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Dario Thuburn and Dmitry Zaks

Crimea declared independence yes-terday and applied to join russia while the Kremlin braced for sanc-tions after the flashpoint peninsula voted to leave Ukraine in a ballot that will likely fan the worst east-West tensions since the Cold War.

Official results from Sundays poll showed 96.77 per cent of the voters in the mostly russian-speaking region opted to switch to Kremlin rule, in the most radical redrawing of the map of europe since Kosovos 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia.

Crimeas Kremlin-backed legisla-

tors also declared the russian ruble the peninsulas second official cur-rency and vowed to disband the Ukrainian military units stationed across the region a move that threatens to further escalate the security crisis raging on the euro-pean Unions eastern frontier.

Ukraines interim president Ole-

ksandr Turchynov denounced the vote as a great farce and lawmakers approved a partial mobilisation of the army aimed at countering russian troops effective seizure of Crimea.

The former Soviet nations acting defence minister igor Tenyukh also told reporters that the troops deployed [in Crimea] will stay there.

most of the international commu-nity has rejected the referendum as illegal because russia had vowed to respect its neighbours territorial integrity under a milestone 1994 agreement that saw Ukraine renounce its Soviet-era nuclear arms. But the

Meas Sokchea

reFOrm of the National elec-tion Committee an issue which last week threatened to derail talks between the

ruling party and opposition has been agreed to as an election reform prior-ity, officials said after the third meeting of a bipartisan committee yesterday.

The committee, which first met on march 3, also released a framework of 14 areas of election reform. Further details will be hammered out in another meeting next monday, before the framework is taken to a yet-to-be-scheduled national workshop for con-sultation, party representatives said.

The neutrality of armed forces and civil servants fingered as a major issue

by rights groups during campaigning for last Julys election features on the list of proposed reform areas.

earlier this year, Defence minister Tea Banh accused the opposition Cambodia National rescue Party of inciting chaos in society during street protests and called on the armed forces to defend the government.

Other points on the list include par-

ties access to media, the direct elec-tion of village chiefs, an election dis-pute resolution mechanism, rules on election propaganda and, despite being lampooned as ridiculous by the opposition, the neutrality of elec-tion watchdogs.

Significant reforms agreed to in

Phak Seangly and Daniel Pye

SeVeN Chinese nationals were pre-vented from entering the areng Valley in Koh Kong province yesterday as locals continued their standoff with the operator of the Stung Cheay areng dam concession, villagers at the scene said.

Ven Vorn, a community leader among those blocking a road used to transport machinery to the site, said that seven employees of Sinohydro (Cambodia) United Ltd attempted to get to the valley disguised as tourists at about 5pm yesterday.

There were seven Chinese men and one Cambodian driver. They claimed to be tourists who wanted to visit the areng Valley, but we disa-greed and they returned, Vorn said. We have never seen Chinese nation-als visiting the areng Valley before [for tourism]. We saw only tourists from Western countries.

Sinohydro representatives visited the area on Thursday to prepare for the arrival of Chinese engineers and drilling equipment, according to a statement yesterday from local NGO mother Nature Cambodia.

We will stay here for a long time to stop the Chinese and machinery, Vorn added.

Doeum Kundy, a mother Nature rep-resentative at the blockade, confirmed Vorns account of yesterdays events.

The protest, which started on Friday after the group of three Sinohydro employees visited the area on Thurs-day, has also diverted machinery headed for the valley, according to Neang Bora Tino, provincial coordina-tor for rights group adhoc.

Villagers saw an excavator and a few other items of machinery headed for areng, but after the protest, the items were hidden in a nearby forest

Continues on page 2

Standoff in areng Valley continues

NeC reform back on table

Crimea applies to join russia as sanctions readied

Continues on page 2

Continues on page 14

A 250kg American MK82 bomb is eased onto the back of a vehicle after being discovered in Kandals Khsach Kandal district yesterday. photo SUppLIED

Bombs awaySTORY > 3

Continued from page 1

about 10 kilometres from the protest, he said, adding that much more machinery is being sent from Kampot to Koh Kong.

Phay Thoun Phlam Kesorn, deputy provincial governor, said that he had requested the community allow Sinohydro to conduct its work in the val-ley and had filed a request from the villagers to the pro-vincial governor to cancel the dam concession.

I made a report about the request to the provincial gov-ernor already, but we have not got any decision in the case, he said.

While Sinohydro seems intent on pushing forward with construction after taking over the project earlier this year from China Guodian, it is also preparing an environ-mental impact assessment (EIA), Toby Eastoe, landscape manager for Conservation International, said yesterday.

The EIA consultants came and asked NGOs about the cost of relocating crocodiles. All theyre interested in are the costs, he said. In the last EIA for Areng, it said they should pay something like $2 million during construction for envi-ronmental protection, another

$77,000 per year for normal environmental operations, and another block of money like $3 million into a trust fund to ensure ranger protection was funded.

But, he added, none of the money set aside for environ-mental protection has gone to the forest rangers responsible for protecting the area along with local communities.

No money has ever come to them directly or indirectly from the dam investment companies. The government

rangers and communities are the ones protecting the catch-ments for these dams and no money has come to them. So where is this money?

Eastoe said that existing agreements between his organisation and the local communities would be a huge loss.

Conservation agreements with forest communities that weve set up have been work-ing well since 2006 . . . com-munities are using the forests sustainably. If we move to a

new area, we might be able to move the conservation agree-ments, but itll be a mess for a long time.

The villages in the Areng inundation zone will likely be pushed down to Chi Phat and Thma Bang, which will put pressure on the communities and forests there. The influx of people will need new rice pad-dies and village areas so will need to clear state forest. In turn many migrants and land speculators will come in to grab land in the confusion.

National2 THE PHNOM PENH POST mArCh 18, 2014

AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY PHNOM PENH

DISPOSAL OF VEHICLES

The vehicles are available for inspection at the Embassy by appointment from Monday 17 March until Friday 21 March 2014, in the morning from 9:00 am to 11:30 am and afternoon from 2:00 pm to 4:15 pm.

Each vehicle will be disposed of in an as is / where is condition without warranty or recourse. The Embassy will require payment for the vehicles and either evidence of the eligibility of the purchasers to purchase duty-free vehicle or evidence of payment of duty before each vehicle will be released.

Interested buyers must submit their bids before 4:15 pm on Friday 21 March 2014, in a sealed envelope into a tender box.

The successful bidders for each vehicle will be advised on Tuesday 25 March 2014. The Australian Embassy reserves the right to accept or decline any or all bids. Successful bidders are expected to provide all payment and documentations to enable the vehicles to be collected by Wednesday 26 March 2014. Any further queries, please contact 012 452 880.

Vehicle details 1 2 3 4 5

Make/ Model:TOYOTA

LAND CRUISER

TOYOTA LAND

CRUISER

TOYOTA CAMRY

TOYOTA LAND

CRUISER

TOYOTA LAND

CRUISERYear of Manufacture: 2006 2006 2006 2002 2002

Engine Capacity:

4,644 CC Engine (Petrol)

4,477 CC Engine (Petrol)

2,362 CC Engine (Petrol)

4,164CC Engine (Diesel)

4,164CC Engine (Diesel)

Body Colour: Silver Silver Silver White White

Transmission: Automatic Manual Automatic Manual Manual

Mileage: under 80,000 Kmunder

58,600 Kmunder

13,400 Kmunder

145,400 Kmunder

127,200 Km

The Australian Embassy wishes to dispose of 5 duty- free motor vehicles through competitive bidding.

The vehicle details are as follows:

Call for Proposals

Westline Education Group (WEG) is committed to being the leading education provider in South East Asia. Today, WEG runs The Westline Schools and The Northline School which provide K-12 education using the Royal Government of Cambodias curriculum and English education. The Group also manages the Educational Development Institute offering education and business training, consultancy and research aiming to improve the capacity of educators, managers and young entrepreneurs in Cambodia.WEG wishes to invite potential experienced consulting firms and/or consultants to handle a project:

Feasibility study on the development of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

Scope of Consultancy1. This study will provide a comprehensive market assessment to support WEGs entry into the TVET market. The study will provide the management of WEG with the following information:

Market Overview by Professional Sector Market Sizing for Chosen Sector. Educational Product Analysis Preliminary Investment Plan and Financial Model Preliminary Marketing Plan

Requirements2. Must be a recognized consulting firm or consultant Understanding Cambodian sector analysis to support investment; Understanding Business modeling and expansion planning; Knowledge of the Cambodian vocational training sector is a plus.

Interested consultants and/or consulting firms are requested to submit both technical and financial proposals to Mr. Sophornmony Ung, Chief of CEO Secretariat of WEG, by outlining proposed methodology, providing the CVs of key team members, highlighted previous project work, and with a detailed breakdown of the proposed professional fees, using below address by March 28, 2014 at 5:00PM. The detailed TOR of the project can be found on our websites, www.wegcambodia.com, www.edi-cambodia.org. Address:- The Westline School, Daun Penh Campus: #22, St. 51 154, Sangkat Phsar Thmei III, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh.Email: - es.secretariat@wegcambodia.com, Phone: +855 15 729 123 / 12 566 606

Continued from page 1

previous meetings, such as voter list overhaul and the creation of a law on political party finance, are also on the agenda.

