CAMBODIA INAUGURATES THE OVER-95-KILOMETER NATIONAL ROAD

"The road is a key strategic line connecting

the central part to the mountainous and

coastal region in the country's southern

part," he said. "It will make farmers easier

to transport their products to markets."

Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister

Hun Sen said the road was a new achievement

that resulted from excellent relations and

cooperation between Cambodia and China.

"It is a new strategic road, facilitating salt transportation from coastal Kampot province to other cities and provinces across the country," he said at the ceremony, which was attended by some 10,000 people who are government officials, local authorities, residents and students.

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Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Bu Jianguo this week jointly inaugurated a China-funded National Road No. 41, which stretches through four provinces in the country's southwestern and southern parts. The 95 km road runs through Kampong Speu, Kandal, Takeo and Kampot, starting from the junction of National Road No. 4 in Kampong Speu province to end in Kampot province, according to a report by Public Works and Transport Minister Tram Iv Tek. The two-lane road had been built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation in the period of 43 months, costing US$46 million, which is the concessional loan from the Chinese government, he said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen cuts red ribbon to inaugurate the over-95-kilometer National Road No. 41, which stretches through four provinces in the country's southwestern and southern parts.

The Cambodia's Council of Ministers, or Cabinet, this week approved a draft law on non- government organizations (NGOs) and association, according to the spokesman of the Council of Ministers.

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GOVERNMENT APPROVES DRAFT NGO BILL

ISSUE 23 : 01 – 07 JUNE 2015

PLANS FOR BANANA EXPORT TO JAPAN

Tokyo-based conglomerate All Nippon Airways Trading (ANA), one of Japan’s larger conglomerates whose businesses range from aviation to electronics and food imports and exports, is in talks with the Mong Reththy Group (MRG), to establish a banana plantation with plans to export to Japan, according to the MRG.

CCoonnttiinnuueedd oonn ppaaggee ((33))

CCoonnttiinnuueedd oonn ppaaggee ((22))

Weekly publication of the Royal Embassy of Cambodia to UK, Denmark,

Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Ethiopia and African Union

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IDEMITSU BIOMASS PLANT CLOSER TO FRUITION

A planned biomass plant run on cassava in Battambang province looks ever more likely after a trial period with 100 farmers was successfully completed. Idemitsu Oil & Gas signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Cambodia Mine Action Centre (CMAC) in 2012 to explore the development of bio-fuels in Cambodia.

CCoonnttiinnuueedd oonn ppaaggee ((33))

CAMBODIA INAUGURATES…..

"On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia and Cambodian people, I'd like to express sincere thanks to the Chinese government and people for providing grants and concessional loans to Cambodia for socio-economic development," he said. Ambassador Bu said China has paid high attention to the strengthening and expanding of relations and cooperation with Cambodia, considering Cambodia as a key strategic cooperation partner. "I'm confident that the National Road No. 41 will contribute to boosting economic development and reducing poverty in these provinces," she said.

MOT SETS TO IMPROVE STANDARD OF HOMESTAY ACCOMMODATION Aiming to boost the number of visitors to eco-tourism areas, the Ministry of Tourism has introduced a new set of standards required of owners of homestay accommodation. From the look and feel of the homestay lodgings to understanding roles and responsibility of accommodation management, the standards introduce some minimum requirements of owners in an effort improve services, promote eco-based tourism and improve the livelihoods of people in rural areas, according to Minister of Tourism Thong Khon. “It is necessary for us to have this standard to improve quality of services to attract more tourists. It is a trend now for tourists to look for higher-quality services. The standard will help improve the living standard for people in the community,” he said. Homestay owners can get the reference guide at provincial tourism offices and officials will conduct inspections and certify those homestay lodgings that meet the new requirements.

money laundering, and creation of illegal armed forces. The draft bill will be sent to the National Assembly next week. "NGOs and associations should not worry about this law. It will protect you, support you, and open up to your activities," he said. The law will require NGOs and associations to register their nationalities with the Royal Government of Cambodia in order to have legal standing and they are required to file reports on their activities and finances each year to the government. According to the Constitution, a draft law needs to be adopted by the National Assembly and finally reviewed by the Senate and signed by His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni before being promulgated.

GOVERNMENT APPROVES DRAFT….

The government and the opposition party have been working on the draft law for 20 years, he said, adding that currently, there are about 5,000 NGOs and associations in Cambodia, including 411 international organizations registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. "This law aims to ensure the protection of rights and freedoms in establishing NGOs and associations in Cambodia, to protect their legal interests and public interests, as well as to enhance cooperation between NGOs and associations and public authorities." The law does not mention or limit (the) percentage of (NGOs') administration operation cost at all. Tax exemption and encouragement (incentive) is still in place. Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a public speech earlier this week that the law does not prevent the activities of NGOs and associations, but it aims to fight against terrorism financing,

CAMBODIA TO CONDUCT FDI SURVEY 2015

into Cambodia and be able to check the benefit of the foreign direct investment on the economy, for instance the transfer of skills and technology. The survey aims to understand the economic value foreign investors will bring to the local economy. It will capture detailed business information such as the skills and technology companies will offer, as well as the industry- specific intentions of investors. The initial survey is expected to be completed by the end of September.

