Cambodia to present big events to attract more tourists

Cambodia will present big events late this year to attract more tourists to visit the country and help boost the economy and reduce poverty, said Tourism Minister Thong Kong here on Thursday.

"We will have night markets soon in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap province, home of the Angkor Wat temples, organize the Johnnie Walker Cambodia Golf Open 2007 in Siem Reap, conduct better celebration of the Water Festival than previous years in Phnom Penh, hold half marathon in Siem Reap, and join the World Culture Expo 2007 from Sept. 7 to Oct. 26 in South Korea," he told reporters at the half-year review meeting of his ministry's work.

Cambodia is also preparing to host the Angkor International Tourism Expo 2007 in Siem Reap in early October and the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asia Nations) Boat Racing soon in Phnom Penh, he added.

"These events can show tourists that our country is stable and peaceful to visit," he said.

The plane crash in June, which killed 22 people, had limited impact on the kingdom's tourism industry, as the government had worked hard in the rescue operation and the aviation companies will strengthen the control of their planes' quality, improve safety measures for tourists and adopt better flight routes, he said.

In the first six months of this year, Cambodia received 975,349 tourists, about 20 percent increase over the same period last year, and most of them were from South Korea, Japan, the United States, Vietnam and China, he said.

At the end of this year, we estimate to have about two million foreign tourists in all, he added.

Last year, 1.7 million foreign tourists visited Cambodia, harvesting over one billion U.S. dollars for national revenues.

Tourism is one of the three pillar industries of Cambodia. The Angkor Wat temples in Siem Reap, the clean beach resorts in Sihanoukville and the Phnom Penh city are travelers' hottest destinations.

Source: Xinhua

Cambodia's PMT Air has safety problems, inspection shows

PMT Air, a Cambodian airline, was found to have unattended safety deficiencies in an inspection of foreign carriers serving South Korea, a report showed Thursday.

The inspection of seven foreign airlines by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) followed the crash of a PMT Air plane last month in southern Cambodia in which 13 South Korean tourists died.

PMT Air topped the list with 10 deficiencies, followed by Russia's SAT Airlines and Cambodia's Royal Khmer Airlines, with seven and five safety problems respectively, the report said.

PMT Air was cited because its crew captains, non-maintenance personnel, conducted safety maintenance checks 26 times over the past three months. The company was also found to have not updated its service route guidelines.

The airline currently runs six flights each week between South Korea and Siem Reap, a popular Cambodian tourist destination.

SAT Airlines was found to have used non-standard parts in the front wheels of its aircraft, while Royal Khmer hasn't updated its service route guidelines.

The report will be forwarded to air safety officials of the nations involved, along with demands for them to strengthen safety protocols, CASA officials said.

The Transportation Ministry announced earlier in the year that it plans to introduce a safety watch list of carriers with a high risk of accidents, similar to the one initiated by the European Union last year, which placed restrictions on 179 airlines from 14 nations because of safety concerns.

Japanese company to invest in Cambodia for bio-diesel

A Japanese company will invest 800 million U.S. dollars in Cambodia to plant castor bean and refine castor oil into bio-diesel, company source said here on Friday.

The Biwako Bio-Laboratory Co., Ltd. from Japan will plant castor bean on 48,000 hectares of land in Kompong Speu and Kompong Cham provinces and then establish a factory to refine castor oil into bio-diesel which is expected to replace gasoline, said Mitsuo Hayashi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company.

"Now we are waiting for the result of the oil sample test in the laboratory in Japan. We want to know what kind of seeds will be planted to provide high turnouts," he said.

Some 48,000 hectares of castor plants will yield 100,000 tons of castor oil annually and 40,000 tons of bio-diesel after refinery, he said.

The company needs 500,000 hectares of land for the project in 20 years and the Cambodian government is now helping to find land, he added.

Mitsuo is among the 30 representatives of the Japanese delegation currently on visit to Cambodia. Kozo Yamamoto, Deputy Minister of Economy of Japan, leads the team to find investment opportunities here.

Japan is the largest donor country for Cambodia but has little investment in the kingdom.

Source: Xinhua

Hundreds of Cambodian teenagers benefit from football education project

Around 500 children aged from 10 to 13 are benefiting from the Cambodian government-overseen Starfish Foundation Football Coaching, local media said on Wednesday.

The children from 10 teams in Phnom Penh and four in Siem Reap province receive training some six hours a week, English-language newspaper the Cambodian Daily quoted Tola May, deputy secretary- general of the Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC), as saying.

"Fun, discipline and health are all benefits that the kids can gain from football. The role of coaches is not just about training children in terms of football. They are teachers in other aspects of life also," he said.

FFC oversees the football coaching project since it came into being in April 2006 to help disadvantaged children of the kingdom.

Currently, FFC helps organize sponsorship for the project, while the non-governmental Starfish Foundation provides equipment and pay salaries to the coaches.

Source: Xinhua