Positive news for Cambodia

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General Electric to open office in Cambodia


U.S. multinational General Electric (GE) plans to open an office in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh this year, local media reported Friday.

GE's interest in Cambodia is mostly focused on health sector equipment and machinery, the Cambodia Daily quoted Joseph Mussomeli, U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, as saying.

Representatives from the U.S. technology and services conglomerate were part of a delegation of U.S. executives that met with senior Cambodian officials Wednesday, said Mussomeli.

In addition to GE, the delegation included representatives from ConocoPhillips, Oracle, Federal Express and ITT Defense, according to a statement issued by the group.

The GE executives discussed the possibility of bringing diagnostic machinery and materials to Cambodia, whose health facilities were still lacking such equipment, said Cambodian Health Minister Nuth Sokhom, who has met with the delegation.

Bretton Sciaroni, president of the American Cambodian Business Association, said the GE executives also expressed interest in power plants during their visit, the newspaper said.

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Club Med Plans New Resorts in China, India, Cambodia

By Beth Jinks and Catherine Yang

May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Club Mediterranee SA, Europe's largest resort company, said it's seeking sites to build resorts in Asia, its fastest-growing market, in nations including China and India.

``We've doubled the market in Southeast Asia since about two years ago,'' Caroline Puechoultres, Club Med's regional chief executive, said in an interview in Hong Kong today. ``We've identified 1 million to 2 million potential users in places like China, India and even Southeast Asia.'' Resorts in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are also being considered, she said.

The number of people that visited another country increased 4.5 percent in 2006 to a record, the World Tourism Organization said in January. International tourist visits rose to 842 million last year and may exceed 1.56 billion by 2020, fuelling demand for hotel and resort services, it said.

About 200,000 of Club Med's 1.6 million members worldwide are in Asia and that number is expected to double in the next few years, Puechoultres said.

Club Med has nine Asia resorts in Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Maldives and Polynesia. It takes up to three years to build a new Club Med village ``from scratch'' and costs between 50 million euros ($67.7 million) and 100 million euros, Puechoultres said.

Terrorism, Tsunamis

Terrorism and recent natural disasters in the region continue to deter some tourists, she said.

Southern Asia is still rebuilding after the December 2004 tsunami killed hundreds of thousands along coastlines. Countries, including Thailand and Indonesia, are tackling terrorists who have targeted tourists in bombing attacks and much of the region is dealing with avian influenza.

While Club Med's Thailand resort in Phuket has ``completely recovered'' from the tsunami after a 5 million euro renovation and repair, political instability, an escalating insurgency in the south, bombings in the capital Bangkok and martial law across part of the kingdom since the Sept. 19 coup have taken a toll, Puechoultres said.

Indonesia's resort island of Bali was hit by bombings in 2002 and 2005, killing hundreds of tourists and locals.

Industrywide, 481 hotels are under construction or planned for China and 198 in India, up from 316 and 161 last September, Lodging Econometrics, a consulting company in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, estimated last month. Another 283 hotels are under development in the rest of Asia.

``Asia Pacific will more and more come back as a really growing destination for tourism and Southeast Asia will grow probably the fastest,'' Puechoultres said. ``The cost of operations is quite low in the region and the sites are just wonderful.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Catherine Yang in Hong Kong at cyyang@bloomberg.net ; Beth Jinks in Bangkok at bjinks1@bloomberg.net.
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Four Points by Sheraton Angkor, Cambodia set to open in 2009
Search ASIA Travel Tips .com Friday, 11 May 2007


Starwood has signed its first Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Cambodia and the Indochina region: Four Points by Sheraton Angkor, Cambodia. Scheduled to open in 2009, the hotel will feature 150 rooms, 8,500 square feet of meeting space, 3 restaurants, a health club, spa, swimming pool and a business center. The hotel will be located on Road No. 6 which links Siem Reap international airport to Siem Reap town. The hotel is a 10-minute drive from the airport, a 5-minute drive to the city and a 10-minute drive to the heritage site of Angkor temples.

