DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Thai, Cambodian FMs meet in Bangkok on economic cooperation” plus 2 more

BANGKOK, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Thailand and Cambodia will step up road construction, and open more checkpoints along their common borders, Thai News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The resolution was made during the 8th Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission, held in Bangkok on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong attended the two-day meeting.

Sihasak Puangketkaew, permanent secretary for the Thai Foreign Ministry, said that among the essential issues discussed were the opening of permanent checkpoints at Sa Kaeo province's border linking Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province, development of Route 48 from Thailand's western Trat province to Cambodia's Sihanoukville province, and a railway extension from the Aranyaprathet checkpoint on Thailand's eastern border into Cambodia.

Moreover, the Thai and Cambodian representatives agreed on joint suppression of human trafficking and illegal logging of rosewood on the border, he said.

Foreign Minister Surapong hosted a dinner in honour of Hor Namhong on Tuesday night.

KUNMING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese court on Wednesday rejected appeals from six people convicted of murdering 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River last year.

The court upheld death penalties for the case's prime convicts -- the Myanmar drug lord Naw Kham and three of his right-hand men.

The Provincial Higher People's Court of Yunnan also sustained sentences for the two other Myanmar convicts, known by their Chinese names Zha Bo and Zha Tuobo. They were handed a death sentence with two-year reprieve and eight years in prison, respectively.

The six were convicted of intentional homicide, drug trafficking, kidnapping and hijacking by a local court in Kunming, capital of Yunnan, in November.

Nicknamed "The Godfather," Naw Kham was the boss of the largest illegal armed drug trafficking gang on the Mekong River, which flows through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

The gang was busted earlier this year in a joint operation conducted by police from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand after the brutal murders of Chinese sailors triggered calls to rein in rampant crime in the border region.

Naw Kham's gang was found to have colluded with Thai soldiers and to have organized an attack on two Chinese cargo ships in October last year, gunning down 13 Chinese sailors and trafficking drugs. The gang was also involved in another kidnapping-for-ransom case targeting Chinese citizens on the Mekong in April last year, according to the court.

All six appealed their sentences after the trial in November. Naw Kham's lawyer pleaded for a reduced sentence on the grounds that his client was ordered to pay 6 million yuan (about 953,895 U.S. dollars) in compensation to the victims' families.

The provincial higher court heard the appeals on Dec. 20. In the verdict released Wednesday, the court said the appeals were rejected due to the "severe outcome" of the crimes.

The death penalties for Naw Kham and three of his subordinates will be submitted to the Supreme People's Court in Beijing for review prior to the executions, the court said.

Legal experts said the trial shows China is capable of protecting its citizens and any criminal violation against its people will be subject to punishment in accordance with the law.

"I believe the death penalty for Naw Kham is appropriate, or my brother and sister-in-law will not rest in peace," He Xilun, the younger brother of slain sailor He Xixing, told Xinhua in an interview in November.

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's banking sector has maintained strong and steady growth in terms of loans and deposits in 2012 thanks to better economic performance, a central bank's senior official said Tuesday.

"Our banking system remains robust this year despite economic crisis in Europe and economic slowdown in the United States. These bad situations do not affect our banking sector," Nguon Sokha, Director General of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), which is the regulator of the country's banking and financial institutions, told Xinhua.

"We see that both loans and deposits have sharply increased this year," she said.

According to the latest statistics provided by the NBC, the kingdom's 32 commercial banks have lent 5.49 billion U.S. dollars to private sectors by November 2012, up 30 percent year-on-year.

The loans went mostly to the sectors of trades, real estate, construction and mortgage, agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and services.

On the deposit side, the banks have received 6.02 billion U.S. dollars by November 2012, up 24 percent year-on-year, it said.

Those banks are serving about 1.6 million borrowers and 1.9 million depositors, it added.

Sokha said the increase in lending reflected growing business activities, while the rise in deposits truly mirrored people's confidence in banking system and political stability.

"We believe that the sector will continue to grow at a similar rate in 2013," she said.

So Phonnary, executive vice president of Acleda Bank, the country's largest commercial bank, agreed that the banking sector was strong and healthy this year.

She said Acleda Bank has released the loans of 1.22 billion U.S. dollars as of November this year, up 23 percent year-on-year. At the meantime, it has received the deposits of 1.4 billion U.S. dollars, up 22 percent year-on-year.

"Both loans and deposits have grown very well," she said. "More importantly, the non-performing loan rate, or bad loan, is very low--only 0.33 percent. This shows good business environment in the country."

Jang Ki-Sung, Chief Executive Officer of South Korea's Kookmin Bank Phnom Penh Branch, said Cambodia's banks have developed rapidly in terms of assets, liabilities and equity and are becoming more competitive and innovative because of new international standard banks' entrance and the management of the NBC.

"The banks have moved forward from a traditional strategy to an advanced strategy, and several banks have introduced internet and mobile banking, so more Cambodian customers have more chances to access advanced banking products and services with strong trust in the system," he told Xinhua in an interview.

"This is a positive sign to Cambodian economy and we believe the industry will still continue to grow as public trust to the industry has increased and the country's political situation is stable," he said.

"I believe that more foreign investors will come to Cambodia to support the integrated ASEAN economic community in 2015, and trade activities and tourists will continue to rise," Jang added.

Speaking in a condition of anonymity, a senior Chinese banker said that the banking market in Cambodia will see a great potential in the future, but, for now, the market is still relatively small and there are too many commercial banks.