The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Cham survivors look toward court” plus 9 more

Police, soldiers and military police, they help and protect the companies, but not us. The land of the oknhas is everywhere.

The Cambodian Taekwondo Federation held the second of its monthly Junior Championships, entitled The Hope for Taekwondo in 2014, on Saturday at the Booyoung Khmer Taekwondo Hall in the National Sports Complex.

The event was participated in by 90 boys and 23 girls from 13 clubs, organisations and associations bracketed into age classes of U12, U14 and U17.

The federation plans three more such competitions, with 61 boys and girls selected so far to compete in the Best of the Best contest in late May.

When it comes to doing business, there are few places worse, it seems, than the likes of Myanmar, also known as Burma.

That's at least, according to the World Bank, which has Myanmar ranked as the worst in Asia – at 182nd of 189 rated economies – on the ease of doing business. That's even worse than 137th-ranked Cambodia.

Rounding out the "Top 5" for worst in Asia in The World Bank 2014 Doing Business report – the latest annual assessment of the ease of doing business in economies around the world – are Timor-Leste (179th), Afghanistan (164th), Laos (159th) and the Federated States of Micronesia (156th).

But Cambodia should not take heart in being "better" than the likes of Myanmar or Timor-Leste. Nor should the nation see investment from a relatively more risk-tolerant China as an alternative to taking actions to improve the enabling environment for business.

Indeed, a much troubled water supply project in Nepal supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – and the recent replacement of the Chinese contractor on it – underscores yet again the challenges that development partners have in getting things done in numerous countries where the ease of doing business has much to be desired. (Nepal ranks 105th on the list.)

As information is updated and Myanmar moves to draft, pass and then enforce new legislation as part of efforts to strengthen the rule of law, that nation's ease-of-business ranking will surely improve, and may one day move past Cambodia to attain a title that sadly the Kingdom has yet to earn – and that is being heralded as the latest Southeast Asian tiger economy.

Already, major western multinationals are rushing in to Yangon and Mandalay, joining the ranks of Chinese, Thai and other Asian businesses and entrepreneurs who have long been active in Myanmar despite western sanctions.

Clearly, investing in Myanmar or any of the places low on the World Bank's ease of doing business list is not for the faint hearted.

But whether Myanmar or any of the Top 5 ranked economies for ease of doing business – Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United States and Denmark – there are lessons for Cambodia to be taken from each on how best to grow economies, create jobs and reduce poverty.

For nearly four years, I served as US Ambassador to and board member of the Asian Development Bank and had the opportunity to travel to Cambodia on more than one occasion.

During my time in the post, several points became very clear, particularly as I saw many a troubled project or others that never got off the ground.

That included: while development banks and aid agencies can provide incremental good, it is good governance and a strong rule of law that are critical to businesses and essential to job creation and long-term growth.

More than ever, given dwindling government budgets and reduced foreign assistance dollars, the private sector – whether brave entrepreneurs, small- and medium-sized enterprises or well-established and deep-pocketed corporations – can play a critical role in fighting poverty.

Business investments that can make money and simultaneously empower communities at the grassroots level are also a key to economic growth and the reduction of poverty-related violence.

The private sector must be a critical partner if we are to sustainably lift people out of poverty. Indeed, whether in Asia or the United States, it will be small businesses and entrepreneurs – regardless of nationality – who will drive long-term change and job creation.

It is not sustainable to have most employment funded by aid money and government largesse.

With well-thought-through partnerships, public-private efforts can be done in a way that is good for business and more sustainable than aid packages subject to donor fatigue and annual budget cuts.

Yet, too often, inept bureaucracy, poor or poorly enforced regulation, interventions by government and endemic corruption get in the way.

These challenges of the "little bric" may well be a longer-term constraint to growth and one of the biggest impediments to building better lives for people everywhere, including in Cambodia and others of the world's smallest or land-locked states.

Curtis S Chin served as US ambassador to the Asian Development Bank under presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush (2007-2010). He is a managing director with advisory firm RiverPeak Group, LLC.

Cambodia's Keo Roomchang travelled to the Thai coastal resort town of Hua Hin to take on Yodsanklai Fairtex on Saturday in a fight which was broadcast live on national Thai TV.

The Kun Khmer veteran put up a brave performance before being knocked out in the second round by the Muay Thai legend.

Yodsanklai was the winner of The Contender Asia, the reality TV show which put Muay Thai on the international map, and is also a former Lumpinee champion, WBC champion, WMPF champion and reigning WMC and Lion Fight champion.

Roomchang, by contrast, is relatively unknown outside of Cambodia and came into this bout for the Thai Fight promotion as a major underdog.

