CAMBODIAN PM MEETS PRESIDENT OF JAPAN-

MEKONG PARLIAMENTARY FRIENSHIP

ASSOCIATION

saying that the Mekong-Japan relations are

inseparable from the ASEAN-Japan relations in

terms of ASEAN’s integration.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen also invited Mr. Ryu

Shionoya to pay another visit to Cambodia

On that Day, Prime Minister Samdech Akka

Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen held get-

together with more than 100 Cambodian

students who have been pursuing their

studies in Japan, on the sidelines of his four-

day visit in Japan.

The premier briefed them on Cambodia’s

current political and economic situation. He

also recommended them to follow the

government’s activities, the real situation in

Prime Ministe Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen of Cambodia received Mr. Ryu Shionoya, President of Japan-Mekong Parliamentary Friendship Association, in Tokyo on Aug, 2017.

In the meeting, Mr. Ryu Shionoya spoke highly of Cambodia’s progress and informed the premier of the opening of a Consulate Office of the Embassy of Japan in Siem Reap province next year to promote tourism and

investment in Cambodia. Ryu Shionoya also asked Samdech Techo

Hun Sen to help promoting the ASEAN-Japan friendship especially on the comprehensive partnership of cooperation between Japan

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen hold talk with President of Mekong -Japan Parliamentary Friendship Association Mr. Ryo Shionoya, on the side lines of the premier’s official working visit in Japa n, from August 6-9, 2017.

ASEAN’S 50th

ANNIVERSA11RY AND CAMBODIA’S COMMON JOURNEY

H.E. Senior Minister Prak Sokhonn, Minister of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International

Cooperation

ISSUE 4 6 : 1 5 – 3 0 Au g u st 2 0 1 7

ASEAN @50 Cambodia jointly cherishes with all the ten members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) as we are celebrating the group’s 50th anniversary this year. This regional bloc has come a long way since its foundation in 1967 weathering economic and security storms and challenges. Currently, ASEAN is being looked upon as one of the most successful regionalism models and it is taking a center stage in shaping agenda for peace and prosperity in the reg ion and beyond. ASEAN shows how integration becomes plausible despite differences in background, culture and stages of development. Following half a century of evolution of open regionalism, the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) at the end of 2015 was seen as one of the greatest achievements that ASEAN has been undertaking. The AEC Blueprint 2025 provides broad directions and strategic measures towards achieving a highly integrated community along with other principal documents namely the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) Blueprint 2025 and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint 2025.

CC oonnttiinnuueedd oonn ppaaggee ((22))

Weekly publication of the Royal Embassy of Cambodia to UK, Denmark,

Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Ethiopia and African Union

JAPANESE PREMIER SENDS CONGRATU LA-

TORY MESSAGE TO CAMBO DIAN AND ASEAN

PEOPLE

ASEAN’S

ANNIVERSARY … CC oo nn tt iinn uu eedd…… As the region is increasingly integrated, ASEAN has also been instrumental in addressing non-traditional security challenges such as climate change, pandemics, natural disasters, trans-national crimes in various forms and protection of rights of migrant workers, etc. ASEAN’s 50th Anniversary and Cambodia’s Common Journey.

