CAMBODIA AND MYANMAR PLEDGE TOENHANCE BILATERAL RELATIONS

for growth in trade, tourism and education

cooperation, and suggested that the two

countries promote cooperation in these fields.

"In response, Prime Minister Samdech Techo

Hun Sen agreed with the suggestions," said

the assistant, adding that Hun Sen also

thanked Myanmar for granting scholarships to

Cambodian Buddhist monks to study in

Myanmar.

Meanwhile, the prime minister said the two

countries needed to further strengthen their

bilateral cooperation in the frameworks of

Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic

CCoonnttiinnuueedd oonn ppaaggee ((22))

President of the Republic of the Union of

Myanmar H.E. U Htin Kyaw arrived in Phnom

Penh on 03 February for a four-day state visit in

Cambodia, at the invitation of His Majesty

Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath

Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia.

On 04 February, Cambodian Prime Minister

Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun

Sen and visiting Myanmar President U Htin

Kyaw pledged to enhance their bilateral

relation in trade, tourism, and education,

according to Eang Sophalleth, an assistant to

the Cambodian prime minister.

He added that H.E. Kyaw told Samdech Techo

Hun Sen that the two Association of Southeast

Asian Nation (ASEAN) members had much room

A delegation of the Committee for legalising

Cambodian workers residing and working in

Thailand led by its Vice President H.E. Hun

Manet has been on a visit in Thailand to

discuss cooperation efforts with the Thai

counterpart, according to a local media report.

On 06 February, H.E. Hun Manet met with Thai

Minister of Labour H.E. Sirichai Ditthakul,

during which the Thai side agreed to allow the

committee to issue and provide passports,

CCoonnttiinnuueedd oonn ppaaggee ((22))

COOPERATION ONCAMBODIAN MIGRANTWORKERS DISCUSSBETWEEN CAMBODIA,THAILAND

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen shakes hand with visiting Myanmar's President Htin Kyaw at the PeacePalace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 04 February 2017.

CAMBODIA, UNFPASATISFIED WITHBILATERAL COOPERATION

ISSUE 06 : 06 – 12 FEBRUA RY 2017

Cambodia and the United Nations Population

Fund (UNFPA) have expressed their

satisfaction with the outcome of their

cooperation, said H.E. Chum Sounry,

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs and International Cooperation (MFA-IC).

During their meeting on February 9,

Cambodian Senior Minister and Minister of

MFA-IC H.E. Prak Sokhonn and newly

appointed UNFPA Country Representative in

CCoonnttiinnuueedd oonn ppaaggee ((22))

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Weekly publication of the Royal Embassy of Cambodia to UK, Denmark,Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Ethiopia and African Union

CAMBODIA AND …..

Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS), Cambodia-Laos-

Myanmar-Vietnam (CLMV) cooperation, Greater

Mekong Sub-region cooperation, and ASEAN.

Trade volume between the two countries is still

relatively small. On the tourism side, 11,441

Myanmar visitors came to Cambodia in the first

11 months of 2016, a 43-percent rise year-on-

year, according to a Cambodian tourism data.

During his stay in Cambodia until February 06, he

concluded his trip after visiting the famed Angkor

Wat Temple in north western Siem Reap

province.

MoU REACHED ONCOMBATING CRIMESBETWEEN CAMBODIAAND UK

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was

signed between Cambodia and the United

Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to

combat transnational crimes, according to the

Cambodia National Police website.

According to the website, the MoU was inked in

London on 02 February between Cambodia’s

National Police chief Neth Savoeun and NCA’s

international operations chief Steve Reynolds.

Under the agreement, the two countries would

cooperate with each other to fight cross-border

crimes, including child sex exploitation, sexual

trafficking and cybercrime, it said.

Both sides also agreed to increase cooperation

on information exchange, training, and exchange

of visits, it added.

COOPERATION ON CAMBODIAN MIGRANT…..

travel documents and OCWC (Overseas

Cambodian Worker Card) directly to workers

at factories and enterprises in Thailand

employing up from 80 Cambodian workers.

In addition to the existing office for issuing and

providing passports, travel documents and

OCWC at the Royal Embassy of Cambodia in

Bangkok, Cambodia was allowed to open five

more offices in five Thai provinces.

Other outcomes of the meeting were that

Cambodia will be able to resume data collection

and nationality verification of Cambodian

migrant workers who hold pink cards after the

opening of the five new offices, and the Thai

immigration offices will provide Cambodian

workers holding pink cards with residence

permits.

Both sides also agreed to set up an ad-hoc

working group to prepare an action plan to

implement the above-mentioned tasks.

The National Museum of Cambodia attracted

more than 250,000 national and international

tourists in 2016, generating some US$640,000

as income.

According to the report of the Ministry of

OVER 250,000 TOURISTS VISIT NATIONALMUSEUM LAST YEAR

Culture and Fine Arts released during its

recent annual meeting, last year the National

Museum received a total of 254,149 tourists,

of them 38,317 were local tourists, and earned

US$642,642 as income.

ISSUE 06 : 06 – 12 FEBRUA RY 2017

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CAMBODIA, UNFPA SATISFIED WITH …..

The Cambodian top diplomat also laid stress

on the RGC’s high attention to boost women

empowerment as well as to combat violence

against women.

Moreover, H.E. Prak Sokhonn underlined the

efforts of Cambodian relevant institutions in

preparing the draft law on surrogacy in order

to protect Cambodian children from

becoming victims.

Recently, the Ministry of Interior has advised

commune/Sangkat councils nationwide to

crosscheck before issuing birth certificates to

babies born to Cambodian mothers, but

foreign fathers. The move is to combat

surrogacy in the country.

