Saturday, 5 June 2010

The Phnom Penh Post News in Brief


via CAAI News Media

Exports down

Friday, 04 June 2010 15:00 May Kunmakara

Cambodia’s exports to Indonesia declined 36.4 percent to US $334,981 during the first two months of 2010 compared with the same period last year, according to figures obtained from the Indonesian embassy. The drop was Indonesia out-competing the Kingdom’s agricultural goods through the use of high technology in producing foodstuffs, said a senior Cambodian official who asked to remain anonymous. “We cannot compete in some agricultural products, but there are opportunities to export milled and unmilled rice.”

Bourse Seminar

Friday, 04 June 2010 15:00 Jeremy Mullins

A seminar aimed at helping Cambodian companies raise capital on US stock markets was held in Phnom Penh by Nevada-based PHI Group with participation by NASDAQ and the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce. Discussions centred on listing requirements, how to go public and keys to success as a publicly listed company in America. “We are excited to collaborate with NASDAQ and PHI Group to provide this unique opportunity for our members to learn about the US stock markets and ways they can raise capital to expand their business,” Cambodia Chamber of Commerce president Kith Meng said, according to a PHI Group release.

Vietnam teams join locals in Bayon Challenge

Friday, 04 June 2010 15:00 Dan Riley

THE ninth annual Bayon Challenge International Tournament plays out this weekend at Phnom Penh’s Old Stadium. This year features eight teams, with four travelling from Vietnam and four local teams participating. The Vietnam teams are Saigon Saints, Saigon Raiders, Minsk, and Hanoi Drink Team, while the local sides include reigning champions ACLEDA Bank, Ezecom, Bayon Wanderers, and Apsara Dancers.

All teams will play in a single group round robin format, playing each other once before the top four teams advance to winners semifinals and final, while the bottom four progress to consolation semifinals and final. Thus a total of nine games will be played by each team. Games will be spread out over Saturday and Sunday, with the grand final scheduled for 4:15pm Sunday. Each team will receive a trophy.

“With most Cambodian teams not accustomed to two-day tournament structures, it will be a learning experience for them,” noted tournament organiser and Bayon Wanderers founder Billy Barnaart, adding that he hopes the sides will also learn to respect the terms of amateur competitions, which requires registration fees to cover event costs. He claimed many teams had declined to compete due to these fees.

Barnaart asserted that a ‘pay-to-play’ policy for locals as well as foreigners is necessary help development football in Cambodia. “I believe that if the amateur basis is strong, the top professionals will be strong,” he stated.

Jan Olde Riekerink, Head of Youth Education at Dutch professional team Ajax, wrote a letter welcoming players to the tournament, which he said “has a rich history starting in the mid-nineties, as one of the few 11-a-side International amateur tournaments in Southeast Asia.

“Its an amazing featb to keep this tournament going ... Congratulations to the organisers of what, I am sure, will be a competitive and enjoyable weekend for you all.”
MEDIA FREEDOM:Press blasts lawsuit filed in Siem Reap

Friday, 04 June 2010 15:01 Vong Sokheng

Media freedom

The Press Council of Cambodia has accused law enforcement officials in Siem Reap province of pursuing “increasingly inappropriate lawsuits”, following the filing of disinformation and defamation charges against a reporter who wrote a story accusing police of accepting bribes from an illegal gambling den. Sok Sovan, the council’s president, said he had sent a letter Thursday to Interior Minister Sar Kheng requesting intervention in the case against Bun Ratha, a reporter for daily newspaper Kampuchea Thmey, who was charged at Siem Reap provincial court on May 26. “We need the Ministry of Interior to monitor its law enforcement [officials] at the provincial level, where there have been increasingly inappropriate lawsuits filed by local authorities to silence journalists who closely monitor the work of police,” he said. But Chhuon Chhean, police chief of Kean Sangke commune in Siem Reap’s Sotr Nikum district, said Bun Ratha had unfairly accused him of accepting bribes of 100,000 riels (US$24). “It is not true; therefore, my boss had to file a complaint for disinformation,” he said.

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