Aiming to provide quality information on the flow of investment into the Kingdom, the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has announced it will launch a detailed survey of foreign investors.

Through the 2015 Foreign Direct Investment

Survey (FDIS) and other surveys in the future, the NBC will be able to keep track and measure the flow of value of foreign direct investment

Prime Minister Hun Sen (centre) chairs a weekly cabinet plenary session at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh this week.

ISSUE 23 : 01 – 07 JUNE 2015

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EXPLORATION OF CAMBODIA'S OFF- SHORE BLOCK D SIGNED

PLANS FOR BANANA EXPORT…..

IDEMITSU BIOMASS PLANT CLOSER…..

The first phase of the Japanese firm’s three-year feasibility study was to assess whether farmers in Battambang province could provide the amount of cassava required to power such a biomass plant. The feasibility study was completed after two years and it was found that investment is feasible. The company now is focusing on the second phase of the study: the feasibility of investing in and constructing the plant itself. Idemitsu is looking for a site to construct the biomass plant, however, it has not been made official yet. Cassava production from at least 15,000 hectares will be needed to supply the facility. Idemitsu currently has 100 hectares of farms under contract, which is set to scale up to 2,000 hectares due to the trial period’s success. Cassava production in Battambang province doubled from 2 million tonnes in 2013 to about 4 million tonnes last year. According to a press release from Idemitsu when it signed the MoU, the company expects to produce up to 200,000 kilolitres of ethanol yearly by 2020.

INVESTMENT IN SANDALWOODS PLANT

Cambodia is cooperating with a Singaporean company to engage communities in growing sandalwoods in the country. Development Department of National Defense Ministry has recently signed a Memorandum and Investment Cooperative Agreement with One Plantation Holding Group from Singapore to plant six million sandalwood trees. During the 15-year partnership, according to the Director of One Plantation Holding Group, the company will study the feasibility to start up a factory to process the sandal-woods into oil, tea and perfume.

Chairman of MRG, Mong Reththy said the group of representatives from ANA met with him on last month at his farm in Sihanoukville province to assess the viability of banana farming in Cambodia. “They came to see the possibility for joint-investment of planting bananas and exporting back to Japan,” he said. “They will bring banana trees from the Philippines, which is facing a big severe natural disaster, so they want to grow here for backup in order to maintain

Singapore-listed Mirach Energy Limited's associated company, CPHL Cambodia, has signed a project cooperation agreement for Cambodia Offshore Block D (Block D) with two subsidiaries of Shenzhen-listed Landocean Energy Services Company, according to a Mirach Energy's statement this week.

These two subsidiaries are PST Service Corporation (PST) and Chengdu Western Union Petro Engineering Technology (UP), the statement said.

"In response to China's 'Belt and Road' strategy, PST and UP are actively expanding their business to other parts of Asia, besides China based on their resource sharing and win-win partnership strategy," the statement said.

After their earlier initial evaluation of Block D, they had agreed to partner with and share the exploration risks of Block D with the CPHL Cambodia to provide an integrated technical services solution in the drilling of three exploratory wells at Block D, it said.

Block D covers 5,507 square km in shallow water area, which is estimated that the mean number of oil initially in place is 1,751 million barrels, the company said.

According to the statement, Mirach Energy is the operator of the block with a 30 years production rights and has been negotiating with the Cambodian General Department of Petroleum since 2013 on the exploration drilling plans and the exploratory period dateline. CPHL Cambodia has also completed its Environmental Impact Assessment Report since 2014 and has received approval of the report from the authorities, it said. The Block D is one of the six offshore Blocks that Cambodia has awarded to companies to do the exploration. The other five Blocks are Block A to Singapore- based KrisEnergy, Block B to Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production and Singapore Petroleum, Block C to Polytec Petroleum Hong Kong, Block E to Medco Energi and Kuwait Energy, and Block F to China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

Cambodia hopes that it will be able to produce the first drop of oil by 2018.

their supply chain for their market,” he said. It was only early in the planning stage and ANA representatives had come to assess the soil conditions to determine whether the right strain of banana would be suited to the land. MRG expects to establish a test area of two hectares later this year to grow bananas and is hopeful that the project might take off next year. If everything goes according to plan, a polishing and packaging plant would also be built onsite to ready the fruit for export, Reththy said. ANA is one of Japan’s larger conglomerates whose businesses range from aviation to electronics and food imports and exports.

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ISSUE 23 : 01 – 07 JUNE 2015

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Visions of Cambodia is produced by the Press and Information Unit, Royal Embassy of Cambodia 64 Brondesbury Park l Willesden Green l London NW6 7AT l United Kingdom l Tel: +44(0)208 451 7850 www.cambodianembassy.org.uk

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