4 MORE AUSTRALIA'S REFUGEES AGREE TO RESETTLE IN CAMBODIA

Indian Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari will pay an official visit to Cambodia from 15 to 17 September, where he will witness a signing ceremony of two cooperation documents between the two countries, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation’s statement.

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VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA TO VISIT CAMBODIA

including Australia, and the then Australian government had provided favourable conditions for them to live and do business in Australia. “We knew the difficulties of refugees. We would like to pay back to the international communities that used to help Cambodian people by taking part in resolving the refugee issue with humanitarian spirit and in contribution to reducing human trafficking,” said the Premier. According to Sry Thamrong, the Cambodian Premier will pay a visit to Australia early next year, and refugee issue will be part of the agenda.

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Prime Minister Hun Sen has expressed the Royal Government’s stance to accept more refugees from Australia on the voluntary basis. This was made known by Sry Thamrong, Delegate Minister Attached to the Prime Minister, after the meeting at the Peace Palace between the Cambodian Premier and visiting Minister for Immigration and Border Protection of Australia Peter Dutton. PM Hun Sen said it is an honour for Cambodia to contribute to settling the refugee issue by reminding that in the past, many Cambodians had fled the country to different countries,

Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) meets with visiting Minister for Immigration and Border Protection of Australia Peter Dutton at Peace Palace on 9 September 2015.

ISSUE 36 : 07 -13 SEPTEMBER 2015

SOLAR FINANCING ON THE WAY

A program to provide credit to people to buy home solar panels is set to launch this month after three microfinance organizations agreed to sign on, said Arjen Luxwolda, managing director of solar provider Kamworks.

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

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

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RICE EXPORT UP 46 PCT IN 8 MONTHS Cambodia exported 342,136 tons of milled rice in the first eight months of 2015, an increase of 46 percent from the 233,859 tons over the same period of last year, according to the latest report last week.

CCoonnttiinnuueedd oonn ppaaggee ((33))

4 MORE AUSTRALIA'S REFUGEES…..

Four more refugees – three Iranians and one Myanmar's Rohingyan minority person–have voluntarily agreed to resettle in Cambodia, according to Interior Ministry spokesman. The spokesman added that a Cambodian delegation would fly to Nauru late this month or early next month to get the details of the new group. The announcement came just two days after Prime Minister Hun Sen met with visiting Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to discuss the refugee resettlement agreement that the two countries signed last September. Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) relating to the Settlement of Refugees in Cambodia reached by the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) and the Government of Australia in Phnom Penh in September 2014, four refugees – a Burmese and three Iranians – volunteered to come to Cambodia from Nauru Island. The Burmese refugee would like to return to his home country and the RGC has been waiting for the official reply from the Government of Myanmar.

CAMBODIA-CHINA SIGN AGREEMENT TO PROTECT CULTURAL PATRIMONY

Cambodia and China this week signed an agreement on preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of cultural property. The deal was inked between Culture and Fine Arts Minister Phoeurng Sackona and Li Xiaojie, director of the Chinese State Administration of Cultural Heritage. The agreement was aimed to further enhance cooperation in the protection of cultural heritage between the two countries. It is the third bilateral agreement that Cambodia has signed with friendly countries to protect cultural patrimony. The first two deals were made with the United States and Thailand. According to the Minister, due to the Cambodia's civil war in the 1970s, a lot of Cambodian ancient objects had been stolen from various temples and illegally exported to other countries.

clashes at the border and so on due to their incitements?” he asked. Anyway, the opposition party represented by some politicians continued to act as they did not understand the legal value and significance of the supplementary treaty in 2005 and border maps, and they fiercely discredited the existing laws and insulted supreme national institutions, including the King, by considering the official and legal border maps as fake and even “thief” maps, he added. The Premier underlined that national and territorial patriotism is not the exclusive right of an individual or a political party, but the defense of national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the right and obligation of each Cambodian citizen.

Prime Minister Hun Sen made a special televised statement over the maps on state border between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The map issue has become a hot and dangerous political topic recently, said the Cambodian premier in the over-three-hour statement, adding that the border issue is the nation’s life, but it is also a sensitive political issue used by some politicians to propagate, incite in order to deceive national and international milieus, particularly the real patriots, for their political gains. PM Hun Sen also criticized the vicious move of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) over the map issue. “How would they (CNRP) be responsible before the law if any bad event eventually happened such as internal deadly conflicts,

PRIME MINISTER’S STATEMENT OVER MAPS ON CAMBODIA-VIETNAM BORDER

and the agreement on Mekong-Ganga Cooperation between the two countries. The Indian vice president will also pay courtesy calls on Senate President and National Assembly President during the visit. Besides, he will visit the Angkor Wat Temple and the Mekong- Ganga Textile Museum in northwest Siem Reap province.

VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA TO…..

