The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Did it voluntarily” plus 9 more

I did not force them to have sex with customers in my shop. They [did] it voluntarily.

The Cambodian People's Party is prepared to make sweeping changes during its fifth government mandate, including improving the often-criticised judiciary and prioritising social justice, a government spokesman said.

This "period of reform" would see deep-seated changes across a number of ministries in response to grievances expressed by both its supporters and those who voted for the opposition, Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said.

"We heard very well from our people on issues of social justice, issues of corruption and issues of land. So I think those areas are going to be targeted as a priority in the fifth term," he said.

Official election results released on Sunday confirmed that the CPP won 68 seats in this election, dropping 22 seats from its 2008 results.

Siphan said yesterday that the courts – which have long been criticised by observers for their lack of independence – would be made "more accountable".

"[We will appoint] competent lawyers as well as judges. [There will be] better administration in court as we learn from the [Khmer Rouge tribunal]. Justice will be happening in the court system with better services provided by the government," he said.

Although the CPP has long based its governing credentials on providing stability and economic growth – as evidenced by soaring GDP figures and kilometres of newly paved roads – Siphan said that during this term the government would focus on social justice rather than infrastructure building.

He said, however, that an overall picture of things to come would be outlined by Prime Minister Hun Sen in his first speech to the National Assembly – which is due to sit on September 23.

Political analyst Lao Mong Hay said yesterday that the government's words were "positive" but that effective mechanisms and a timetable for changes would have to be announced before the CPP could be applauded for any reforms.

"The government and the ruling party have said those kinds of things before, but then so far, to my knowledge, little has been achieved," he said.

"To be able to recover and to get the voters' popular support, I think they have to effectively and drastically change themselves – the institutions, mechanisms and attitudes."

Panhavuth Long, program officer at the Cambodia Justice Initiative, said that whether the government was truly willing to bolster the independence of the judiciary would depend on whether they introduced legislation strictly defining the roles and responsibilities of judges.

Such laws, Panhavuth said, would secure the tenure of judges, in addition to making their conduct, discipline, promotion, transfer and dismissal more "transparent and objective".

"I would welcome these kinds of statements, but we have to wait and see because the government has been promising legal and judicial reform since 1994 … and the law on the status of judges has been in the pipeline for more than 10 years," he said.

"[We need courts where] new judges and new lawyers admitted are all competent and don't buy their way in through corruption, and are accountable to the law rather than [a political] party in their decisions."

Despite calls for an overhaul of the National Election Committee – deemed by many to be a tool of the ruling party – Siphan maintained that any such reforms were outside the CPP's mandate.

"The NEC does not belong to any particular party. It belongs to voters.… It's an independent body. Only the National Assembly should be able to do that," he said.

"I want to [emphasise] that the NEC, from the CPP side, belongs to voters and not any political party."

Military police in the northwestern border town of Poipet have arrested two men and remain on the hunt for one more after the trio allegedly tricked migrant workers out of money and jewelry, a commander said yesterday.

The suspects have been accused of waiting at the Cambodia-Thai border for unsuspecting Cambodians returning home, promising to mind their valuables and cash so border police wouldn't confiscate them.

"The suspects then fled after collecting money from their victims," said Horm Muth, a military police commander, adding that they escaped with more than $800. Hun Vuthy, also known as Nhanh, 24, and Sok Chanthy, 24, both from Poipet, were later arrested.

Coffee wasn't the only pick-me-up being served at a Phnom Penh coffee shop.

Un Theang, 61, confessed at a Phnom Penh Municipal Court hearing yesterday to operating a brothel in her Tuol Kork district café. She was arrested in an April police raid, during which authorities found three Cambodian sex workers and a number of used condoms.

Sok Pov, 22, one of the prostitutes, said she gave the shop owner 5,000 riel per customer and charged each solicitor 20,000 riel ($5).

Prostitution is illegal in Cambodia and Un Theang faces between two and five years in jail. By confessing to her charges, Un Theang hoped her sentence could be commuted.

"I did not force them to have sex with customers in my shop," she said. "They [did] it voluntarily."

A verdict will be delivered on September 30.

Debate can often rage over who is in charge of resolving issues across the country as they arise – provincial governors or provincial lawmakers.

"Whenever there is a problem, especially if it is a serious violation of rights, the governor has to meet with the lawmaker," opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker Mu Sochua said yesterday.

When such a scenario plays out in Pailin and Kampot over the next five years, the participants involved will be husband and wife.

Official results from July 28's election revealed on Sunday that Un Sokunthea secured a seat for the Cambodian People's Party in Kampot province. Her husband is Kampot Provincial Governor Khoy Khun Huor.

It is the first seat Sokunthea, a former National Police deputy commissioner, has won in her own right. In the previous mandate she also found herself in the National Assembly, but only after she was gifted a seat because an elected lawmaker vacated it in 2011.

Sokunthea could not be reached yesterday, but Khun Huor said the pair's personal relationship did not present any conflict of interest when it came to governing. In fact, he added, dealing with his wife had made his decisions "easier".