August 2017 Cambodia’s Common Journey Cambodia, as the latest member of ASEAN, joined the group on 30 April 1999. It is our pride to be part of the community and to build this community together in the later half of the group’s history. Integration into international community has always been the interest of Cambodia’s foreign policy and national development strategy following long-term suffering from civil war, international isolation and economic embargo. In bidding for membership, ASEAN was attractive for Cambodia in terms of joint commitments and collective responsibility for peace, stability and prosperity based on the principles of respecting independence, sovereignty, not interfering in other countries’ internal affairs and equal treatment without impositions. ASEAN works with consensus, whether the country is rich or poor, big or small, and every member has one voice equally. On top of the above principles, economic and diplomatic integration were also among other decisive factors. We have benefited a lot from this vibrant and increasingly integrated community, where flows of goods, capital and peoples are being constantly facilitated and improved. ASEAN has come thus far under a consensus-based community building through the regional institutional building with open-end evolutionary approach which allows flexibility and room for members’ collective adaptation toward common goals. With enhanced hard and soft connectivity, flow of people is one of the simplest examples of integration. For instance, back in 2008, Cambodia received only half a million visitors from ASEAN member states, or 25% of total inflow visitors, but this number reached 2.1 million in 2016 accounting almost half of total visitors. It was a significant four-fold increase. Internally, ASEAN in itself is playing both the roles of supply and demand factors. To put into perspective, in 2016, intra-ASEAN trade constituted 23.48% of total trade and remained as the largest market for ASEAN. At 24.76%, intra-ASEAN was the second largest source of total FDI inflows to the region. Externally, with a population of more than 600 million, ASEAN is seen as a strong single market and production base that is increasingly attractive and competitive and Cambodia has directly and indirectly benefitted from such strengths. Apart from economic integration, Cambodia also received opportunities to play international role in setting agenda for peace and prosperity of the region. Within this role, Cambodia has contributed to further increase engagement with external partners that helps maintain ASEAN’s centrality and keep ASEAN in the driver seat. Cambodia has raised ASEAN’s profile and led the region’s endeavor in terms of mine action. . CC oo nn tt iinn uu eedd oo nn pp aa gg ee (( 33 ))

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1

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN this year, Japanese Prim e Mini s ter H.E. Shinzo Abe sent a congratulatory message to the people of Cambodia and ASEAN. “The fact that the people of ASEAN including Cambodia have overcome various differences while developing into a Community

into a Community and establishing its current position in the international community is indeed a historic achievement. We Japanese whom deepened friendship and cooperation in wide range of field with the people of ASEAN to date share both the hardship and the joy of the past 50 years,” said H.E. Shinzo Abe in his message forwarded by the Japanese Embassy in Phnom Penh. “As a friend of ASEAN, I have visited all of the ASEAN countries. I visited Cambodia in November 2013, and witnessed young people’s energy and the potential for development. A large number of Japanese citizens visit Cambodia every year, and investments from Japanese companies are also increasing. The number of visitors from Cambodia to Japan is also rising, and this year Cambodia football player Chan Vathanaka transferred to J3 League football club Fujieda MYFC.

Samdech Kittiprittbandit Bun Rany Hun

Sen, President of Cambodian Red Cross,

presides over a religious ceremony at

Prasat Sambo district, Kampong Thom

province on Aug. 6 afternoon, as part of

the two-day (Aug.6-7) celebration of the

listing of Prasat Sambor Prei Kuk as a World

Heritage Site during the 41st Session of the

World Heritage Committee held in Krakow,

Poland on July 8, 2017.

RELIGIOUS CEREMONY OF PRASAT SAMBOR

PRE KUK AS WORLD HERITAGE SITE.

A Samdech Kittiprittbandit Bun Rany Hun Sen

(2nd L, Front, Pic. 1), President of Cambodian Red

Cross, presides over Religious Ceremony at Prasat

Sambor Prei Kuk, Kampong Thom, August 07,

2017.

ASEAN’S ANNIVERSARY… CC oo nn tt iinn uu eedd FFrroo mm PP aa gg ee 11

If we think of ASEAN as a single country, today, it is a global economic and trade powerhouse, ranking sixth worldwide in terms of its combined GDP. In 2015, ASEAN’s total trade ranked fourth after China, USA and Germany. In the same year, ASEAN attracted US$121 billion or 7% of total global foreign direct investment inflows. Politically, ASEAN is a magnet for regional architectures.

ASEAN has initiated and carefully nurtured many crucial regional architectures that have kept the region stable and prosperous, namely the ASEAN Free Trade Area, ASEAN Regional Forum, ASEAN Plus Three, East Asia Summit, and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus). Countries within and beyond the region highly regard the ASEAN-led fora as credible platforms to address common concerns and challenges. ASEAN’s approach of seeking dialogue, consultation and engagement has served the region well.

