Truckers hit by fee

Truck drivers entering Cambodia from Aranyaprathet have been caught off guard after Cambodian customs officers began demanding a refundable cash levy on their vehicles.
About 150 trucks were stopped yesterday at the Poi Pet checkpoint after the customs authority changed its foreign-vehicle screening regulations.
Officers at the checkpoint said drivers must now show truck ownership documents and pay US$5,000 (170,000 baht) before they could take their vehicles into Cambodia, said Capt Charn Wongwaimethee, the border police commander in Aranyaprathet district.
Cambodia imposed the regulation yesterday morning and truck drivers who had not been informed were forced to park their trucks in front of the border checkpoint on the Thai side, Capt Charn said.
Management of Thai and Cambodian transport companies were called in and, after negotiations with the Cambodian authority, the officers agreed to a compromise.
Shortly after noon, they allowed the trucks to deliver their goods, but said they would begin enforcing the regulation without exception from today.
He quoted Maj Leem Tek, of the Office of Cambodian-Thai Border Coordination in Poi Pet, as saying the rules were introduced as a reprisal measure. Thai customs officers closely examine Cambodian vehicle documents whenever they cross into Thailand, he said.

Bangkok Airways to lose Siem Reap-Phnom Penh route

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Phnom Penh - The Cambodian government said it would not renew the contract allowing Thai carrier Bangkok Airways to operate the domestic Phnom Penh-Siem Reap route when the deal expires next month, local media reported Friday. Officials said the decision would boost passenger numbers for Cambodia's new operator, Cambodia Angkor Air, a joint venture between the Cambodian government and state-owned Vietnam Airlines. It started operations in July.
Mao Havannal, the head of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper that the decision had been taken to give the new airline a boost.
"Now that we have our own domestic airline, Bangkok Airways will not be allowed to continue their flights when the agreement finishes on October 25," he told the paper.
Bangkok Airways operates four flights a day between Cambodia's capital and the key tourist destination of Siem Reap, home to the famous Angkor Wat temple complex, which is visited by millions of people annually.
Bangkok Airways began flying the route last year after its subsidiary, Siem Reap Airways, was grounded amid reports of financial irregularities and safety concerns following an audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

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Viettel tops Cambodia’s telecom market

Vietnam’s military-run telecom company Viettel has become the largest telecommunication provider in Cambodia since it opened its services there in February, a company representative said.
Metfone, Viettel’s trade name in Cambodia, now accounts for 60 percent of the country’s ADSL service market share and 50 percent of landline services, according to the company.
While it ranks second among nine mobile phone service providers operating in Cambodia, Metfone is the only business to provide wireless fixed phone services, with nearly 20,000 customers, said the firm.

Cambodian FM flies to New York to attend UN General Assembly

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong left here on Tuesday for New York to attend the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly to be held from Sept. 23 to 30.
Koy Kuong, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said Tuesday that as planned Hor Namhongwill deliver a speech to the session with focuses on world economic crisis, millennium development goals, climate change, Doha Round, food and energy security and the reform of the United Nations Security Council.
Also, on the sidelines of the U.N forum, Koy Kuong said, Hor Namhong plans to have bilateral meetings with other foreign ministers including the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
For the meeting with Hillary Clinton which is planned on Sept. 28, Hor Namhong will discuss the issues on bilateral cooperation, freedom of expression, the U.S. trade act, ASEAN-U.S. relations and the U.S. assistance to Cambodia, Koy Kuong added.
It will be the first time for Hor Namhong to meet bilaterally with Hillary Clinton, according to Koy Kuong.

Preah Vihear case to run till Tuesday: Klanarong

The National Anti Corruption Commission is expected to complete its deliberation on the Preah Vihear impeachment case involving the Samak Sundaravej government by next Tuesday, NACC member Klanarong Chintik said yesterday.

The NACC had already started hearing the case but it would take a week to complete since the proceedings had to cover the individual involvement of each accused, Klanarong said.
"Today's deliberation has covered 12 of 44 accused ministers and officials and the NACC should be able to rule on the case by September 29," he said.
At the heart of the legal wrangling is whether the then prime minister Samak and his ministers intentionally bypassed Parliament when drafting the Cambodian-Thai memorandum of understanding related to Preah Vihear Temple dispute.
Under Article 190 of the Constitution, the government is obligated to seek approval from parliament on the framework to negotiate an international agreement when it has ramifications in regard to borders.
Based on the Constitution Court ruling last year, the government failed to comply with Article 190.
Klanarong said the NACC had to determine the involvement of each accused in order to apportion the wrongdoing involved by each of the accused.
After reviewing the wrongdoing committed by each, the next step was for the NACC to name those targetted for impeachment and those who will face criminal prosecution.
He denied speculation that the NACC might target former foreign minister Noppadon Patama to shoulder the blame alone, saying the deliberation had not even reach halfway to form any conclusion. Source : The nation