He has 108 Kun Khmer fights to his name but Yodsanklai is rapidly approaching his 300th Muay Thai match and has consistently faced the best in the business all the way from flyweight up to middleweight.

The fight was fought under traditional Muay Kaad Chuek rules, meaning that no gloves were worn, with hands wrapped in ropes instead. Roomchang looked determined to land wild, swinging punches right from the opening bell.

It was to his credit that the Cambodian decided to take the fight to his illustrious opponent, but Yodsanklai looked more amused than perturbed as he easily weathered the onslaught and countered Roomchang's telegraphed attacks with well timed punches and elbows.

Roomchang hit the canvas for the first time after a hard left elbow but the referee ruled it a flash knockdown and neglected to give him a count. Moments later he was felled by a barrage of punches and this time he was given 10 seconds to recover with both fighters swinging for the fences as the round came to an end.

Whereas Yodsanklai looked completely unmarked as his sat on his stool, Roomchang's face was badly marked up, a testament to the superior accuracy of his Thai opponent.

The end came early in the second when punches put the Cambodian flat on his back, and he wisely decided to stay there.

It was an emphatic performance from Yodsanklai, who demonstrated his considerable advantage in experience and ability. The fight left Roomchang bloodied, bruised and battered, but speaking afterwards the 26-year-old suggested that a spell of recent inactivity was to blame for his loss.

"I came to Thailand on the 18th and I was in Bangkok for four days with nowhere to train and no-one to train with, so my conditioning was not good," he said.

Cambodia's stock exchange will receive a $2.5 million funding injection from the South Korean government in an attempt to draw more corporate interest from companies who may want to go public, according to a recent report on state media site AKP.

The funds will go towards paying for Korea International Cooperation Agency-led training programs aimed at helping the government, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) and the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) rope in more firms.

Key Cambodia staff will be trained by South Korean experts, and the Korea International Cooperation Agency, or KOICA, will also help launch a public-awareness campaign that boosts the stock exchange's image, according the state media report.

"Under the agreement, KOICA will dispatch qualified experts to assist SECC in drafting policy framework and regulations that would attract more IPOs," the report says.

The CSX launched in 2012 with the first and only IPO from the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority. The Cambodian government and the Korea Exchange struck the joint-venture deal in 2010.

Although numerous proposals from other companies, including garment makers Grand Twins International Ltd and TY Fashion, may materialise sometime this year, the water authority is still the only listed firm.

But few people connected to the multimillion-dollar plan that is supposed to create more awareness about the stock exchange could go into much detail when questioned about it yesterday.

Despite being present at the public signing, Nguon Sokha, secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, declined to comment on exactly where or how the additional funding would be allocated or spent.

"I cannot speak on behalf of the ministry," Sokha said.

Hort Sroeu, a representative from KOICA, said he was unable to discuss the deal or whether KOICA had already rallied local and overseas business interest in Cambodia's stock exchange.

South Korean embassy counsellor Lee Hyung-jong said he was not aware of the details of the KOICA funding project in Cambodia.

Sok Dara, deputy director general of the securities exchange commission, which regulates the bourse, welcomed the funding.

"Yes, this is very good news for the CSX," he said, without commenting further on the potential impact the $2.5 million funding agreement will have on the stock exchange's attractiveness.

Stephen Hsu, an underwriter at Phnom Penh Securities, said he heard about South Korea's interest in the stock exchange, but could not say where the money is most needed in order to improve the lackluster market.

"We had visitors from Korea recently doing research on the CSX. But I have been out of the country lately, so I am unsure about the details of this agreement," Hsu said. "I am sure the SECC would rather generate interest from local firms instead of overseas firms and I do think the CSX needs to be publicised more."

Since 2012, when the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority went public, its shares have fallen dramatically, and the exchange has recorded several consecutive days without any trading volume.

When Dina Chhan was growing up with her three brothers and two sisters, it was clear to her that the girls in the family worked harder than the boys. As the eldest, she was responsible for helping her mother with household tasks and looking after the younger children.

Chhan is now 29 years old and she hasn't for one minute stopped being aware of the toil of the women who surround her. The painter's new exhibition, The Quiet Half of the Sky, which opened at Equinox last night, portrays the hard graft and the struggle of women all over Cambodia.

"The idea is that Cambodian women work very hard – men work hard too, but not as hard as women. Most women are very strong, and they have to carry a lot of heavy things – they have a burden," she said, adding that the title of the exhibition comes from the idea that women are holding up half of the sky.

The exhibition, which is made up of 11 paintings, features images of mothers throughout generations in one family, women working in the rice field, at the market, two beer girl sisters, and a girl who works on a farm but dreams of becoming a ballet dancer.

