Japanese food giant to invest $6m in PPSEZ

JAPANESE conglomerate Ajinomoto, which specialises in foods and seasonings, said it will invest US$6 million in a factory at the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (PPSEZ).

Ichiro Nishimura, president of Ajinomoto (Cambodia) Co Ltd, said the Cambodian arm of the multinational company would be established next month, with construction on a monosodium glutomate (MSG) packing factory due to start in October.

"We think Cambodia is an attractive market," Nishimura said Monday by email, citing Cambodia's high economic growth and similarities with Vietnam and Thailand, where the company already has a presence.

For the first phase, Ajinomoto will construct a 2,940 square-metre facility, Nishimura said. It is scheduled to go online in September next year with 150 employees.

PPSEZ Managing Director Hiroshi Uematsu said that Ajinomoto agreed to occupy 31,240 square metres when it signed a contract last month.
Operations will expand into different products and local production in the future, he added.

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We think Cambodia is an attractive market [in which to invest].

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Producing about one-third of the world's MSG, Ajinomoto has already established offices and production facilities in Asia, North and South America, and Europe.

In the fiscal year to the end of March, the company saw operating income fall 33 percent compared with a year earlier to 40.8 billion yen (US$43.4 million), resulting in a net loss of 10.2 billion yen.

Uematsu said the Japanese food company was the 21st to sign up at the PPSEZ, although he noted that so far only five were operational, with a further four companies set to go online next year.

"The remaining 12 are not sure, some are not performing," he said. "We have to wait for ... recovery of the economy."

Uematsu expressed concern that some companies that had signed contracts to set up at the special economic zone but were not yet operational may be land speculators.

If that were found to be the case, their plots would be retrieved for legitimate manufacturers, he said.

Previously, Uematsu noted that new contracts had dried up at the zone at the beginning of the year, apparently as a direct result of the global economic crisis, but that in the past few months the situation had recovered.

Further new companies were expected in the near future, he added.

PPSEZ Marketing Director Lity Yap told the Post in April that the second phase of the planned 360-hectare zone had been put on hold due to the number of factory closures across the country and the general economic downturn.

"We were supposed to launch phase 2 this year, but instead we will wait and see how it goes," she said at the time.

"We really don't know the ultimate effect of the world economic crisis on Cambodia. Everybody is taking a wait-and-see approach."

The long-awaited Sheraton in Siem Reap stalls indefinitely

After an earlier delay that would have seen the Four Points by Sheraton Angkor open January 1, 2011, the parent company now says the project is 'on hold'.

Photo by: Steve Finch

Tourists walk among the Angkor temples in Siem Reap, where the Sheraton had hoped to build a high-end hotel. A company representative said Wednesday that the project is now on hold.

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We regret to inform you that the opening of this property is now on hold.

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SIEM REAP
SHERATON'S much-vaunted entry into the Siem Reap market has now been put on hold, a company official said Wednesday, despite a notice on the parent company's Web site that still states the Four Points by Sheraton Angkor, Cambodia, will be opening on January 1, 2011.

The Web site of the parent company, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, also announces that group bookings are being accepted at the pre-opening office in Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers in Bangkok.

But in a sudden move this week, after much speculation within the regional hotel industry, a Starwood official told the Post that plans for the Siem Reap hotel are now in doubt.

"We regret to inform you that the opening of this property is now on hold," said Narumon Uakaroonchaikul, Starwood's administrative assistant to the regional director of sales and marketing.

"We shall keep you informed if there is any further update," he added.

In May 2007, Starwood said it had signed "its first Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Cambodia and the Indochina region ... scheduled to open in 2009".

The opening date was later rescheduled to January 1, 2011, a company official said Wednesday.

Starwood's Narumon did not offer any reason for the most recent push-back, but added: "Starwood is now operating Le Meridien Angkor in Siem Reap."

Le Meridien was opened in late 2004, but the parent company was in financial jeopardy, and the property was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in November 2005.

