DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Cambodia-Vietnam trade, investment see marked rises in 2012” plus 1 more

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Bilateral trade volume between Cambodia and Vietnam jumped to 3.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2012, a 18 percent rise from 2.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2011, according to a report provided by the Association of Vietnam Investment in Cambodia on Saturday.

Main products Vietnam exported to Cambodia included petroleum, construction materials, information technology devices and equipment, agricultural machinery, fertilizers, and consuming goods.

Meanwhile, Cambodia exported agricultural products including rice, corn, cassava, rubber latex and furniture to Vietnam.

The report also said that Vietnamese investment in Cambodia had reached 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2012, up 25 percent from 2 billion U.S. dollars in 2011, ranking Vietnam as the 5th largest investor in the country.

It added that 40.7 percent of Vietnamese investment went to agriculture, especially rubber plantation, 34.2 percent to energy, 10.5 percent to banking and finance, 6 percent to telecoms, 4 percent to aviation and the rest went to mining.

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- HIV/AIDS had killed about 2,365 Cambodian people this year, down 9 percent from 2,608 deaths last year, a senior health official said Friday.

In a presentation on HIV/AIDS situation in Cambodia in 2012, Dr. Chhea Chhorvann, deputy director of the National institute of Public Health, said among 2,365 deaths this year, 2,269 were adults and 96 were children; while among last year's deaths, 2, 484 were adults and 124 were children.

He added that this year, the number of new infections were 1, 329 people, down 12 percent from 1,517 people last year.

In Cambodia, the first HIV infection was detected and diagnosed in 1991 and the first AIDS case was found in 1993, according to a report by the National Center for HIV/AIDS Dermatology and Social Transmitted Diseases.

The report said that currently, about 77,861 Cambodian people are HIV/AIDS positive including 5,349 children.

It added that some 55,092 of those HIV infected individuals have received antiretroviral therapy.

The country has seen success in fighting HIV/AIDS in the last decade thanks to awareness campaigns and promotion of condom use.

According to a survey last year, condom use among commercial sex partners increased from 85 percent in 2008 to 96 percent in 2011 and among sweethearts increased from 58 percent to 60 percent.

The country needs about 58 million U.S. dollars a year to fight HIV/AIDS in order to achieve the United Nations'3 zeros HIV/AIDS target by 2020.

The 3 zeros include zero new HIV infections, zero stigma and discrimination and zero AIDS-related death.