(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

Cambodia launches 1st radio station for disabled people

English.news.cn   2014-08-09 20:17:47

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Saturday launched a "Voice of Disabled Persons" radio station, aiming to promote the awareness of the rights of people with disabilities and to broaden opportunities for them in socio-economic development activities, officials said.
Ngin Saoroth, executive director of the Cambodian Disabled People's Organization, said the Phnom Penh-based radio station, the first of its kind in the country, began broadcasting at a frequency of FM 92.25 MHz to cultural Siem Reap province and at a frequency of FM 88.75 MHz to coastal Preah Sihanouk province.
"The radio is to serve people with disabilities, particularly visually impaired people," he said, adding that the station is financially supported by Australia through the United Nations Development Program, and Abilis Foundation of Finland.
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said the radio would greatly contribute to promoting greater roles of people with disabilities in socio-economic development.
"This radio station belongs to disabled persons in Cambodia, and they can have their say through the radio," he said at the inauguration ceremony.
The government estimated that the country has about 301,629 persons with disabilities, equivalent to 2.06 percent of the total population.

Editor: Fu Peng

Floods kill 19 Cambodians as thousands evacuated

English.news.cn   2014-08-09 17:42:22

KANDAL, Cambodia, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- At least 19 people in Cambodia have died and thousands have been evacuated from homes to higher grounds in floods caused by monsoon rains and rivers overflowing their banks, a senior official said Saturday.
"Since last week, floods have killed 19 people," Nhim Vanda, 1st vice-president of the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), told reporters while inspecting flood situation in Southern Kandal province. "Besides, more than 8,000 families have been evacuated from their homes to higher grounds."
The official said currently, 12 of the country's 25 cities and provinces are suffering from floods caused by monsoon rains and the Mekong river overflowing.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday appealed to dwellers along the Mekong river and Tonle Sap Lake to be extra vigilant over flooding and ordered local authorities to work closely with the Cambodian Red Cross to assist flood-affected families.
Flooding usually hits Cambodia between August and October. Last year, it killed 168 people and affected other 1.8 million people, according to the NCDM.

Editor: Tang Danlu