In June 2004, Hotel Asia Pacific Editor Steve Shellum reported that Le Meridien group was "in the process of being recapitalised, following the worst crisis in the history of the travel industry, which brought the company to its knees with debts of more than US$2 billion".

In December 2003, Lehman Brothers acquired the senior debt of the Le Meridien group from a syndicate of banks for about $1 billion.

Hotel Asia Pacific again reported in June 2004 that "Starwood Hotels & Resorts subsequently acquired a piece of the debt from Lehmans - but its investment is subject to completion of due diligence".

Bridge traffic restricted

Photo by: Sovan Philong

Trucks drive across Cambodian-Japanese Friendship Bridge on Wednesday.

MUNICIPAL authorities earlier this week issued a directive prohibiting heavy trucks from transporting sand and dirt across major bridges in Phnom Penh in an effort to reduce traffic congestion and help keep the capital clean.

The governors of Russei Keo and Meanchey districts were advised to stop the trucks from crossing the Cambodian-Japanese Friendship Bridge, the Monivong Bridge and the Stung Meanchey Bridge, the directive stated.

Heng Chantheary, chief of the municipal Traffic Police, said Wednesday that his officers had already begun implementing the directive.

"We think everyone should join with us and respect this new policy in order to reduce the number of road accidents, limit any further damage to municipal bridges and help keep the city clean," he said.

"We have already sent copies of the directive to all targeted regions of the city in order to carry it out properly," he added.

US paedophile gets 10-year term

Photo by: AFP

Michael James Dodd, 60, is escorted by police from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday.

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday convicted and sentenced American national Michael James Dodd to 10 years in prison on charges of purchasing child prostitution from a 14-year-old Vietnamese girl and ordered him to pay 20 million riels (US$4,824) in compensation.

Presiding Judge Chan Madina convicted Dodd, 60, under Article 34 of the Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.
The court also convicted and sentenced Chan Pallay, 40, the mother of Dodd's victim, to 10 years in prison as an accomplice to human trafficking under Article 4 of the anti-human trafficking law.

Dodd, from Washington, was arrested in October last year after police raided his rented home in Daun Penh district, where he was discovered with the 14-year-old Vietnamese girl as well as a second girl, age 13, from Cambodia.

Uk Phourik, Dodd's defence attorney, said the verdict was unjust and that his client would appeal the conviction.

Peng Maneth, who represented the Vietnamese girl, said Dodd still faces charges for his involvement with the 13-year-old Cambodian girl, adding that a hearing in that case would follow pending further investigation.

Survey finds numbers up for rare ibis

Photo by: BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL

Several critically endangered white-shouldered ibis roost in Stung Treng province.

THE first nationwide count of critically endangered white-shouldered Ibis has revealed their numbers have remained higher than previously thought.

Hugh Wright, a PhD student at the University of East Anglia in Britain, has been leading the research. He said: "This is the first time we have achieved a reliable minimum figure for the population size of white-shouldered Ibis in Cambodia. The recent count means the population is almost certainly larger than the IUCN estimate of 50 to 249 mature individuals; however, there is a good chance that the population is even larger than 310 because we expect to find more roost sites and count more birds."

The precise reasons for the population's decline in the past few decades remains something of a mystery, according to BirdLife International, which backed the study. This breeding season, the research team will examine why nests fail and how they can best be protected.

HRP cries foul in Assembly

THE president of the Human Rights Party said Wednesday that his lawmakers are being silenced in the National Assembly because of their minority status and has called for international intervention.

In the disputed July 2008 parliamentary elections, the ruling Cambodian People's Party won a landslide majority, the Sam Rainsy Party became the main opposition party, and the Human Rights Party took third place with 6.6 percent of the vote and three seats.

Speaking Wednesday, HRP President Kem Sokha said the ruling CPP has dominated all parliamentary debate, preventing his own lawmakers from being heard.

"We asked [the Assembly] to listen to us, but they wouldn't allow us to express anything at all," he said. "I have raised this issue with several international diplomats - including US Senator Jim Webb - who were keen to learn about how democracy works in Cambodia."

