IFC investigates over ‘land-grabbing link’

23 April 2014
The Phnom Penh Post
Civil society / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Land / Land policy and administration / Land tenure and land titling / Public land lease / Social development
CAO / Compliance Advisor Ombudsman / Dragon Capital Group / Eang Vuthy / Equitable Cambodia / Global Witness / HAGL / Hoang Anh Gia Lai / IFC / International Finance Corporation

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has launched an internal investigation into a complaint lodged against the institution for investing in a Vietnamese rubber firm accused of illegal logging and land grabbing in Ratanakkiri, an NGO and villager said yesterday. Earlier this month, representatives of the IFC’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) met with leaders from 17 indigenous communities in Andong Meas and O’Chum districts, along with representatives of Vietnam-based Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL), which operates rubber plantations on economic land concessions in the Kingdom’s northeast, according to Eang Vuthy, executive director at NGO Equitable Cambodia. ...

 Amelia Woodside
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ifc-investigates-over-%E2%80%98land-grabbing-link%E2%80%99