Visions of Cambodia-Issues: 10-16 August 2015

Weekly publication of the Royal Embassy of Cambodia to UK, Denmark,
Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Ethiopia and African Union
ISSUE 31: 03-09 AUGUST 2015
CAMBODIA TO
RECEIVE BORDER
MAPS FROM UN
KINGDOM’S FIRST GERIATRIC CENTER
INAUGURATED
The United Nations has agreed to loan original
maps in its keeping to Cambodia for verifying
with the current maps the Royal government
of Cambodia is using to demarcate border
line with Vietnam, UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon said in a letter.
Continued on page (2)
INVESTMENTS
NEARLY DOUBLE
IN 1ST HALF
Cambodia has approved more than US$3
billion in investment projects in the first
half of the year, nearly double the total
value signed up in the whole of last year,
the latest data from the Council for the
Development of Cambodia shows.
Continued on page (3)
2ND AEON MALL’S
PLAN FOR CAPITAL'S
NORTH SIDE
Japanese retail giant Aeon officially unveiled
plans on Friday for its second mall in Phnom
Penh. To be completed by the middle of
2018, Aeon’s new mall will be located inside
Pong Peay City, a residential and shopping
estate project located in the city's north
side currently being developed by prominent
tycoon Ly Yong Phat.
Continued on page (3)
Her Majesty the Queen-Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk and His Majesty the King Norodom Sihamoni cut a red ribbon to
inaugurate the Preah Sihanouk Raja Geriatric Center located on the compound of the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital this week in
Phnom Penh.
His Majesty the King Norodom Sihamoni
and Her Majesty the Queen-Mother Norodom
Monineath Sihanouk presided over the opening
of the Preah Sihanouk Raja Geriatric Center
located in the Khmer-Soviet Friendship
Hospital this week in Phnom Penh.
"The construction of the building of the Geriatric
Center is to serve as a remembrance of the
great merit of the late King-Father Norodom
Sihanouk, who, while he was alive, made
many achievements in the health sector in
order to provide health care and treatment
to the people," the Queen-Mother said
during the inauguration ceremony, which
was attended by Prime Minister Hun Sen
and dozens of foreign diplomats.
“The funding for the construction of the center
came from national and international generous
people, who made donations during the
funeral of late King Sihanouk in 2012,” said
the Queen-Mother.
"The Geriatric Center aims to alleviate the
hardship of Cambodian people and to
contribute to the development of health
sector."
According to Ministry of Health, the building
has a total space of 5,048 square meters
and consists of waiting hall, consultation
rooms, check and treatment rooms, and 51
beds, which are equipped with oxygen and
vacuum systems. 
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ISSUE 31: 03-09 AUGUST 2015
CAMBODIA INAUGURATES TAKHMAU CAMBODIA TO
BRIDGE ACROSS TONLE BASSAC RIVER RECEIVE…..
The loan of the maps came after Prime
Minister Hun Sen requested him last month
to borrow Bonne map, scale 1/100,000,
that Cambodia deposited at the United
Nations in 1964.
In a letter replied to the Premier's request,
Ban said the UN Secretariat was unable to
find the mentioned maps, but identified
amongst the holdings of the UN Dag
Hammarskjold Library both electronic and
print copies of maps which may be of interest
to the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC).
"A full set of copies of these maps in digital
format was provided to HE Mr Ry Tuy, Permanent
Representative of the Kingdom of Cambodia
to the United Nations, on 27 July 2015."
Prime Minister Hun Sen cuts (centre) cuts the ribbon to inaugurate China-funded Takhmau Bridge in Kandal province, Cambodia,
3 August 2015.
Cambodia inaugurated the 855-meter-long
and 13.5-meter-wide Takhmau Bridge across
Tonle Bassac River, along with a 12-km road
in an effort to facilitate travel and boost
local economic development.
to build the bridge and its connecting road.
The bridge will be the corridor of ASEAN
highway linked from Thailand' s Bangkok to
Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh without going through
Phnom Penh.
The concrete bridge, along with its connecting
road, is located about 13 km south of Phnom Takhmau Bridge is the fifth Cambodia-China
Penh. It links National Road No. 2 west of
Friendship Bridge, and the construction of
the river to National Road No. 1 east of the
the sixth Cambodia-China Friendship Bridge
river.
(2nd Chroy Changvar Bridge) in Phnom Penh
capital has almost been completed while
According to Transport Minister Tram Iv Tek,
the project cost nearly US$33 million, which the construction of the seventh bridge (Koh
is a concessional loan from the Chinese government. Thom Bridge) is underway in Kandal province. 
The Shanghai Construction (Group) General
Company had taken more than three years
CAMBODIA TO BUILD EXPRESSWAY
NEXT YEAR
The first Phnom Penh-Preah Sihanouk
expressway is expected to be constructed
next year in order to facilitate goods
transportation from the capital to the
international seaport, according to Ministry
of Public Works and Transport. The
construction of this 190-kilometer-long and
25-meter-wide expressway will begin in
2016 and last until 2020 with an investment
capital of some US$1.6 billion.
