SRP Press Conference on 20 August 2010

WHEN:
20 August 2010 at 9AM

WHAT:
SRP MPs will organize a press conference on the following topics:

1- The loss of MPs' duty in the Cambodian democracy
2- SRP MPs' letter sent to US Congress on Oil sector transparency

WHERE:
SRP Party headquarters in Phnom Penh

Son Chhay: Govt's push for more investment won't work until the it solves issues of corruption and transparency

Cambodia Seeks Japanese Investors

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
04 March 2008

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong met with a Japanese business delegation Tuesday in an effort to encourage more investment from the Asian neighbor, an official said.

Hor Namhong met with Seiroku Takizawa, a representative of Sapporo city's Industry and Chamber of Commerce Council, and others, said Sin Bunthoeun, chief of the ministry's information department.

Hor Namhong remained hopeful that more Japanese investors would come to Cambodia, Sin Bunthoeun said.

"They will try to urge for more Japanese investors to come here," he said.

Hang Chuonnarong, secretary-general of the Ministry of Finance, estimated the Japanese investment in Cambodia at around $500 million.

"The government policy now is to attract more Japanese investors by creating a special zone near Phnom Penh, managed by a Japanese company, so we hope that we will attract more Japanese investors," he said.

Most Japanese companies in Cambodia are here for road, bridge and other infrastructure construction, he said.

Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay warned that the government's push for more investment won't work until the it solves issues of corruption and transparency.

Better Planning and More Transparency Needed from Government as Development Continues, Expert Says

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
27 December 2007

Well-planned development is positive for Cambodia but the government too often is approving development projects on state-owned land concessions without taking into account how initiatives will impact average citizens, a policy expert told VOA Khmer Thursday.

Var Moeun, president of an environmental awareness NGO, Mlob Bai Tang, said authorities under the direction of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government have a responsibility to keep the public better informed about planned projects and discussions about potential initiatives.

‘’We do not object to development but if a particular project will negatively impact on the lives of regular Cambodians, it should not be permitted,’’ Var Moeun said as a guest on Hello VOA, VOA Khmer’s twice-weekly call-in, talk show.

The Cambodian government has been criticized over the years by international observers for allowing large-scale forest clearing by businesses that do not take into account surrounding communities or the long-term interests of the area.

He said the importance of the forests, fresh water, diverse plant and animal life are not well understood by most Cambodians and that his organization is attempting to inform and educate.

Var Moeun said Cambodia’s lawmakers in the National Assembly are not fulfilling their role to protect the countries natural resources, particularly forests. Lawmakers must assert themselves and help protect the nation if the government is not going to make it a priority, he said.

Cambodia asks companies to prepare for opening stock market in 2009 [-If the private sector is ready for transparency, how about Hun Sen's gov't?]

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian government has told entrepreneurs to prepare their financial reports for audit to pave the way for opening stock market in 2009, an official said on Tuesday.

Ngy Tayi, under-secretary of state of the Ministry of Economics and Finance, said that about 400 companies, which have current asset over 500,000 U.S. dollars and have over 100 employees, have the obligation to prepare the financial reports.

The audit is a new step to promote the management climate of stock market and it also shows transparency, accountability and fairness in opening the stock market, he told a press conference here on promotion of the financial reports for audit.

The stock exchange market will improve the investment climate here and it can help accelerate the economic growth of the country, he added.

Cambodia is set to establish a limited stock market in 2009, Prime Minister Hun Sen said in June, adding that this would encourage long-term investments by the public.

Ambassador calls on Cambodia to join EITI

New Europe - The European Weekly
GERMANY
9 June 2007 - Issue : 733

Outgoing German ambassador to Cambodia Pius Fischer said on June 7 that Cambodia has been repeatedly urged to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to help it properly manage expected lucrative oil revenues, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported. Speaking at a Club of Cambodian Journalists roundtable discussion attended by dozens of local reporters, the ambassador again voiced Germany's concern that the country's economic boom was not trickling down to the rural poor and said it was vital that oil revenues were used to their best advantage to help society.

