(Sports) Cambodia's famed Angkor heritage site holds 1st int'l marathon

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia hosted the first Angkor Empire Marathon on Sunday at the complex of the Angkor Wat temple, a World Heritage Site, in the cultural city of Siem Reap province.

Thong Khon, president of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC), said a total of 2,630 professional and amateur athletes, including some 1,370 foreigners from 42 countries, joined the race in the distances of 42 km for a full marathon, 21 km for a half marathon and a 10-km run.

For the full marathon, about 415 foreign runners and five Cambodian athletes joined the contest.

"It is the first time that a full marathon event is held in Cambodia," he said at the event. "It is aimed to attract more tourists to Angkor Wat temple during the rainy season."

The proceeds raised from the event will go to local charities, he said.

The competition took place in front of the centerpiece of Angkor Wat temple, where athletes ran around the ancient temple full of architectural beauty and scenery.

According to the results released by the NOCC, the men's full marathon race was awarded to Japanese comedian Neko Hiroshi, who also holds Cambodian nationality, in a time of two hours, forty- five minutes and twenty-eight seconds; Japanese Ba Gan took the second place in 3:01:34; and French Yan Defond was third in 3:20: 04.

While the women's full marathon run was won by French Messina Veionique, who finished in 3:36:08; Chinese Wai Fongchan took the second place in 3:43:25; and Finnish Mari Kauri came at third in 3: 45:42.

The 12th century Angkor Wat temple, the kingdom's largest tourist destination, greeted 1.24 million foreign visitors in the first six months of 2014, up 10 percent over the same period last year, said a tourism report.

Japan-Cambodia direct flights to start next month: minister

English.news.cn   2014-08-15 19:21:25

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese airline will launch regular direct flights from Japan to Cambodia next month in order to further boost economics, trade, and tourism ties between the two countries, Akihiro Ohta, visiting Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, said Friday.
Ohta unveiled the plan during a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. "There will be direct flights from Narita Airport (Tokyo) to Phnom Penh in September and from Narita Airport to cultural city of Siem Reap province in October,"he said.
He said Japan wanted to create cooperation with Cambodia in infrastructure sector such as the development of highways, clean water system and civil aviation.
For his part, Hun Sen said he fully supported direct flight connection between the two nations as it would further broaden bilateral ties and cooperation.

Editor: Mioh Song

(Sports) Asia Cross Country Rally ends in Cambodian capital

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The 2014 Asia Cross Country rally ended here Friday afternoon after 22 rally cars were flagged off from Thailand's coastal city of Pattaya on Saturday last week.

The 2,200km Thailand-Cambodia rally, regarded as a grueling test of courage and endurance for both man and machine, ended in Kampong Speu province and the rallyists made another short trip to Phnom Penh for an award ceremony.

During the week-long rally, participants from Cambodia, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, the Netherlands, Sweden, and China's Taiwan drove their four-wheel vehicles from Pattaya beach through Sa Kaeo province and crossed over Cambodia for the World Heritage Angkor Wat and raced through Battambang province before reaching Kampong Speu province and Phnom Penh. "It was the first time that Cambodian athletes joined the automobile adventure, which was organized to promote international goodwill and friendship among countries in Asia," said Vath Chamroeun, secretary general of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia.

The Asia Cross Country Rally, first held in 1996, is the largest Feddration Internationale de l'Automobile-certified (FIA) cross country rally in Asia. The rally route is designed to cover many types of terrain like jungles, swamps river-crossings, dirty roads and so on.

Thai racers gained the championship and the second and third places.

6th China-built hydropower dam in Cambodia starts operation

English.news.cn   2014-08-14 15:16:34

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The sixth China-built hydropower plant, located in the Koh Kong province of southwestern Cambodia, has begun producing electricity after more than four- year construction, the China National Heavy Machinery Corporation (CHMC) said in a statement on Thursday.
CHMC started to develop the 246-megawatt Tatay River Hydropower Plant in 2010. The dam comprises three generators, each is capable to produce the power of 82 megawatts, the statement said.
"One of the generators began operation on Wednesday as the construction of the remaining two generators is still going on," it said.
"The dam's operation will contribute to developing economic activities and reducing electricity shortage in Cambodia."
The statement said CHMC's president Lu Wenjun has recently visited the plant and commended Chinese and Cambodian engineers and workers for their efforts to construct the dam.
CHMC invested 540 million U.S. dollars to build the dam, which is a concessional contract of a 42-year build-operate-transfer ( BOT). Under the deal, the plant sells power to the state-owned Electricity of Cambodia.
China is the largest investor in building hydroelectric dams in Cambodia. According to the Cambodian Ministry of Mines and Energy, Chinese companies have invested over 1.6 billion U.S. dollars to construct six hydroelectric dams in Cambodia with the total capacity of 928 megawatts.
So far, all six dams have come into operations.

Editor: Fu Peng

Cambodia sees 20 pct decline in cassava export in 6 months

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia had exported 226,000 tons of fresh and dry cassava in the first half of 2014, a decrease of 20 percent over the same period last year, said the figures provided by the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.

However, the country saw a 20-percent increase in revenue from 15 million U.S. dollars during the January-June period last year to 18 million dollars at the same period this year.

Som Yen, director of Banteay Meanchey province-based cassava broker Malai Trading Company, said the decline in the quantity of cassava, or tapioca, was due to flood devastation last year.

"But the price of cassava this year is good," he told Xinhua, adding that a ton of dry cassava was purchased from farmers at the price of 188 U.S. dollars on Thursday, up 11 percent compared with about 169 U.S. dollars at this time last year.

"This year, a lot of farmers have flocked to grow cassava as profit margins on the crop continue to rise," he said.

Cassava, used to produce animal feed and ethanol, has been exported to Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea and China. Usually, farmers plant it in March or April and harvest it from November to February.

According to data issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, cassava growing covered 421,000 hectares last year, yielding some 8.42 million tons of freshly harvested cassava.

Cambodia's insurance premiums up 21 pct in H1

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's insurance industry reported a total premium of nearly 27 million U.S. dollars in the first six months of this year, up 21 percent over the same period last year, an official report showed Thursday.

The main sources of the premium were from the insurances of fire, engineering, marine cargo, vehicles, health, and personal accident, said the report of the General Insurance Association of Cambodia (GIAC).

GIAC's President Huy Vatharo said the growth clearly showed better economic situation and more awareness of insurance advantages among the public.

"Insurance sector is now playing a very important role to build investors confidence in their businesses," he said. "We expect a better growth in the second half of this year."

The Southeast Asian nation has nine insurers including six general insurance firms and three life insurers.

In June, the Parliament passed the insurance law aimed at ensuring the sustainability and accountability in the nascent industry.

Under the law, to open an insurance company, the insurer must have the minimum capital of 7 million U.S. dollars.

Scores of ethnic Khmer Krom hold fresh rally against Vietnamese diplomat

English.news.cn   2014-08-11 14:53:30

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- About 500 ethnic minority Khmer Krom monks and activists on Monday staged a fresh protest here to demand a Vietnamese diplomat to recognize the "true history" of the former Kampuchea Krom provinces.
It was the third rally in the last two months after Trung Van Thong, a spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia, reportedly said in June that the former Kampuchea Krom provinces belonged to Vietnam long before France's official transfer of the land in 1949.
Protesters gathered at the Freedom Park, a protest-designated site, in Phnom Penh City before marching through streets in the city to deliver a petition to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassies of ASEAN countries in order to seek their help to press the Vietnamese diplomat to recognize the true history. "The purpose of our protest is still the same -- demanding an apology from the Vietnamese spokesman and urging him to accept the 'true history' of the former Kampuchea Krom provinces," Thach Sitha, president of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Association, told reporters while leading the rally.
After handing their petition to the ministry and those embassies, the group continued marching to the Vietnamese Embassy, where security has been tightened.
There was no any report of violence during the protest.
According to the history, French protectorate officially turned over the former Kampuchea Krom, once Cambodian territory, to neighboring Vietnam on June 4, 1949.
The Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia on July 8 issued a statement to condemn the protest, considering the move an act of intervention into the sovereignty and internal affairs of Vietnam. "Southern Vietnam (Kampuchea Krom) is an integral part of the territory of Vietnam, in compliance with international law, fully recognized by the United Nations, international organizations and all countries in the world,"the statement said.

Editor: xuxin