According to Cambodia’s Expressway
Master Plan, by 2020, Cambodia needs
expressways of 850 kilometers long in
total which would cost some US$9
billion, and by 2040 the country needs an
investment capital of about US$26 billion
to build 2,230 kilometer-long expressway,
it added. 
df
According to Ban, the library would loan the
aforementioned maps to the RGC for a limited
period of time, subject to conditions and
understandings to be set out in an exchange
of letters between the UN and the RGC.
In a replied letter this week, Prime Minister
Hun Sen thanked Ban for lending the maps
to Cambodia.
The Premier said the Government has set
up an ad-hoc committee, led by Deputy
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor
Namhong, in order to receive the maps. 
TWO NEW POLITICAL
PARTIES APPROVED
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Interior Sar Kheng approved for two new
political parties—the Grassroots Democracy
Party (GDP) and Khmer Solidarity Party
(KSP) to contest in the upcoming 2017
commune/Sangkat council and the 2018
National Election.
Both GDP and KSP submitted applications
for their registration with the Interior
Ministry this week.
Prime Minister Hun Sen earlier this week
during a bridge inauguration in Kandal
province’s Ta Khmao city expressed his
support to them, but rejected that his
ruling Cambodian People Party is not at the
back for their establishment. 
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VISIONS OF CAM BODIA
2ND AEON MALL’S PLAN FOR…..
INVESTMENTS
NEARLY DOUBLE…
The government signed of on US$3.1 billion
from January to June, compared to just
US$1.6 billion in the entirety of 2014,
according to the CDC.
China tops the list with value of projects
registered, followed by South Korea, the
European Union, Malaysia and Vietnam.
The main sectors are tourism, industry and
services according to the data.
With about 151,000 square meters of floor
space, the new mall will be larger than the
108,000 square meters of Aeon’s current
mall, which recently celebrated its one-year
anniversary and boasts international clothing
brands such as Levis, Mango, Clarks and Puma.
According to Aeon, the new complex will
target Cambodia’s higher-end consumer,
but will also continue to cater to everyday
shoppers, with a variety of international
clothing and food and beverage brands.
Pointing to the IMF’s 7 per cent GDP growth
forecast for the year, Aeon Asia managing
director Washizawa Shinobu said his firm
was confident Cambodia’s emerging middle
class would make their newest mall a success,
aiming to attract 10 million visitors in its
first year.
"I am sure Cambodian people will be richer
with economic growth like that, which
means they will buy more products,” he
said.
Aeon’s existing $205 million mall received
close to 15 million visitors in its first year of
operation. 
RICE EXPORT UP OVER 50% IN SEVEN
MONTHS
For the first seven months of 2015, Cambodia
has exported some 312,317 tons of milled
rice to international markets, up 53.1
percent if compared with the same period
last year, pointed out a report of the Secretariat
of One Window Service for Rice Export
Formality.
In July alone, about 28,492 tons of milled
rice have been exported, an increase by
28.40 percent from the figure in July 2014,
added the report.
MAYBANKMANULIFE FORM
LIFE INSURANCE
PARTNERSHIP
According to the report, Cambodia exported
its milled rice to 53 countries by 72 rice
exporting companies. The markets for
Cambodian rice included 26 EU member
countries (193,903 tons), some ASEAN
member countries: Malaysia, Indonesia and
Singapore (34,099 tons), and other 24
countries and regions like China, Hong
Kong, Australia, the U.S., Taiwan, and
Canada (84.315 tons). 
Maybank Cambodia and Manulife Cambodia
announced that they have entered into an
agreement which will see Maybank distributing
life insurance as well as providing financial
solutions from Manulife to its customers in
the country. The current distribution agreement
represents Manulife’s second bancassurance
partnership after three years of operations
in the market. 
In early July, the International Monetary
Fund projected that Cambodia’s GDP to
grow by 7 per cent this year, at a similar
rate to last.
Growth would be driven by construction,
real estate and garments exports while the
inflation is expected to rise moderately to
2.6 per cent by the year’s end due to the
sharp oil decline in oil prices, the IMF said.
BANKING INDUSTRY
RECORDS 33 PCT
GROWTH IN
LENDING
Cambodia's banking sector has seen a 33percent rise in lending in the past 12
months as of June 2015, according to the
latest figures of the National Bank of
Cambodia (NBC) this week.
The central bank said that the kingdom's 37
commercial banks had lent a total of US$
11.9 billion to customers by June this year,
up 33 percent compared to the lending
amount by June last year.
On the deposit side, the customers' deposits
at the banks had reached US$13 billion by
June this year, up 25.9 percent compared
to the deposit amount by June last year.
The Kingdom’s banking sector has been
serving some 2.3 million borrowers and 3.7
million depositors, according to the NBC. 
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ISSUE 31: 03-09 AUGUST 2015
CAMBODIA’S WORLD
HERITAGE
DECLARED BY UNESCO
.
Visions of Cambodia is produced by the Press and Information Unit, Royal Embassy of Cambodia
64 Brondesbury Park l Willesden Green l London NW6 7AT l United Kingdom l Tel: +44(0)208 451 7850 l Email: [email protected] l www.cambodianembassy.org.uk
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