Despite the economic devastation caused by this year's severe flooding, the government projects Cambodia's economy will grow by 6 percent in 2001, with significant expansion in garment exports, construction and tourism.

A fiscal report prepared by Finance Minster Keat Chhon says Cambodia will experience continuous macroeconomic growth for the third year in a row, bouncing back a low of 1 percent growth in 1997 and 1998 because of the country's political turmoil and the regional financial crisis.

The growth in 1999  reached 4.3 percent --a little more than the government's expectation. Growth in this year is projected at 5.5 percent.

"Cambodia's economy has steadily recovered in 1999 and 2000," Keat Chhon wrote in the fiscal report, part of the national budget 2001 proposal.

The government forecasts that agriculture production will increase 2.9 percent in the gross domestic product, up from 2.6 percent in this year. The growth is attributed to a 4.5 percent increase in rice crops and a 4 percent increase in livestock. The industry sector will see a 9.9 percent increase, thanks to a 16 percent rise in construction activities, the report states. The garment industry in expected to rise 7.4 percent and the energy sector 5.9 percent.

The service sector will be a driving force for the ambitious growth, the government forecasts. the fiscal report says the service sector, including telecommunications and financial activities, will likely grow more than ever, though percentages are not specified. Keat Chhon cites tourism as the most important factor to that rise.

According to the fiscal report, the government forecasts the inflation rate will stay at 4 percent, the same as in 1999 and 2000, and foreign exchange rate will remain stable at 3,800 riel per US dollar.

Responding to a request from Battambang province, the Ministry of Commerce is supporting the establishment of provincial Chambers of Commerce to deal with local economic issues.

Pa Socheat Vong, second deputy governor in the province, used the current glut in the corn market as an example of such a local issue. Farmers produced 450,000 tons for sale, and most years they are able to sell all their corn to Thai dealers who come to Battambang town. 

But this year the demand from Thailand is only 50,000 tons. Corn prices plummeted as low as 1.5 to 2 baht/kg (about $0.03 to $0.05) before rising recently to 3.5 to 4 baht/kg (about $0.08 to $0.10)

Pa  Socheat Vong envisions an organization that could market corn to other countries. Khek Ravy, secretary of state for the Ministry of Commerce, agrees.

"Recently there have been a lot of complaints from Battambang farmers about corn prices and from Kompong Cham farmers about tobacco prices," Khek Ravy said. "We [the government] have to force commercial banks to loan as much money as they can to provincial traders... Now Thailand and Vietnam are buying products from us and processing them for international markets. We might also be able to do that."

Officials say they'd better figure it out quick, because the free ride is all but over 

In September, Prime Minister Hun Sen signed a subdecree setting stiff fines-up to $500-for those who illegally copy videos and discs, as well as those who sell pirated copies.

Word of the new law is spreading through local markets, and vendors say they are unhappy. None of those interviewed were willing to be identified.

"The [business climate] right now is very tough," said a woman who sells illegal copies at a stall in the Olympic Market. "If they are so strict with the new law, all we can do is abandon our business."

Vendors say virtually everyone sells the illegal copies, because customers demand them. Legal copies can cost from $5 up to $40 for rare or new foreign movies. Pirates go for between %2 and $3.

"In Cambodia, we don't care whether, it's an original or a copy," said another vendor. "Customers look for the cheap ones."

But Hang Soth, director of the department of art at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, said producers and vendors have made an easy living for 20 years off the work of others, and that they will no longer be able to do so.   

"The law will be carried out," Hang Soth said. "We are not joking", It's a matter, he said, "of the restoration of the national soul and the national identity."

Cambodian culture has suffered in recent years, he said, because artists have little incentive to create original work, knowing it will quickly be copied and they won't earn any money from their labors.

"The law has been passed to increase the number of [Cambodian] authors, producers and singers, not those who steal the achievements of others,"  he said.

The threatened crackdown can be seen as the opening skirmish in a big-money battle that has been raging for years between developed nations and the developing world.

In the West, such "intellectual property" as movies, music, videos, computer games and software is a multi-billion-dollar industry that is zealously protected.

But as coping technology has become more readily available, mini-industries for reproducing books, tapes and discs without paying royalties or licenng fees have emerged in developing countries.

Large, powerful lobbying organizations like the US-based Motion Picture Association or the Business Software Alliance track such activities around the world, taking legal action against nations that produce pirates for export.

Cambodia has so far been spared, because it does not produce pirates for export and its domestic market is tiny compared to, say, China, But at some point, analysts say, it could face legal and economic sanctions.

"They won't let this go on forever," said one analyst. Cambodia "will have to clean up its act some day."

Vendors say it is true they sell pirate copies from China, Thailand, and Vietnam and Cambodia, but they say they are unfairly caught in the middle.

"They should prosecute the copiers, not the sellers,"  one said.

Another asked what she is supposed to do with the copies she already has in stock. "I'm  not sure what to do," she said. "I'm very much concerned.

Jane Goodall, the British scientist who for years studied and lived with chimpanzees in Africa, arrives Sunday in Cambodia as part of a tour to raise environmental awareness. 

She will tour Phnom Tamao zoo, lecture Tuesday at Phnom Penh University and meet with King Norodom Sihanouk in Siem Reap. She will also be talking with government and NGO officials about conservation projects. Cambodia  is the last stop on Goodall's tour of Asia, which has included China, Taiwan and Japan.

Cambodia Daily - Nov 24, 2000

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Both Cambodian and foreign travel agencies have complained to the Ministry of Tourism about an increase in unlicensed travel agencies that can afford to offer lower prices because they don't pay licensing fees.

Chin Pim, manager of the Angkor Travel Agency, estimates there are between 30 and 50 companies operating with no licenses or even office addresses, often just a computer in one room. He also believes as many as 50 percent of the "legal" travel agencies have let their licenses expire.

As of June, there were 183 travel agencies registered with the Ministry of Tourism.

A licensed travel agent is required to leave $5,000 on deposit at the National Bank. A license to operate costs $400 the first year and $150 per year after that. Tourism companies are also required to pay a 10 percent value added tax on all sales.

The general manager of a Korean agency who last week filed a complaint with the Tourism Ministry but wished not to be named said he was afraid his company would close if the illegal agencies continue to operate.

"My company is a legal one," he said. "I spend $6,000 on licenses, taxes, phone, water and electricity, and office rental.

"If the government doesn't crack down on illegal companies, I don't think we'll have enough money to pay our tax."

Another man who identified himself only as Mr Lee runs the Open Travel Agency, which he says brings only Korean tourists to Cambodia-up to 100 in a good month or as few as 10 in a bad month.

Located in one room in a house, with no sign along the street, Open Travel Agency claims to be insured and promotes "low price of service."

Lee said Open Travel Agency has a main office in Korea and has been operating in Cambodia for five years.

The company has a branch office in Siem Reap province, he said, but he couldn't remember the address.

He said the company was registered with the Ministry of Commerce and that it had a license from the Ministry of Tourism, but he couldn't remember how much a license cost. He said Open Travel Agency "pays money to the government some of the time."

But In Sary, head of the travel department at the Ministry of tourism, said the ministry 
has no record of Open Travel Agency applying for a license.

In Sary estimates 10 percent of travel agencies are operating illegally.

Minister of Tourism Veng Sereyvuth also acknowledged illegal agencies are a problem. "Let me check on these irregularities," he said. "I will ask my staff to investigate. And I will order my people to take action."

Work has started on a 1,900 meter bridge on the road between Koh Kong and the Cham Yiem area after 10 months of planning.

The Under Secretary for Public Works and Transport, Ouk Chan, after visiting the project said it cost US$ 6.5 Million.