Even though Cambodia has not had the

surrogacy law yet, there are many relating

laws in force including criminal code, civil

code, child adoption law, Ministry of Health’s

Prakas and other regulations which can be

used to charge surrogate mothers and

accomplices, said H.E. Ms. Chou Bun Eng,

Secretary of State for Interior at an inter-

ministerial meeting.

Cambodia Ms. Lene Kroll Christiansen lauded

the cooperation between the Royal

Government of Cambodia (RGC) and UNFPA,

especially in reducing the mortality rate during

childbirth, since the establishment of UNFPA’s

office in Cambodia in 1993, the spokesperson

told reporters.

Ms. Lene Kroll Christiansen informed H.E. Prak

Sokhonn of the UNFPA’s US$24 million project

in Cambodia focusing on sexual and

reproductive health, women empowerment,

and people’s potential for the period from 2016

to 2018, he added.

For his part, H.E. Prak Sokhonn highly valued work

experience of Ms. Lene Kroll Christiansen and

affirmed the MFA-IC’s readiness to facilitate her

mission in Cambodia.

ENVIRONMENTMINISTER RECEIVESWWF’S BOARD MEMBER

Cambodia’s Minister of Environment H.E. Say

Samal held talks on 06 February with a visiting

Board Member of World Wide Fund for Nature

(WWF) Mr. Matthew Harris, on cooperation in

protecting and conserving natural resources.

According to the ministry’s news release, in the

meeting, Mr. Matthew Harris informed H.E.

Minister of the WWF’s plan to bring tigers from

India to increase the tiger population in

Cambodia.

For his part, H.E. Say Samal welcomed this

initiative, saying that the ministry has discussed

the issue with Indian ambassador to Cambodia.

H.E. Say Samal also laid stress on the Royal

Government of Cambodia’s commitment to

protect and preserve the biodiversity in the

country.

OFFICE BUILDINGSUPPLIES INCAMBODIA INCREASE

Another 65,000 square metres of office buildings

will ready for supply in the market this year,

according to local media report.

The report grounding on the figure from CBRE

Cambodia added that as of 2016’s last quarter,

the supply of office buildings was not as extensive

– It was only around 4,000 square meter.

Managing Director of Canadia Tower Mr. Pen

Phirun was cited in the source as saying that the

demand for office building in 2016 increased by

10 percent, compared to 2015. He expected that

it will continue to rise in 2017.

Cambodia is considered a fast-growing country in

Asia and Phnom Penh capital is undergoing rapid

supplies for both local and international business

operations.

RGC INTRODUCES MORE ELECTRICITY FEEREDUCTION SCHEMES

Royal Government of Cambodia through the

Electricity Authority of Cambodia (EAC) has

developed new schemes to reduce electricity

fees between 2017 and 2020.

The update was shared by Chairman of EAC Dr.

Ty Norin during the authority’s recent annual

meeting.

From April this year onward, households outside

Phnom Penh capital that consumes less than 50

kilowatt hours a month will have to pay only 610

Riel (roughly US$0.15) per kilowatt hour.

Households and government’s institutions

located in provinces and paying 770 Riel (about

US$0.19) per kilowatt hour for electricity will be

entitled to 10 Riel (around US$0.0025)

accumulative discount annually.

USAID, IFAD COMMITS US$150 MILLION TOFURTHER PROMOTE CAMBODIA’S AGRICULTURETwo funding institutions have entered a

memorandum of understanding worth about

US$150 million to jointly promote agricultural

sector in Cambodia.

According to a recent press release from the

United States Embassy in Cambodia, the United

States Agency for International Development

(USAID) and International Fund

for Agricultural Development (IFAD) signed

the agreement at the embassy here in Phnom

Penh.

Through cooperation with the Royal

Government of Cambodia and other

development agencies, the committed

funding, added the source, will formulate

support policies to boost agriculture which is

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

WEF ON ASEAN 2017 WILL ATTRACT 700PARTICIPANTS

The World Economic Forum (WEF) on ASEAN

to be hosted in Cambodia from May 10-12,

2017 is expected to attract approximately 700

businessmen, political leaders, civil society,

and academia, said Senior Minister H.E. Sun

Chanthol, Minister of Public Works and

Transport, at an inter-ministerial meeting on

06 February.

According to the Ministry of Public Works and

Transport’s news release, the three-day WEF

on ASEAN will take place under the theme

“Youth, Technology and Growth.”

“Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun

Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of

Cambodia, will preside over the opening

ceremony of this very important global

forum,” it pointed out.

Besides the programmes to be held in the

capital, there will be optional visits to Angkor

Wat Temple site in Siem Reap province for

delegates attending the WEF, it added.

This will be a wonderful opportunity for the

country to showcase one of the world’s great

wonders and promote Cambodian culture

and history, underlined the same source.

And fee per kilowatt hour of only 610 Riel

will be charged from any of them do not

consume more than 10 kilowatt hours a

month.

More interestingly, farmers who pump the

water for agricultural purpose from 9:00 PM

to 7:00 AM will be charged just 480 Riel

(approximately US$0.12) for one kilowatt

hour.

Before the above listed new schemes, the

Royal Government of Cambodia introduced

an electricity fee reduction in 2016, wherein

households that do not consume beyond 10

kilowatt hours are charged with only 480

Riel.

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an essential driving force for the country’s

economic growth.

It will also look into technical capacity building

toward better harvests and improvement the

coordination among farmer and concerned

business counterparts. The funding covers

operations throughout a five -year period.

ISSUE 06 : 06 – 12 FEBRUA RY 2017

Visions of Cambodia is produced by the Press and Information Unit, Royal Embassy of Cambodia64 Brondesbury Park l Willesden Green l London NW6 7AT l United Kingdom l Tel: +44(0)208 451 7850 www.cambodianembassy.org.uk 4