The EITI, founded in 2002, supports improved governance in resource-rich countries through the verification and full publication of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining, according to its website. It works to build multi-stakeholder partnerships in developing countries in order to increase the accountability of governments.

"There is definitely a need to invest in Cambodia's human capital so Cambodia has the capacity to remain competitive in the globalised world," Fischer was quoted by dpa as saying. "More attention should be given on social equities because as the disparities between the urban rich and rural poor are growing this could lead to social conflict. With the beginning of the exploitation of Cambodia's oil and natural gas resources expected to begin probably by 2008 or 2009, it would be important also to develop concepts of how the revenue from these natural resources would be harnessed and used for the benefit of the Cambodian population. In this context, Cambodia's development partners have repeatedly suggested that Cambodia adopt the principals of the EITI. These principals, if they were observed by Cambodia, would be very beneficial for Cambodia's economy," he said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen on June 6 branded people who claimed endemic corruption could hijack potential oil revenues "stupid" and said countries critical of how resources might be plundered would be better served making positive input and ensuring their oil companies negotiated fairly with Cambodia. It was unclear if EITI is going to be included in the draft law on oil currently being written by the government and government sources close to the oil industry have declined to comment until the law is unveiled later this year, dpa said.

Critics have voiced fears that corruption and a lack of transparency, if unchecked, could send Cambodia the way of Nigeria and fail to benefit more than an elite few, instead of making it the success story of other oil-rich nations in the region like Brunei. EITI is a global initiative strongly supported by oil producing countries including Britain and Norway with around 20 members worldwide including Chad, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Timor Leste, Mongolia, Bolivia and Peru. Neither Nigeria nor Venezuela are members. Fischer ends his mission in Cambodia in mid-July and will then become German ambassador to Mongolia.

Cambodia to Tap Oil Revenues in 2010 [- US: Having good intentions without the political will to fight corruption "will get Cambodia exactly nowhere"]

A Cambodian girl sits at her roadside gasoline store in the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007. (AP Photo)

Wednesday February 28, 2007

Cambodian Premier Says the Country to Start Tapping Oil Revenues in 2010

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Cambodia expects to begin tapping offshore oil revenues in 2010, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday, dismissing skepticism about his government's ability to manage the prospective fortune.

"Let's not rush, but by 2010 we can begin getting revenues from oil," Hun Sen said at a student graduation ceremony. He did not say how much oil the country could expect to extract, how much revenue it will generate and when production will begin.

U.S. energy giant Chevron Corp. discovered oil in 2005 off the Cambodian coast, 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of the seaport of Sihanoukville, which is 185 kilometers (115 miles) southwest of the capital, Phnom Penh. The company found the crude oil in four wells in an area called Block A and plans to drill 10 more wells by the end of 2007.

Addressing concerns that the increased income from oil could exacerbate Cambodia's already widespread corruption, Hun Sen pledged that the country's health and education sectors would receive a large share of the revenues.

Te Duong Tara, the director-general of the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority, said last month that recent estimates that Block A holds 400 to 500 million barrels were mere speculation.

Scores of Asian and European companies have also been seeking licenses to explore and tap Cambodia's potential oil wealth.

Hun Sen brushed off critics' concerns that oil revenues could worsen Cambodia's already rampant corruption, saying the country would not follow the path of oil-rich Nigeria, which is regularly ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world by Berlin-based corruption watchdog, Transparency International.

"Some people are worried about the Nigerian disease, saying it should not be allowed to reach Cambodia. I have told them that Cambodia is not that stupid," he said.

U.S. Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli is among those who had voiced concern about how Cambodia would handle a sudden surge in national income.

He said late last year that oil production could generate considerably more than US$1 billion (euro757 million) a year in revenue for Cambodia.

The prospective new income would be "an extraordinary jump" for a country that currently relies on some $500 million (euro380 million) from aid donors every year, he said.

Having good intentions without the political will to fight corruption "will get Cambodia exactly nowhere" with the expected oil revenues, Mussomeli said in a speech to an economic conference last Friday.

"You must develop a transparent policy framework and establish comprehensive institutional structures that will prevent anyone, no matter how powerful, from misusing these revenues," he warned.