CAMBODGE EXPRESS – NEWS: What should be remembered from the news in Cambodia from December 12 to 18?
Gavroche has selected some important news in Cambodia for you from the past week. A basic overview of the news for anyone interested in this Southeast Asian country.
Politics, Diplomacy
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Chairman of ASEAN 2022, visited Europe with a delegation on December 14 to co-chair the ASEAN-EU Memorial Summit and celebrate the 45th anniversary of ASEAN-EU dialogue relations. Council of Europe, Brussels, Belgium.
Cambodia reiterated its clear position on the war in Ukraine and said that it is based on the principles of international law. Cambodia’s position on the war in Ukraine is based on the principles of international law and the UN Charter. Cambodia firmly believes that independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected. Cambodia does not support secession and opposes the use of force in international relations.
Around 200 Cambodians living in Europe demonstrated in Brussels on Wednesday (December 14th) to oppose Prime Minister Hun Sen’s participation in this EU-ASEAN summit and to demand justice for Cambodian opposition party activists who have been harassed, arrested and jailed by Hun Sen. .
Economy
On December 9, Cambodia and South Korea signed loan agreements worth about 2 billion US dollars to support the country’s development. The first document signed concerns the framework agreement between the two governments on the allocation of loans from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDF) in the amount of 1.5 billion US dollars for the period 2022-2026. Two more loan agreements were signed for the Sihanoukville Power Transmission Strengthening Project (US$70 million) and the Cambodia-Korea Friendship Bridge Construction Project in Phnom Penh (US$246 million). It should be noted that Cambodia’s public debt amounted to 9.5 billion US dollars as of September 30, and almost all of it is foreign debt. During the first 9 months of the year, the Cambodian government signed new concessional loans worth about 1.22 billion US dollars with development partners to finance public investment projects.
Prime Minister Hun Sen received Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group Chairman Dhanin Chearavanontu and a delegation of CP Group and Soma Group in Takmao, Kandal Province on December 17.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$73 million development program to benefit Cambodia’s energy transition. The program will cover policy reforms ($50 million). The first set of policy reforms for the energy sector will be financed with a USD 40 million concessional loan supplemented by a USD 10 million loan from the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund. The second package of 23 million dollars will be allocated to infrastructure. Investments in this framework will be focused on the promotion of new technologies, especially the development of additional solar power generation capacities, including battery energy storage systems (BESS), creating synthetic inertia that favors grid stability. It is also planned to develop more efficient and economical public lighting in cities. Overall, this program is expected to increase renewable electricity generation by 25% by 2027 from a baseline of 4,672 GWh in 2021.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved two more projects to support Cambodia’s agricultural sector. The first is related to improving animal health and livestock value chains, which will be financed by ADB ($62 million in loans and grants) and a $43 million Asian Investment Bank (AIIB) infrastructure loan. Another project concerns sustainable coastal and marine fisheries. It will be financed by a US$ 41 million loan and a US$ 22 million grant from ASEAN, as well as a US$ 10 million loan from the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund. The French Development Agency will also provide co-financing equivalent to US$20 million. This project aims to support the sustainable practice of mariculture, improve infrastructure to make it resilient to climate change, and support the incubation and commercialization of sustainable marine enterprises.
The rapid expansion of microcredit in Cambodia is causing ever-increasing human and social costs as families continue to repay their loans. Microcredit was originally designed to help the poor. Microlenders conduct aggressive door-to-door canvassing to meet sales targets. All the gains that industry can claim in Cambodia, according to its critics, have exacerbated the poverty and distress of the population.
Vietnamese and Cambodian business administration officials and representatives of business communities attended the Vietnam-Cambodia trade and investment promotion conference in Phnom Penh on December 17. Phan Van Truong, head of the Vietnam Trade Office in Cambodia, who opened the event, said that after more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economies of Vietnam and Cambodia have recovered and developed strongly. Bilateral trade and investment partnership has developed rapidly, and businesses of both countries have strengthened cooperation.
Company
Cambodian authorities seized nearly a ton of ketamine over the weekend during an anti-drug operation in the resort city of Sihanoukville. “Special K.
Four Chinese nationals and a Cambodian woman were arrested on suspicion of throwing grenades in front of the Nagaworld casino in central Phnom Penh. According to the general, the suspects were arrested by Chamkar Mon District Police Inspectorate. The incident occurred in the early hours of December 15, 2022, when a grenade covered in a white substance was found opposite the casino, where hundreds of strikers have held regular protests for more than a year.
At least 1,260 houses in Preah Sihanouk, Prey Nob, were damaged by strong winds that hit the area. The autumn storms that blew from the foot of Kamchay mountain from midnight on December 18 caused a lot of damage to houses in the region.
In Cambodia, four of the five target age groups for the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine exceeded 100% of the planned numbers. For youth aged 18 and over, the number of people vaccinated for the first dose as of December 17 was 10,379,768, with a target of 10 million people to be vaccinated. This figure is 103.80% of the initial target.
Tourism, Culture
Top Sopheak, secretary of state and spokesman for Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism, said the number of international tourists visiting Angkor is gradually recovering and that the site received 225,000 foreign tourists in the first 11 months of 2022. However, this number remains low compared to the pre-pandemic period, when Angkor recorded up to 9,000 international visitors per day. In the pre-pandemic era, Angkor received up to 2.2 million international visitors in 2019 and generated $99 million in ticket sales.
The 36th technical session and 29th plenary meeting of the International Coordinating Committee for the Conservation and Development of the Historical Site of Angkor (ICC-Angkor) was held in Cambodia on Thursday (December 15). The two-day meetings discussed the progress and results of the conservation, restoration and sustainable development of the Angkor site, as well as progress reports on conservation and archaeological research.
Cambodian athletes won 12 medals at the 2022 Asian Kickboxing Championships in Bangkok: 2 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze. It should be noted that the Cambodian Kickboxing Federation sent 17 athletes, including 3 women, to Thailand.