“We are thrilled about the choice location of our new hotel in Angkor and are honored to partner with TTY Corporation Co., Ltd to manage this exciting new addition to our portfolio in the Indochina region, which will provide the Four Points by Sheraton brand with a great presence. Cambodia’s tourism industry has continued to experience very strong growth for the past few years, with an average growth rate of close to 20%. In particular, over 50% of travelers to Cambodia visit Siem Reap. Although there are a number of upper upscale international and local hotels in Siem Reap, there are no internationally branded upscale hotels present in Siem Reap. The introduction of Four Points by Sheraton Angkor will be an exciting addition to the market and will offer travelers to this city more options in terms of guest experiences and accommodation,” said Wayne Buckingham, Regional Vice President for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Thailand and Indochina region.

Besides Four Points by Sheraton Angkor, Starwood is currently developing eight other new hotels in Thailand and the Indochina region: Le Meridien Pattaya Resort, Le Meridien Chiang Mai Resort, Le Meridien Chiang Rai Resort, Le Meridien Bangkok, Le Meridien Suvarnabhumi Golf Resort & Spa, W Retreat & Residences, Koh Samui, Sheraton Hua Hin Resort, Vana Belle Samui Resort & Spa, a Luxury Collection hotel.

See other recent news regarding: Starwood, Four Points by Sheraton, Angkor, Cambodia

Will we be able to snap out of it?

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A drop in the bucket? or is it really something better than nothing at all?
What are we really?

Please refer to
"The Lesser-Among-Evils Mentality"
(most important contribution to the rebuilding of the Cambodian individual and Society)

Theary Seng

 

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Mr. hiccup, you may answer your questions yourself. I know who I am, don't include me in your we question.

I am not Theary Seng. I prefer the news not a bias opinions.

Have a good day sir.

quote:

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Originally posted by hiccup
A drop in the bucket? or is it really something better than nothing at all?
What are we really?

Please refer to
"The Lesser-Among-Evils Mentality"
(most important contribution to the rebuilding of the Cambodian individual and Society)

Theary Seng

---

Everything has to start with the first step and the news is great. Club med?!, GE?! That's great!!

it is a different cambodia today. as much as i celebrate the progress, i am concerned by the polution and what an extreme capitalism may bring. i think this is where the opposing parties can really be of value to cambodia. a check and balance to ensure that the growth is manageable. they need to work at this end with the u.s. government to make sure that the u.s. government doesn't just turn the u.s. companies lose in cambodia. sustainability like the model enthusiastically adopted by the burgerville would be ideal.

this is expected after the "anonymous cambodia-watcher at washington d.c." and the u.s. government realized that a sanction against cambodia only gave china the ultimate economic, duplomatic and social advantages in cambodia. you will see more u.s. companies in cambodia. personally, i welcome them for an economic and duplomatic balance against china, and vietnam... well, other countries too... such as japan, korea(s), malaysia, australia... etc. this would make a healthy competition. cambodia will be at a position to bargain for a sustainable economic/social model... i would hope.

notice in another thread, i said u.s. is stepping up to compete with china in cambodia. here we are... you now see not just the momentum but the acceleration... cambodia has something to look forward to.

quote:

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Originally posted by nikme
Everything has to start with the first step and the news is great. Club med?!, GE?! That's great!!

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Hahaha...I'm really surprise to see so many Americans doing business in Cambodia.
I mean do they really know how to deal with the crook gov't?

____________________________________

One steps only bring another. When other companies see international companies in Cambodia, they'll think "hey, if they can do it, we can" and companies are competitive among each other. I really believe that Cambodia will be a good and decent country in the future...but we'll all be dead by then...haha.

we are getting there. here is some more great news and progress Cambodia is making.

"People heard voices calling out, 'Help me! Help me!' " said Svay Saroeun, 50, a deputy village chief. "Maybe they are angry at the villagers for digging up their graves. Or maybe they were tortured to death and now they are being tortured again by people who are disturbing their sleep."

Srey Noeun, 47, a farmer with four small children, said she was unable to sleep for three nights after she dug two small gold earrings out of a grave.