No specific details of how re-forms would be implemented have been released, but the CNrP has said it wants an in-dependent, constitutionally recognised election body to replace the current NEC, and for members of the commit-tee to require approval by two-thirds of parliament.

Son Chhay, head of the CNrP delegation to the com-mittee, called the agreement a first step to real reform.

The aim of the [CNrP] is to see real reform. [We] want [to address] the necessary points and the priority point of [NEC reform] that we have pro-posed, he said.

Electoral institutions are the basis of the biggest elec-tion problems, and we worry our citizens could lose faith in elections [because of this]. This is a necessary topic that must be immediately solved.

Chhay, the CNrPs whip, added that his party would only end its boycott of the National Assembly if an early election is scheduled. The CNrP has frequently stated that the cur-rently discussed reforms are being prepared now to ensure that any upcoming election will be free and fair.

Deputy Prime minister Bin Chhin, head of the CPP del-egation to the committee, confirmed that the parties will take the 14 points to a nation-al workshop involving civil society groups, but said that further details still need to be discussed next monday.

[We] would like to affirm that the framework of election reform is the package of prob-lems that we have studied, re-sulting in 14 [reform areas], he said.

The CPP has made it clear that it sees an NGO law that would ensure the neutrality of election watchdogs as a prior-ity area. But Chhin yesterday emphasised that all points are important.

And dont think that the [CPP] did not raise the topic of election institution reform. [We wanted] to discuss this, too, but as to what level of reform will occur, we do not know yet.

Last week, senior CPP fig-ures said that any reform of the NEC would be off the table, leading the CNrP to threaten to walk away from talks.

Though the ruling party ap-pears to have softened that position, Chhin said yesterday that his party still views an early election as impossible due to the constitutionally mandated five-year term of the National Assembly.

Koul Panha and hang Puthea, heads of election watchdogs Comfrel and NICFEC, said yesterday that the election reform process was moving too slowly.

We would like to welcome [that the parties] are sitting to talk, but we have seen that the negotiation is proceeding slowly. The points that were agreed [after the first meeting] have still not been discussed in detail, Panha said.

But the CNrPs Chhay blamed the CPP for the slow progress of talks, which have seen one meeting a week since march 3.

They said they are too old and they cant stay beyond 12pm. They [say they] are hungry, he said.

We give them another chance. [But] if they are going to try and [delay] proceeding straight to the workshop and allow the experts to provide recommendations [at next mondays meeting], I think its about time to stop fooling around with them. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KEVIN PONNIAH

NEC reform back on the negotiating table

Fatality in years ninth bird flu caseAmelia Woodside

A TWO-YEAr-OLD girl from Kampot province confirmed to have the ninth case of avian influenza this year died on Fri-day, the ministry of health and the World health Organization (WhO) said yesterday.

The toddler from Banteay meas district was admitted to a private clinic on march 10 after

developing a fever two days ear-lier, then transferred to Kantha Bopha hospital on the 13th, according to the press release.

At the end of February and beginning of march, it is esti-mated that 90 per cent of poul-try in the village died. The girl had direct contact with dead chickens while her relatives pre-pared them for food and the girl ate them, the release states.

On Friday, lab results con-firmed she had h5N1.

The girl arrived at hospital in weak condition, Dr Denis Lau-rent, a spokesman for Kantha Bopha hospital, said yesterday.

She died within 24 hours after arriving in hospital. We admin-istered Tamiflu following all the usual protocol on march 13, but she also had pneumonia, so the child sickened very fast.

WhO spokeswoman Vicky houssiere said that during the same period last year, 12 cases of avian influenza were recorded.

The virus is still circulating in poultry, so were expecting to continue seeing cases like this in humans, she said.

At least 22 cases of bird flu were recorded by the ministry of health last year, the most of any year on record.

Standoff in Areng Valley continues

Ethnic minority villagers gather around a commune police station on Friday in Koh Kong province, where three Chinese workers took refuge from anti-dam protesters pursuing them. ADHOC

National3THE PHNOM PENH POST march 18, 2014

Thai envoy denies killings on borderKhouth Sophak Chakrya and Shane Worrell

ThaILaND has denied its forc-es shot dead 12 cambodian log-gers who crossed the border illegally on march 5, cambodian Foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said yesterday.

During a meeting with minis-try of Foreign affairs represent-ative Long Visalo, Thai ambas-sador Touchayoot Pakdi said Thai soldiers had made 11 arrests that day but did not shoot anyone, Kuong said.

royal cambodian armed Forces officers last week alleged that 12 loggers had been shot dead on march 5 and three more a week later.

[he] confirmed that on march 5, their soldiers patrol-ling along the border found 15 cambodians who had illegally crossed into the space. They arrested 11 but four ran back across the border, Kuong said. The 11 people were sent back to cambodia, but he did not remember on what date.

The ambassador, Kuong con-tinued, said authorities knew nothing about the other three loggers allegedly shot dead.

Kuong said the government could not draw conclusions

based on Thailands response, while Pakdi could not be reached for comment.

Preap Thoeurth, an rcaF intelligence officer at the bor-der in Preah Vihear, yesterday stood by his claim last week that 15 had been killed in shootings on march 5 and 12. This claim was backed up at the time by another rcaF official.

On Sunday, Sok hai, a district governor in Preah Vihear prov-ince, said the Thai military had confirmed it had killed three people last Wednesday and burned their bodies.

In an open letter to Thai Prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra sent yesterday, the cambodian center for human rights called on Thailand to end continued arbitrary executions of cambo-dian civilians a figure that the ministry of Interior says reached at least 69 last year.

The shooting of cambodian civilians resulting in death or serious bodily harm constitutes an unlawful act and a grave vio-lation of [Thailands] human rights obligations, reads the letter, signed by executive direc-tor chak Sopheap.

It was the third letter of its kind to Yingluck, Sopheap said. ADDI-TIONAL REPORTING BY CHEANG SOKHA

US bomb uncoveredLieng Sarith

a 250-kilogram piece of unexploded ord-nance (UXO) left be-hind from the USs

extensive bombing campaign here was found on Saturday by construction workers digging in Kandal provinces Ksach Kandal district, and was safely removed yesterday, cambodian mine action centre authorities said.

Pen Sarith, the cmac official in charge of UXO in Phnom

Penh and Kandal province, said that cmac experts had been sent to the site and re-moved the large bomb before it had a chance to detonate.

It is an mK82 [bomb] made in the US, and it was left there since the war era. It was a bomb dropped by a plane, and it can still explode, he said.

Ksach Kandal district po-lice chief Nov Sokhorn said the bomb was found by work-ers excavating land within the compound of a factory owned

by the 7NG company on Satur-day. Upon receiving word of the discovery, he continued, district police officials went to examine and cordon off the site, and po-lice reported the find to cmac.

It could have exploded if we drove a tractor or bulldozer over it, Sokhorn said.

at least three people all children have been killed by UXO so far this year, and ac-cording to cmac figures, 22 were killed by UXO in 2013, down from 43 in 2012.

Tethers are attached to a 250kg American MK82 bomb before it is lifted onto the back of a Cambodian Mine Action Centre vehicle following its discovery in Kandal province yesterday. PHOTO SUPPLIED

Talking politics Julie Bishop to meet with Sam Rainsy

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy will meet Aus-tralian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop at the Australian Parliament on Wednesday, the Cambodia National Rescue Party announced yesterday.

Rainsy is leading a CNRP delegation to Australia and New Zealand and will also meet deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek, chief opposition whip Chris Hayes and Australian Greens leader Christine Milne, along with members of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, according to the statement.

Bishop visited Cambodia in February and held meetings with Prime Minister Hun Sen, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and Interior Minister Sar Kheng.

Following her visit, Gareth Ev-ans, a former Australian foreign minister recognised as one of the architects of the Paris Peace Agreements, accused Bishop of failing to deliver a strong critique of the governments recent rights record.

A few days later Bishop hit back, telling the ABC that she had raised human rights is-sues in all the meetings. KEVIN PONNIAH

National4 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 18, 2014

The Kingdom of CambodiaNational Religion King

National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development Secretariat (NCDDS)

Job Announcement-Short Term Consultants

The NCDD will design a second three year phase of the National Program on Sub-National Democratic Development. Program design is expected to take place from April to July 2014 with approval by the end of September. To ensure broad ownership across government and a high degree of consensus between government, civil society and development partners, the formulation will involve a continuous series of facilitated consultations. The overall objectives of this formulation exercise are to:

carry out, supervise and coordinate analytical work based on external and internal studies, evaluations and reviews of core components of the reform program; these are expected to lead to clear recommendations for how design and implementation of the next phase can be improved; by discussing performance of the rst phase and holding extensive discussions with stakeholders, identify the main constraints to progress during the rst phase, draw a clear set of lessons learned, and outline options and strategies for resolving these constraints;facilitate a continuous series of consultations with stakeholders at the national and sub-national levels to: rst establish strategic program targets to be achieved by the end of the next phase of implementation and second to develop strategies for how the program targets can best be achieved; based on the above, draft a program document covering the entire period of implementation setting out goals, objectives, outputs and phased implementation schedules; identifying institutional and implementation arrangements; a M&E framework and a table of assumptions and risks.

