Archive for January 12th, 2009
Four arrested in Cambodian bomb plot
PHNOM PENH (AFP — Jan 9.) — Cambodian authorities have arrested four men on suspicion of planting three bombs around the capital last week, a senior police officer said Saturday.
Deputy national police commissioner Sok Phal told reporters that one of the four alleged plotters was 44-year-old Som Ek, a dual Cambodian-Thai national who had previously worked as a Cambodian military policeman.
“He (Som Ek) told the police that his bomb plot was to bring attention to the group inside and outside the country, so he could extort money,” Sok Phal said.
“This is just some kind of business just to rob or extort money,” he added.
He said Som Ek had been arrested on Wednesday and told authorities that his group was backed by people outside Cambodia.
The deputy police commissioner gave no further details on the alleged group or other three suspects.
No one was harmed in the bomb plot in which police found three explosive devices on January 2 planted near the Ministry of National Defence and a television station.
Mine clearance personnel destroyed the bombs later that day.
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Cambodia indefinitely delays launch of stock market
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — Cambodia’s much-touted stock exchange market has been delayed indefinitely due to the worsening global economic slowdown, said English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post on Monday.
Its launch was originally scheduled for September, with the South Korean Exchange providing funds and technical support.
As Cambodia’s economy, one of the region’s most vibrant, slowed to single-digit growth last year, the exchange’s future was put in doubt, said the paper.
“Cambodia has been affected by the global financial crisis, especially in terms of real estate and garment exports. Therefore, the plan to open our own stock market has been postponed, and no specific schedule is set for it,” Mey Vann, director of the Department of Finance Industry of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, was quoted as saying.
“We can’t push to form the stock market, as our economy doesn’t have a solid foundation yet due to the impact of the crisis,” he said.
“Now we will focus our efforts on establishing our economy,” he added.
Cambodia enjoyed consistent double-digit economic growth rate from 2005 to 2007, which fueled the government’s ambition to upgrade its financial and capital market, and the establishment of a stock exchange market was just one of its many plans in this regard.
| Editor: Wang Guanqun |
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PM: Cambodian rice exports to rise by 1 mln tons in 2009
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — Cambodia’s exports of rice will increase by over 1 million tons in 2009 over the 2 million tons or so in 2008, English-language newspaper the Cambodia Daily on Monday quoted Premier Hun Sen as saying.
Total rice production for the 2008 to 2009 harvest will reach 7million tons and over the next few years, rice exports will reach 3 to 4 tons annually, he was quoted as saying.
More irrigation and education of farmers are needed to continue expanding rice exports, he added.
“Cambodia has the ability to compete and push farmers to plant more rice,” he said, adding that Thailand and Vietnam collectively export 10 million tons of rice per year.
Meanwhile, Cambodian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Chan Sarun on Sunday said that by 2015, rice exports of Cambodia could reach 8 million tons.
| Editor: Wang Guanqun |
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