"I'm afraid that the owner will take revenge on me because she died with nothing but her earrings and now I have taken them," Srey Noeun said. "She'll say, 'Please give them back. They are all I had.' "

Srey Noeun said she sold the earrings as quickly as she could and bought things she needed: two kilograms, or 4.4 pounds, of pork, a sack of rice, oil for cooking and for lamps, salt, pepper, seasoning and milk powder for her youngest child.

"We never have enough rice," Srey Noeun said. "Normally we can't afford to buy pork."

For a country that is rich with all the natural resources and support of many NGOs/peacecorp...there are still people digging graves for a chance. I can't wait to see how much progress Cambodia make when the oil thingy get resolved.

I'll say it again. Having all these other country like China doing business in Cambodia is not a good thing. They are raping the country dry. From the outside they look like they give a dam but the government and them are sucking the country dry. Let me be wrong.

____________________________________

 

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KSaron,

Why don't you try to convince all white folk such as The US of A to invest in Cambodia before the Chinese gets all?

Anywhere here there are children who starved by their parents and home less. Yesterday there were a case of shelter care men stabing each other to death because of food and shelter.

quote:

---

Originally posted by KSaron
we are getting there. here is some more great news and progress Cambodia is making.

"People heard voices calling out, 'Help me! Help me!' " said Svay Saroeun, 50, a deputy village chief. "Maybe they are angry at the villagers for digging up their graves. Or maybe they were tortured to death and now they are being tortured again by people who are disturbing their sleep."

Srey Noeun, 47, a farmer with four small children, said she was unable to sleep for three nights after she dug two small gold earrings out of a grave.

"I'm afraid that the owner will take revenge on me because she died with nothing but her earrings and now I have taken them," Srey Noeun said. "She'll say, 'Please give them back. They are all I had.' "

Srey Noeun said she sold the earrings as quickly as she could and bought things she needed: two kilograms, or 4.4 pounds, of pork, a sack of rice, oil for cooking and for lamps, salt, pepper, seasoning and milk powder for her youngest child.

"We never have enough rice," Srey Noeun said. "Normally we can't afford to buy pork."

For a country that is rich with all the natural resources and support of many NGOs/peacecorp...there are still people digging graves for a chance. I can't wait to see how much progress Cambodia make when the oil thingy get resolved.

I'll say it again. Having all these other country like China doing business in Cambodia is not a good thing. They are raping the country dry. From the outside they look like they give a dam but the government and them are sucking the country dry. Let me be wrong.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by hoja
KSaron,

Why don't you try to convince all white folk such as The US of A to invest in Cambodia before the Chinese gets all?

Anywhere here there are children who starved by their parents and home less. Yesterday there were a case of shelter care men stabing each other to death because of food and shelter.

quote:

---

Originally posted by KSaron
we are getting there. here is some more great news and progress Cambodia is making.

"People heard voices calling out, 'Help me! Help me!' " said Svay Saroeun, 50, a deputy village chief. "Maybe they are angry at the villagers for digging up their graves. Or maybe they were tortured to death and now they are being tortured again by people who are disturbing their sleep."

Srey Noeun, 47, a farmer with four small children, said she was unable to sleep for three nights after she dug two small gold earrings out of a grave.

"I'm afraid that the owner will take revenge on me because she died with nothing but her earrings and now I have taken them," Srey Noeun said. "She'll say, 'Please give them back. They are all I had.' "

Srey Noeun said she sold the earrings as quickly as she could and bought things she needed: two kilograms, or 4.4 pounds, of pork, a sack of rice, oil for cooking and for lamps, salt, pepper, seasoning and milk powder for her youngest child.

"We never have enough rice," Srey Noeun said. "Normally we can't afford to buy pork."

For a country that is rich with all the natural resources and support of many NGOs/peacecorp...there are still people digging graves for a chance. I can't wait to see how much progress Cambodia make when the oil thingy get resolved.

I'll say it again. Having all these other country like China doing business in Cambodia is not a good thing. They are raping the country dry. From the outside they look like they give a dam but the government and them are sucking the country dry. Let me be wrong.