According to current regulations, the only way a minority party can be guaranteed a voice in the National Assembly is to merge with another party to secure a minimum of 10 seats, Kem Sokha said.

"They want us to join with another party before they will allow us to express ourselves, but we can't do that," he said. "We are an independent party. Why was this regulation created? To provide rights and freedom or to limit freedom?" Kem Sokha said.

He called for the regulation to be scrapped, saying it effecctively gags minority parties and stifles political debate.

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They want us to join with another party... but we can't do that.

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Senior CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap dismissed Kem Sokha's comments and said Assembly President Heng Samrin provided more time to opposition parties than the ruling party. He acknowledged, however, that parties holding fewer than 10 seats would struggle to make themselves heard.

"[We] respect the law and internal regulations," regarding minimums, he said, adding that for the HRP to be heard with just three lawmakers "is impossible".

Regulation 'undemocratic'
Koul Panha, executive director of election monitoring group Comfrel, condemned the regulation on Wednesday, describing it as undemocratic.
"They cannot make one party's lawmakers join with other parties," he said. "One party, even if it only has two or three members, must be allowed a voice. Only this conforms to democracy and the system of proportional representation. This internal regulation should be amended."

In January, the HRP and SRP signed an agreement to align under the banner of the Democratic Movement for Change in a bid to balance the power of the CPP. Efforts to realise the opposition merger, however, have since stalled.

Speaking in July, Yem Ponhearith, secretary general of the HRP, said the string of suits against government critics had made the need for unity more urgent than ever.

"We need more dialogue in order to achieve our aim to merge into a single democratic party before 2012," he said.

"We hope that our plan of merging the parties will not meet any obstacles. We want a democratic party that will balance the power of the CPP."

During a meeting with US Senator Webb in Cambodia earlier this month, Kem Sokha said he told him that the US "should continue to monitor democracy in Cambodia because it is still not going smoothly."

CITA calls for lower fees at universitie

Muslim group donates to poor

A German Muslim aid organisation has given the Cambodian Muslim Students Association (CMSA) US$25,000 for loans to be administered to 100 families living along the railroad tracks in Daun Penh district, the district governor said Wednesday. "Each family will get $250 on loan for 10 months without interest," Sok Sambath said. CMSA Director Sous Mousine said the loan programme was part of the student group's effort to reach out to poor residents in the capital, adding that the use of the money would be closely monitored. "They have to do what they promised in a contract to use the money in a good way and to pay the loan back to us on time," he said.

MOM KUNTHEARTHE Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA) on Wednesday issued a statement urging the Ministry of Education to lower student fees at universities.

CITA President Rong Chhun said Wednesday that the association wants fees to drop at public and private universities to help students from poor families stay in school.

"If the Ministry of Education really wants to look out for the future of Cambodia's poorer students, this is a way to accomplish that goal," he said. "It would not be difficult. All the ministry needs to do is send a request to all universities."

Rong Chhun said many students decide to suspend studies after high school because of the high cost of university fees, which he said can run as high as US$360 to $400 a year.

He added that a more suitable rate of a $280 would ease the burden on parents who pay for their children's fees.

The recommendation follows a report by the International Labour Organisation on Tuesday suggesting that the global economic recession threatens to move more children into the labour sector as families who have lost jobs or suffered salary reductions found it too expensive to support their education.

Bill Salter, head of the ILO subregional office in East Asia, said a prolonged economic crisis will "erect new financial obstacles in front of children trying to access education" during a national workshop studying the impact of the global recession on child labour.

Tam Sokrey, 21, a second-year student at Phnom Penh International University, said he would have had to quit school next year because of high fees if he had not received sponsorship from a private foundation.

"I really want all universities to discount their fees ... because most of them cost too much money for most students," he said.

Pith Chamnan, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Education, said he would look into the matter.

"Once I receive the CITA statement, I will consider taking action. But I have not yet seen it," he said.