He said discussions were also underway for upgrading 159 kilometers of national road five, along with 60 small bridges, from Srei Ambel to Koh Kong at an estimated cost of five million dollars.

BUSINESS NEWS - Nov 20 - 26, 2000

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Road, rail links vital for success

An academic has proposed a new growth region comprising the four least developed Asean states on the Mekong and the most developed three provinces and two special administrative regions of southern China.

Gu Xiaosong, Director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies at the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences in  southern China said that the twinning would promote greater economic and social exchanges.

He cited the possibility of a million tourists from the Chinese side of 131 million creating an income of a billion dollars annually for the Mekong states.

The Mekong states in the proposal are new Asean members Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia and Thailand from the original group.

The Chinese entities are Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainnan  provinces and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao.

The south is also home to four of China's five special economic zones Shenzehen, Zhuhai, Shantou and Hainan. 

"In the lower reaches of the Mekong, Thailand is the only state that enjoys fairly fast economic development, while the other four are underdeveloped agricultural states.

"Therefore, South China and the Mekong states can economically compliment each other, especially in investment, business and tourism, " pointed out Gu.

The professor said that corridor would also open up knock-on benefits to other members of Asean and the rest of china.

Gu said that to be able to achieve that goal, land transport should be developed in a scheme which he calls the 'one vertical and two horizontal' plan.

The vertical is a rail and expressway from Nanning in China through Hanoi, Vientiane, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.

A link already exists between Singapore and Bangkok.

Gu said the line would stretch to 3000 Kilometers, compared to the Malaysian proposal for a railway from Singapore to Kunming through Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City covering 5,000 Kilometers.

This vertical will entail rebuilding a small link between Thailand and Cambodia and opening a new route from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City.

One of the horizontals is a rail and expressway linking Bangkok-Phnom Penh-Ho Chi Minh City.

The road on the Cambodia side need to be upgraded, while the Phnom- Ho Chi Minh City sector is being undertaken through an Asian Development Bank plan.

The other is a railway linking Yangon, Vientiane and Vinh in Vietnam.

Bangkok and Vietnam would become the hubs of the railway under Gu's plan.

He proposes new road and rail links from Kunming and Vientiane, Kunming to Hanoi, from there to Halong City- Mongcai in Vietnem and Dongxing Guangzhou to Hong Kong in China.

Gu said that the plan would entail upgrading existing and completing planned ral and road network and as well as creating new facilities in an area of plains and hills, with few high mountain ridges.

Therefore, it would save time and money.

Hundreds for shall, medium jobs from next year

Civil works contractor here are in for a windfall with the Asian Development Bank deciding to pump US$55 million into flood damage repair over the next three years.

Local and foreign contractors already approved for project by the manila based bank would be offered the repair jobs in accordance with existing award guidelines.

The decision to give the jobs to those already are here is to save time because of the urgency in completing repairs.

The Resident Representative of the bank, Urooj Malik said bidding time has also been reduced, for instance to 21 days for local and 60n days for international bidding procedures.

Since the projects are scattered throughout the country involving relatively shall contracts, it was unlikely that they would attract big timers, he said.

Malik said domestic contractors had the capacity to undertake the jobs envisaged under the plan, tentatively agreed between the government and the bank earlier this month.

Civil works contracts for the rehabilitation of roads and bridges, with the value of US$2.5 million or more, would be awarded on the basis of international competitive bidding procedures.

Those costing under US$2.5 million will be warded on local bidding procedures.

In cases of small and scattered civil works, approval will be given without contract packages.

The bank also agreed to al low the government to claim for urgent projects already undertaken or anticipated extension if these fall within the bank's standard guidelines.

If they failed to meet the guidelines, the bank would not disburse funds for them.

Malik said that because of the lack of resources within the government, extensive use of consultants would be required to ensure project are implemented according to standards and on time.

In addition to seeking additional consultants, those already hired are likely to have their contracts extended to meet the urgency.

Malik said the arrangement also helped to stimulate the local economy by involving the private sector in rehabilitation.

The Bulk of the projects are expected to start in January after approval from the bank's board and the agrment signed late next month.

US$67 million set aside for five years

The kingdom's first ever comprehensive plan for the protection , rehabilitation and development of children and mothers gets underway next year.

The five-year plan, jointly prepared by the government and United Nations Children's Fund, will cost US$67 million to implement.

The Minister of Planning, Chhay than described the plan as an achievement towards ending the hardship of children and their mothers.

But he warned at the signing of a government-Unicef agreement for implementing the project that the real success would depend on 'joint and individual activities, roles and responsibilities' .

Unicef representative, Guido Cornale hoped the 'investing in children plan would dovetail the second socioeconomic development plan,  now being finalised after months of discussions between stakeholders.

He sail "the fight against poverty starts with children, to break the intergenerational cycle of poor development, poor health and poor productive and social life ".

Cornale said Unicef's role was to work towards this goal, prodding and working with government and other stakeholders to achieve the target, efficiently and speedily.

It is funding the project in support of this belief.

The children's plan was drawn up by the Ministry of Planning and the UN agency with input from 13 ministries and agencies under them.

It also had input from civic society and non governmental organisations, indicating a bottom-up approach in tackling development issues under ongiong state reforms.

The General Director of Planning, Hou Thaing Eng said the project would concentrate on about 1,000 villages in the Thai border area, Stung Treng,  Kompong Speu, Kompong Thom, Prey Veng and Svay Rieng.

It is an all embracing programme for childhood, ranging from health and nutrition, education, intellectual and moral development and social and family life.

The programme will set aside 15.2% of the budget to promote awareness of children's rights among the public, believing that this would help stem the high rate of abuse.

The money is targeted at minimising or eliminating child labour, abuse and prostitution through creating awareness and strengthening social services, upgrading laws and creating enforcement capacities.

Of particular emphasis will be promoting family values and family life. said officials.

In another place, the question might seem absurd: If a set of solar panels is destroyed during installation by bullets falling from the sky, thanks to reveling soldiers who fired into the air, would insurance cover the damage? But in Cambodia, Rath Sa Rath's query is legitimate. 

His question was weighed carefully and answered at a recent contraction insurance seminar where experts discussed the new law drafted by the Ministry of Finance that aims at strengthening-or at least defining-laws  governing the insurance industry. 

Like many sectors in Cambodia, insurance is in its infancy and still needs development. Supporters say the new law will bolster investor confidence, while critics say the language is simple and the provisions are difficult to enforce. 

All agree, however, that simply having a law is a positive step as Cambodia looks to develop a financial sector. The draft was approved by the Council of Ministers in July. 

The law was drafted by officials from the Finance Ministry's insurance arm, Caminco, with technical assistance from the French government and the international American Insurance Group, which sent a legal representative from its Hong Kong office. 

"The rest of the thing we do by ourselves," said Rath Sa Rath, a Caminco official. The law was modeled after several "Asian models," including Singapore, Rath Sa Rath said. Figures, for example, are given in Singapore dollars. 

The new law will be important for creating investor confidence as Cambodia works toward building a "well-structured finance industry," Rath Sa Rath said.  

While Cambodia has a way to go before such an industry exists, investor confidence may be on the rise. 

"We're at starting point," said insurance expert David Brewster, who conducted the seminar and who has worked in the insurance business from Malaysia to Mombasa. And with or without strong laws, "confidence is important."

Important, because a strong insurance sector leads to a more confident banking atmosphere, which can lead to more investment, industry experts and government officials said.

"Insurance can provide that confidence," Brewster said.

When it comes to making loans, banks want to know they have strong collateral from the lender, explained Carlo Cheo, managing director of Forte Insurance, who held the construction insurance seminar last week.