"We have different duties as lawmaker and governor, but the same aim to serve the interests of the nation," he said. "[My wife] has already given provincial authorities a lot of real information about people and their land disputes, so as the provincial authority, I have been able to advocate successfully for the people."

In Kampot, if villagers have issues with the way the provincial governor and his office is treating them, they will have other options than to take their grievances to Sokunthea.

Five other lawmakers, three of them members of the CNRP, will also represent them.

In Pailin, it's a different story. Voters in the single-seat province have elected Ban Srey Mom. She is married to Y Chhean, the provincial governor (and former bodyguard to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot). Neither could be reached for comment yesterday.

Family connections are not unusual in the two major parties – Prime Minister Hun Sen's son Hun Many was this week given a seat in the assembly, while CNRP lawmakers Yim Sovann and Ker Sovanroth are married.

But Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia, believes it's the first time Pailin and Kampot provinces have elected lawmakers while their spouses are provincial governors.

"Our lawmakers don't really have so much power, so maybe [the CPP] is just strengthening its power in those provinces," he said.

Provincial governors, by law, are essentially only civil servants and therefore should be politically neutral, Panha added.

"But, in fact, they're like politicians."

The situations in Pailin and Kampot could therefore result in "some kind" of conflict of interest, he said.

King Norodom Sihamoni will return from China tomorrow and preside over the opening session of the National Assembly on September 23, he announced yesterday – one day after the opposition party publicised its intention to boycott that session.

In a letter sent to National Election Committee president Im Suosdey, the King writes that he received notice of the final election results and was thus duly scheduling the first session of parliament.

"I will invite all elected parliamentarians for the first session on September 23 at the National Assembly," he writes.

On August 12, the King left for Beijing on what was billed a routine and long-scheduled medical examination. His departure raised concern among some, who feared that a tense post-election atmosphere could spill into violence without the King's presence.

Yesterday, an opposition party official said they were hopeful the King could yet broach a solution to the ongoing political deadlock.

"We asked the King to intervene to help to solve the problem.… And yesterday, we, [the] CNRP, sent a letter to the King to consider the petition [drawn up by supporters]," Cambodia National Rescue Party spokesman Yim Sovann said.

"Any royal assistance the King can provide, any kind of assistance that can be provided to help to find justice for the voters [would be appreciated]."

On Sunday, the CNRP announced that lawmakers would boycott the opening session barring a thorough investigation into electoral irregularities. The ruling Cambodian People's Party has said it is too late for such an investigation and that talks could only be regarding the formation of the new government.

Yesterday, National Assembly spokesman and senior CPP lawmaker Chheang Vun reiterated the government's claim that the body could go ahead regardless of CNRP involvement.

"If the Cambodia National Rescue Party [boycotts], the CPP will go ahead. And don't put the blame on CPP," Vun said. "The voters will blame the CNRP, asking why the party didn't respect the will of the people and wouldn't fulfil their obligation as the opposition party."

Prime Minister Hun Sen and other senior government officials have long maintained that in the event of a boycott, the CPP can simply occupy the "abandoned" seats. Though the party claims it can do so legally, experts have called it a blatant misinterpretation of the law.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KEVIN PONNIAH

NagaCorp Ltd, operator of Cambodia's biggest casino, NagaWorld, is investing $350 million to develop a hotel and casino resort complex in Russia, seeking to benefit from the tax environment and the location near the country's wealthy Asian neighbours.

The Hong Kong-listed company said in a statement filed with the stock exchange yesterday that the new complex, called Primorsky Entertainment Resort City (PERC), will be located in the Integrated Entertainment Zone (IEZ) of the Primorye region in the far east of Russia.

"PERC aims to be the epicentre of the gaming zone in Russia," the company said in a statement on its website.

The Integrated Entertainment Zone is one of four government-designated gaming areas in Russia.

"Russia currently offers a favourable tax environment for gaming business as compared to other more established gaming jurisdictions," the company statement says.

According to NagaCorp, the only gaming taxes are monthly fees of $4,200 per gaming table and $250 per gaming machine.

The statement also said that the administrative centre of the region, Vladivostok, is a city closely located "to a range of important tourism markets" such as South Korea, Japan and China. NagaCorp hopes that the project will "enable the group to participate in an exciting new casino market offering the potential for attractive investment returns."

"The company envisages that with a population of about 300 million and a combined GDP of $7 trillion in the surrounding target countries – Northeast China, South Korea and Japan – there is considerable demand for affordable and good-yield hotel suites units sited in the IEZ."

As for capacity, the new complex is expected to have at least 100 gaming tables, 500 gaming machines, a theatre facility that can fit 2,000, as well as karaoke and a spa. It will include approximately 1,000 hotel suites that NagaCorp is betting on selling to Russian and foreign buyers, mainly Chinese, South Korean and Japanese.

NagaCorp entered into the agreement on Friday, but the complex isn't slated for completion until 2018 because of permits and construction.

NagaCorp in Cambodia could not be reached for comment, while the Hong Kong office referred the Post back to the office in Phnom Penh. The media contact for NagaCorp's NagaWorld casino in Phnom Penh, Hem Sopheak, said she wasn't briefed on the project.

NagaCorp's financial results for the six months ending June 30 show that net profit increased by 20 per cent to around $62.9 million.

At close yesterday, shares in the gaming company were up 3.9 per cent, at HK$6.92 (US$0.89 cents).

Japan-based Mizuho Bank (MHBK) has signed an agreement with two well-established banks in Cambodia that is designed to help Mizuho leverage a wider range of financial services when dealing with Japanese clients.

The memorandum of understanding was inked on Friday in Phnom Penh between Mizuho's president and CEO, Yasuhiro Sato, Maybank (Cambodia) CEO Lee Tien Poh, and Canadia Bank CEO Michael Lor.

"We have been providing information to Japanese corporations entering the Cambodian market," Sato said on Friday. "As a bank with a reputation for strength in the Greater Mekong subregion, MHBK will use this memorandum of understanding to provide high-quality financial services to meet the diverse needs of our customers."

In July, MHBK, one of the largest banks in Japan, opened a Phnom Penh representative office – the usual first step for banks looking to establish local branches in other countries.

Mizuho Bank is now the third Japanese mega-bank with a representative office in Phnom Penh. The other two are Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Bank and Simitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

Mizuho isn't the first to seek out cooperation. In May, Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ signed a similar agreement with Canadia.

In the past couple of years, Japanese investment in Cambodia has surged. Data from the Japanese embassy in Phnom Penh shows that investment totalled $330 million in 2012, a big jump from the $75 million in 2011.

At the end of March, there were 115 members of the Japanese Business Association of Cambodia, compared to 101 at the end of 2012.

But the country still lags behind investors from China and South Korea.

According to data from the Council for the Development of Cambodia, Japan ranked 14th in terms of foreign direct investing in Cambodia, having spent $154 million in the country from 1994 to 2011.

The Japanese-funded, 68,000-square-metre Aeon mega-mall is expected to open next to Phnom Penh's Sofitel hotel in July of 2014.

Responding to growing demand in US and EU markets, organic rice exports have surged, reaching 200 tonnes in the first six months of this year, compared with 100 tonnes for all of last year.

Demand, however, is outstripping supply, and the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) is pushing for more farmers to grow rice organically by providing the needed infrastructure.

"They order more from us, but we can't respond to their needs because CEDAC does not yet have enough farmers in some provinces," Bao Vuthy, CEDAC's program coodinator, said.

So far, farmers from about 8,000 households in 166 communities in the country have been mobilised to grow rice organically.

For rice to qualify as organic, farmers use natural fertiliser, and the processing differs slightly.

Exports of organic rice are meagre compared with other varieties, such as the fragrant or jasmine. Some 150,000 tonnes of non-organic rice was exported in the first five months of 2013.

In Spain, you see them dressed and moulded into kitsch and colourful flamenco dancers. In Vietnam, wistful girls wear ao dai. But there appears to be one national character Barbie and her imitators have not yet inhabited: the Apsara maiden.

In Siem Reap, where you would be hard pressed finding a craft not exploited for souvenir-selling, Cheab Sibora, 21, has been turning the iconic plastic Barbie doll into bejewelled, ikat-clad Apsara dancers for friends and family since 2011 but is now hoping to turn them over for profit.

The enterprising arts-and-crafter designs his Apsara dolls with traditional-looking Khmer fabric and miniature gold headdresses made by hand. Transforming the typically blonde, blue-eyed dolls with pointed toes and inhuman proportions into dark-haired Apsara figures requires special attention to every aspect of the doll's outfit, Sibora explains.

"I spend time designing the clothes and matching them with Barbie's face and hair. If I push myself, I can do it in 15 days but normally it takes around 60 days.

"The speed of my work depends on whether or not Barbie dolls are available from the market or the shop – sometimes they sell them second-hand or new, but sometimes they're not available."

The cost of the dolls depends on what model he can get his hands on – though he insists on using the genuine item.

"A second-hand Barbie doll costs $12 to $15, and a new one costs anything between $9 and $40 depending on quality. The cost of jewellery completely depends on the style, the importance of which rests on material design. My dolls are different from simple dolls that cost 2,500 riel [$0.63] because of the quality of the hair and face."

Outside of his doll-making, Sibora was hoping to study in Phnom Penh but wasn't able to get a scholarship. He's now set to attend a private school in Siem Reap, where he wants to study languages. With support from his family, friends and the local press, he claims to be the only artist creating Apsara dancer dolls. So far he has created 10 traditionally dressed dolls and had displayed them at a local fashion design show.

Now that they've proved popular with the public, he'd like to move away from Barbie and find a more Khmer-looking doll to work with.

"I want to make more dolls, but my studies mean I'm too busy. But I plan to make Khmer dolls in the future rather than Barbies, and my family and friends are encouraging me to do this," he says.

"Even though I'm trying, I can't make a hundred per cent traditional Khmer face and hair because I got the dolls from other countries, particularly China. This means I have to darken the Barbies' face and hair colour."