The composition of the design team will consist of ve experts under the overall management of a Team Leader. Overall and individual Terms of Reference, as well as the necessary qualications for each assignment, are available on the NCDD website at: www.ncdd.gov.kh/jobsprocurement. To undertake this work, NCDD is therefore seeking three experts, as follows:

An HR/ Capacity Development Expert (International) for 45 working 1. days over a period of 4 months.A Formulation Team Facilitator (National) for 60 working days over 2. a period of 4 months.A Gender Expert (either National or International) for 36 working 3. days over a period of 4 months.

Suitable applicants interested in applying for the above assignments should send their CVs either through express mail or email (from 08:00am to 17:00pm, Monday to Friday), to the following address:

Ms. Kim Vann (kim_vann@ncdd.gov.kh) or Ms. Ung Chandany (chandany@ncdd.gov.kh)

National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development Secretariat (NCDDS),

Ministry of Interior, Norodom Blvd., Khan Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA

The closing date/time is 12:00 hours, 26th March 2014. Women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

a mILITarY police colonel who owns a nine-storey build-ing in Phnom Penhs Tuol Kork district was tried in absentia at Phnom Penh municipal court yesterday for allegedly violat-ing the lease of a vocational school owned by an even higher-ranking police official that was renting the property.

Presiding judge Ly Lip meng said that National Police colo-nel hoy heang, 58, had been charged with breach of trust and aggravated theft after be-ing sued in early 2013 by Lieu-tenant General run rathveas-na, 47, a senior police official at the ministry of Interior, and the owner and president of the vo-cational training centre Inter-national Standard School (ISS).

hoy heang got angry with run rathveasna for not pay-ing the fees for his buildings rent for ISS for two months, so he put an end to the con-tract with ISS unilaterally, Lip meng said.

he also collected ISS other valuable things in building to pay for the rent debt.

rathveasna told the court yesterday that he made a contract with heang to lease

the building in early 2012. he signed a 10-year lease, he add-ed, and paid a $90,000 deposit, as well as the $6,000-a-month rent for nine months.

On December 1, 2012, howev-er, ISS ran short of money, and the school missed two months of payments, rathveasna con-tinued. heang then immedi-ately ended the contract, and removed the buildings doors, tables and other valuable fix-tures that rathveasna had installed, though rathveasna maintained that the lease agree-ment set forth a three-month grace period for the school.

To compensate for my damages, I am demanding him to pay me $331,700 for the loss of my schools property, and am demanding another $150,000 in compensation, rathveasna said.

heang did not attend yes-terdays hearing and could not be reached for comment. however, his defence lawyer, chhith Boravuth, asked that the charges be dropped and defended his clients actions, saying heang had ended the contract because ISS was bank-rupt and couldnt pay its bills.

The court will hand down a verdict on april 7.

colonel faces trial for violating school lease

Wing Starworkerswalk out Mom Kunthear

PrOVINcIaL ministry of Labour officials will today meet with union representatives and man-agement at the factory where a ceiling collapse killed two workers last may, in an attempt to resolve a strike.

about 5,000 employees at Wing Star Shoes, an asics sup-plier, walked off the job on Fri-day, demanding 10 changes including an additional $10 per month for lunch and transpor-tation, said Bin Srey mom, a Free Trade Union representative at the factory in Kampong Speu.

Factory management has not negotiated with us since we began striking, Srey mom said yesterday. If the factory still refuses to find a resolution . . . we will block National road 3 [where Wing Star is located].

Wing Star employees receive a total of $20 each month for meals and transportation in addition to the minimum monthly wage of $100 but demand $30.

The factorys administrative manager, mao Sisong, yesterday said officials will negotiate in good faith, but argued that employees already receive decent benefits.

We will meet with the worker representatives and the provin-cial Labour ministry officials, and try to resolve this strike, Sisong said. But I think the workers demands are unrea-sonable, considering the bonus-es Wing Star provides.

While employees demand higher wages, workers feel safe working there, despite the dead-ly collapse 10 months ago, employee Yu manith said.

First snakes, now arsonChhay Channyda

a FamILY involved in a land dispute with a private company in Phnom Penhs Tuol Kork dis-trict, who previously accused the company of throwing snakes into their home, claimed yester-day that unknown assailants tried to set fire to their house to force them to leave.

Ly Seavminh, 26, claimed arsonists linked to Khun Sear Import Export company attempted to set fire to her fam-ily home in Boeung Kak I com-mune at about 2am yesterday.

They threw a bottle of petrol into my house and fire started to spread on the wall and burned some car spare-parts [from her fathers small car repair business] and broke a mirror. Outside, they poured petrol around my house, and

we saw some four bottles of petrol [scattered on the ground], she said.

Seavminh said she and the rest of her family were awoken by her cousin, who was sleeping in front of the home at the time of the attempted arson, allowing them to put out the fire before it destroyed the property.

While they cannot be certain of the identity of the assailants, Seavminh said that she and her family suspect that a group of youths who guard the area for Khun Sear, which has claimed ownership of the land since 2013, were behind the crime.

Seavminhs family is one of three claiming that representa-tives of Khun Sear one of which they say is Yim Leang, the chief of Senate President chea Sims bodyguard unit have been waging a campaign of har-

assment and intimidation against the residents, who have refused a $15,000 payout.

calls to Leang were not returned yesterday.

Previous complaints made by the families against the company include violent attacks, throw-ing snakes into their homes and poisoning their pets.

Yesterday, The Building com-munity Voice, the cambodian center for human rights, rights group adhoc, the cambodian human rights action commit-tee and the housing rights Task Force issued a joint statement condemning the continuous harassment of the families.

They have called on the Phnom Penh municipal court to promptly and independ-ently investigate the case and . . . charge the persons respon-sible.

Mak Seav Hour, a resident of Boeung Kak I commune, holds a bag containing snakes he claims were thrown into his home in Phnom Penh in October by people working for Khun Sear. phA LINA

Education boost needed: PmChhay Channyda and Laignee Barron

PrImE minister hun Sen yesterday encour-aged cambodia to pick up the slack on

its higher education system in order to bolster the countrys economic competitiveness.

Training human resources is necessary to developing the labour market and encourag-ing investments, the premier said during the royal Univer-sity of Law and Economics graduation ceremony in the capital yesterday.

The prime minister has previously spoken up about the low-standards in the high-er education sector, comment-ing to the National Education congress that some cambodi-an masters and PhD students are unable to so much as type on computers.

a 2010 World Bank report affirmed that cambodian stu-dents largely lack skills trans-latable into a competitive workforce: surveyed employers expressed dissatisfaction with cambodian graduates training.

although the Kingdoms tertiary education sector has grown drastically, increasing from 10 institutions in 1990 to more than 100, a cambodian

Development resource Insti-tute report released last year says there is no single govern-ing or monitoring body over-seeing the system.

compared to other coun-tries in the region, I think the education quality is quite low and the price is quite high, said ros Sopheap, executive di-rector of NGO Gender and De-velopment for cambodia.

The premier praised the roy-al University yesterday as pro-

ducing the kind of results that other institutes should repli-cate. Nearly 95 per cent of the 7,500 students attaining bach-elors and masters certificates at the ceremony held some sort of professional employment, according to a university staff member who lacked authority to speak to the press and asked to remain anonymous.

I would like to praise [Edu-cation minister] Dr hang chuon Naron, even though he

is a minister and has a doctor-ate degree, he returned to earn a masters degree and wrote a thesis about the concept of maritime dispute between cambodia and Thailand in the context of the interna-tional jurisprudence, which is published both in Khmer and French, hun Sen said.

The masters certificate pre-sented yesterday was the 62-year-old ministers fourth high-er education degree.

Students adorned in graduate gowns attend a graduation ceremony yesterday on Koh Pich island in Phnom Penh. VIREAK MAI

National5THE PHNOM PENH POST march 18, 2014

National6 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 18, 2014

Wreck just too gritty for driver of sand truckIN A hit and run on Friday, it wasnt the drunken moto driv-er who fled. According to police in Kampong Thoms Stung Sen town, a 32-year old speeding, drunk driver crashed into the back of a truck transporting sand. The man damaged his motorcycle and sustained serious injuries to both his head and body. The moto driver was taken to hos-pital, while the truck driver fled, abandoning his load of sand, which will remain in police custody until claimed. KAmpucheA Thmey

Blood thicker than water, but money trumps bloodA WOmAN in phnom penhs Sen Sok district got a rude introduction to the old adage neither a borrower nor a lender be on Friday. The woman, 22, did her relative a favour, lending him her motor-bike to visit a friend. According to police, the male relative, 25, pawned the bike for $250 and spent all the money, hoping his relative wouldnt need her wheels back. The woman turned her fibbing relation over to the police when she spotted him walking near his home. KAmpucheA Thmey

Lazy man executes lazy scam, too lazy to fleeA 27-yeAR-OLD Dangkor dis-trict con artist took the money, but forgot to run last week. A construction company driver, the man delivered materials to customers who paid him $2,000. On returning to the company, the driver reported that he hadnt received pay-ment, but his suspicious boss uncovered the botched ploy with a few phone calls. On Fri-day, police nabbed the suspect who said hed already spent all the money. KAmpucheA Thmey

