100,000 hectares of land concession to the Viets ... 10 times more than the Cambodian Constitution allows: Hun Xen pays Hanoi his debt of gratitude?

Hun Xen is all smile during his meeting with Cao Duc Phat (L) (Photo: DAP News)

Cambodia, Vietnam sign MOU of rubber investment cooperation

September 23, 2009
Xinhua

Cambodia and Vietnam on Tuesday signed a MOU of rubber investment cooperation to expand area of rubber plantation of Vietnamese companies in Cambodia.

The agreement was signed in Phnom Penh by Chan Sarun, Cambodian minister of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, and Cao Duc Phat, visiting Vietnamese minister of rural development and agriculture.

According to this bilateral agreement, Vietnamese companies will plant rubber crops in 100,000 hectares of land in Cambodia, Chan Sarun told reporters after the signing ceremony.

The Vietnamese companies have already invested in rubber plantations in Cambodia, but through the agreement, they will be able to plant more rubber crops, he said.

According to the agreement, the Vietnamese side will also build a refinery factory of rubber products in Cambodia, he said.

"The agreement will also provide opportunity for local people to sell their rubber products to Vietnamese companies and it will offer more jobs for local poor people," he added.

"So far, our local people and local private companies have planted rubber crops on 100,000 hectares of land," he said, adding that Vietnamese companies already got the economic concession land for planting the rubber crops.

"Through the MOU we will also strengthen the bilateral cooperation on other fields like fighting against communicable diseases and other things including bird flu and swine flu, and encourage investing more on other agro-industrial crops."

This investment will help to push economic development and social affairs in the country, he said, adding that Vietnamese side also will help train human resources for Cambodia.

Vietnam to grow 100,000 hectares of ruuber trees in its colony of Cambodia ... now you know why Cambodians have no land left to farm

Vietnam set to grow rubbers on Cambodia, Laos estates

Monday, March 23, 2009
Bloomberg

Vietnam Rubber Group, the nation’s largest producer and exporter, plans to plant 200,000 hectares of trees in neighboring Laos and Cambodia, betting on a rebound in global demand in the next decade.

“Our plan is to plant 100,000 hectares of trees in each country,” Dinh Van Tien, director of the import-export department at the state-owned company, said in an interview. Around 10,000 hectares have been planted in Laos and between 3,000 and 4,000 in Cambodia, Tien said last week in Guangzhou, China.

Rubber producers across Asia, including Thailand, the biggest producer, are battling slumping demand and prices amid the global recession. Vietnam Rubber Group’s new overseas estates, with trees taking six to seven years to start yielding latex, may become productive after a recovery has restored sales.

“The news about Vietnam is adding to the cloudy long-term outlook,” said Navarat Kaewpratarn, a senior marketing official at Bangkok-based Future Agri Trade Ltd. Demand “has been thin because of concerns about car sales and the global recession.”

Vietnam, the world’s fourth-largest rubber exporter, plans to plant 30,000 hectares of trees this year, the Vietnam Rubber Association said.

“Rubber demand will rise since world economies must have recovered by the time these new trees can make latex,” general secretary Tran Thi Thuy Hoa said Monday.

Natural rubber futures on Friday gained for a fifth day as rising oil prices increased costs of producing rival synthetic products. Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. Ltd., China’s second-biggest tire maker, said Thursday the nation has revved up tire production to full capacity.

Rubber futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, the regional benchmark, have slumped 51 percent in the past year following the recessions in Japan, the US and Europe, and slowing growth in China.

Lower output

Natural rubber output in Vietnam may decline to 630,000 tons this year from 660,000 tons in 2008, said Tien, whose company accounts for about half of the nation’s output. Still, Vietnam Rubber Group is “optimistic” about demand in China, which accounted for 200,000 tons of exports last year from the nation’s total shipments of 650,000 tons, he said.

Shipments from Vietnam, which sells about 60 percent of its rubber to China each year, were worth US$101 million in the first two months of this year, about 51 percent less than a year ago, according to figures from the General Statistic in Hanoi.

Commodity producers and importers have begun developing plantations and farms, especially for food products, in overseas nations to take advantage of idle or underused land, secure supplies and boost output.

Vietnam may lease Cambodian land to grow rice, Tuoi Tre reported on February 23, while Kuwait was last year also assessing large-scale investments in rice in the country, a government official said in August. South Korea’s Daewoo Logistics Corp. has leased land in Madagascar to produce corn and palm oil.

Vietnam is encouraging overseas investment in industries that use natural rubber as a raw material, Tien said. Investors may receive lower taxes and other preferential policies, he said.

Move over! Make place for the new invasion of Vietnamese rubber plantations in Cambodia that are 10 larger than the legal limit

Vietnamese Co To Plant More Rubber Trees In Cambodia

Thursday June 5, 2008
VNA

PHNOM PENH - The Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) held a meeting in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh on June 3 to discuss measures to speed up its rubber cultivation in the neighbouring country.

Addressing the event, VRG Deputy General Director Tran Ngoc Thuan said the project, which targets 100,000-ha of rubber in Cambodia, will generate more jobs and help reduce poverty for local people.

He affirmed VRGs determination to ensure its rubber cultivation project is conducted as scheduled.

Representatives from a number of Cambodian ministries and provinces said they will create favourable conditions for VRG to successfully carry out its project.

The conference was attended by representatives from Cambodian ministries and localities where VRG is conducting its project including Kampong Thom, Kratie and Mondulkiri.