---

---

There are different kinds of poverty everywhere. I know that the people in Africa have it worst then Cambodia but that does not give me the standard. Unlike most people, I don't accept how things are in Cambodia. You can say there are poor people in America and you can say there are corruption in America and I don't care too much about it but just because there are poverty in America does not make it ok for it to be in Cambodia. I choose to go beyond the golden facade. I choose to beyond the glaze of Phnom Penh. These things are what I consider "death trap." But I am only a paranoid man.

____________________________________

 

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To be honest with you it is nothing wrong of your thinking or my thinking. My oponion or yours. It just that you are way ahead and I am slow. That's the only different between us.

quote:

---

Originally posted by KSaron

quote:

---

Originally posted by hoja
KSaron,

Why don't you try to convince all white folk such as The US of A to invest in Cambodia before the Chinese gets all?

Anywhere here there are children who starved by their parents and home less. Yesterday there were a case of shelter care men stabing each other to death because of food and shelter.

quote:

---

Originally posted by KSaron
we are getting there. here is some more great news and progress Cambodia is making.

"People heard voices calling out, 'Help me! Help me!' " said Svay Saroeun, 50, a deputy village chief. "Maybe they are angry at the villagers for digging up their graves. Or maybe they were tortured to death and now they are being tortured again by people who are disturbing their sleep."

Srey Noeun, 47, a farmer with four small children, said she was unable to sleep for three nights after she dug two small gold earrings out of a grave.

"I'm afraid that the owner will take revenge on me because she died with nothing but her earrings and now I have taken them," Srey Noeun said. "She'll say, 'Please give them back. They are all I had.' "

Srey Noeun said she sold the earrings as quickly as she could and bought things she needed: two kilograms, or 4.4 pounds, of pork, a sack of rice, oil for cooking and for lamps, salt, pepper, seasoning and milk powder for her youngest child.

"We never have enough rice," Srey Noeun said. "Normally we can't afford to buy pork."

For a country that is rich with all the natural resources and support of many NGOs/peacecorp...there are still people digging graves for a chance. I can't wait to see how much progress Cambodia make when the oil thingy get resolved.

I'll say it again. Having all these other country like China doing business in Cambodia is not a good thing. They are raping the country dry. From the outside they look like they give a dam but the government and them are sucking the country dry. Let me be wrong.

---

---

There are different kinds of poverty everywhere. I know that the people in Africa have it worst then Cambodia but that does not give me the standard. Unlike most people, I don't accept how things are in Cambodia. You can say there are poor people in America and you can say there are corruption in America and I don't care too much about it but just because there are poverty in America does not make it ok for it to be in Cambodia. I choose to go beyond the golden facade. I choose to beyond the glaze of Phnom Penh. These things are what I consider "death trap." But I am only a paranoid man.

---

Princess,

Can you tell me which gov't has no crook?

There is no crook or bad guys in business, only profits and growth.

quote:

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Originally posted by simoneek
Hahaha...I'm really surprise to see so many Americans doing business in Cambodia.
I mean do they really know how to deal with the crook gov't?

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Theary Seng need a real man to keep her in check with reality.
I don't mean someone else man either.

quote:

---

Originally posted by hiccup
A drop in the bucket? or is it really something better than nothing at all?
What are we really?

Please refer to
"The Lesser-Among-Evils Mentality"
(most important contribution to the rebuilding of the Cambodian individual and Society)

Theary Seng

---

 

---

No offend but I don't think most Khmer men like yourself would able to handle her.

Khmer needs the kind of smart woman like Theary Seng to run the country someday.....

quote:

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Originally posted by texan

Theary Seng need a real man to keep her in check with reality.
I don't mean someone else man either.

quote:

---

Originally posted by hiccup
A drop in the bucket? or is it really something better than nothing at all?
What are we really?

Please refer to
"The Lesser-Among-Evils Mentality"
(most important contribution to the rebuilding of the Cambodian individual and Society)

Theary Seng

---

---

i would love to see a khmer woman as a head of cambodia. having worked with a number of women cambodian community leaders, i think the world can use more women leadership. perhaps we seek more duplimatic solutions over marshall solutions.

yesterday at the portland international airport, i had a privilege among the royal rosarians, portland mayor tom potter and the liberian-american community members of greeting liberian president ellen johnson sirleaf. shaking her hand and welcoming her to portland reminded me what a difference a committed woman such as she can make in the world.

i encourage every woman to take up leadership. i'd follow a woman any day!

quote:

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Originally posted by tepbaramey
No offend but I don't think most Khmer men like yourself would able to handle her.