Man masters jealousy, adds wrath to repertoirepAILIN town police are on the lookout for a 34-year-old con-struction worker who allegedly beat his wife to the point of unconsciousness on Friday. police said the man was jeal-ous after spotting his wife with another man in the village. The husband got drunk at a wedding, and on returning home, beat his wife with a belt and wooden stick badly injuring her head, shoulder, eye, thigh and back before fleeing. NOKORWAT

Stab-happy lover picks funny way of apologising A 25-yeAR-OLD man was apprehended in Kampong Speus Oral district Saturday after stabbing his girlfriend. The woman, 18, lived with her boyfriend in phnom penh, but went to stay with her parents in Kampong Speu after the couple had an argument. A week later, the man followed her, begging her to return to phnom penh. When the wom-an refused, the man grabbed a knife and stabbed her in the back, armpit and arm. She was hospitalised, and her par-ents prevented the man from escaping arrest. NOKORWAT

Translated by Phak Seangly

PolicebloTTerGroom pummelled by wedding crashers A mISuNDeRSTANDING over a wedding invitation in Kam-pong Speus Samrong Tong district on Sunday resulted in uninvited guests showing up and bringing wooden batons as their plus-ones. police said that a guest had been accused of attending the celebration without an invitation, despite maintaining he had been invit-ed by the bride. Angry and ashamed, the guest called his friends, who arrived with clubs and beat several attendees, including the groom. police arrived and arrested the man, but the bride and groom were forced to cancel the honey-moon as the groom recuper-ates. KOh SANTepheAp

Out of sight, not quite out of mind for copsA LONGTIme fugitive in Siha-noukville learned on Sunday that you can never escape the long arm or memory of the law. According to police, the suspect badly beat a man in a moto robbery in 2008 and fled with the loot. When he returned to town last week, however, police were waiting. The man was arrested and reportedly told police that after years of roving, he assumed they had simply forgotten about the crime. RASmeI KAmpucheA

Drug-dealing quintet, AK rifle hauled awaypOLIce in poipet town got five arrests for the price of one during a raid on a suspected drug den on Sunday. Acting on a tip, police stormed into a local guesthouse, finding five men there in possession of two packages of meth and drug paraphernalia. The men reportedly confessed to deliv-ering meth to addicts . . . and using their own stash. police also seized an AK-47 and two machetes. KOh SANTepheAp

Weekend crash spells end of Monday nuptialsWhAT would have been a joyous occasion was marred by misfor-tune on Saturday when a young man scheduled to marry on monday was badly hurt in a traf-fic accident in Svay Riengs Romeas hek district. police said the man was on the way to his fiancees house when an oncoming car swerved to avoid a pothole, striking him head-on and breaking both his legs. Bystanders detained the driver, and sent the man to hospital, but the couples big day had to be cancelled. NOKORWAT

Neighbour speaks loudly and carries big, big stickphONe etiquette just isnt what it used to be. A father and son in Battambangs mong Russey district on monday complained to a neighbour who was loudly yammering on his phone, but the exchange escalated into an argument. Not willing to back down, the father and son threw stones at the neighbour, who escalated things further by call-ing his friend. Once his backup appeared, the neighbour and his chum badly beat the other two men with wooden sticks before police arrived. Deum AmpIL

Translated by Sen David

Burning rubberA stunt rider gestures to the camera as he does a burn out while another member of his team adds fuel to the fire on his tyre during a Pulsar motorbike exhibition on Phnom Penhs Koh Pich island on Saturday evening. ScOTT hOWeS

Generals libel case sees trialbuth reaksmey Kongkea

a chINESE-camBO-DIaN woman was charged at Phnom Penh municipal

court yesterday with defam-ing royal cambodian armed Forces (rcaF) major General Nim meng and using fake proof to obtain land owned by his company.

Prosecuting lawyer Bun Kong said 46-year-old Sok Neang Gek damaged the rep-utation of meng, a personal assistant to Prime minister

hun Sen and the deputy com-mander of his Bodyguard Unit, by publicly accusing the three-star general of illegally grabbing 10 hectares of land in Preah Sihanouk provinces Stung hav district.

She has defamed my cli-ents honour [by telling local media] that he grabbed her land . . . and saying that [he] has used armed forces to pro-tect the disputed land, Kong said in reference to com-ments Neang Gek made to Koh Santepheap Daily news-paper in 2011.

her [accusations] have had a serious effect on [mengs] honour and reputation.

Kong accused Neang Gek of using fake documents in 2010 to claim ownership of part of 46.1 hectares of land in Otres commune owned by mengs company, Nim meng Group co., and asked for $100,000 in compensation.

Defence lawyer Kea chhay said that Neang Geks hus-band legally purchased the land in 1998. after her hus-band passed away, chhay said, Preah Sihanouk Provin-

cial court passed the deeds on to Neang Gek.

chhay added that any at-tempts to take back the land have been met by force.

When my client, the pro-vincial prosecutor, and the rel-evant authorities have come to implement the provincial courts decision at the site, many armed forces, who were General Nim mengs soldiers, and who were also Prime min-ister hun Sens bodyguards, were on guard and blocked them from entering.

The verdict is due Friday.

refusing to leave

Families feararrest afterdefiant stand

VILLAGERS living on state-owned property in Pailin province fear that police will arrest them after they ignored orders to vacate their land by last Saturday, a repre-sentative said yesterday.

At the beginning of the month, authorities sent a letter to 19 families who started clearing land and building homes in Sala Krao districts Phnom Kren village in February, saying the land sat on a stretch of more than 2,100 hectares reserved for development of an airport, said Prak Sophima, a provincial coor-dinator for rights group Adhoc.

The families, part of nearly 150 families who were each granted three hectares of land for agriculture by a commune chief in 2000, recently moved to live there, said Chhay Chhat, 43, a representative of the families.

Authorities have not taken any action against those still occupy-ing the property.

Since the March 15 deadline has passed, four representatives of the families living on the prop-erty have received a letter from Pailin provincial police, asking them to appear for questioning.

We are very suspicious, Chhat said. We are worried this is a pretext to interrogate and arrest us.

Sala Krao district deputy gover-nor Sam Saret said the families have been told many times that the state owns the land.

A Pailin provincial official contacted yesterday declined to comment on the issue. KhOuTh SOphAK chAKRyA

Eddie Morton

THE newly appointed local distributor of German carmaker Porsche broke ground

yesterday on a $2 million deal-ership that is set to open with-in eight months across from the Phnom Penh International Airport on Russian Boulevard.

Equipped with four service bays, the planned Porsche Centre Phnom Penh will have a 1,879-square-metre show-room holding one of each of the brands five models, which the company hopes to sell to the growing ranks of well-off Cambodians.

Monks and company offi-cials blessed the land before construction started on the new facility.

The distributor, Precision Cars (Cambodia) Limited, is a subsidiary of Hong Kong firm Lei Shing Hong, the autho-rised seller of Porsche in South Korea and Vietnam.

The Porsche Cayenne SUV will have a starting price of $114,000 and is pegged to be the most popular model. The new Macan compact SUV is also expected to sell strongly, according to Graeme Hunter, general director of Precision Cars (Cambodia).

According to Hunter, there are already about 70 registered Porsche vehicles in the coun-try, making their way here through private importers.

The problem is, however, that there is no certified ser-vice centre here for those ve-hicles, so the people who own

them have nowhere to get them fixed, he said.

Hunter said that the luxury vehicle market had picked up in Cambodia, enticing the company to open up shop in Phnom Penh.

There is an obvious demand for luxury cars here. Audi is here, BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover, Range Rover and Jaguar. It makes sense for us to be here. Competition is good, he said.

Though the government has

not disclosed figures on lux-ury car registration, Tek Reth Kamrong, secretary of state at the Ministry of Commerce, said Cambodians are increas-ingly able to afford expensive consumer goods, and pointed out that in 2013, the num-ber of imported vehicles was 10,000 more than in 2012.

Jan Weisser, after sales man-ager for Precision Cars (Cam-bodia), said he had already re-ceived interest from buyers for

the Cayenne model and some also in the iconic 911 model.

There are 70 vehicles cur-rently out there. We definitely have received buyer inter-est and hope to sell another 30 vehicles by the beginning of 2015, he said. I think the majority of the cars we sell will be Cayenne.

Paul Redfern is the owner of Redfern Construction, the firm hired to build the Porsche dealership by October 31.

The timeline will be tight, but doable, he said, adding that he also worked on BMWs new Russian Boulevard show-room, which opened and be-gan selling vehicles in Novem-ber last year.

Audi, meanwhile, is slated to commence selling vehicles this year from its 2,200-square-metre showroom and work-shop on Monivong Boulevard, through local distributor Auto-motive Asia (Cambodia) Ltd.

7THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 18, 2014

BusinessUSD / JPY

101.51

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1.2653

USD /CNY

6.1569

USD / HKD

7.7651

USD / THB

32.23

AUD / USD

0.903

NZD / USD

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Indicative Exchange Rates as of 17/3/2014. Please contact ANZ Royal Global Markets on 023 999 910 for real time rates.

USD / KHR

3,992

Monks perform a blessing during the ground-breaking ceremony yesterday for the new Porsche Centre Phnom Penh. hoNG MENEA

Porsche dealership to open Exports of bicycles to dip in 2014Hor Kimsay

CAMBODIAS bicycle exports to the European Union are expected to decline this year after changes to EU trade pref-erences in early January exclud-ed Malaysian and Singaporean parts from the scheme.

Under EU preferences, a bicy-cle is considered a Cambodian product when at least 30 per cent of its value is constructed in the Kingdom. That 30 per cent, however, can include material imported from ASEAN member countries.

As of January 1, Singapore and Malaysia two of Cambo-dias most important contribu-tors of bicycle parts, are no longer considered part of the 30 per cent as the EU begins to graduate more developed countries from its trade prefer-ence schemes.

This new situation makes it much more difficult for our exporters to meet the EU rules of origin, and many bicycle models that previously could qualify for duty-free entry to the EU can no longer qualify, Sok Sopheak, director-general for international trade at the Ministry Of Commerce, said by email yesterday.

As a result of this change, we expect that Cambodias exports to the EU in 2014 will be lower than in 2013.

Cambodia exported more than 1.8 million bicycles in 2013, a 23 per cent increase over 2012. Last years export value was $357 million.

Business8 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 18, 2014

Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, who is running for president for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, smiles as he speaks to journalists during a legislative campaign tour in Jakarta on Sunday. AFp

Stock rally tied to Jokowis chancesYe Xie, Harry Suhartonoand Yudith Ho

INDONESIaN stocks will extend their bull-market rally as speculation in-creases that Joko Widodo

will win this years presiden-tial election and boost in-vestment, said some of the countrys largest investors and brokerages.

The Jakarta composite In-dex will rally another 7 per cent to a record closing level of 5,225 this year after the In-donesian Democratic Party of Struggle nominated the Ja-karta governor as its presiden-tial candidate, according to PT cImB Securities Indonesia, the second-largest brokerage.

construction and health-care shares may benefit most on anticipation Widodo would lift spending on welfare and infrastructure, said PT manu-life aset manajemen Indo-nesia, the No.2 mutual fund manager.

The nomination of Widodo sparked the Jakarta indexs biggest rally since September and spurred foreign investors to plow more into the nations stock market than at any other time in 10 months. Shares in Southeast asias biggest econ-omy have bucked a 6.4 per cent fall in the mScI Emerg-ing markets Index this year amid accelerating economic growth, a shrinking current-account deficit and better-than-estimated earnings.

There are hopes around the infrastructure agenda and whether he can push through much-needed spending on that, James Thom, a Singa-pore-based money manager at aberdeen asset management Plc, which oversees about $320 billion worldwide, said yesterday. There is a whole range of sectors that can po-tentially benefit.

Widodo has made infra-structure development and streamlining tax collection centrepieces of his gover-nance, boosting his support in the business community.

Since becoming governor in September 2012, he has be-gun construction of a mono-rail in the capital and pushed through the commencement of a metro train system, which had been delayed for years.

Widodo said in January that he plans to increase Jakartas budget by 75 per cent this year by moving tax collection online and raising oversight to tackle evasion. he is using the administrations cash for a free health plan for more than three million people, aimed at the capitals poor.

Even before his candidacy was announced last week, Widodo, known as Jokowi, topped a poll of likely presi-dential candidates by the In-donesian Survey circle, ahead of the Golkar partys aburizal Bakrie and Gerindras Prabo-wo Subianto. Indonesia will hold legislative polls in april

before the presidential vote three months later.

The market considers him as the agent who can effec-tively build the infrastruc-ture, Erwan Teguh, an analyst at PT cImB Securities, said. It would lead to immediate and tangible results that can be felt in the stock market.

The rally may be short-lived if the economy loses momen-tum, said John rachmat, the head of research at PT mandi-ri Sekuritas. Indonesias eco-nomic expansion may slow this year to between 5.5 per cent and 5.8 per cent, the least since 2009, as the government reins in the current-account deficit, Finance minister chat-ib Basri said in February.

china, Indonesias largest trading partner, reported the lowest industrial output for the January-February period since 2009 and the weakest re-tail sales growth in a decade.

Purely relying on a politi-cal sweetener would not be enough to support the index to the bull-case scenario, ra-chmat said.

Indonesias economy ex-panded 5.72 per cent from a year earlier in the three months ended December 31, compared with 5.63 per cent the previous quarter.

The countrys current-ac-count deficit is expected to narrow to 2.5 per cent this year, from about 3.3 per cent last year, according to the cen-tral bank. BLOOMBERG

myanmar airport project sees bidders re-enter fray

DBS to purchase chunk of Societe Generale bank biz

Zaw Win Than

FOUr international consortiums that once vied for a $1 billion contract to build the new hanthawaddy airport in Bago have been asked to once again submit bids for the tender, further delaying construction, a spokesperson for myanmars Department of civil aviation (Dca) confirmed last week.

South Koreas Incheon airport consortium won the tender for the contract to build the much anticipated new airport in august.

another consortium, made up of Singapores changi airport Planners and Yongnam hold-ings Ltd, and consortiums from Frances Vinci and Japans Taisei airports, were selected as backups.

however, negotiations between the Incheon consortium and the Dca never materialised and the government later decided to grant the project official development assistance (ODa), which would have given the private contractor an unfair advantage, U Win Swe Tun, deputy director general of the Dca, said.

as well as the original winner, the ministry also invited the three other consortiums to re-enter the bidding with strong financial propos-als in order to be fair, he told The Myanmar Times, adding that the new submission dead-line is april 22.

They dont need to resubmit their existing technical proposals on design, construction, operation and maintenance.

With negotiations with the Incheon consor-tium falling apart, the Dca also said that it

would now be impossible to meet the sched-uled completion date of December 2016 as they must work out the details of the ODa.

For these reasons, the December 2016 com-pletion date cannot be met. The project starting date and completion date will be announced in the near future after selection of the winning consortium, he said.

Located on a 9,000-acre (3,642-hectare) site about 77 kilometres (48 miles) northeast of Yangon, in Bago, hanthawaddy airport first began in march 1994 but halted construction October 2003.

Despite its distance from the city, the site was considered the most suitable among a short list of nine.

hanthawaddy is said to be capable of han-dling up to 10 million passengers a year once completed.

But with the new airport nowhere in sight, passenger traffic will continue to be handled at Yangon International airport, which will increase its capacity from 2.7 million passen-gers per year to 3.5 million in 2015, and six million a year by 2019, U Win Swe Tun said.

Pioneer aerodrome Services, a myanmar company linked to the conglomerate asia World, won the tender to renovate the airport, again with the Yongnam-caPE-JGc consortium following as the backup.

mandalay International airport, meanwhile, is slated to be renovated by Japans mitsubishi corporation sometime in the near future, though that agreement has yet to be finalised. THE MYANMAR TIMES

Martin Abbugao

SINGaPOrES DBS Bank said yesterday that it had agreed to purchase the asian private banking business of French lender Societe Generale in a deal worth $220 million, boost-ing its access to the regions super rich.

DBS said in a statement to the Singapore Exchange that the deal will accelerate DBSs ambition of becoming a lead-ing wealth manager in asia.

The acquisition comes at a time of growing competition to manage the wealth of asias growing ranks of millionaires and billionaires.

Under the agreement, DBS will buy Societe Generals asian private banking operations in Singapore and hong Kong and parts of its trust business.

This transaction is in line with one of DBSs strategic pri-orities to be a leading wealth manager in asia and will sig-nificantly increase the scale of its wealth management busi-ness, Singapores leading bank said.

The transaction will also provide significant revenue synergies as Societe Generale Private Banking asia clients will have access to DBSs uni-versal banking platform including retail, corporate and investment banking.

Jean-Francois mazaud, head of Societe Generale Private Banking, described DBS as the most suitable choice.

The commercial partner-ship we intend to implement together will also represent a great opportunity for our pri-

vate banking customers to fully benefit from the very best of the two banks in Europe and in asia, he said.

DBSs clients will have access to Societe Generale Private Bankings offerings in Europe, DBS said.

It said the deal would increase its high-net-worth assets under management by more than 20 per cent.

From a strategic perspec-tive, this acquisition will propel DBS forward in its strategy to grow its regional financial serv-ices footprint and become a leading bank in the asian wealth management industry, which is a very fast-growing segment of the global financial services industry, said rajiv Biswas, asia Pacific chief econ-omist at IhS Global Insight.

The concentration of acquired assets in Singapore and hong Kong is also positive in terms of the geographic dis-tribution of assets under man-agement, since Singapore and hong Kong are the two leading international financial centres in asia, he told aFP.

Kenny Kan, market analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore, said that the deal marked a strategic positioning by DBS in view of the growing need for wealth management in asia with its ever-increasing millionaires.

DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta said in an internal memo to staff it was time for the Singapore bank to acceler-ate its private banking busi-ness through an acquisition.

as you know, asia is growing in affluence, and minting more

millionaires every day than anywhere else in the world, he said in the memo, a copy of which was seen by aFP.

he said that in the 2013 financial year, DBSs wealth franchise, including the private banking business, reported record income of S$924 million ($730 million).

The bank managed wealth assets totalling S$109 billion at the end of last year, he said.

Those of high-end clients came to S$69 billion, up from S$39 billion in 2010.

calling the deal complemen-tary, Gupta said Societe Gen-erale Private Bankings client base was largely focused on ultra high net worth indi-viduals, many of whom come from outside Southeast asia.

DBSs expertise is predomi-nantly in asian investment products and deal flows, Gupta said.

he added that the deal should be completed by the end of the year following legal and regulatory approvals.

The deal comes as asia leads the world in terms of wealth growth.

a chinese publisher said last month that asia experienced a billionaire boom in 2013, with more than 200 people from the continent seeing their net worth pass into 10 figures.

The hurun reports global rich list said a total of 824 asians were included among the 1,867 people named as dol-lar billionaires.

That was an increase of 216 on the previous year, account-ing for just over half the overall rise of 414. AFp

Thai insurance

Viriyah firm plans move in Cambodia

THAILANDS Viriyah Insurance, one of the biggest firms of its kind in the country, is seeking to expand its motor vehicle business in Southeast Asia, according to a report yesterday in the Bangkok Post.

Viriyah Insurance is looking for local partnerships with companies in Cambodia, Malaysia and Myanmar, with a special emphasis on com-mercial truck coverage, the newspaper reported.

Arnon Opaspimoltum, deputy managing director of Viriyah Insurance, was quoted as cre-diting the planned expansion to increased trading activity among ASEAN countries as the ASEAN Economic Community grows stronger. The company has already reached a deal with Laos and is expected to conclude the discussions for partnerships in Cambodia, Malaysia and Myanmar by the end of this year.

Chhay Rattanak, president of the insurance association in Cambodia, welcomed the deal, saying more competition means better deals for custo-mers. CHAN MUY HONG

Markets9THE PHNOM PENH POST march 18, 2014

Business

Vietnams coffee beans heldc

OFFEE growers in Vietnam, the biggest producer of robusta beans used by Nestle

Sa, are holding record stock-piles as they curb sales amid speculation that drought will reduce next years harvest.

Inventories reached 850,000 metric tons in the week ended march 7, the highest ever at this time of the year, accord-ing to the median of eight trader and shipper estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Growers have sold 50 per cent of the record 1.7 million-ton output in the year started October, compared with an average 60 per cent in the past five years, the survey shows.

coffee jumped this year as sales slowed from Vietnam and drought parched crops in Brazil, the second-biggest producer of robusta and the top grower of the more expen-sive arabica variety favored by Starbucks corp.

While robusta climbed 29 per cent, its discount to ara-bica widened threefold to the highest in two years. That fu-eled speculation roasters may boost purchases of the cheap-er variety, aBN amro clearing Bank NV said.

It seems that prices will

keep rising, so Im hold-ing back sales for now, said Bui Van Duan, a 40-year-old farmer in Dak Lak province, which represents about 30 per cent of Vietnams harvest. We have savings, so I dont need to rush.

robusta traded at $2,175 a ton in London on march 14, rallying from a 13 per cent an-nual decline last year. arabica in New York was at $1.984 a pound, rebounding 79 per cent in 2014 after three years of losses to become the top performer in the Standard & Poors GScI gauge of 24 raw materials.

Dry weather in Brazil has raised concern global supplies will trail demand. The short-age of arabica beans will be 5.3 million bags in 2014-2015, while the deficit for robusta will be 1.2 million bags, esti-mates Volcafe Ltd, the Win-terthur, Switzerland-based unit of commodities trader ED&F man holdings Ltd. a bag weighs 60 kilograms or 132 pounds.

In Vietnam, the decline in ro-busta prices in 2013 prompted farmers to curb sales. Growers had probably sold 33 per cent of their beans before the Tet Lunar New Year holidays in

January, compared with an average 43 per cent in the past five years, a survey published that month showed. Farm-ers in Vietnam think higher prices are coming, Sterling Smith, a futures specialist at citigroup Inc, in a march 11 e-mail in response to questions from Bloomberg.

Vietnam exported 303,000 tons in the first two months, 6.4 per cent less than a year earlier, the General Statistics Office estimates. The coun-try will ship 25.1 million bags from a record crop of 28.5 million bags in 2013-2014, ac-

cording to the US Department of agriculture. reserves will total 3.82 million bags by Sep-tember 30.

at current market levels, I would expect more sales of robusta from Vietnam unless local market conditions dictate otherwise, abah Ofon, a Sin-gapore-based director of agri-cultural commodities research at Standard chartered Plc, said

Beans in Dak Lak traded at 41,600 dong ($1.97) a kilo-gram on Thursday, Trade & Tourism center data show. While prices increased 41 per cent from a three-year low of

29,600 dong in November, theyre still below 45,500 dong reached in march 2013, which was the highest level in almost 18 months.

Gains in robusta futures have trailed those of arabica because of Vietnams increas-ing stockpile, citigroups Smith said.

a dry spell in the central highlands region, which in-cludes Dak Lak province, may change that, he said.

Dry conditions are being seen in some growing areas, Smith said in a report. While it is not yet a problem, it is a situation that does merit fur-ther monitoring.

Drought and coffee flu in the central highlands and frost in Son La province will cause coffee production in 2014-2015 to decrease significant-ly from a year earlier, Vietnam coffee and cocoa association said on march 6, without giv-ing specific output figures.

I dont need money yet so Im going to wait until prices hit 45,000 dong, said Tran Thanh Nga, a 31-year-old farmer who hasnt sold any beans from her 4-ton stockpile.

her warehouse has capac-ity to store as much as 10 tons, Nga said. BLOOMBERG

Workers sort through robusta coffee beans for defects at the Highlands Coffee processing plant in Ho Chi Minh City. BLOOMBERG

Business10 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 18, 2014

Traders seek out coaches for help with staying the courseJeremy Kahn

Graham Davidson was in a slump, the worst hed ever known.

In 15 years as a foreign-ex-change trader in Sydney, New York and London, hed always made money. however, in the winter of 2011, he seemed to have lost his touch.

Davidsons trades were all in the red. and his mood had turned black. Self-doubt haunted every decision. he hesitated to put trades on. he jumped out of positions at the first hint of trouble, only to see the market turn again, racing ahead without him.

Is my approach still rel-evant? and how long do I persevere? You start asking yourself these questions, he says. Davidson, who works at National australia Bank (NaB) Ltd in London, decid-ed to get some help. On a col-leagues suggestion, he turned to Steven Goldstein, a former trader who now specialises in coaching traders and money managers. Davidson, 41, says that just talking to Goldstein eased his anxiety.

On a trading desk, there can be a lot of bravado, he said. Well sit around talking about trades but not airy-fairy stuff about how we are feeling.

Through regular coach-ing sessions during which Goldstein used techniques adapted from psychology, Davidson says he began to re-gain his confidence.

Hidden Strengths

coaching, which decades ago migrated from the play-ing field to the executive suite, has been slow to pen-etrate high finance. Thats be-ginning to change as traders and fund managers scramble for any edge they can find following five years in which many actively managed funds failed to beat broad market indexes.

While many money-man-agement firms refuse to discuss whether they use coaches, some confirm they have. They include London-based Brevan howard asset management Llp and GLG Partners Lp; New York-based Tudor Investment corp; Sac capital advisors Lp, the hedge-fund firm run by bil-lionaire Steve cohen that in November agreed to pay a record $1.8 billion to settle insider-trading charges; and the asset-management divi-sion of Deutsche Bank ag.

coaches in the financial world are borrowing tech-niques from as far afield as sports, eastern philosophy and neuroscience to improve their clients returns. In addi-tion, a new crop of software companies has sprung up to provide reams of statis-tics that the companies say can help investors and their

coaches uncover hidden strengths and weaknesses.

Moneyball Stats

Last year, clare Flynn Levy founded Essentia analytics Ltd, based in Londons Not-ting hill neighborhood, to build that kind of software. a former money manager at avocet capital management Ltd and Deutsche asset man-agement, Levy, 40, points to an array of metrics projected onto her office wall.

These are basically your moneyball stats, she says, referring to the 2003 book by michael Lewis about Billy Beane, general manager of major League Baseballs Oak-land athletics. By using data to identify talented players other organisations over-looked, Beane transformed the as into a team that could compete against better-funded rivals.

Levy says most of her clients focus on profit and loss, be-cause thats what determines their compensation. Yet P&L tells you little about how skilled a trader or fund man-ager is, she says, because luck can play such a large role.

The stats shes looking at are more illuminating. She says one key metric is hit rate, the percentage of times an investor is right about an investments direction, such as predicting that Twitter Inc shares will rise over the next three months.

another is payoff ratio, or the money made on success-ful investments divided by the amount lost on unsuc-cessful ones.

Taras chaban, chief ex-ecutive officer of Investment Intelligence Ltd, another London-based firm that makes software to analyse investment decision making, says most professional inves-tors have hit rates that arent much better than a coin toss.

Of the almost 100 UK and US fund managers in Invest-ment Intelligences database, chaban says, the best hit rate hes seen is 64 per cent; the median is just over 50 per cent. Instead, successful in-vestors tend to make money because of superior payoff ratios, and these can be im-proved with coaching.

