PHNOM PENH, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) Nguyen Phu Trong on Tuesday proposed stronger relations and cooperation with Cambodia in all fields for the interests of the two countries’ peoples.
Trong made the proposition during the meeting with Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace.
“Trong asked the premier to help intensify bilateral cooperation between the two countries in all sectors, especially on national defense, cross-border crimes, human trafficking, drug trafficking and so on,” Eang Sophalleth, spokesman for Prime Minister Hun Sen told reporters after the 90-minute meeting.
On the trade and economic ties, Trong also asked Cambodia to help boost the bilateral trade volume to 5 billion U.S. dollars in 2015.
Meanwhile, Hun Sen said that he agreed with the proposition and believed that the bilateral trades would hit 5 billion U.S. dollars in 2015 because, he said, just within 9 months of 2011, the two neighbors’ bilateral trade was up to 2.07 billion U.S dollars, up 59 percent from 1.3 billion dollars at the same period last year.
Trong arrived here on Tuesday morning for a 3-day visit at the invitation of Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni.
Earlier in the day, he met with Chairman of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and President of the Senate Chea Sim and both sides highly evaluated the mutual help between Cambodia and Vietnam and pledged to continue good traditional friendship relations and solidarity between the two nations.
Later, Trong had also met with acting-President of the National Assembly Nguon Nhel.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
IMF raises Cambodia economy’s growth to 7.5 pct in 2011
PHNOM PENH, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that Cambodia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth this year is 7.5 percent, 0.8 percentage points higher than its previous forecast of 6.7 percent, a senior IMF official said on Tuesday.
Speaking during a meeting with Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, minister of the council of ministers, the IMF’s Chief of Mission to Cambodia Olaf Unteroberdoerster said the IMF was satisfied with the economic development process in Cambodia and forecast that the country’s growth was 7.5 percent thanks to the well growth in tourism, garment exports, and construction, according to Ek Tha, spokesman and deputy director of the Council of Ministers’ Press Department.
Olaf said that as the damage of recent floods on the economic growth was not clearly evaluated, the IMF estimated that Cambodia was good-performed this year.
The IMF’s forecast was the highest of all international predictors and the government’s forecast. Last month, the World Bank projected Cambodia’s growth at 6 percent this year and the Asian Development Bank at 6.8 percent, whilst the government expected it was 6.4 percent.
Olaf said that the country’s inflation rate remained stable at 5 percent this year. He also said that the country’s GDP next year would be expected between 7-8 percent.
Sok An said that the steady growth was due to the political stability, which was the key factor to build confidence among investors and tourists.
Olaf arrived in Cambodia on Nov. 28 to observe the country’s economic performance this year.
Speaking during a meeting with Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, minister of the council of ministers, the IMF’s Chief of Mission to Cambodia Olaf Unteroberdoerster said the IMF was satisfied with the economic development process in Cambodia and forecast that the country’s growth was 7.5 percent thanks to the well growth in tourism, garment exports, and construction, according to Ek Tha, spokesman and deputy director of the Council of Ministers’ Press Department.
Olaf said that as the damage of recent floods on the economic growth was not clearly evaluated, the IMF estimated that Cambodia was good-performed this year.
The IMF’s forecast was the highest of all international predictors and the government’s forecast. Last month, the World Bank projected Cambodia’s growth at 6 percent this year and the Asian Development Bank at 6.8 percent, whilst the government expected it was 6.4 percent.
Olaf said that the country’s inflation rate remained stable at 5 percent this year. He also said that the country’s GDP next year would be expected between 7-8 percent.
Sok An said that the steady growth was due to the political stability, which was the key factor to build confidence among investors and tourists.
Olaf arrived in Cambodia on Nov. 28 to observe the country’s economic performance this year.
Cambodia receives 2.31 mln int’l tourists in 10 months, up 15 pct
PHNOM PENH, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- International tourist arrivals in Cambodia had increased 15 percent year-on-year in the first ten months this year, showed the statistics of the Tourism Ministry on Tuesday.
From January to October this year, the country had received 2.31 million foreign tourists, up 15 percent from 2 million tourists at the same period last year, the report recorded.
About 50 percent of the visitors travelled to the country by air, 47 percent by land and the rest by water ways.
Vietnam topped the chart among the top ten arrivals with 516,400 tourists, up 22 percent, followed by South Korea with 273,600, up 19 percent, and Chinese tourists at third up 38 percent to 198,350.
During the period, Thai tourists to Cambodia had declined by 26 percent to 91,350 due to the two countries’ border clashes earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the reports said, during the period, some 573,400 Cambodians had visited abroad, up 37 percent from 417,200 at the same period last year.
The tourism industry is one of the major four pillars supporting Cambodian economy. In 2010, the sector received 2.5 million foreign tourists, generating the total revenue of 1.75 billion U.S. dollars.
From January to October this year, the country had received 2.31 million foreign tourists, up 15 percent from 2 million tourists at the same period last year, the report recorded.
About 50 percent of the visitors travelled to the country by air, 47 percent by land and the rest by water ways.
Vietnam topped the chart among the top ten arrivals with 516,400 tourists, up 22 percent, followed by South Korea with 273,600, up 19 percent, and Chinese tourists at third up 38 percent to 198,350.
During the period, Thai tourists to Cambodia had declined by 26 percent to 91,350 due to the two countries’ border clashes earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the reports said, during the period, some 573,400 Cambodians had visited abroad, up 37 percent from 417,200 at the same period last year.
The tourism industry is one of the major four pillars supporting Cambodian economy. In 2010, the sector received 2.5 million foreign tourists, generating the total revenue of 1.75 billion U.S. dollars.
Vietnam's Party leader starts visit in Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Secretary General of the the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday for a 3-day state visit to cement bilateral ties between the two neighbors.
The visit marks the first time since he became the leader of the Communist Party of Vietnam in January, 2011.
At the Phnom Penh International Airport, Trong was greeted by Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Kong Sam Ol, minister of the Royal Palace, and other dignitaries.
The visit is made at the invitation of Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni.
During the stay, Trong will be received in royal audience by King Norodom Sihamoni, former King Norodom Sihanouk, and former Queen Norodom Monineath at the Royal Palace, said a press release from Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Then, he will meet with Chairman of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and President of the Senate Chea Sim, acting-President of the National Assembly Nguon Nhel, and CPP’s Vice Chairman and Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Later, Trong will pay courtesy calls on the country’s Buddhist Monk Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong, head of Mahanikaya sect, and the Great Supreme Patriarch Bour Kry, head of Thommayuttikaya sect.
Also, he will lay wreaths at the Independence Monument and the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Memorial Monument, and continue his visit to a number of the economic and cultural centers in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, as well as the Vietnamese community in Cambodia, added the press release.
At the end of the visit on Dec. 8, there will be a release of Cambodia-Vietnam joint statement.
The visit marks the first time since he became the leader of the Communist Party of Vietnam in January, 2011.
At the Phnom Penh International Airport, Trong was greeted by Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Kong Sam Ol, minister of the Royal Palace, and other dignitaries.
The visit is made at the invitation of Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni.
During the stay, Trong will be received in royal audience by King Norodom Sihamoni, former King Norodom Sihanouk, and former Queen Norodom Monineath at the Royal Palace, said a press release from Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Then, he will meet with Chairman of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and President of the Senate Chea Sim, acting-President of the National Assembly Nguon Nhel, and CPP’s Vice Chairman and Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Later, Trong will pay courtesy calls on the country’s Buddhist Monk Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong, head of Mahanikaya sect, and the Great Supreme Patriarch Bour Kry, head of Thommayuttikaya sect.
Also, he will lay wreaths at the Independence Monument and the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Memorial Monument, and continue his visit to a number of the economic and cultural centers in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, as well as the Vietnamese community in Cambodia, added the press release.
At the end of the visit on Dec. 8, there will be a release of Cambodia-Vietnam joint statement.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Cambodia to send 19 disabled athletes for 2011 ASEAN ParaGames in Indonesia next week
PHNOM PENH, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will dispatch 19 athletes with physical disability to compete in the 2011 ASEAN ParaGames scheduled from Dec. 12-20 at the Manahan Stadium in Surakarta, Indonesia, a senior sport official said Monday.
Yi Veasna, secretary general of Cambodia’s Paralympic Committee, said Cambodia’s physically challenged athletes will contest in the sport events including athletics, volleyball (sitting), swimming, running race, and discus.
“The participation is to exchange experience and to create closer relations among sportsmen with disability in ASEAN,” he said.
The 6th ASEAN ParaGames are a multi-sport event for athletes with mobility and visual disabilities, amputations and cerebral palsy.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) group Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Cambodia’s Preah Vihear heritage site attracts 49,740 tourists in 11 months, down 28 pct
PHNOM PENH, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The number of visitors to Preah Vihear temple, a World Heritage Site, had declined 28 percent year-on-year in the first eleven months this year, according to the statistics provided to Xinhua by the Preah Vihear provincial tourism department on Monday.
The department recorded a total of 49,740 tourists to the temple from January to November this year, dropped by 28 percent from 69,230 visitors in the same period last year.
The decline was in the number of domestic visitors only—some 47,160 Cambodians visited the temple during the period, 30 percent decrease from 67,370 in the same period last year, whilst the number of foreign tourists to the site was up 39 percent to 2,580 from 1,860.
“As a whole the number of visitors is declined due to the armed clashes between Cambodian and Thai troops in February and April at the temple, so the number of tourists went down in the first half of this year,” said the department’s chief Kong Vibol. “But since July up to now, visitors are on the rise.”
He explained that the rise in foreign tourists to the site was that those foreigners were diplomats, observers, journalists, researchers… who wanted to see the real situation after the clashes.
“Now, everything is going well, no more clashes. We believe that more and more tourists will see the site in years to come,” he said, adding that Preah Vihear temple will be the country’s second largest cultural tourism destination after Angkor Wat temples in the future.
Preah Vihear, a Hindu temple, is located on the top of a 525-meter cliff in the Dangrek Mountains, about 500 kilometers northwest of the Cambodian capital.
Cambodia and Thailand have had sporadic border conflicts over territorial dispute near Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple since the UNESCO listed the temple as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008. Thailand claims the ownership of 4.6 square kilometers of scrub next to the temple.
However, the military tension has eased since the Pheu Thai Party, led by ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's youngest sister Yingluck Shinawatra, won a landslide victory in the general elections in July and the International Court of Justice on July 18 ordered Cambodian and Thai troops to pull back from the provisional demilitarized zone (PDZ) of about 17 kilometers around the temple.
So far, both sides’ troops have not been withdrawn from the PDZ. The two countries’ defense ministers—Tea Banh of Cambodia and Yuthasak Sasiprapa of Thailand—will meet each other in the fourth week of this month in Phnom Penh to discuss the withdrawals.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Cambodia launches social protection strategy for poor
PHNOM PENH, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Monday officially launched the National Social Protection Strategy for the Poor and Vulnerable, aimed at protecting the poorest and most disadvantaged against chronic poverty and hunger, shocks, and destitution, said the government’s press release.
The strategy, which will be implemented until 2015, would address the basic needs of the poor and vulnerable in situation of emergency and crisis, said the statement. It would reduce the poverty and vulnerability of children and mothers and enhance their human development.
Also, it would promote the poor to move out of poverty by building human capital and expanding employment opportunities.
The strategy would also promote affordable health care for the poor and vulnerable groups.
Speaking at the launch at the Peace Palace, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen said the country has seen significant progress in reducing poverty rate in last decade—the national poverty rate had dropped from 34.7 percent in 2004 to 30.1 percent in 2007 and to 25.8 percent last year.
“The rate of poverty reduction drops about 1.2 percent per year,” he said. “We hope that Cambodia will be able to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) by reducing the poverty rate to 19.5 percent by 2015.”
The premier noticed that despite declining poverty rate, the gaps between the rich and the poor and inequality between rural and urban areas are still challenging issues.
Meanwhile, Douglas Broderick, resident coordinator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to Cambodia, said it was very important and timely to lay out the strategy in protecting Cambodia’s most vulnerable, particularly women and children, by providing them access to essential services, especially during an emergency and crisis.
The strategy, which will be implemented until 2015, would address the basic needs of the poor and vulnerable in situation of emergency and crisis, said the statement. It would reduce the poverty and vulnerability of children and mothers and enhance their human development.
Also, it would promote the poor to move out of poverty by building human capital and expanding employment opportunities.
The strategy would also promote affordable health care for the poor and vulnerable groups.
Speaking at the launch at the Peace Palace, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen said the country has seen significant progress in reducing poverty rate in last decade—the national poverty rate had dropped from 34.7 percent in 2004 to 30.1 percent in 2007 and to 25.8 percent last year.
“The rate of poverty reduction drops about 1.2 percent per year,” he said. “We hope that Cambodia will be able to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) by reducing the poverty rate to 19.5 percent by 2015.”
The premier noticed that despite declining poverty rate, the gaps between the rich and the poor and inequality between rural and urban areas are still challenging issues.
Meanwhile, Douglas Broderick, resident coordinator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to Cambodia, said it was very important and timely to lay out the strategy in protecting Cambodia’s most vulnerable, particularly women and children, by providing them access to essential services, especially during an emergency and crisis.
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