For example, if a bank makes a personal loan to a man, using his home as collateral, and the man does not have proper insurance, the bank is out of it's collateral if  the house burns down and the loan could collapse. It's a simple example of how the insurance sector is needed by the banks.

Greater security brings more investment, and more investment creates jobs and forms a wider consumer base, including insurance clients.

"Each industry enforces the other," said Kevin Lam of Standard Chartered Bank. "It's a running circle," he said. "Building confidence has an impact."

It remains to be seen if the new law will bring about that confidence. The law still has to be implemented through the drafting of subdecrees by the Finance Ministry.

The law itself contains standard articles defining insurance, insurers and the like. it has provisions for property, life and personal accident and compulsory insurance. The most important aspects, according to Rath Sa Rath, are in the compulsory laws and the laws governing the private sector.

Transporters, too, will be required to buy liability insurance for their passengers, including boats. That would apply to an incident earlier this year when a high-speed boat traveling from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh sank and a Taiwanese tourist drowned. Railroad carriers, too, will be required to have liability insurance.

Finally, the law contains requirements for private, joint and state-owned  companies, requiring them to register with the Finance Ministry.

It requires companies to be licensed and to deposit 10 percent of registered capital in the national treasury. A company must also have a registered capital of about $2.84 million for life insurance and  $2.84 million for general insurance.

In addition, the law provides for a restructuring of a state-owned monitoring department.

Economic observer Paul Freer, of International Management &Investment Consultants Ltd, called the law "a step in the right direction," but pointed out certain weaknesses, such as its simplicity and the problem of enforcing compulsory laws.

Another important aspect of the new law, he said, is the provision to create a Finance Ministry monitoring body. The insurance sector now "needs to be tightly regulated," he said. The law provides an outline for that regulation.

So despite its weakness, Freer said, the law "won't affect negatively" investor confidence.

Neither might falling bullets. It turns out, Brewster explained to Rath Sa Rath, that those shot-up solar panels would be covered, provided the owner carried "construction all-risks insurance."

Cambodia Daily - Nov 23, 2000

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A delegation from the lower house of the Russian parliament concluded a four-day visit to Cambodia Tuesday and heard praise for their nation from Prince Norodom Ranariddh.

"This visit from the Russian  parliament was very important because such exchanges of delegations help us to understand each other," said the prince, who played host to the visitors in his capacity as president of the National Assembly.

In a meeting Tuesday with Artur Chilingarov, vice president of the Russian lower house, the prince expressed his appreciation for what he called the significant role Russia plays in current world affairs, saying the former communist superpower's role is "balancing and mediating because of its non-engagement with NATO and the West. 

Russia could contribute greatly to the fair solution of world affairs,"

The prince pointed out that relations between the former Soviet Union and Cambodia date back to 1956, but were abruptly cut off during the Pol Pot regime. Russia returned as the biggest donor to Cambodia for most of the 1980s after Vietnamese-led forces toppled the Khmer Rouge government.

On their visit, the Russian legislators met with Prime Minister Hun Sen, Senate Vice President Prince Sisowath Chivan Monirak and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong.

TOKYO -When Ide Naoko was a little girl her father used to tell her a story about a land called Cambodia, where he stayed in a tent one summer neat some beautiful ancient temples.

Though that was more than 30 years ago, before Cambodia's  brutal civil wars nearly destroyed the country, he still remembers the people of Siem Reap who were very kind to him. 

Today Ide Naoko is 22 years old and a university graduate When lit came time to pick a field of study, she fond herself drawn to the shall country her father recalled so fondly. 

Long before her university days, friends she met in private language classes told her that Cambodia was little understood by the outside world and offered a rich area for study.  

" They said, if you study Khmer, you will have a better chance to research the culture of this nation, " she said. 

`So when in 1992, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies decided to offer a course of study in Khmer, she took the entrance examination. Despite intense competition-about 100  students jockeyed for only 10 slots-she won a seat in the class and today is fluent in Khmer.

Khmer is the newest language offered by the university, where 4,300 students from around the world study 25 languages, according to Sakutaro Takahashi, university vice president. 

The Khmer curse features language instruction by two Japanese teachers with the assistance of a Cambodian volunteer. 

The course continues to be extremely competitive. Of the 60 students who took the first of two recent entrance exams, only two of the 40 who tried were accepted; eight made it through a second test. 

Sakutaro Takahashi said the effort is worth it for those who truly want  to understand Khmer culture. 

" The new graduate students of the Khmer language will be the tools to build a better Japan Cambodia relationship, " he said. "Nobody can know more about a foreign country than someone who has mastered its language and culture. "

These days, Ide Naoko is working on her master's thesis in Khmer, which she says is very difficult. 

" Studying the Khmer language is very complicated, " she said. " It is far different from my own Japanese language, especially in the way it is written. 

The Japanese students' task is also complicated by the 30 years of civil upheaval in Cambodia, which has left some in the older generation speaking and spelling a traditional from of Khmer while younger people use another. 

The traditional form, based on the 16,000-word dictionary compiled by the Buddhist monk Chourn Nath in 1915, was the national standard until the 1960s, when the more modern " Khmerizatin  " style began to take hold .

Khmerization, promoted by Keng Vansak, was essentially an attempt to simplify and standaedize the language by dropping a handful f letters from the alphabet and minimizing Pali and Sanskrit words. 

But not long after the Khmerization movement produced a new dictionary, the wars broke out and the language came under vicious assault. 

Under the Khmer Rouge, most educated people were killed or fled the country. For ideological reasons, the country's Maoist leaders cut the language back to its simplest elements. The 13 different ways to say  "eat, " for example, became just one.

In recent months,  scholars of traditional Khmer and adherents of Khmerization have been working together to create a new, unified version of the language that everyone can use and understand. They plan to compile a new official dictionary, which will contain as many as 30, 000 words.

Meanwhile, students like Kazato Saeki will continue to study Khmer  for a variety of reasons.

He said  he wants to become fluent so he can work in Cambodia with Japanese non-governmental organizations, preferably with one that specializes in development projects,

Next year, he hopes to win a scholarship to study Khmer at the University of Phnom Penh. More than anything, he said he wants to visit Cambodia.

Thousands of residents living in the countryside will see lower electricity rates by 2004 under Cambodia's first major rural energy rehabilitation project, government and Asian Development Bank officials said Thursday.

The government, Electricte du Cambodge and the ADB have reached a draft agreement on the $27 million project that builds small-scale power plants and rehabilitates deteriorated distribution lines in provincial towns ov the next three years. ADB plans to loan $18.6 million for the project.

"Availability of power is a basic necessity for economic growth" said Urooj Malik, the ADB's country representative. "It's an essential physical infrastructure toward enhancing private investment in Cambodia."

Officials say the project is the first of its kind in Cambodia. The provinces that will benefit are Kompong Speu, Takeo, Kampot, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng, Ratanakirri, Stung Treng and Bantey Meanchey, officials said.

ADB's board of directors is expected to approve the low-interest loan by December, Malik said. The French Development Agency has pledged to finance an additional $3.2 million, while the government will contribute $5.1 million, government officials said.

When completed, energy prices will be lowered to about $0.17 per kilowatt-hour, down from the current $0.28 rate, said Tun Lean, energy development director for the Industry Ministry.

"It will increase the capacity of supplying energy and reduce prices," Tun Lean said. But the new, lower rate is still higher than those in Phnom Penh.

According to the project plan, a small power plant-generating from 500 Kilowatts to 2 megawatts-will be built in each provincial town. Currently private power suppliers sell energy to provincial authorities, who then distribute it. The power plants will be operated by the state-run utility.