The painter, who also teaches art to children at an NGO and in an international school in Phnom Penh, said that she had been painting women for a long time before deciding to put them together in an exhibition.

"Every time I see something, like a woman working hard, I paint, and one day I sat down and saw the paintings, and thought, 'Why do I paint a lot of women?' and then I realised I wanted to explore women in Cambodia who lead busy lives and work very hard," she said.

One of the most striking paintings in the collection is Fighting for Peace, which attempts to encompass the political turmoil – and activism – of recent times, specifically celebrating the work of land rights activists such as Tep Vanny and Yorm Bopha who are known for their campaign at Boeung Kak lake. On the right side of the painting is an abstract, colourful swirl of a female form; to the left is a collage of high-profile political figures cut out from newspapers: King Father Norodom Sihanouk, CPP politicians, Boeung Kak activists.

Chhan, who is well known internationally for her ceramic sculptures depicting the effects of land mines in Cambodia, said: "The last time we had an election, you didn't see many women getting involved in politics. This time, women are involved a lot, and with the Boeung Kak activists, women are the leaders, they go first, they know how to talk. That inspired me. For me, I'm a bit scared, but they go and try to get their land back from the government. I think that's great – I feel like being a part of that too."

The Quiet Half of the Sky will be exhibited at Equinox on Street 278 until April 5.

Despite a government ban on public demonstrations, a group of around 30 young people held a "peace mob" yesterday afternoon at Freedom Park, where previous protests have been violently suppressed by authorities.

Two other peace mobs with similar numbers of participants dancing and handing out stickers were held concurrently at about 5pm at Riverside and Wat Botum Park to "raise awareness of peace building among Cambodian citizens especially youth".

The activities were organised by an informal network of students and young people called the Mekong Peace Journey, with support from the Working Group for Peace.

The groups at all three locations – all wearing powder-blue T-shirts with the words "Peace is in our hands together" – were supposed to dance together before handing out stickers bearing the same phrase.

However, at Freedom Park, a sweets seller with a PA on his motorbike who was set to play music cancelled at the last minute so the young people there played games such as sey, badminton and football with a rattan ball instead.

The vendor said he had been in an accident on the way to the gathering and his equipment had been damaged.

Peace mob co-organiser Lay Dinna said: "We decided that this was the best way to promote peace.

"Lots of people pray to Buddha at the temples at Riverside but have no success, so we just come here to get together and dance to a few songs to promote peace."

University student San Pros, 22, who was at Freedom Park said he was aware that the authorities might violently disperse the gathering.

"I think I put myself in danger but it's my duty to promote peace even though the authorities might want to suspend our activities," Pros said.

"We want to get the message out to people that we want our country to stay in peace."

All the peace mobs were allowed to proceed unmolested by the authorities.

Municipal spokesman Long Dimanche said in an email that he wished to "clarify" the city's policy.

"First of all, a protest is guaranteed by the constitution; therefore, Phnom Penh City Hall never issues on any banning protests," Dimanche said.

"The fact that we did not allow the past protests [was] because those protests occurred from opposition groups and also lead to violence and social anarchy. We do suspend such activities for awhile, waiting for the social situation [to] become normal as before.

"Secondly, this afternoon youth group did not organise any protest activity. They were gathering for dancing exercise the same way as other Phnom Penh citizen doing exercise as usual. And we do not have any reason to ban them."

Cambodian students flaunted colourful kimonos yesterday at a fashion contest held as part of the Kizuna Festival 2014, a Japanese cultural celebration.

At the Cambodia-Japan Cooperation Center (CJCC), 10 Japanese-language students competed to win the title of Mister and Miss Yukata, after the type of kimono they wore.

Hisae Arai, who was crowned Miss Japan in 2011, emceed the event and the winners, selected by a panel of judges, were both from the Tayama Business School team.

Participants were judged on demeanour, makeup, hair, the educational value of the costume and faithfulness to tradition, according to Arai. "Yakuta is the most casual kimono – it is easier to wear and more comfortable," she added.

The contest was among the last events of the festival. Organised by the CJCC and the Japanese embassy, it aims to promote Japanese culture and bilateral relations in the Kingdom.

After a somewhat shaky start and a couple of missteps in the first four games of the Metfone C-League season, last year's runners-up Boeung Ket Rubber Field touched their fiery best at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday when they downed 10-man Phnom Penh Crown 3-1, with the last two goals coming late in a game full of thrust and parry.

The first 30 minutes was so full of exciting possibilities for both sides that no one could dare predict the final outcome until a devastating second yellow card on Crown's most tenacious defender, Odion Obadin, with little more than an hour left to play.

That dramatically changed the complexion of the game and the one man advantage clearly stacked the odds in favour of the 2011 and 2012 champions, though Crown put up a stiffer fight than the scoreline tends to suggest.

What looked like a trip-wire tackle on a fast advancing Chan Vathanaka cost Obadin his first yellow card and a free kick to Boeung Ket inches away from the left corner of the box.

That set piece did no harm but his second booking had a touch of irony about it since he was in the midst of a frenzy inside the Boeung Ket box following a fierce free kick by Bin Chantha Thierry that was fisted away by keeper Peng Bunchhay.

Khim Borey's header off that deflection kept the action alive, but apparently Obadin ran into the rival goal-keeper, as referee Thong Chanketya saw it, and was flashed a second yellow leading to the Crown defender's marching orders.

It didn't take long for Boeung Ket to exploit this huge gap in the defence and Chan Vathanaka's perfectly weighted cornerkick was nodded home in spectacular fashion by Khoun Laboravy to give the Kampong Cham side a distinct halftime advantage. Although they would have been much happier if Keo Sokngorn's screamer hadn't come crashing off the crossbar.

Yet Crown battled their way back into the game after the break and in under two minutes found the equaliser when Newton Katanha produced a stunning overhead kick with his back to the net, clearly jolting the Boeung Ket camp.

Crown coach Sam Schweingruber brought in Sos Souhana for the Zimbabwean goal scorer with nearly 30 minutes of play left. Almost off his first touch, the substitute had a near empty goal to fire at. He got the power right but the direction wrong.

The unluckiest player on the pitch was possibly Bin Thierry, with two of his power-packed freekicks well anticipated by Peng Bunchhay. Having missed out on these chances, Crown were dealt two quick blows towards the end.

Boeung Ket defender Chukwuma Ohuruogu, who has already acquired a reputation as the best free thrower this season, was in the mix when Vathanaka nicely centred his cornerkick. In the ensuing scramble for the ball, Ohuruogu beat the rest to give his side a 2-1 lead. An unmarked Laboravy doubled his own contribution by scoring the side's third goal, a free pass to a vantage point just outside the box and a tidy finish.

This was Crown's first loss in five games and Boeung Ket's second win in two weeks.

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Naga deal with Albirex
Naga Corp made heavy weather of their league clash with Albirex Niigata yesterday before winning 2-0 at the Olympic Stadium.

Naga head coach Prak Sovanara was away in Kuala Lumpur for a coaches course but the feedback from his staff may prompt him to seek some clarity as to what went wrong with the team's professed firepower, which simply did not work to the measure he would have expected.

Naga's African import Barry Alpha Oumar accounted for both the goals, the first in the 15th minute through a well-guided deflection and the next a minute before regulation time through a curling free kick.

In between these two strikes came a plethora of failed attempts with poor marksmanship negating the domination Naga enjoyed in space and possession. In fact, Albirex came threateningly close to a strike themselves more than once in an inspired second half showing, during which former Prek Pra Keila striker Mat Hassan and two Japanese midfielders Kazuki Tatsuta and Michimori Kataoka each had a hard look at the Naga net.

"I don't know what happened to some of my team-mates. Sometimes we play like this when the mindset is that the opposition is easy," Oumar told the Post after the game, implying that against stronger teams it has always been a different story.

As the first foreign franchise to figure in Cambodia's top tier, Albirex had history by their side but the performances in the last four matches had been abject to say the least – 23 goals conceded and four scored.

But with yesterday's gutsy show, they amply demonstrated that they are made of much sterner stuff than they had been credited with and perhaps will command greater respect when they take to the pitch again.

Army knock back Svay Rieng
The fall of the defending champions Svay Rieng to Ministry of National Defence at the Old Stadium on Saturday somewhat overshadowed Boeung Ket's win over Crown at the Olympic Stadium, where Build Bright United later shocked Western University 2-0.

The Armymen, always the sort to spring surprises when least expected, enjoyed the upper hand throughout in that 3-1 victory, with two goals within the first six minutes creating a solid foundation.

Phong Soksana fired the first salvo for MND in the third minute and saw his team-mate Ek Vannak double the lead in as much time to cast the die for a huge upset.

After being frustrated time and again, Svay Rieng saw a glimmer of hope emerge from Dzama Bata's 71st minute goal but Chhin Chhoeun hammered in the proverbial last nail in the 83rd minute to see MND safely home.

In Saturday's first fixture at the Old Stadium, Kirivong Sok Sen Chey's Carlos Alberto gave his side a ninth-minute lead which the visitors from Takeo held on to until George Kelechi leveled for Asia Europe University in a well fought 1-1 draw.