News

The Philippines thrust the South China Sea dispute to the forefront of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting yesterday, causing the topic to dominate discussions. Myanmar by-elections and North Korea also featured prominently on the eve of today’s ASEAN summit, overshadowing the foreign ministers’ planned focus on ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday that establishing a regional instrument to protect migrant workers in Southeast Asia should be a priority for ASEAN this year. “The free flow of skilled workers is a key condition for the ASEAN Economic Community,” he said in an opening ...

Cambodia’s Minister of Economy and Finance Cham Prasidh yesterday said the Kingdom would push forward with efforts to eliminate development gaps among ASEAN member states during its chairmanship this year. ...

Sorn Sokna, chief executive of Sonatra Securities in Phnom Penh, has been made chairman of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council’s ASEAN Business Awards. ...

CAVFOOD, a joint venture between Cambodian and Vietnamese companies, launched the first phase of its US$8 million rice mill in Phnom Penh on Friday. The venture is an investment by Cambodian state-owned rice exporter Green Trade and Vietnam’s VNA Food 2 and Bank for Investment and ...

Two villagers from Koh Kong  province involved in a land dispute with a Chinese company were detained for questioning on Saturday afternoon, halting their plans to file a petition with the Chinese embassy during President Hu Jintao’s visit. Thirty-three other villagers who had planned to deliver ...

Members of the Asean People’s Forum, a coalition of NGOs that convened in Phnom Penh last week, declared yesterday that their rights had been violated after four workshops on sensitive issues were canceled by the venue where they met. In a statement representing more than 1,200 ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday urged the economic leaders of the Asean bloc to go through with a plan to double a bailout pool, funded largely by China, Japan and South Korea, to prevent future financial crises in the region. Opening the Asean Finance ...

Four workshops at the Asean Peoples’ Forum concerning pressing issues such as land rights and events in Burma were blocked by the owner of the venue where the forum was being held on Friday, as they were considered too politically sensitive, the organizer said. Out of ...

Chinese President Hu Jintao asked close economically Cambodia on Saturday not to push talks on the vexed issue of the South China Sea “too fast” as he pledged to double bilateral trade to $5 billion and announced fresh aid to the impoverished country. Cambodia holds the ...

Government officials did not, and Lao students could not, attend yesterday’s Asean Peoples’ Forum in Phnom Penh, where more than 1,500 members of civil society groups discussed the region’s most pressing issues, including human rights, poverty, land usurping and domestic violence. The three-day forum, which is not ...

Rights groups pushed for increased employment of disabled Cambodians and the ratification of a UN convention on their rights at the launch of the ASEAN Disability Forum yesterday. Ngin Saorath, executive director of the Cambodian Disabled People’s Organisation, said groups will draft a declaration over the ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has appealed for military cooperation between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a source said. Hun Sen was quoted as saying that regional military cooperation was needed as ASEAN countries would soon become one family. ...

President Hu Jintao today becomes the first Chinese head of state to visit Cambodia in 12 years, in a trip days before Southeast Asian leaders gather for talks that may touch on territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Hu’s visit, which lasts until April 2, ...

Protecting human rights, especially those of Cambodian migrant workers traversing borders to countries such as Malaysia, dominated discussions at yesterday’s ASEAN Peoples’ Forum, one of two competing pre-summit forums that claim to be giving a voice to Cambodians. Speaking at yesterday’s forum, Seng Sakda, director-general ...

Tiny Cambodia is emerging as a key pawn in the diplomatic struggle over one of the world’s busiest stretches of water: the potentially energy-rich South China Sea. The country of 15 million people is this year hosting a series of regional summits in which China’s claims ...

China’s presence in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh is obvious. The city skyline is dotted by Chinese-funded projects. But the full extent of Beijing’s influence here will be tested when President Hu Jintao visits this week ahead of a regional summit. The timing of Hu’s visit ...

ASEAN finance officials and the heads of regional central banks yesterday homed in on the possibility of economic crisis as well as potential means of averting contagion in fledgling Southeast Asian economies. The officials have also agreed “in principle” to doubling a regional currency fund to ...

Top military officials from all 10 Asean countries yesterday attended the second Asean Military Operations Informal Meeting in Phnom Penh, an event aimed primarily at enhancing cooperation between the countries in terms of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. ...

Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong said yesterday that the contentious issue of the South China Sea should not become an international issue, but must be solved among the region’s neighbors. Speaking to reporters at the Foreign Affairs Ministry alongside visiting Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr, ...

The 16th ASEAN Finance Ministers’ Meeting kicks off early today in Phnom Penh, where members of the 10-country association are expected to discuss strengthening regional financial ties and co-operation in the face of economic uncertainty in the West. ...

An NGO director and a youth leader from two little-known organizations were elected by 2,779 NGO and youth association members at a meeting on March 15 to represent civil society at a meeting with Asean leaders next week, according to a statement released by state-run ...

The upcoming visit of Chinese president Hu Jintao to Cambodia next week will build closer ties between the two countries, China and ASEAN as the visit is coincided with the 20th ASEAN Summit, said a senior official Sunday. The visit will also create more confidence among ...

Cambodia, in its role as Asean chair, has decided that the thorny issue of the South China Sea will not be on the agenda at next month’s Asean Summit in Phnom Penh, CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap announced yesterday. “Cambodia is a neutral country, and based on ...