ADB: CAMBODIA’S GDP TO GROW 7.1% IN 2017

garment and footwear industry rising by 9.4

percent in the first half of this year.

"While growth in credit to the private sector

moderated to 28.1 percent year-on-year in

June 2016, it still indicates buoyant domestic

demand," he said. "Better weather since

June, following an extended drought, should

help a mild recovery in agriculture."

According to the report, solid domestic

demand and increased food prices lifted

average inflation to a higher than expected

2.7 per cent year-on-years in the first six

months of 2016.

CCoonnttiinnuueedd oonn ppaaggee ((22))

The Asian Development Bank (ADB)

maintained its projections that Cambodia’s

economic growth at 7 per cent in 2016 and

slightly up to 7.1 per cent in 2017.

The updated annual report: Asian

Development Outlook for 2016, which

released on 27 September, presents

largely positive data and predictions for

Cambodia, and in line with government

projections.

According to ADB country director

Samiuela Tukuafu, he described that the

outlook for Cambodia’s economy, after

attaining lower-middle-income status in

July, remains robust with exports from the

Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce hosted on

the 28 September the signing ceremony on

Agreed Minutes and National Kick-off

Workshop for GIZ project to support the

initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) within the

framework of the ASEAN Single Market to give

chance to relevant ministries to discuss and

exchange ideas to identify the challenges and

proper solution for preparing the project

proposal to GIZ.CCoonnttiinnuueedd oonn ppaaggee ((22))

COMMERCE MINISTRY-GIZ PARTNERSHIP INSUPPORTING ASEANINTEGRATION

Independence Monument, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

CAMBODIA, VIETNAMDISCUSS THESTRENGTHENING OFBILATERAL FRIENDSHIPAND COOPERATION

ISSUE 40: 29 SEPT– 02 OCT 2016

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Akka

Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen received on

27 September at the Peace Palace visiting

Chairwoman of the National Assembly (NA) of

the Socialist Republic of Vietnam H.E. Ms.

Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

According to H.E. Eang Sophalleth, Assistant to

the Cambodian premier, both leaders expressed

their appreciation to the current cooperation

between the two neighboring nations.

CCoonnttiinnuueedd oonn ppaaggee ((22))

1

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

ADB: CAMBODIA’S ….

It added that inflation forecasts have been slightly

increased in line with an expected rise in global oil

prices, to an average rate of 3.4 percent in 2017.

Merchandise exports increased by an estimated

12.3 per cent in U.S. dollar terms in the first six

months, faster than the 9.4 per cent recorded in the

first half of 2015, the report said, adding that growth

in merchandise imports slowed to 7.3 per cent from

17 per cent.

COMMERCE MINISTRY…

According to the ministry’s news release, while

presiding over the events, Minster of Commerce

H.E. Pan Sorasak stated about the creation of the

ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the ASEAN

Community Blueprint 2025 as well as the

cooperation purpose between ASEAN and Germany.

According to H.E. Minister, the budget for IAI project

is 6 million Euro and it will be carried out in

Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam until June

2018. “The Ministry of Commerce will play role as a

focal point in the project, but the main beneficiaries

are the Ministries of Tourism and Health because

the support under this project focuses on these two

sectors,” said H.E. Pan Sorasak.

PHNOM PENH MASTERPLAN ROLLOUTAGREED

Phnom Penh Municipal Hall in collaboration with the

Asian Development Bank agreed on the rollout of

land management master plan for the capital.

The decision was made in meeting chaired by

Deputy Municipal Governor H.E. Ieng Aunny at the

municipal hall in Phnom Penh between the two

sides on 26 September.

The rollout of the capital’s land management master

plan will not only lead to livelihood sustainability in

and beauty of Phnom Penh, but also mitigate

impacts on its dwellers for future development.

The master plan has identified natural, cultural and

traditional sites as well as locations for skyscrapers,

industrial and commercial activities, major roads,

bridges, airports, railways, and drainage.

ISSUE 40: 29 SEPT– 02 OCT 2016

2

institution and institution in order to achieve

the common goal of bettering the living

standard of the people of the two nations.

The Cambodian premier took the opportunity

to thank the Vietnamese side for having

facilitated the border crossing for the

Cambodian people who sought medical

treatment in Vietnam, especially those living at

the border area.

H.E. Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan arrived in

Phnom Penh on the 27 September for a two-

day official and friendly visit in Cambodia.

Upon her arrival, she was warmly welcomed in

an official ceremony by Samdech Akka Moha

Ponhea Chakrei Heng Samrin, President of the

Cambodian NA, and after that both sides held

a bilateral talk at the NA Palace.

According to the schedule, H.E. Ms. Nguyen

Thi Kim Ngan paid a courtesy call on Samdech

Vibol Sena Pheakdei Say Chhum, President of

the Senate, and be granted a royal audience by

His Majesty Norodom Sihamoni, King of

Cambodia.

CAMBODIA, VIETNAM DISCUSS THE ….

H.E. Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan conveyed the

Vietnamese leaders’ greetings to Samdech

Techo Hun Sen and said that her visit is aimed

to deepen the existing good cooperation and

relationship between the two countries. She

thus expressed her commitment to work

closely with the Cambodian legislative body in

further tightening both countries’ relations.

For his part, Samdech Techo Hun Sen thanked

the Vietnamese leaders for their greetings and

expressed warm welcome to H.E. Ms. Nguyen

Thi Kim Ngan’s visit in Cambodia.

Samdech Techo Prime Minister highly valued

the fruitful exchange of visits and meetings

between province and province, and between

CAMBODIA, CHINA SIGN MOU TOSTRENGTHEN COOPERATION ON JUSTICE

The Ministry of Justice of the Kingdom of

Cambodia and the Ministry of Justice of the

People’s Republic of China, have signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on

Bilateral Cooperation on Judicial System.

The MoU was inked here on 26 September by

Justice Minister H.E. Ang Vong Vathana and

H.E. Lu Enguang, Director General of Political

Department, the Ministry of Justice of the

People’s Republic of China.

Mr. Chin Malin, Cambodian Spokesman for the

Ministry of Justice, told reporters after the

signing ceremony that it was the first time

that the Ministry of Justice of the two

countries have cooperated in the judicial field.

The spokesman underlined that the

cooperation focused on the exchange of

delegates and visit of both minister and

technical level; collaboration and human

resource training in legislation and judicial

areas covering civil, penal, commercial codes,

judicial administration and other skills, as well

as mutual assistance in laws such as the

exchange of information and documents that

the two sides require.

“Despite the fact that Cambodia and China

have joint cooperation on many areas, the

Ministry of Justice of Cambodia has never and

ever worked with the Ministry of Justice of

China, but only with the All China Lawyers’

Association and some universities,” he

added.

CAMBODIA TO BECOMECHAIRMAN OF LDCSCOORDINATORS

Cambodia will become the chairman of the least

developed countries (LDCs) coordinators at the

World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2017.

The information was made known during a meeting

between Cambodian Minister of Commerce H.E. Pan

Sorasak and H.E. March Vanheukelen, Ambassador

of the European Union to Geneva, Republic of

Switzerland, according to the Ministry of

Commerce’s news release issued on 27 September.

Both sides also discussed the Free Trade Agreement

(FTA) with the European Union and the Trans-

Pacific-Partnership (TPP) with the United States.

H.E. March Vanheukelen expressed his welcome and

appreciation for Cambodia’s intention to chair the

group of the poor countries. He promised to provide

technical support and human resource development

for Cambodia to be successful in leading the

coordinating group of LDCs.

Regarding the FTA and TPP agreements, H.E.

Ambassador also promised to help strengthen the

competitiveness of Cambodia and persuade the

European Union to keep allowing Cambodia to

import components from Malaysia and other

countries in the region in order to boost the process

of manufacturing bicycles in Cambodia.

CAMBODIA-INDIADIRECT AIR ROUTELAUNCHES

The Cambodia-India direct air route is now open

for business and airline companies have been

invited to file their applications to operate flights

between the two countries, according to an

official from Cambodia’s State Secretariat of Civil

Aviation (SSCA).

Mr. Chansereyvuth, SSCA spokesman, revealed

that there has been a memorandum of

understanding (MoU) between Cambodia and

India for the direct flight route since 2002.