Levy says software can aid in that: It can determine whether a fund manager does better with long- or short-term investments, with large-cap stocks or small caps, with long positions or shorts. It can spot money-losing be-haviors, such as bailing out of positions too early when a portfolio is underwater.

Old Mistakes

having identified errors, a coach can start working with a manager to help overcome them, Levy says. Eventually, she says, her software will

be able to send an alert to a money manager whos in danger of repeating old and costly mistakes, prompting the client to pursue a better course of action.

The increased interest in performance analytics and coaching is driven in part by an existential crisis.

In the five years through June, more than 72 per cent of actively managed US eq-uity funds failed to beat the benchmark Standard & Poors composite 1500, ac-cording to the latest data available from S&P Dow

Jones Indices.as for US hedge funds,

those with more than $1 billion under management havent had a year of average positive returns beating the S&P 500 Index since 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

as a result, institutional money is increasingly shift-ing to passive strategies, particularly alternative beta funds that use algorithms to try to beat the market, while retaining the benefits of index investings diversification and low cost, says John Stainsby, head of UK institutional as-set management at JPmor-gan chase & co.

There was no understand-ing of what the skill actually was and no evidence of any desire to improve it, he says.

For most professional ath-letes, the better they are,

the more coaches they have, Savage says.

Whereas in our profession, most people are embarrassed to even acknowledge they have a coach, he says.

GLG currently works with Lawrence Evans, a former Salomon Brothers Inc. trad-er-turned-coach. he asks managers to list the factors that make for a good invest-ment and then use that list to gauge whether theyre put-ting the most money behind the best ideas.

Some coaches go beyond checklists and adapt explicit-

ly psychoanalytic approaches to their clients.

New Yorkbased Denise Shull, another ex-trader who became a coach, says un-conscious patterns are often rooted in childhood upbring-ing and habits that strongly influence how an investor responds to the market.

She says that she has as-sisted previous investors who stubbornly cling to po-sitions because they think they need to prove how smart they are.

as was once the case in the world of professional sports, some financial practitioners are somewhat wary of psy-chological coaching.

richard michaud, chief executive officer of New Frontier advisors Llc, a Boston-based investment technology and asset-man-agement company, says that

a lot of coaches advice may be worse than none at all.

Psychoanalytic Coaching

Some of this stuff isnt just bad investing practice; it isnt even good psychology, michaud says.

Psychoanalytic coaching might make managers doubt themselves. Plus, he adds, it doesnt help an investor adhere to modern portfolio theory, which focuses on di-versification and balancing expected risk with return. he says thats the most reliable way to manage money.

Doug hirschhorn, a New York-based trading coach who previously played baseball in college and once worked as a bond trader, occupies a mid-dle ground between Shull and michaud.

You didnt hire me to make you feel better or make you a happy person, he says.

Like a personal trainer, he sees his job as providing an external source of motivation and accountability to height-en a traders discipline, strip emotion away and focus on proven investment tactics.

The link between mind and body represents the next fron-tier for investment coaching, says Steve Ward, a London-based trading coach with a background in sports psy-chology. he advocates using biofeedback and meditation to help traders regulate their emotions.

ray Dalio, founder of the worlds largest hedge-fund firm, Westport, connecticut-based Bridgewater associates Lp, credits Transcendental meditation with contribut-

ing to his success. Ward says traders can use meditation and other mental exercises to achieve flow: a period of immersive focus that many traders associate with im-proved returns, similar to athletes sensation of being in the zone.

Investment Intelligence says its integrating its soft-ware with biometric data from wristband monitors made by Basis Science Inc. These de-vices track heart rate, caloric consumption and sleep pat-terns, among other things. The goal is to find correla-tions between, for example, a steady heart rate and astute investment decisions.

John coates, a University of cambridge neuroscientist who has conducted research on the physiological effects of trading, says human biology studies rarely find a correla-tion greater than 20 per cent between two variables, such as a certain heart rate pattern and a period in which a trader might report both immersive focus and higher returns.

One chance out of five, do you really want to bet on that? he says.

coaches dont like talk-ing about what their services cost, although they say clients should expect to pay from $400 to $1,000 an hour. Some coaches, like Shull, charge a retainer as well as ask for a bo-nus slice of the clients profit.

Davidson, the National aus-tralia Bank trader, says coach-ing is worth the price. he says that when hes in the right mental state, he has the confi-dence to be patient. You dont have to swing at every ball, he says. BLOOMBERG

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York last week. BLOOMBERG

Is my approach still relevant? And how long do I persevere?

You start asking yourself these questions

Markets11the phnoM penh post march 18, 2014

Business

International commoditiesEnergy

Agriculture

Markets

800

875

950

1025

1100

400

450

500

550

600

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

1500

1600

1700

1800

1900

18000

19750

21500

23250

25000

2000

2250

2500

2750

3000

14000

14500

15000

15500

16000

7000

7500

8000

8500

9000

Thailand Vietnam

Singapore Malaysia

Hong Kong China

Japan Taiwan

Thai Set 50 Index, Mar 14

FTSE Straits Times Index, Mar 14 FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, Mar 14

Hang Seng Index, Mar 14 CSI 300 Index, Mar 14

Nikkei 225, Mar 14 Taiwan Taiex Index, Mar 14

Ho Chi Minh Stock Index, Mar 14

14,277.67

2,143.0421,484.44

1,809.583,084.47

601.28926.53

8,700.10

1600

1725

1850

1975

2100

5500

5875

6250

6625

7000

900

1050

1200

1350

1500

3500

3875

4250

4625

5000

18000

19000

20000

21000

22000

25000

25750

26500

27250

28000

4500

4750

5000

5250

5500

4500

4750

5000

5250

5500

South Korea Philippines

Laos Indonesia

India Pakistan

Australia New Zealand

KOSPI Index, Mar 14 PSEI - Philippine Se Idx, Mar 14

Laos Composite Index, Mar 14 Jakarta Composite Index, Mar 14

BSE Sensex 30 Index, Mar 14 Karachi 100 Index, Mar 14

S&P/ASX 200 Index, Mar 14 NZX 50 Index, Mar 14

5,317.57

27,247.7521,809.80

4,881.391,291.37

6,399.991,927.53

5,088.03

Item Unit Base Average (%)

Gasoline R 5250 5450 3.81 %

Diesel R 5100 5200 1.96 %

Petroleum R 5500 5500 0.00 %

Gas Chi 86000 76000 -11.63 %

Charcoal Baht 1200 1300 8.33 %

Energy

Construction equipmentItem Unit Base Average (%)

Rice 1 R/Kg 2800 2780 -0.71 %Rice 2 R/Kg 2200 2280 3.64 %Paddy R/Kg 1800 1840 2.22 %Peanuts R/Kg 8000 8100 1.25 %Maize 2 R/Kg 2000 2080 4.00 %Cashew nut R/Kg 4000 4220 5.50 %Pepper R/Kg 40000 24000 -40.00 %Beef R/Kg 33000 33600 1.82 %Pork R/Kg 17000 18200 7.06 %Mud Fish R/Kg 12000 12400 3.33 %Chicken R/Kg 18000 20800 15.56 %Duck R/Kg 13000 13100 0.77 %

Item Unit Base Average (%)

Steel 12 R/Kg 3000 3100 3.33 %

Cement R/Sac 19000 19500 2.63 %

Food -Cereals -Vegetables - Fruits

Cambodian commodities(Base rate taken on January 1, 2012)

CommodIty UnIts PrICE ChAngE % ChAngE tImE(Et)

Crude Oil (WTI) USD/bbl. 98.85 -0.04 -0.04% 3:37:01

Crude Oil (Brent) USD/bbl. 107.97 -0.24 -0.22% 3:37:24

NYMEX Natural Gas USD/MMBtu 4.51 0.08 1.81% 3:38:08

RBOB Gasoline USd/gal. 295.43 -0.54 -0.18% 3:35:21

NYMEX Heating Oil USd/gal. 292.87 -1.44 -0.49% 3:38:07

ICE Gasoil USD/MT 899 -2.75 -0.30% 3:36:22

CommodIty UnIts PrICE ChAngE % ChAngE tImE(Et)

CBOT Rough Rice USD/cwt 15.35 -0.01 -0.03% 3:26:49

CME Lumber USD/tbf 340.5 -10 -2.85% 17:00:00

Vacancy AnnouncementVacancy No.: FPA/14/003

UNFPA is seeking a national consultant for the following assignment:

Assignment:

Consultancy for setting up a legal framework for the preparation of the disciplinary measures for the Cambodian Midwives Council (CMC)

Duty Station: UNFPA Ofce, Phnom Penh

Contract type: Special Service Agreement Deadline: 28 March 2014 (4pm Local Time)

Objectives of assignment:To scrutinise and amend the draft documents 1 to ensure that they comply fully with the relevant Cambodian laws, such as the Royal Decree establishing the role of CMC and other appropriate legislation;To provide legal advice on the implementation of the disciplinary procedures, in particular to identify: a) any barriers b) nancial requirements associated with implementation and c) possible solutions to any problems identied. These will inform CMCs implementation plan, which includes information meetings with key stakeholders To provide training for 5 Regional Midwives Council members and members of CMCs Executive Committee.