New distribution networks will also be installed throughout the eight towns, according to the plan. It is expected to reduce energy loss during distribution to less than 20 percent, down from the current 35 to 55 percent losses, Tun Lean said.

Many of these power plants and local distribution networks will later be connected to planned national transmission grids, which allow energy from various sources-including power from Vietnam and Thailand-to be transmitted to each other, said
Ty Norin, deputy director of EdC.

Donors, which have called for EdC reforms, have contributed $190 million over the last 10 years to the power sector.

Cambodia Daily - Nov 17, 2000

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The Minister of Commerce, Cham Prasidh says that bidding for textile quotas raised R42 billion this year, up from last year's R34 billion.

He told the resident representative of the International Monetary Fund, Mario de Zamaroczy last year's quota was for three years, while this year, only for one year.

Prasidh said adverse media reports on labour conditions in Cambodia had affected the industry.

The upgrade of the Siem Reap airport to international standard will begin next week.

This was decided at a meeting between Cabinet Minister Sok An and the head of SCA, the company assigned for the job, Oliver Krese in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

The four-million dollar upgrade will be completed late next year, but some of the facilities will come on stream in February.

Rapid response for one-time help

The Asian Development Bank, in one of the fastest emergency responses in its 34 year history, has offered a US$55 million soft loan for food rehabilitation in the kingdom. 

The enlarged loan, originally projected at US$35 million, cover rehabilitation of about two third of the damage to infrastructure caused by the usually early and prolonged floods. 

It provides for rehabilitation of projects that the Manila based bank had already identified and others urgently needed but had not been spotted due to flood waters remaining. 

The sectors benefiting from the loan are the key transport, flood control and irrigation, rural infrastructure, education, health and rural livelihood restoration for the poor. 

It will also fund disaster preparedness for the poor, in cooperation with the Thai-based Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, and provide back up for project management and coordination. 

The package has taken into consideration government priorities, bank's experience and sector involvement, the need to restore bank funded projects, economic and welfare impact on community and prevent overlapping efforts. 

The Bank's action began with a reconnaissance mission in October, followed by an appraisal mission in the first week of this month. 

Last week, a memorandum of understanding for the loan was signed by the mission leader, A. Barend Frielink and the Minister of Planning, Chhay Tan. 

Loan negotiations will have to be completed by the end of this month for the bank's board to endorse the agreement on Dec.21 and signing on the following day, allowing for disbursement from January. 

The ban's resident representative, Urooj Malik explained that the loan was subject to ADB's stringent rules and provided for all the checks and balances  despite its emergency nature. 

However, he said it also provided for flexibility in recovering expenditure already committed within the project scope, provided they met the bank's criteria. 

Malik said that sub-projects have to be started on schedule and completed within specified timeframe or the funds would be withdrawn and reallocated to others that moved faster. 

This provision, he said, was to ensure that all projects were completed by 2003. 

The bank president, Tadao Chino visited Cambodia last month to get a first hand idea of the disaster caused by the unprecedented floods. 

His empathy had resulted in the normally one-year processing to disbursement time-frame for loans being drastically cut to three months. 

Because of the multi-sectoral nature, the executing agency would be the planning ministry, which had established a top level executive committee, with representation from the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of the Economy and Finance and the Rural Development Bank. 

The prime  minister's Senior Economic Adviser, Suos Someth, has been named to advise the project Coordination Committee. 

The PCC will oversee the implementing ministries. 

Malik praised the government for its competence in responding to the needs of the bank for putting up the package and providing the best possible backup despite the limitations in the kingdom. 

He attributed the government's quick reaction to the emergency helped the bank to come up the rapid response, which he said, would go a long way towards Cambodia's rehabilitation from the after-effects of the worst floods in decades.

A Japanese monk, You Ichikawa has been awarded the National Construction Medal for his service to the kingdom.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Sar Kheng pinned the medal on him after the official opening of a three-room building for the Komping Puoy Primary School in the Kirisela Keo village in the Banon district of Battambang.

The US$18,000 project was funded by the monk.

Hun Sen leads leap into IT era

The government to keep with the knowledge-based era has set up a national authority to promote information technology with the prime minister, Hun Sen at the helm.

The authority will craft short, medium and long term policy for the sector in tandem with national development, according to its Secretary General  Phu Lee wood.

It will also implement the policy, notably by providing the private sector with perks to invest in IT promotion, training and operation.

The authority, with Cabinet Minister Sok An in the deputy chair and Secretary for Posts and Telecommunications, Phan Phin as member, was created through a recent royal decree.

The formation of the authority is the first step in Hun Sen's dream to make the area from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville as Cambodia's IT corridor.

Leewood said that the initial budget for the authority would come from the funds of the Council of Ministers, but help would be sought for bilateral and multilateral sources.

One source is Japan, which has set aside US$150 million to support IT worldwide.

In recent weeks, top Japanese and Unesco officials visited the capital for top-level talks with Cambodian leaders on developing the sector.

The Deputy Director for Economic Affairs in Japan's Foreign Ministry, Kaoru Ishikawa met with Hun Sen to discuss human resource development and physical support for IT development.

It was during this meeting which the premier disclosed the August decree that established the authority.

Ishikawa said support was possible from the US$150 million which Japan promised for world wide IT development during the recent G-8 meeting.

The head of Unesco's IT development unit, Yasuyuki Aoshima was also here for talks with local leaders, including Sok An to discuss the Un agency's IT development plans.

Aoshima said he was impressed by Cambodia's efforts to catch up with world development despite being one of the poorest countries in the world.

Unesco will primarily be involved in the development of wider computer use in education.

A South Korean delegation met Sunday with Prime Minster Hun Sen and suggested a possible investment program that could help demobilized soldiers become cassava farmers.

No official plans have been made and no money has been allocated, but Chan Tong Yves, secretary of state for the Ministry of Agriculture, supported the idea and said he believed South Korea could find a market for cassava, a starchy root vegetable.

General Meas Sophea, deputy commander-in-chief of RCAF, said he welcomes any private company that can provide employment for soldiers.

"I think many soldiers are mostly just waiting for jobs," Meas Sophea said. he added that the government is also trying to find jobs for demobilized soldiers, and that some have found employment as guards at private houses, while others have started farming.

SIEM PEAP-King Norodom Sihanouk gave Chinese President Jiang Zemin a personal tour of the temples of Angkor Tuesday at the end of a historic tri that raised China-Cambodia relations to a new high. 

After the tour, Jiang left by an Air China jetliner for Shenzhen near Hong Kong en route to Brunei where he will join the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit. 

Jiang did not speak with reporters during his two-day visit, but a spokesman termed it a "complete success." Both Chinese and Cambodian officials said the planned trial for former Khmer Rouge leaders was not discussed.

Jiang is the first Chinese head of state to visit Cambodia, and the trip has highlighted China's attempts to increase its economic and political influence in the region. Jiang visited Laos before coming to Cambodia. On Monday the Chinese delegation signed several agreements on trade, agriculture and crime.

Jiang flew from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap Tuesday and toured four of the most revered sites of the ancient Khmer empire, which built several Buddhist and Hindu temples between the 8th and 12th centuries.

"Splendid," Jiang Zemin told King Sihanouk at the Bayon temple, built at the end of the 12th century, featuring 49 towers projecting 172icily smiling faces.

In comments in English overheard by reporters, Jiang complimented the King on the achievements of the Cambodian people.

"Your people were so intelligent and so clever," Jiang said. he stopped to applaud a small group of traditional musicians performing outside the Bayon temple.