In the first seven months of the year, 24,329

Indian tourists visited Cambodia ‒ representing a

30 per cent increase compared to the same

period last year.

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

3

The Institute of Standards of Cambodia (ISC)

and the United Nations Industrial Development

Organization (UNIDO) will team up to boost the

export of four seafood products that adhere to

international standards.

Speaking at a workshop at the Ministry of

Industry and Handicraft on 27 September, ISC

director-general Chan Borin said ISC and

UNIDO joined hands to increase the export of

seafood to overseas markets.

According to Mr. Borin, he said that the

seafood products that have potential for

export are fish sauce, dried shrimp, frozen

shrimp and crab meat, and the standards must

be met before exporting to other countries.

UNIDO, which ensures food quality and food

safety, is collaborating with ISC to draft a code

of standards and make sure that food

processing adheres to international standards.

Demand for seafood products comes from

Hong Kong, China and the EU. The budget of

the program is $1.3 million over three years.

Narin Sok, head of UNIDO operations in

Cambodia, said that UN agency studied and

evaluated the potential of the seafood

products and see great potential for these

SEAFOOD EXPORTS BOOST

COMMERCE MINISTRY COOPERATES WITH AUNIVERSITY TO IMPLEMENT MICROSOFTPROJECT

The Ministry of Commerce reached a

memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the

American University of Phnom Penh (AUPP) to

implement Microsoft’s Translator Hub-Khmer

project on 26 September.

H.E. Sok Sopheak, Under Secretary of State for

Commerce, said that the collaboration will help

promote the national information technology

sector and provide many great benefits to

Cambodian people.

“The Ministry of Commerce has seen the AUPP

is the only university that can provide quality

human resources for this work and it is also the

opportunity for the students to work with

Microsoft Company through the ministry,” he

added.

Professor Dr. Nial Farrell, Vice President for the

academic and student affairs of the AUPP, said

it is an honour for the AUPP to partner with

the Ministry of Commerce for the Translation

Hub-Khmer project, as well as other projects.

According to the MoU, the AUPP is tasked to

provide human resources, expertise, and other

resources to input data in the form of words

and sentences of at least 100,000 phrases (in

Khmer and English), which will be used for

translation in computer systems and other

Microsoft programmes. It then has to

collaborate with the Ministry of Commerce to

design and conduct training programmes to

officials of the ministry and other relevant

institutions.

four products to not only serve local markets,

but potentially export to international

markets as well. In the project, UNIDO’s role is

to cooperate with ISC to make sure our

producers comply with the standards written

in the code of practices.

“The authorities involved will check if they are

complying with the standards,” he added,

saying areas where the code of practices will

be implemented include Koh Kong, Preah

Sihanouk and Kampot provinces.

The fisheries sector is vital because it

generates jobs, ensures food security and

provides income to the poorest households,

officials said, adding that more exports from

the sector contribute greatly to the national

economy.

ISSUE 40: 29 SEPT– 02 OCT 2016

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

SPRING AIRLINES TO LAUNCH NEW

DIRECT FLIGHT BETWEEN CAMBODIA

AND CHINA

Spring Airlines, China’s biggest budget carrier, will launch its

first direct flight from Phnom Penh to Guangzhou.

The launch of direct flight was made known at a press

conference held on 28 September in the presence of H.E. Pan

Sorasak, Minister of Commerce of Cambodia.

H.E. Pan Sorasak expressed his belief that the presence of

Spring Airlines in the Kingdom of Cambodia, not only

contributes to the job creation and income generation, but also

helps the royal government in poverty reduction and tourism

development.

“I strongly believed that the tourists from China as well as from

the world will continue to come to visit our Kingdom as the

Royal Government of Cambodia maintains the Open Sky Policy,

which helps to boost the development of tourism sector in our

Kingdom,” he underlined.

“The Ministry of Commerce has conducted comprehensive

reforms, aiming at promoting the business environment and

coordinating private sector development. The ministry will,

therefore, give full support to make your business operation a

success,” H.E. Minister added.

The Spring Airlines will be offering three lines for its daily

flights: Phnom Penh-Guangzhou, Siem Reap-Shenzhen, and

Guangzhou-Siem Reap/Phnom Penh.