Core regional instruments like the Treaty of Amity and Co-operation in Southeast Asia (TAC) and the Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the Southeast China Sea (DOC), which was adopted in 2002 in Phnom Penh, among others, have been widely recognised as guidelines for inter-state relations.

Gradually, Dialogue Partnerships have been established with Australia, Canada, China, the EU, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, the United States and the United Nations. To date, 35 countries, including all ASEAN member states, are High Contracting Parties to the TAC. 87 sovereign states and one regional organization have accredited their ambassadors to ASEAN. Interest from countries outside the region and other regional organizations in Asia, Africa and Latin America to forge cooperation with ASEAN continues to grow.

ASEAN’S

ANNIVERSARY… CC oo nnttiinnuueedd FFrroomm PP aa gg ee 22

The ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on the Establishment of the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Centre (ARMAC) was adopted at the 21st ASEAN Summit, in 2012 in Phnom Penh. The ARMAC is now up and running following the inauguration of the Centre in May last year. Cambodia undertook twice ASEAN chairmanship in 2002 and 2012. The historic document such as the DOC was adopted in Phnom Penh in 2002 with a lot of fanfare. Meanwhile, ASEAN has also been critically challenged and that has pushed us to strengthen our resilience so that we can stand firm on our strong commitment to the maintenance of peace and stability. Cambodia has always been consistent on our neutrality because it is our constitutionally inherent policy and because we believe that peace that ASEAN has developed so far can only be achieved through trust, dialogue and consultation and not through polarization or worse still agitation over the already heated tension. The COC framework is also the result from the so-called “Bali-Siem Reap Spirit” under which all concerned parties agreed to exercise flexibility and to put only agreed elements in the draft framework following the meetings in Bali and Siem Reap in early 2017. Cambodia believes that it is the interest for all that ASEAN being stable and peaceful, the ASEAN that can maintain a level of trust and well-balanced distance among various regional powers that are relying on ASEAN’s regional architecture for region-wide peace and stability. Cambodia will continue to join hands with all ASEAN member states in the common endeavor to strengthen the community that is highly integrated, resilient, inclusive, people-oriented and people-centered for the sake of peace and prosperity of our region and the world at large. Indeed, such endeavor does not belong to the government alone. Everyone has a stake in shaping ASEAN’s future. How much we could determine our potentials from the integrated ASEAN, it is us to decide. It is for all of us to engage and to take a more active role in setting agenda for ASEAN. Let us consciously grow with ASEAN that is made by and for all of us.

JAPANESE PREMIER SENDS… CC oo nnttiinnuueedd FFrroo mm PP aa gg ee 22

I met with Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday in Tokyo and agreed to expand the scope of such exchange,” he underlined. Japan and ASEAN have now become indispensable “Strategic Partner” for peace and prosperity, said the Japanese premier, adding, “I am convinced that Japan-ASEAN relations in the next 50 years would be bright if we could continue to cooperate

while firmly upholding common values such as freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Let’s forge the future of Asia and the

world together hand in hand.”

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha

Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen is currently on an official working visit in Japan, from Aug. 6 to 9.

CAMBODIA EXPORT

OVER 310,000 TONS

OF MILLED RICE IN

FIRST SEVEN MONTHS

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

2

During the first seven months of 2017, Cambodia has exported over 310,000 tons of milled rice, up by 8 percent compared with the same period last year. The update was shared recently by Dr. Hean Vanhorn, Director General of Agriculture General Department of Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

importing more than 97,000 tons of Cambodian

milled rice, he added, China was ranked the first

among thetop ten largest markets of Cambodian

rice, followed by France with an import volume

of about 40,000 tons

Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) and Bangladesh

have recently signed a contract to purchase

one million tons of Cambodian milled rice for

the period of five years, from 2017 to 2022.

In 2016, Cambodia exported over 540,000 tons of

rice, up 7 percent compared to 2015.