At Angkor Wat, the two heads of state sipped tea beneath soaring towers and spent time reviewing some of the temple's 800 meters of bas-reliefs.

They also visited the Terrace of the Elephants, a 350-meterlong royal reviewing platform, and the Chau Sav Tevoda temple, which has been renovated by a team supported by the Chinese government.

King Norodom Sihanouk says he is honored to have built a friendly relationship between Cambodia and China 40 years ago, when he lay the foundation for the strong cooperation that currently exists between the two countries, according to an interview he gave recently to Xinhua News Agency, a Chinese government news service. 

"In the year of 1955, I had the honor of making acquaintance with the late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and the late Marshal Chen Yi at the Asian-African Summit Conference in Bandung,  Indonesia," the King told Xinhua. "Since then, the great friendship and brotherly unity between the two nations and the two peoples have become increasingly better and better."

The King said Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit to Cambodia, which ended Tuesday, "is of great historical significance" and "will further strengthen the great long-standing friendship and brotherly unity." 

Beijing has been a second home to the King since his years in exile or abroad beginning in 1970, when he was overthrown in a coup d'etat. Now he regularly travels to China for medical check-ups. 

The King has met many of China's leaders, including revolutionary leader Mao Tse-tung and his successor Deng Xiaoping. 

"The late Deng Xiaoping was a great statesman who had intelligence and wisdom, and rich political experiences," the King said." What he had done is not only beneficial to 
the Chinese people, but also to the international community and the world."

The King was at Pochentong Airport on Monday to greet Jiang and accompanied him to Siem Reap on Tuesday, when they took a tour of the temples before Jiang departed.

PAILIN - The man who for years served as the public face of the Khmer Rouge doesn't fell the need to protect himself from robbers or other intruders. The simple, modest home where he lives with his four children and three grandchildren doesn't even have a fence around it. 

"Security is very good," Khieu Samphan said. "Most people here still support me, so there is no need to have a fence."

Khieu Samphan, 69, talked to journalists last week for the first time since he defected to the government two years ago, but would speak only about his living conditions and not politics, a Khmer Rouge trial or any other topic that might be controversial. 

During his years with the Khmer Rouge, Khieu Samphan was always at the helm of decision making. At various points, he was prime minister of the Democratic Kampuchea regime, liaison to then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk and was one of the Khmer Rouge representatives for the 1991 Paris Peace Accords.

He was also one of the closest people to Pol Pot and fled with him in 1997 into the jungles as they were chased by Khmer Rouge commander Ta Mok during an internal struggle for power. 

The last time he appeared in public was in December 1998, when he and Nuon Chea were brought to Phnom Penh after their defection. He briefly apologized for the killings and said Cambodians should "let bygones be bygones."

At that time Khieu Samphan's white hair was died black, but last week it was his natural snowy color. 

Unlike his former comrades Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan says he is in good health. 

"I'm very fine," he said last week. "I'm different from Ieng Sary. My health is OK." 

Ieng Sary, former foreign minister of Democratic Kampuchea, is ill and often needs to lie down to rest, according to friends who saw him two weeks ago. He has had three operations in recent years, two on his heart and one on his prostate. 

"He can get up but he can't sit and talk to you for very long," said Suong Sikoeun, spokesman for the Ieng Sary-led Democratic National Union Movement. "It's just that he's very old."

Nuon Chea is also frail and suffering from blood pressure problems. His breathing is irregular and he is unable to move his right hand. 

Like Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan is reluctant to speak to journalists, partly for fear of implicating himself in Khmer Rouge atrocities. With plans for a Khmer Rouge tribunal pending, all three have been named as top targets for prosecution. 

Former colleagues and friends say numerous people have tried to speak to Khieu Samphan, but he always turns them away. 

"That's why the [Khmer Rouge] trial is bad," said In Sopheap, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official during Democratic Kampuchea. "Nobody wants to talk." 

Living in the isolated area of Pailin, Khieu Samphan is always eager to hear of what is going on in his country and around the world. 

When given a newspaper story about King Norodom Sihanouk's recent birthday, he read the issue right away. 

"Im very happy to see it is the king's birthday," he said. "I'm especially happy to see his picture." 

Khieu Samphan is often seen by neighbors reading or helping around the house, and he lives a simple life void of politics. "Now I make  a farm and help my children with homework," he said.

When told that his former colleague Thep Kunnal, who is married to Pol Pot's widow Mea Son, said "hello," Khieu Samphan said, "I'm very happy to hear he is fine. I have not seen him in a long time."

Thep Kunnal, who called Khieu Samphan his idol, lives in the former Khmer rouge stronghold of Malai district in Banteay meanchey province. He also fled with Khieu Samphan and Pol Pot in 1997.

Thep Kunnal and Khieu Samphan have not seen each other since they were both captured by Ta Mok.

They say the past is too fresh and the timing is not right for them to meet.

Khieu Samphan repeatedly apologized for not talking about the past, but said the time will come.

"I'm sorry I can't talk now," he said . "When I am ready, I will let you know."

Phnom Penh officials have announced a two-year pilot project to turn garbage into fertilizer.

Heng Nareth, director of the pollution control department for the Ministry of Environment, said a $40,000 grant from the German government will be used to process compost on a 2,000 square-meter piece of land at the municipal garbage dump.

According to Chiep Sivorn, director of the municipality's Environment Department, organic garbage from vegetable stands at Deum Kor market in Tuol Kok district will be turned into compost. The trash needs to be sorted at the market before it goes to the compost processing site.

Three German experts met with government officials recently to discuss the project, which does not yet have a start-up date.

The current dump in Meanchey district is overloaded, and the municipality is considering moving it to a new site. The Ebara Corporation of Japan has said it now wants to study the feasibility of setting up a processing plant that can turn trash into fertilizer.

The Chinese government thinks Cambodia should run any Khmer Rouge trial by itself, and that China has no reason to apologize for its support of the murderous regime. 

Furthermore, a spokesman said, China thinks Cambodia agrees-as shown by is enthusiastic welcome for Chinese President Jiang Zemin's historic visit Monday. 

"Today, you have seen with your own eyes the people welcoming President Jiang Zemin," Zhu Bangzoa, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the People's  Republic of China, said Monday night. 

The Cambodian government, he said, is grateful to China for its support. Flag-waving Cambodians appeared to agree. 

Zhu Bangzoa spoke with reporters after Jiang Zemin spent the day meeting with Cambodian leaders, from King Norodom Sihanouk and Prime Minister Hun Sen to Senate President Chea Sim and National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranarridh. The meetings produced a "complete consensus" on the value and strength of the ties between the two countries, he said. 

Zhu Bangzoa did not discuss the Khmer Rouge until reporters asked him questions, but then answered directly. 

The issue has not been discussed between the two governments because China does not intervene in the in internal policies of other nations, he insisted. 

Asked if China has pressured Cambodia to resist an international Khmer Rouge trial, he said, "China has exerted no pressure whatever" and would not try to influence any country. 

And China need not apologize for its support of the Khmer Rouge, he said, because the "wrong policies" that harmed and killed so many Cambodians were made by "the Khmer Rouge leadership, and we never supported the wrong policies."

Zhu Bangzoa said the two governments Monday signed seven agreements on agriculture, trade and fighting crime, including a trade-and-cooperation deal worth $12 million. 

Government officials had spared no effort to have the city looking its best for the historic visit. 

Thousands of school children, factory workers and civil servants brandished bright Cambodian and Chinese flags along Jiang's 11-km route from Pochentong Airport to the Royal Palace, where he will be the guest of King Norodom Sihanouk. 

