"Phnom Penh: A high ranking official of the Japanese Embassy to Cambodia told the Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries that some Japanese big companies plan to invest in Cambodia to plant trees, and one company has already conducted a study for such an investment.
"This information was shared by the Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia, Mr. Kuroki Masafumi, when he met with the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Mr. Chan Sarun, in the evening of 12 November 2009. The chief of cabinet of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Hong Narith, told Rasmei Kampuchea on 13 November 2009, during the cordial meeting, that Mr. Masafumi told the minister that following the results from the first Mekong-Japan meeting in Japan recently, where the Action 63 projects, includes the Green Mekong project, had been mentioned, some big investment companies of Japan are interested in investing in tree plantations, and one company had already studied this in three provinces - Kompong Chhnang, Kampot, and Ratanakiri. The study was finished, and implementation will follow soon. The ambassador asked for support from the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in this field.
"The chief of cabinet said that the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries had expressed full support for this crucial project. Also, he said that there is no problem with land in Kompong Chhnang, as it is state land. In the meantime, the minister asked the ambassador to help attract investors to invest in manufacturing agricultural products for export, as there are not many investments in that sector.
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 638 - Saturday, 14.11.2009
Apologies for the delays, which may continue into the coming week, as I am attending the UN Internet Governance Forum meetings in Sharm el Sheikh/Egypt with a busy schedule, in a different time zone. I try to be timely as much as possible.
Norbert Klein
“The Cambodian National Petroleum Authority and the Petro Vietnam Exploration Production Corporation, which is part of the Vietnam Oil And Gas Group, signed an agreement on oil exploration in Block 15 (XV) in the evening of 12 November 2009 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Phnom Penh.
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 638 - Thursday, 12.11.2009
"Phnom Penh: The first Cambodian-Indian commercial and investment exhibition in Phnom Penh is being organized with the participation of 20 Indian companies.
"The Minister of Commerce, Senior Minister Cham Prasidh, stated during the launching of the exhibition on 11 November 2009 that it is the first time that both countries organize an exhibition to help investors and businesspeople from both countries to understand each other better.
"He said, 'This is the greatest opportunity for Indian investors and businesspeople to seek investment opportunities and markets in Cambodia.'
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 636 - Tuesday, 27.10.2009
"Phnom Penh: All banks and micro-credit institutions in Cambodia employ 14,698 Cambodian persons, according to a report from the National Bank of Cambodia.
"The report of the National Bank issued recently said that banks and micro-credit institutions provide jobs for 14,698 people.
"The report shows that all commercial and other special banks create jobs for 9,550 citizens in total, while micro-finance institutions employ 5,148 people.
“A manager of an insurance company who asked not to be named said that so far, in Cambodia there is no law requiring to contract building durability insurance for high rise buildings. That is why construction quality is still a challenging issue, and clients have just to trust.
“He added, ‘So far, Cambodian law requires only to have third party liability insurance during the period of the construction, but there is still a gap to achieve insurance for building durability.’
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 634 - Friday, 16.10.2009
"Mobile phone businesses in Cambodia, working under unclear regulations, seem to encounter unexpectedly a stormy and disorderly time. For the morning of 16 October 2009, the Minister of Post and Telecommunications plans to organize a special meeting with representatives of mobile phone companies to intervene in the existing conflict, but it is expected that proper results cannot be found from just one coordination meeting.
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 633 - Thursday, 8.10.2009
"Pailin: Valuable gem ore in Pailin is facing depletion at present, because wicked merchants are using machinery to aggressively extract large amounts of gems, while expert officials said that they did not know anything, but now they will take action.
"According to officials of the province, merchants deploy machinery to extract gems at two sites at the Phnom Teuk Chenh region in Teuk Chenh village, Stung Kach commune, Sala Krao district, Pailin. According to that source, there are two groups of merchants who use gem sieving machinery to extract large amounts of gems in that region. The Stung Kach commune chief, Mr. Kang Chheng, told Koh Santepheap via telephone in the morning of 7 October 2009 that he did not know that merchants are extracting large amounts of gem in an area under his control by using such machinery. This commune chief said that he is at present busy with checking the election voter name lists. Therefore, he has not gone to check the sites where merchants are extracting gems.
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 628 - Wednesday, 2.9.2009
"After the supply of sand supply from four countries - Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam - has been reduced, Singapore turns to Cambodia as a new sand supplying country, because it is in only a short distance away for the supply.
"During primary tests to dredge sea sand in Cambodia by some local companies, a Cambodian-Singaporean study groups has cooperated to assess the deposits of natural sand and the possible impact on the environment which may be caused from sand dredging. According to results from scientific studies by an official expert in sea bio-diversity who asked not to be named, Singapore needs about 3.6 billion cubic meter of sand. At present, Singapore needs 2.5 billion cubic meters more for filling spaces of water to connect many islands to become land. Thus, Cambodia has the sufficient capacity to supply sea sand to the market of Singapore, as this country plans to spend approx. US$8 billion to import sand from Cambodia to meet the country's demand within the next 10 to 15 years.
Friday was the day to go to Camp Eggars and "set up shop". They have a bazaar on base every weekend and we're the only NGO (non-government organization) allowed to sell merchandise; all the other vendors are actual Afghan shop owners. The military men and women stationed at Eggars love to stop by and purchase some of our products as gifts for friends and family back home.
I am planning to spend a few months from now in Lovina. It’s probably not the most beautiful place (except for the sunsets) to be in Bali, but it is quiet and has a nice laid back feel to it. Internet speed and connectivity though is worse than the south of Bali.
There is not one free wifi cafe or restaurant though in Lovina. Many restaurants in Ubud and Seminyak though free wifi. I am certain that if you opened a restaurant or cafe with free wifi, you would get a lot of customers. Lovina is moderately popular with tourists and many of the restaurants in central Lovina are fairly crowded at night. If I can’t get decent internet in my new place, I was thinking I should start my own internet cafe or restaurant with free wifi.