MORE THAN 200 OF CAMBODIA’S ROYAL

TURTLES HEADED TO NEW HABITAT The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in

partnership with the Fisheries Administration

(FiA) announced on 13 September that it is

transferring 206 of Cambodia’s national reptiles—known as

Royal Turtles—to a new purpose-built breeding

and conservation centre in Mondol Seima district

of Koh Kong province.

According to a press release of WCS, the new

facility will be named the Koh Kong Reptile

Conservation Centre.

The Royal Turtle, also known as Southern River

Terrapin (Batagur affinis), is one of the world’s

most endangered freshwater turtles and is

listed on the IUCN Red List as Critically

Endangered.

The turtle was believed extinct in Cambodia

until 2000 when a small population was

rediscovered by FiA and WCS in the Sre Ambel

River. A community-based protection program

was implemented in Sre Ambel and employs

former egg collectors to search for and protect

nests, instead of harvesting the eggs. Hatchlings

from protected nests are then taken into

captivity where they are raised until several

years old.

“With very few Royal Turtles left in the wild and

many threats to their survival, Cambodia’s

national reptile is facing a high risk of extinction.

By protecting nests and head starting the

hatchlings, we are increasing the chances of

survival for this important species for

Cambodia,” said Mr. Ouk Vibol, Director of

Fisheries Conservation Department of Fisheries

Administration.

“To further protect the species we’ve constructed

a purpose-built centre to give Royal Turtles the

best start to life possible,” he said.

The Royal turtle is now facing threats to its very

survival due to habitat loss caused by increased

sand dredging, illegal clearance of flooded

forest, and illegal fishing. A recent increase in

disturbance from dredging along the Sre Ambel

River in Koh Kong province – the only place

where the species is still found in Cambodia – is

putting this species at great risk.

“The new Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Centre

is a joint effort between FiA and WCS to save

the Royal Turtle. We hope in time to have other

species like Siamese crocodiles at the centre,

and may even develop it into a site for

ecotourism to generate revenue be used for

conserving the turtles in the centre,” said Dr.

Ross Sinclair, Country Director of WCS

Cambodia Programme.

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Visio n s o f Cam b o d ia is p ro d u c ed b y t h e P ress an d I n fo rm at io n Un it , Ro yal Em b assy o f Cam b o d ia 64 Brondesbury Park l Willesden Green l London NW6 7AT l United Kingdom l Tel: +44(0)208 451 7850 www.cambodianembassy.org.uk

The Great Lake Tonle Sap - SIEM REAP

A break from Temple - The Great Lake Tonle Sap is on

the l ist!

Five provinces circled the area of Tonle Sap Lake; more

than three million of population inhabited around the bank

of the Lake and 90% of them earn a living by catching fish

and making agricultures.

The Lake is the largest fresh water in South East Asia. The

flooded forest surrounding the edge of the lake is the best

shelter and also very important for all kinds of fishes

spawned and breeding babies. This lake providing many of

biodiversity, over 300 species of fresh water fishes, as well

as snakes, crocodiles, tortoises, turtles and otters. More

than 100 varieties water birds including storks, pelicans and

more.

The Lake is also an important commercial resource,

providing more than half of the fish consumed in

Cambodia. In harmony with the specialized ecosystems, the

human occupations at the edges of the lake is similarly

distinctive - floating villages, towering stilted houses, huge

fish traps, and an economy and way of life deeply

intertwined with the lake, the fish, the wildlife and the

cycles of rising and falling waters.

The lake located about 15 km south of Siem Reap town;

you can make your journey from Siem Reap dock at the

famous floating village of Chong Khneas. It takes only 30

minutes by vehicles to the boat dock where there are

always boats waiting for visitors.

The boat trip through the floating village takes

approximately two hours. You will explore the different

of Khmer, Muslim and Vietnamese floating households

and the floating markets, fisheries, clinics, schools,

basketball course, pigsty and other boatloads of tourists.

The boat trip usually includes two stops: one at a

touristy floating 'fish and bird exhibition' with a souvenir

and snack shop, and the other at the very highly

recommended Gecko Environment Centre, which offers

displays and information introducing the ecology and

biodiversity of the lake area.