Long banners representing both countries rippled from poles on major city thoroughfares. Estimates of the crowd ranged from 100,000 to 200,000; many waved large color portraits of the Chinese leader, his wife Wang Yeping, the King and Queen Norodom Monineath. Security was tight, with at least 6,000 municipal and military police mobilized to control crowds. 

Hor Namhong, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said China is the most powerful country in the region and could one day be the strongest in the would. 

"The special relationship between the two countries will ensure Cambodia sovereignty, independence and national integrity," he said.

In a glittering welcome ceremony at the airport, the King and Queen joined Hun Sen, his wife, Bun Rany, the government's top officials and the diplomatic corps.

Onlookers said it was the biggest state welcome in recent memory, and a clear indication of how much Cambodia values its relationship with the dominant power in the region. Several thousand officials, government employees, soldiers,, police and businessmen were on hand along with Khmer musicians, classical dancers and a resplendent honor guard in golden silk.

Yum Sui Sang, the chairman of the China, Hong Kong & Macau Business Association of Cambodia, was one of 12 association members in matching green jackets and ties who joined more than 50 businessmen at the invitation of the Chinese Embassy.

Yum said Jiang Zemin's visit will encourage Chinese investors as Cambodia's economy matures. The garment industry is already fully developed and now investors are turning toward tourism and agriculture, he said.

After Jang was greeted by officials and a dancing troupe, he was led by heavy security to his waiting car. Waiting for him there were about 500 Chinese-Cambodian studen from the Duon Hoa School. "Long live the Republic of China," they chanted together in Chinese. "Long live Chinese Cambodian friendship. Long live the Kingdom of Cambodia. Welcome Chairman Jiang."

Jang and the King will tour the Angkor temples today before Jiang leaves for Brunei and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum.

Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong is to make a state visit to Cambodia later this month, just two weeks after his Chinese counterpart, Jiang Zemin, concludes a much-heralded trip, officials said Tuesday.

Luong Sans Serif,Times New Roman" the Vietnamese visit might be aimed at reminding Phnom Penh just who are its long-time friends in the region and of the debt Cambodia owes Vietnam for toppling the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, Lao Mong Hay, executive director of the Khmer Institute of Democracy, said.

"I think there is an element of Hanoi not wanting to lose the special friendship between our rulers and Vietnam," Lao Mong Hay said. "Whatever Vietnam's ulterior motives, their intervention saved Cambodian lives."

the Vietnamese visit might be aimed at reminding Phnom Penh just who are its long-time friends in the region and of the debt Cambodia owes Vietnam for toppling the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, Lao Mong Hay, executive director of the Khmer Institute of Democracy, said.

"I think there is an element of Hanoi not wanting to lose the special friendship between our rulers and Vietnam," Lao Mong Hay said. "Whatever Vietnam's ulterior motives, their intervention saved Cambodian lives."

Vietnam also pushed hard for Cambodia's long-awaited admission last April into Asean.

But China can offer much-needed foreign aid to Cambodia. Hun Sen asked for $200 million in aid during his visit to Beijing last year - one of his first foreign trips after securing a coalition government following elections his ruling party narrowly won.

Cambodia Daily - Nov 08, 2000

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For more than a decade, conservationists have been complaining that Cambodia  is in urgent need of legislation protecting its endangered wildlife. 

But until recently, the process of drafting one was indefinitely stalled. 

In an effort to jump-start the process, the Births Embassy announced last week it would put up $22,000 to fund a program organized by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Worldwide Fund for Nature to help the Department of Forestry draft the law. 

Although still in its early stages, an original draft, which was first floated in 1996, was generally lauded by observers as a step in the right direction. 

But despite a promising start, the draft stalled after fierce factional fighting broke out in 1997.

The forestry Department, which was charged with drawing it up, ran short on money and foreign expertise. The law has been left untouched ever since, said Suon Phalla, an official in the Wildlife Protection Office's education section who worked on the last draft and will join the team devising a new one. 

The existing laws-a few paragraphs in the 1998 forestry law are two vague and too outmoded to deal adequately with Cambodia's burgeoning illegal wildlife trade, according to Jack Hurd, country director of the WWF. 

A subdecree detailing which species are prohibited from being hunted and traded excludes some animals that are endangered, some of which have only recently been discovered in Cambodia, Hurd said. 

It includes other animals that are abundant and are commonly hunted and fished. If those regulations were to be followed to the letter, it would "really hit at the livelihoods and food security of villagers," Hurd said.

A new law will have to take into account obligations to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, to which Cambodia is a recent signatory, as well as catering to the need to protect wildlife unique to this country, Hurd said. 

The forestry law also appears to be contradicted by other laws, including a blanket decree by Hun Sen in January 1999 that prohibits the transport and export of all wildlife, Hurd said. 

There is no clear delineation of the responsibilities of the many different agencies which will be involved in enforcing the law from the ministries of agriculture and environment to police, customs officials and park rangers, Hurd said. 

"There needs to be one overarching law... so that there is clear policy guidance from the central government," he said;.  

Another weakness of the existing law is that the penalties for trafficking-fines of between $2.63 and $263- are not an adequate deterrent for violators, who can make several thousand dollars on a single deal. 

The law also does not distinguish between low-level violators-a hunter who inadvertently kills the wrong kind of bird, for instance-and major traffickers. 

Proposals for new penalties include confiscation of all evidence connected with the crime, which can include vehicles used to transport animals and even private property where they are sold or kept,. They also include jail sentences of up to five years for major offenders, Suon Phalla said. 

A new law should also make it easier to catch the offenders, wildlife experts said. 

The forestry law forbids selling, transporting or killing endangered animals, but it does not prevent people from possessing them. 

"If you've got a tiger in your back garden, I can't walk in and arrest you," said Colin Poole, country director of the WCS. 

Violators have to be caught redhanded, a difcult task for Cambodia's ill-equipped and under-trained police, Poole said. 

Two wildlife busts by the Forest Crimes Monitoring Unit last month illustrate how hard it is for authorities to enforce the law. 

In order to make arrests, the FCMU organized two sting operations, a practice common in law enforcement in other countries such as the US but rare in Cambodia. Although the operations were largely successful, a few things went awry. 

On the first sting, the FCMU arrested two alleged traffickers and confiscated two tigers. But two more tigers were still in the hands of the sellers' wives. 

Since possession alone is not a  crime, the FCMU discussed organizing another sting, debating whether the wives would take the same bait the had just landed their husbands in jail. Meanwhile a wildlife agency acting independently bought the two tigers. 

It was a move FCMU adviser Patrick Lyng, who orchestrated the stings, said was regrettable.

"We're not here to get  involved in the wildlife trade," he said.

In a bust at a private house in Phnom Penh days later, municipal police working with the FCMU task force let the alleged trafficker walk away from the scene without arresting him. Later they lost the $2,100 undercover agents paid for the animals. The seller, Ly Huot, had apparently handed the money to one of his daughters, who then fled.

Police later arrested Ly Huot and recovered the money.

Lyng said the police seemed to misunderstand the point of the sting-to make an arrest-but instead thought their job was merely to collect the animals.

The case underscores what Hurd says will be the next hurdle once a law is prepared. In a country where hunting wildlife is a way of life, the notion that sometimes it's a crime catches many people-including law enforcers-by surprise.

"We will have to make sure that everyone is aware of what the law is," he said.

The National Assembly on Monday overwhelmingly passed legislation to create a national electric authority that will eventually replace the Electricity du Cambodge, which has come under fire for alleged corruption and mismanagement. 

"Because of the lack of a specific law, there were a series of problems in [the electric] sector and also corruption by some people," opposition lawmaker Son Chhay said. 

 Penalties such as fines have been included in the law to discourage low-level corruption, though lawmakers said more serious cases will be handled through the courts. "[The law] gives us a hard legal tool to handle existing electric problems," 

Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy Secretary of State Ith Prang said.

He said the law, which only passed after months of sporadic debate, will also help promote investment in utilities and satisfy some loan conditions from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. Both institutions are negotiating electric projects with the government that they hope will bring more reliable power to Cambodia's provinces.

A team of World Bank negotiators are scheduled to meet with Cambodian officials this month to discuss a $70 million electric transmission line to be built from Phnom Penh through Takeo province.

The committee organizing this year's Water festival is making arrangements for more than 400 boats to compete, while acknowledging government funds are tight because of flood relief efforts.

"We will spend more than 1 billion Riel for the King's Birthday, Independence Day and the Water Festival," Min Khin, director of the festival committee, said. That compares with 800 million Riel (approximately $205,000) in 1999."

He said the committee will spend money for six decorative lighted boats representing various branches of the government, and $40,000 for fireworks for the festival, which begins Friday and runs through Sunday. The rest of the money will be spent on contestant expenses, boat prizes, security, insurance and other miscellaneous items.

Min Khin said the festival committee is ready to send a letter to the Council of Ministers asking for 1 billion Riel (approximately $257,000). But he admits he is not sure they will approve the entire amount. In recent days Prime Minister Hun Sen and other officials said flood expenses are putting a severe dent in the state's treasury.

So the festival committee is actively seeking private donations. Sokimex President Sok Kong said his company is donating $10,000 for the boat races and $10,000 for flood relief.

"I've spent a lot of money [on charity] this year," Sok Kong said. "Many wats have requested money from me. Even the Kompong Cham governor asked for money."

A special prize will be awarded this year to the boat which best combines speed with distinctive Khmer artwork. "We're doing this because we want the boats to retain true Khmer decoration," Min Khin said.

Additional rescue boats will be on site during the races because the high water level this year is more dangerous.

Hang Leang and his rag-tag racing crew squatted under an umbrella tree at the riverside Monday morning, wondering where they would sleep. 

After 26 hours on the slow boat from Battambang, they had just arrived in the capital with a few thousand Riel in their pockets and not much else.

Their gaily painted boat floated nearby, tethered in the fast-moving waters of the Tonle Sap. The crew, one of an estimated 40o signed up for this year's Water Festival, is made up of farmers from Prek Narin village in Battambang province. 

Their area was hard-hit by floods this year. The rice crop was ruined. Some of the men have no savings at all, and aren't sure how they'll get by while they're in Phnom Penh. 

But it's worth it, said Hang Leang,43. 

"We come here with happiness, despite the fact that the floods destroyed our crops, 
because we will represent our province" in the races, he said. 

Despite the flooding, this year's races are attracting more boats than last year's 373 entries. One boat will be manned by a crew from Burma, organizers said. 

The men of Prek Narin were pleased to hear that this year the Coca-Cola Company is sponsoring the Water Festival through its subsidiary, the Cambodia Beverage Co Ltd. 

Denise Lauwens, general manager of the CBC, said the bottler will donate 10 million Riel ($2,500) to festival organizers, as well as sponsor 50 boats and provide free Cokes to all 25,000 competitors. 

The boats will not be plastered with the Coca-Cola logo, or shaped like giant Coke bottles, or anything like that, according to Lauwens. Crews will simply wear red Coke T-shirts and white caps. she said. 

The company is spending more than $20,00 on the event, although Lauwens would not say exactly how much. she said some of it will finance a Coca-Cola barge, to be anchored near the finish line. 

The CBC cash donation works out to $51 per boat, or something less than $1 per sponsored competitor. But add to that free caps and T-shirts, and the deal looks pretty good to the men of Prek Narin. 

"Nobody in Battambang is sponsoring us," Hang Leang said. "We're not even sure if we will have T-shirts to race in."

The 69-man crew does have yellow baseball caps emblazoned with the Eiffel Tower logo of Bonjour Cigarettes. And provincial authorities have allocated the crew a kilo of rice per man per day, as well as 5,000 Riel daily, he said. 

A committee headed by Bou Chum Serey, undersecretary of state for the Ministry of Education, chose the boatsor Coke to sponsor. 

Soun Sarin, 57 , of Kandal province, is a racer in one of those boats chosen. 

He said his bat being chosen as a Coke boat makes him think that his team "will be luckier than in previous years."

While nobody will go hungry and the city has promised all competitors a place to sleep at are schools, the poorest of Hang Leang's crew members have no pocket money with which to enjoy the Water Festival. 

They said Monday they don't care, they just want a chance to win. They tasted victory in regional competitions Oct 28 and 29 in Battambang, when each boat won 100,000 Riel ($25) and each oarsman got a new sarong. 

This year, due to the flooding, few family members will be able to afford the trip to Phnom Penh to cheer on their husbands and brothers. The racers themselves had a hard enough time getting here. 

"It's very difficult to come, but it's necessary to come," Hang Neang said.

This will be the fourth time the boat, from the Ek Raingsei pagoda, has competed since 1991, and they want to go home with honors, he said.

A democracy advocate and former exile has been awarded the prestigious Nansen Medal by the UN for his work with refugees after the fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge. Lao Mong Hay, a leading Cambodian intellectual who was a refugee in Britain from 1975 to 1993 when he returned to start the Khmer Institute for Democracy, said an unspecified cash award accompanying the medal would be used to start a humanitarian foundation. "It is gratifying that my work has been recognized and it is 

satisfying for my wife and children in Britain, who have been deprived of the care of a husband and father because of my being with the refugees and now in Cambodia," he said. The award is named after Norwegian explorer and humanitarian FRIDTJOF NANSEN, who was the first high commissioner for refugees for the League of Nations, the forerunner to the UN. The award this year also went to ABUNE PAULOS, the orthodox patriarch of Ethiopia, JELENA SILAJDZIC, a Bosnian film producer, and Argentine pianist MIGUEL ANGEL ESTRELLA.

Cambodia Daily - Nov 07, 2000

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Siem Reap Air, a new airline backed by Thai carrier Bangkok Airways, made its inaugural flight Friday-the first foreign carrier to fly the Phnom Penh-Siem Reap route. 

Silk Air also launched a new service to Siem Reap Friday, offering direct flights from Hong Kong, Reuters news service reported. 

The new services are part of the government's "open skies" policy, geared at increasing competition and improving flights to Cambodia's No 1 tourist attraction, said Tourism Ministry Secretary of State Thong Khon.

"I hope there will not be any flight delay or cancellation as the tourists faced before," he said. "It will improve the quality to international standard air transportation."   

Three additional foreign carriers-from Laos, Burma and Hong Kong-will soon start flying the Phnom Penh to Siem Reap route, Thong Khon added. 

The introduction of the new foreign carriers poses fresh competition for Cambodia's three national airlines. 

An anonymous Royal Air Cambodge technician said the troubled state-run carrier will struggle to keep its head above water unless it gets more support from the government, which criticizes RAC while praising its Thai competitors. "Cambodian high-ranking officials fly on Thai Airways more than Royal Air Cambodge."

But So Mara, Director General of the Tourism Ministry, said existing carriers have too many problems with flight delays and cancellations.

"we got a lot of complaints from tourist," he said. "That's why Siem Reap Airways [was invited] to start up." 

The demand for flights is so high that Cambodia needs to introduce foreign carriers to supply the needs of tourists wanting to visit Angkor Wat, So Mara said. 

"We need more flights, we need more facilities for this province," he said. "I don't think Siem Reap Air will be [in] competition with the other airlines."

International arrivals to Siem Reap this year have more than doubled compared to the same time period for last year, totaling 54,515, Thong Khon said.

Cambodia and China are slated to sign at least six agreements, including an economic and trade cooperation deal worth some $12 million, during President Jiang Zemin's two-day visit, Cambodian officials said this weekend. 

Jiang will stay at the Royal Palace during his visit Nov 13 and Nov 14 as a guest  of King Norodom Sihanouk, a Chinese diplomat said. Officials said an entourage of more than 100 will travel with Jiang, including his wife, the deputy prime minister, the deputy minister of foreign trade, the deputy minister of agriculture, security officials, and more than 30 journalists. 

Om Yentieng said talks between Prime Minister Hun Sen and Jiang will focus on two areas: economic cooperation and general relations, and international affairs.

Half of the $12 million assistance from the economic and trade agreement will come from a grant and half from an interest free loan, said one official familiar with preparations for the visit. 

Other agreements will bring Chinese agricultural experts to Cambodia, set up a joint commission to improve trade relations, formally ratify an extradition treaty, and set out the basis for general bilateral cooperation.

China will provide $240-000 to assist victims of Cambodia's flooding. Cambodian and Chinese officials said discussion of a Khmer Rouge tribunal is not on the agenda.

Spending on social services will increase this year, but teachers and civil servants won't get a boost in wages in 2001, according to Council of Ministers officials, who passed a draft national budget late Friday. 

Officials declined to specify the total sum in dollars of next year's budget, but said expenditure was forecast at 10 .49 percent of the gross domestic product. Last year's budget totaled $620 million. 

Spending on health care, education and rural development will increase, and spending on defense will go down, So Victor, undersecretary of state for the Ministry of Finance, said. He declined to say precisely how much money will go to those programs, but added that no money has been allocated to raise the salaries of teachers and civil servants. 

A Council of Ministers press release says government revenue will rise to 11.93 percent of the GDP, up from last year's 10.49 percent. 

However it is not yet clear how the government intends to collect more money. 

Foreign donors, who provide a large part of the money for Cambodia's budget, have consistently called for cuts to defense spending, improvement for social services and boosting revenues by improving the tax system.

Donors have also called for the state to provide a living wage for teachers and civil servants as a first step toward administrative and educational reform.

Last year's budget saw a significant increase in spending on social services but only a modest decline in expenditure on defense.

The draft budget must be passed by the National Assembly and the Senate before it becomes law.

Like mist of the men in former Khmer Rouge areas 38-year-old Lao Bun Sieng has put down his rifle and turned his hand to business to make a living in these recently silenced battlefields.

A Khmer Rouge soldier for more than 15 years, Lao Bun Sieng said life is Vetter since the 1996 peace was brokered and his small filling station in Malai town is doing well.

Married with two children, Lao Bun Sieng, who is a nephew of former Khmer Rouge Leader Nuon Chea, said the important thing now is making money.

His only regret is fighting  for so long "I'd be very rich,100 percent richer than I am now if the fighting had stopped earlier," he said "I should have done it sooner"

"The Khmer Rouge always said, 'Victory over Phnom Penh first. Then you can make money. 'Now the commanders have changed their mind... [Fighting] was such a waste of time. If we such a waste of time to make business we would be 100 percent better"

While he enjoys a growing business, he said the new-found profits from peace are  not being equitably distributed across former rebel territories, leaving many disillusioned and unhappy.

And none more so than in Pailin he said.

"The commanders... had enough [during the fighting]. We only had food and clothing. Nothing  more. Now the commanders are rich from timber and gemstones, "he said. in the developing economies of former Khmer Rouge zones, the leaders do not remember the sacrifices of the people and now only the very fittest, well connected, are benefiting, he claimed. "No one thinks about the war anymore," he said.

HANOI- Hanoi and Phnom Penh are stepping up efforts to reach agreement on their long-disputed border by the end of the year, Vietnamese officials said. Diplomats from the two sides launched a third round the talks here Tuesday and are to continue meeting until Sunday, an official from the Vietnamese government office said. The 

Vietnamese delegation is headed by Tran Cong Truc, head of the Governmental Committee for Borders, while the Cambodia the Cambodia side is led by Var Kim Hong, head of the country's Border Dispute Committee. Earlier talks were help in Phnom Penh in August and Ho Chi Minh City in March.

AFP, Cambodia Daily - Nov 03, 2000

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Date: 3rd, December 2000
Venue: Special Established Course in Angkor Wat Area

The Fifth Angkor Wat International Half Marathon will be officially organized in Siem Reap on 3rd December Theteering Committee would like to request the participation of the native and foreign runners to this international sport event. 

For your registration and further information, please kindly contact the following address:

For Native Runners 
National Olympic stadium 
P.O.Box 101,Phnom Penh,
Tel/Fax: 364752, 365 015  Tel: 015-835 335, 012-845 486
For Foreign Runners 
Representative Office
#48,St. 174. Phsa thmei 3, Don Penh ,Phnom Penh, 
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There is now a choice when making international calls from Cambodia, but consumers should not expect to save money.

Tele2, a new gateway launched by a Mobitel subsidiary, will not immediately lower phone rates, company and Ministry of posts and Telecommunication officials said.

The Royal Telecam International, owned by Royal Millicom International Co (Mobitel), began offering the new service Wednesday. People now have two choices to make international calls-prefix 007 of Tele2, or 001 of the ministry's gateway, which was recently handed over from Australia-based Telstra.

"The formation of Tele2 is a great step for telecommunications in Cambodia, providing world class international telephone access and service, "said Kith Meng, chairman of Royal Group, the partner of the Mobitel company with Luxembourg-based Millicom International Cellular.

He said Royal Telecam has invested about $15 million to set up two satellites, an international microwave links for the new gateway. It offers regular international communication services, including phone, facsimile and video conferencing, officials said Collect calls and credit calls are not yet available. Tele2 also has a 24-hour help line and an incentive program for frequent users.

But the addition of a second service provider will not affect phone rates. Callers using 007 will pay the same charges as 001 users for the time being.

"Our prices are the same rates as the ministry's for the moment ,"  said Ronny Melander, general management for Mobitel.

Tele2 and the state-owned gateway will set new charges when the telecommunications ministry, according to Mobitel and ministry officials.

Telecommunications Minister SoKhun has said new rates will be between 10 percent to15 percent lower than current rates. The ministry lowered the international phone charges by 30 percent in March, setting charges for calls to neighboring countries at $1.68 per minute, the rest of the world at $2.03.

"We have to range," Kith Meng said. "It wouldn't be different so much from the government inter national phone rates."

Telecommunications insiders welcome the competition.

"Cambodia is one of the most expensive countries in telecommunications, "said Somchai Lertwisetthecrakul, (prefix 015 and 016). "The competition will benefit the country, leading to price reduction."

Koy Kim Sea, undersecretary of state for the telecommunications ministry, said the competition will also encourage advertising in the industry and will end up expanding the market.

International telecommunication is lucrative, generating about $23 million for the government last year, almost 90 percent of the ministry's annual revenue.

Although competition could lead to fewer users of the government gateway, the government won't lose money because it shares Tele2 gross revenues, Koy Kim Sea said.

According to Tele2 and ministry officials, the ministry is a 25-percent shareholder of the Tele2 and will receive 51 percent of the gross revenue, Royal Telecam has a license to operate international phone services for 35 years.

In the telecommunication sector, the ministry has planned to establish a public enterprise, called Cambodia Telecom, with AZ Distribution Co operating the ministry's international gateway and domestic telecommunication services. But the deal has been on hold for months, officials said.