Prime Minister Hun Sen made a special televised statement over the maps on state border between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The visit is aimed to further strengthen and deepen the ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries, the statement said. The Vice President will hold official talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen and will preside over the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism Cooperation

ISSUE 36 : 07 -13 SEPTEMBER 2015

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RICE EXPORT UP 46 PCT….. Three top buyers of Cambodian rice are China, France and Poland, said the report released by the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export. From January to August this year, the country had sold 74,949 tons of rice to China, 45,493 tons to France, and 38,370 tons to Poland, it said, adding that types of exported rice include fragrant rice, white long grain, and parboiled long grain. The Kingdom produced over 9 million tons of paddy rice per year. Last year, the Country exported nearly 370,000 tons, earning a gross revenue of US$ 247 million, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

PORTS SEE CARGO SHIPMENT GROWTH IN 8 MONTHS

Cargos throughput two Cambodia 's largest shipping facilities, Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (SAP) and Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP), freshwater port, increased 19 percent and 8 percent, respectively, in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period last year. The ports released figures showing that SAP, the Kingdom's maritime container hub, handled 260,523 20-foot- equivalent units, or TEUs (standard-sized containers), from January to August this year, up 19 percent compared to the same period last year. Containerized cargo tonnage increased 8.4 percent to 2.52 million tons, the figure showed.

Main products imported into Cambodia via the port were garment raw materials, autos, construction materials and petroleum, while major items exported from the country were garment and footwear products and milled rice. PPAP is expected to be listed on the Cambodian Securities Exchange in November this year, according to its document.

EXCHANGE SQUARE GAINS MARKETING AGENT Hongkong Land’s development project

Exchange Square moved a step forward

with the appointment of CBRE Cambodia as

the project’s Sole Coordinating Agent for

Marketing Services. CBRE will now work on

leasing commercial office and retail space

at Exchange Square in Phnom Penh. The new

tower will include 17,000 sq.m of office space

over 16 levels, and 13,000 sq.m of retail

space in a four-level podium. Construction

began on 6th September 2013, and completion

of the first phase is expected in 2017.

SOLAR FINANCING ON THE….. LOLC Micro Credit, Vision Fund and Credit Mutuel Kampuchea are interested in tapping into rising demand for solar energy for off-grid homes. Under the program, customers can obtain loans with 2 percent monthly interest to buy certified systems. So far, four solar companies are participating: Kamworks, Lincoln Electric System, NRG Home Solar and Entrepreneurs du Monde. The program is run by Agence Francaise de Developpement. Popular systems include 100-watt setups, which can power five lights and a fan – or a

television – for about six hours. For now, Cambodia’s solar market is largely rural and residential – in some cases arrays of PV panels powering small villages.

IBC-RICS SIGN COOPERATION MOU

The International Business Chamber of Cambodia (IBC) and the UK-based Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance the standard in the fields of construction and real estate management in Cambodia. Under the MoU, both institutions will cooperate in human resource training in order to further improve the vocational skills in Cambodia’s construction and real estate sectors; and in conducting research on these fields for the mutual interests, ethical improvement, international standard promotion and better implementation in Cambodia.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) confirmed this week that three more companies will list on the securities market by the end of this year. They are: Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, Phnom Penh Autonomous Port and Taiwanese-owned TY Fashion (Cambodia) Ltd. Only two companies have listed on the exchange since it opened on April 18, 2012. Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority listed that

THREE MORE FIRMS TO BE LISTED ON CSX

year and garment maker Grand Twins International (GTI) listed in 2014. The three new companies are expected to be officially listed at the end of this year. Their applications are awaiting official approval from the SECC.

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V I S I O N S O F C A M B O D I A

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ISSUE 36 : 07 -13 SEPTEMBER 2015

TTEEMMPPLLEE OOFF

BBAANNTTEEAAYY SSRREEII

“…..Banteay Srei is a 'precious gem' and a 'jewel in Khmer art'”

Location: 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) north-east of East Mebon

Date: second half of the 10th century (967)

King: Rajendravarman II (reigned 944-968) and

Jayavarman V (reigned 968-1001)

The enchanting temple of Banteay Srei is nearly everyone's favourite

site. The special charm of this temple lies in its remarkable state of

preservation, small size and excellence of decoration.

The unanimous opinion amongst French archaeologists who worked

at Angkor is that Banteay Srei is a 'precious gem' and a 'jewel in

Khmer art'. Banteay Srei, as it is known by locals, was originally

called Isvarapura, according to inscriptions. It was by a Brahmin of

royal descent who was spiritual teacher to Jayavarman V. A special

feature of the exquisite decoration was the use of a hard pink

sandstone (quartz arenite) where enabled the 'technique of

sandalwood carving with even an Indian scent to it'.

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 l Email: cambodianembassy@btconnect.com l www.cambodianembassy.org.uk

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