Qualications and Experience:Master degree in law Working knowledge of the legal system in Cambodia and an understanding of the role of regulation in the health profession as well as the relevant laws and provisions;A track record in writing disciplinary and complaint procedures or policies; Fluency in written and spoken Khmer a must; Good oral and written English; Ability to give legal advice on implementation of the disciplinary procedures, in particular the ability to identify any barriers and nancial requirements necessary for as well as to suggest possible solutions to any such barriers;Ability to provide training on how to implement complaint and disciplinary procedure for 5 Regional Midwives Council and the Executive members;Experience working or familiar with the Government in particular Ministry of Health, relevant courts and judicial ofcers in Cambodia.

How to apply:Applications must be supported with a motivation letter, UN Personal History Form (P11), detailed CV and key relevant certicates. The sealed application should be addressed directly to Dr. Derveeuw Marc G. L., Representative, UNFPA, No. 225, Street Pasteur, Boeng Keng Kang 1, Chamkar Mon, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The P11 Form and Terms of Reference can be obtained via email (unfpa.cmb@unfpa.org) or UNFPA Website (http://countryofce.unfpa.org/cambodia). Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. UNFPA retains the right to contact referees directly.

There is no application, processing or other fee at any stage of the application process. UNFPA does not solicit or screen for information in respect of HIV or AIDS and does not discriminate on the basis

of HIV status.

Worlds finance hub: NYcN

EW York replaced London as the worlds leading fi-nancial centre for the first time, after the city was

rocked by a series of scandals and questions over the UKs place in the European Union.

New York holds the top spot in the latest Global Financial centres Index with a shaky, statistically insignifi-cant two-point lead, according to michael mainelli, chairman of Z/Yen Group Ltd, which compiles the index. competition is heating up, with hong Kong and Singapore, the two lead-ing asian centres, narrowing the gap between themselves and the top two to fewer than 30 points on a scale of 1,000, the index shows.

Scandals including banks abusing their clients by selling unneeded in-surance, manipulation of financial benchmarks and trading losses, have combined to damage the citys stand-ing, just as plans for a referendum on EU membership cast doubt on the terms of its access to that market.

While New York has challenged London for the podium since the inception of the index, a seven-point rise in its rating gained it the top spot after the UK capital suffered a 10-point decline, the largest of any centre in the top 50.

London needs a reputation that everyone who comes will be treated fairly and can compete fairly, accord-ing to mainelli. Without the large do-mestic economies behind New York and hong Kong, London needs to act more like a Singaporean city state or have the backing of a European Union domestic economy.

The index, which is updated every six months and is in its 15th edition, is compiled from replies to an online survey. It also uses external gauges including rankings for specific areas such as telecommunications. The index, which was first published in 2007, takes into account five broad areas including the business envi-ronment, finance, infrastructure, human capital and reputation.

The UK government is determined to build a banking sector that boosts the economy and supports consum-ers and businesses, the Treasury said in a statement. It is creating a frame-

work that promotes a responsible and sustainable financial services indus-try, tackling the issues of competition and risk in the banking sector.

London mayor Boris Johnson made a six-day visit to china in October at the same time that chancellor George Osborne headed a trade mission to the worlds second-largest economy. The UK government is aiming for London to become the leading cen-tre for offshore trading of the chinese yuan and securities in that curren-cy, and also wants to encourage the growth of Islamic finance.

The authorities will have their work

cut out to make good on those ambi-tions, according to London-based Z/Yen. The UKs immigration debate and attempts to hold down the num-ber of migrants have made the UK appear unwelcoming to foreign workers and visitors, according to Z/Yen. London has also suffered be-cause the UKs place in the EU isnt certain and because it isnt clear that Scotland will remain in the Union, according to the research firm. Tax predictability has also become an issue, the report said.

added to that, the regulators that failed to properly supervise banks and other market participants are extend-ing their reach and becoming more costly and more conservative.

Whilst financial services employ-ment is increasing in London, there is some evidence that jobs growth is in regulatory and compliance, ac-cording to the report.

New centres are catching up with the four leaders, reducing the dis-tance between the first and the 10th to 75 points from 117 three years ago, amid a shakeout in the asian rank-ings. Leading centres such as Tokyo, Seoul and Shenzen are doing signifi-cantly better than weaker ones such as Kuala Lumpur, manila, Jakarta and mumbai, according to the report.

In the middle East, Qatar is the leading centre, followed by Dubai, while riyadh has gained 16 places and Bahrain 12. Europe is in tur-moil with 23 out of 27 centres de-clining in rank, according to the report. athens is in last place, 82 points behind reykjavik, which is second to last. BLOOMBERG

one World trade Center, seen behind the manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge, towers over lower manhattan in november in new york City. AFP

Sponsored page12 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 18, 2014

SaVING FOr chaNGE: hOW SmaLL SUmS DrIVE BIG aDVaNcESStory Supplied

Three hours drive southwest of Phnom Penh, in a small village in Kampot province, several dozen women sit on rattan mats. a cooling breeze drifts across the dry rice fields, borne off the sea where most of the men of this village make their living as fishermen.

It is midday Friday, and time for the weekly gathering of the villages first savings group. Over the next hour, each woman will pay in her weekly savings of 5,000-15,000 riel ($1.25-$3.75), and then those who need to borrow will explain to the group their financing need. Every amount paid in or out is written in the groups ledger in full view of the members.

This is the first of two savings groups in the village. When it started in January 2011, just 10 villagers were interested. Thats because people had had a bad experience with an earlier savings group another NGO came to set up one and it failed, says the president of the group, a 38-year-old mother of five. I was a member of that group and I can tell you that proper records werent kept and there was no transparency nobody knew who was borrowing what.

Traditional village-level savings groups per se are nothing new; what is different here and in hundreds of villages across cambodia and tens of thousands of villages around the world is the model: known as Sav-ing for change (Sfc), it is being used in 13 countries.

Sfc has a number of central prin-ciples that have driven its success.

First, the groups are small and self-selected, ideally between 15-25 peo-ple, because that makes it easier for the members to meet.

Second, the group operates in-dependently. The members decide which person will maintain the led-ger, who will be group president, who keeps the cashbox and who holds the key to the cashbox. The group also determines the interest rate that members pay to borrow funds - typi-cally two percent monthly.

Third, the NGO that helps set up the savings group never injects funds; instead it trains villagers to run the savings group themselves, then mon-itors and advises the group over the following year. That means villagers generate all of the funds used, and each member has the training and a

vested interest in ensuring that each person saves, borrows and repays properly.

Finally, the group decides how long the money will stay in the cashbox. In this group the members are repaid in full once a year, their payout com-prising their savings plus the interest earned on loans over the year. a pay-out in January allowed one woman in this group to buy pigs and another to buy fertilizer. a third chose to spend the money improving her home. all intend to re-join the next cycle of the group.

Villagers would rather put money into the savings group than have it sit at home where it earns nothing, says the president of the group. Plus sav-ing together means that we can take small loans when we need without having to find collateral.

A Powerful Modelmany rural villagers cannot access

financial services from microfinance institutions (mFIs) despite the growth in the sector. That means they have few options for savings, and their borrowing choices remain limited to family and friends, or to moneylend-ers who charge very high interest rates (eight to ten percent a month).

Savings-led microfinance (SLm) ini-tiatives are well placed to satisfy that need, and particularly Sfc, whose model has been refined to meet the needs of cambodias rural poor. Brian Lund from Oxfam says Sfc has been tailored for the cambodian market and is ready to be scaled up.

Sfc has a number of inherent strengths: training costs are low around $20 per member; the groups very quickly operate independently and effectively; and the groups them-selves provide a platform with which to introduce an array of development initiatives of interest to the commu-nity. Over the past nine years, Sfc has brought inexpensive access to micro-finance to tens of thousands of cam-bodias poor, providing a way to save and to access affordable loans that they can use to generate other sourc-es of income or cushion their families against shocks. and because villagers lend to each other through a group model, default rates are very low.

around 80 percent of the money that is loaned out is used for produc-tive purposes, such as buying inputs for agriculture or starting up a busi-ness. The rest tends to be spent on health or household consumption. Very little stays in the cashbox for

long. Then at the end of the agreed savings cycle, all of the money comes back in to be divided between the members.

Besides providing access to finan-cial services, Sfc boosts social capital, self-confidence and group empower-ment, says Lund, adding that it has the potential to increase the effec-tiveness of the work of NGOs seek-ing to help communities become more self-sufficient. he says: Some of the most inspiring things Ive seen have been in these groups such as seeing a group of women sitting af-ter the formalities and talking about how their children are going to go to school, and then the next week learn-ing about mosquito nets and decid-ing how they will help their whole village.

The benefits to women in particu-lar have been significant. In cam-bodia there are nearly 85,000 women who themselves decided to be in the groups, he says. and around 22 per-cent of these women have taken up some level of leadership role either in the group or outside of it. So there is certainly a changing dynamic, and thats a positive thing.

however, says Socheata Sou, Ox-fams Sfc Project Officer, Sfc is not the whole answer. The performance of group