Khmer needs the kind of smart woman like Theary Seng to run the country someday.....

quote:

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Originally posted by texan

Theary Seng need a real man to keep her in check with reality.
I don't mean someone else man either.

quote:

---

Originally posted by hiccup
A drop in the bucket? or is it really something better than nothing at all?
What are we really?

Please refer to
"The Lesser-Among-Evils Mentality"
(most important contribution to the rebuilding of the Cambodian individual and Society)

Theary Seng

---

---

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Sorry, I never was into used cars.
Btw, she is not my type.
I am not most Khmer men.
There are those that produce results, and some like to advertise about results and criticize its lack of perfection.

Note to yourself, I never make any reference to her intelligent or there of.

quote:

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Originally posted by tepbaramey
No offend but I don't think most Khmer men like yourself would able to handle her.

Khmer needs the kind of smart woman like Theary Seng to run the country someday.....

quote:

---

Originally posted by texan

Theary Seng need a real man to keep her in check with reality.
I don't mean someone else man either.

quote:

---

Originally posted by hiccup
A drop in the bucket? or is it really something better than nothing at all?
What are we really?

Please refer to
"The Lesser-Among-Evils Mentality"
(most important contribution to the rebuilding of the Cambodian individual and Society)

Theary Seng

---

---

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[Message last modified 05-18-2007 11:45pm by texan]

Magnificient!

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quote:

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Originally posted by texan
Sorry, I never was into used cars.
Btw, she is not my type.
I am not most Khmer men.
There are those that produce results, and some like to advertise about results and criticize its lack of perfection.
Note to yourself, I never make any reference to her intelligent or there of.
.....
Theary Seng need a real man to keep her in check with reality.
I don't mean someone else man either.

---

Just beautiful! Two superb comments by Texan!

____________________________________
Logic & Common sense!

Business News
Cambodia calls positive first-ever Moody's ratings a milestone

May 21, 2007, 13:39 GMT


Phnom Penh - The Cambodian government Monday welcomed its first-ever foreign currency and local currency government bond ratings from Moody's, saying the B2 rating represented a milestone.

In a joint government press release with the government's rating advisor Credit Suisse, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said the rating represented a new era in financial transparency and foreign investment for Cambodia.

'The ratings are a milestone in improving investor confidence in Cambodia and show Cambodia's willingness to make public its financial health,' Sok An said in the press release.

Cambodia also secured a B+ rating for long-term foreign and local currency government notes from Standard & Poor's, according to the press release.

Standard & Poor's also awarded a short-term foreign and local currency rating of B. Moody's assigned a foreign currency notes ceiling of B1, a foreign-currency ceiling for bank deposits of B3, and a local currency notes ceiling and a local currency deposit ceiling of Ba1.

Moody's said the ratings at least partially reflected a favourable offset of Cambodia's current account deficit against foreign-direct investment inflows and a build-up in official foreign exchange reserves to a level adequate in relation to the country's near-term debt repayments.

The continued success of the country's tourism and garment sectors as well as anticipated good returns from oil and gas reserves, on which commercial drilling is expected to begin within two years, were also contributing factors, it said.

'Cambodia has recently attracted significant inflows of foreign- direct investment into sectors such as tourism, garments and energy, which should help to continue to boost the overall level of investment in the economy as well as to strengthen the balance of payments,' Moody's Vice President Thomas Byrne said in the release.

The release also quoted Standard & Poor's primary credit analyst Agost Bernad as saying real gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging nine percent over the past six years had boosted Cambodia's per-capital GDP by 64 percent.

'There is reason to expect similar robust growth performance in the medium term, given the policy continuity, which focuses on export-led growth and stability in price and exchange rates,' Barnad said in the release.

Credit Suisse said the ratings showed that the ratings agencies had recognized 'significant momentum' in Cambodia's reform programmes.

The outlook for all ratings was given as stable, according to the press release. All short-term ratings and ceilings were not prime.


© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur