DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Cambodia to conduct live fire drill next week” plus 4 more

KAMPONG SPEU, Cambodia, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will conduct a live fire drill on Thursday next week in order to strengthen the capacity of armed forces, Deputy Prime Minister and defense minister Tea Banh said Wednesday.

"It is usual to train our soldiers with new weapon technologies. We need to train our troops on field to make sure that they can some kinds of new weapons effectively and safely," he told reporters after closing a training course for Cambodian peacekeeping forces in Kampong Speu province.

"In the forthcoming exercise, BM-21 rocket launchers will be fired," he said.

The drill will be held at a military exercise field in Kampong Speu province, about 70 kilometers west of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

It will be the second time that the country conducts the live fire drill with BM21 rockets. The first one was made in March 2010. At that time, 215 shells were fired and all had hit the target in the distance between 20 km and 40 km.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said at that time that the prices of one BM-21 range were between 1,200 U.S. dollars and 3,800 U.S. dollars.

Cambodia has begun to strengthen its defense capacity since it has territorial dispute with Thailand in 2008. The dispute had triggered several times of deadly armed clashes between the two countries' troops.

KOMPONG SPEU, Cambodia, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Japan have seen a new phase in defense cooperation, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tea Banh said Wednesday.

His remarks were made after Japan sent its military experts to train 15 Cambodian peacekeeping forces for the first time. The two- month course was concluded on Wednesday.

"Bilateral tie between the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and Self-Defense Force of Japan has moved a new step forward thanks to this Japan-backed training course," he said during the closing ceremony at the Institute for Peacekeeping Forces, Mine and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance, which was also attended by Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia Kumamaru Yuji.

"This project is a new beginning of cooperation within the area of peace. Even it is small, it is of great significance with the hope for enlarging and with the most appropriate manner responding to the United Nations standards for peacekeeping," he said.

Tea Banh said the presence of Japanese military lecturers in Cambodia showed the mutual cooperation and friendship with other lecturers that Cambodia used to have like China, France, India and the United States.

"This will really help enhance the capacity of the Cambodian armed forces for contributing to the regional and international work on the area of peacekeeping operations," he added.

Lt. Gen. Sem Sovanny, general director of the National Center for Peacekeeping Force, Mine and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance, said that since 2006 to date, the country has trained 8, 030 soldiers for UN peacekeeping missions, and has sent 1,450 troops to Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Central Africa, Lebanon and Syria for humanitarian and demining operations.

HANOI, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The 47 council conference of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEC 47) kicked off in Vietnam's capital Hanoi on Wednesday, with participation of more than 200 delegates from 18 countries.

Participants are education ministers, high-level government education officials and representatives from international organizations, from 11 SEAMEO member states, eight associate members, three affiliate members, and 20 regional centers and development partners.

Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan, and other senior education officials, attended the opening ceremony.

In his opening speech, Minister of Education of Brunei Darussalam and SEAMEO President, Pehin Abu Bakar Apong, said that the summit of the education ministers and high-level education officials aims to foster stronger cooperation on education among Southeast Asian country and beyond.

High on the agenda of the 2-day SEAMEC 47 will be discussions on accelerating Education for All and the post-2015 development and education in Southeast Asia.

A policy forum themed, "Lifelong Learning: Vision and Policy" espoused by Vietnam as the host country is expected as a highlight of the conference.

In his keynote address, Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang said that the Southeast Asian region plays an important role for stability and development in Asia and the world as well. Strengthening all-sided cooperation in the region with the spirit, "One Vision, One Characteristics, One Community" is always a special attention of the SEA countries, of which cooperation in education and training is considered one among prime priorities.

Over the past 20 years since Vietnam joined the SEAMEO in 1992, Vietnam has implemented strictly and with responsibility its obligations and actively contributed to the region's educational, scientific and cultural development, the Vietnamese leader said.

He also confirmed that as chair of the SEAMEO council for the 2013-2015 periods, Vietnam will try its utmost together with other member countries to fulfill the signed documents and programs of the organization, for development and prosperity of each member country, and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in Southeast Asia and the world as a whole.

Established in 1965, SEAMEO is an international and regional inter-governmental organization whose current members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.

The SEAMEO Council, SEAMEO's governing body, is composed of the 11 ministers of education of the SEAMEO member countries.

SEAMEO collaborates with global and international organizations like the UNESCO, UNICEF, Asian Development Bank (ADB), ASEAN and others in the execution of its mandate, which is the promotion of cooperation in education, science and culture.

It is also supported by associate member countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain; The United Kingdom of Great Britain will becomes the eighth associate member at SEAMEC 47.

Affiliate members include the International Council for Open and Distance Education, Tsukuba University, Japan and the British Council.

The headquarters of SEAMEO is located in Bangkok, Thailand.

PHNOM PENH, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will dispatch 42 soldiers to take part in a multi-national peacekeeping exercise " Peace Efforts 2" in Nepal, to be conducted from March 25 to April 7, a military officer said Wednesday.

"They will depart for Nepal on Friday," Brig. Gen. Ken Sosavoeun, deputy director of the military's Peacekeeping Operations Department, told Xinhua over telephone, adding that the participation is a part of international peacekeeping operations under the framework of the United Nations.

"The training will help improve capacity of Cambodian troops, and it will be a chance for our soldiers to exchange techniques and experiences with their counterparts from other countries," he said.

The forthcoming exercise will be attended by troops from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Jordan and India.

The event is supported by Global Peace Operations Initiative, which is an international program of the Group of Eight (G8) countries for enhancing capacities of the peacekeeping missions globally.

Cambodian troops firstly joined the UN Peacekeeping Forces in April 2006. Since then, the country had sent more than 1,000 troops to Sudan, Chad, Central Africa and Lebanon for demining and humanitarian activities, said Sosavoeun.

PHNOM PENH, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Tuesday officially inaugurated the National Council on Green Growth, aiming at developing a sustainable economic society with natural resource and environment sustainability.

Speaking at the ceremony held at the capital's Peace Palace, Prime Minister Hun Sen said that the inauguration reflected the government's commitment towards a society with green growth.

"We know that green growth will lead to sustainable economic development and environmental sustainability through effective use of raw materials and natural resources, energy save, less disposal of wastes, clean development, green care and natural heritage maintenance," he said.

At the event, the national policy and strategic plan for green growth 2013-2030, which was approved by the Council of Ministers earlier this month, were also disseminated to about 500 participants from the government's ministries and institutions, non-governmental organizations, private sectors, and development partners.

"The national policy and strategic plan will act as a soft green infrastructure, creating favorable atmosphere and better conditions for directing and encouraging investors to invest in green growth such as green agriculture, green industries, green telecommunication, green credit, and green financial market," the premier said.

Cambodia has adopted several legal instruments for the green growth implementation. Those included the roadmap for green growth, the memorandum of understanding on green growth cooperation between Cambodia and South Korea's Global Green Growth Institute ( GGGI), the National Council on Green Growth, and Cambodia's membership into an agreement on the establishment of the GGGI.

The GGGI was officially launched in March 2010 by former President of South Korea Lee Myung-bak. The institute's core activity is advising its 18-member countries on forming a Green Growth Plan.