards, exceeding the country's population of about 14.5 million.

In terms of internet use, the kingdom has about 30 internet service providers serving 1.86 million customers.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 2 people were drowned and nearly 4,000 families have been evacuated to higher ground due to flash floods that have been hitting the provinces of Banteay Meanchey, Preah Vihear, Siem Reap, and Kampong Thom, according to the latest report of the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) on Wednesday evening.

"The two dead persons were adults," Keo Vy, chief of the Cabinet of the NCDM, told Xinhua by telephone. "One was in Kampong Thom and the other in Banteay Meanchey."

He said that all the evacuees are in Banteay Meanchey only because other affected provinces are not in serious conditions.

According to Keo Vy, the floods also submerge 8,033 hectares of rice paddy and 1,530 hectares of cassava crops in Banteay Meanchey.

Cambodia's 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 kilometers of gravel roads and some 180 kilometers of national roads had been damaged.

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

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The 2nd international conference on the 54th anniversary of Cambodia-China diplomatic relations was held here on Wednesday to broadly promote the long- standing and close ties between the two countries.

The one-day event, organized by the Confucius Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, was attended by 200 participants from various ministries in Cambodia, said Khlot Thyda, president of the Royal Academy of Cambodia.

She said six well-known speakers, including a Chinese, presented the development of the diplomatic relations between Cambodia and China from 1958 to today, focusing on relations in culture, language, diplomacy, military, and media system.

"Cambodia and China are the oldest friends in Asia, and the friendship relations have been maintained and further enhanced from one generation to another," she said.

Speaking at the closing of the conference, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, Minister in charge of the Council of Ministers, said that Cambodia and China have had deep relations since old times - about 2000 years ago.

He said the diplomatic ties between the two countries were established in 1958.

"Currently, under the leadership of Prime Minister Hun Sen, the friendship relation and solidarity between the peoples of the two countries have moved closer and cooperation in all domains has been further strengthened and expanded," he said. "Moreover, Cambodia undoubtedly supports the One-China Policy."

Sok An also highly evaluated good relations between the two countries in all fields, such as culture, politics, diplomacy, trade and investment.

Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Pan Guangxue said that the conference was very important to boost closer ties between China and Cambodia, and to explore other possibilities to further enhance the two countries' relationship and cooperation.

"China and Cambodia have become good neighbors since ancient times," he said. "Particularly, in the last 54 years, the relations have been developed constantly and rapidly."

The ambassador also recalled that Sino-Cambodian relations have become stronger in December 2010 when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen agreed in Beijing to increase the ties to "the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation."