Day: June 1, 2022

The Ministry of Health signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation for filling and packaging COVID-19 Inactivated Vaccines with China’s Sinovac Life Sciences and Cambodian Pharmaceutical Enterprise, a move that will enable Cambodia to package vaccines.

The signing ceremony was held on June 1, in the presence of H.E. Prof Mam Bunheng, Minister of Health, H.E. Wang Wentian, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia, H.E. Hem Vandy, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ms. Choeung Sopheap, Director General of Cambodian Pharmaceutical Enterprise, and Mr. Gao Qiang, General Manager of Sinovac Life Sciences Co., Ltd.

Under the MoU, the Cambodian Pharmaceutical Enterprise is given rights to fill and package domestically the inactivated COVID-19 vaccines supplied by Sinovac Life Sciences Co., Ltd.

H.E. Prof.  Mam Bunheng stated that the signing of the MoU will allow Cambodia to be able to fill and package WHO-registered emergency vaccines to meet the needs of Cambodians, as well as foreigners residing in Cambodia.

The final package of the inactivated vaccine against COVID-19 and other new variants has been ordered by the Royal Government of Cambodia for a three-year period, from 2024-2026, to supply domestic demand.

To date, Cambodia has received in total more than 52.8 million doses of vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic, of which 28.5 million have been purchased with the government’s budget, and the rest has been obtained via bilateral mechanism and COVAX Facility 
 
As of May 31, 2021, Cambodia has administered COVID-19 vaccines to 94.01 percent of its 16-million population, according to the Ministry of Health.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

The Royal Government of Cambodia has ordered almost 105 million doses of domestically-filled and packaged Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine.

“We have decided to sign to buy 104,873,157 doses of COVID-19 vaccines which will be packaged in Cambodia for a period of three years, from 2024 to 2026,” said Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen in a voice message this evening.

As the COVID-19 pandemic remains active in the world, we need to get ready to avoid the lack of vaccines, he explained.

Cambodian Pharmaceutical Enterprise will work with Sinovac Life Sciences to supply Cambodia about 35 million doses of vaccines per year, he added.

Today, The Ministry of Health signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation for filling and packaging COVID-19 Inactivated Vaccines with China’s Sinovac Life Sciences and Cambodian Pharmaceutical Enterprise.

Under the MoU, the Cambodian Pharmaceutical Enterprise is given rights to fill and package domestically the inactivated COVID-19 vaccines supplied by Sinovac Life Sciences Co., Ltd.

For 2022-2023, Samdech Techo Hun Sen said, Cambodia will continue to use the remaining 9 million doses of vaccines in stock obtained via purchase and donation. In the near future, the country will receive 15 million more doses committed by China, over 5.5 million doses by the U.S., and 500,000 doses by Australia.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen took the opportunity to once again encourage his compatriots to get vaccinated, stressing that vaccination is the key strategy to contain and prevent the pandemic.

The vaccination in Cambodia will continue to be free of charge to ensure that all people have access to vaccines, he confirmed.

According to the Premier, no new infection of COVID-19 was reported in Cambodia for 26 days in a row.  

To date, over 15 million of the total Cambodian population of 16 million got the basic doses of COVID-19 vaccines, while over 9.3 million received the 3rd jab, and some 2.5 million the 4th shot. The 5th dose will be administered to frontliners starting from June 9, 2022.

Cambodia has so far registered 136,262 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 133,204 have recovered, but 3,056 lost their lives.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

– Tobacco related illnesses kill more than 15,000 people annually in Cambodia, World Health Organisation (WHO) representative to Cambodia, Li Ailan said today.

“The harmful impact of the tobacco industry on the environment is vast and growing, adding unnecessary pressure to our planet’s already scarce resources and fragile ecosystems,” she said.

“Tobacco kills over eight million people every year worldwide, and over 15,000 people annually here in Cambodia,” Li wrote on social media.

In a news release, to mark World No Tobacco Day yesterday, WHO said, smoke-free environments enhance tourism experiences in Cambodia and that, promoting smoke-free tourism helps protect hospitality workers, visitors, and the local environment from dangerous second-hand smoke and poisonous tobacco product waste.

“Promoting smoke-free environments is a small but important step to recognising and then curtailing the harmful effects of tobacco production and use, not only on our health, but also on the health of our planet,” the news release said.

Tobacco smoke contains 7,000 chemicals, of which several are known to cause cancer, as well as, three kinds of greenhouse gases, namely carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides, it said.

According to the Ministry of Health, there are approximately 1.68 million tobacco users in the country.

Source: NAM News Network

The English Football League says that it will be making enquiries with Birmingham City Football Club following the revelation by RFA earlier this week that Cambodian diplomat Wang Yaohui secretly controls an eighth of the club’s shares.

Under English Football League regulations, Birmingham City is obliged to disclose both to the league and publicly the identity of any person who directly or indirectly holds “any Significant Interest in the club.” Birmingham’s ownership disclosure does not name Wang, something that could cause problems for the club.

Contacted on Tuesday, the English Football League’s communications manager Billy Nickson indicated in an email that the league was looking into the issues raised in RFA’s report.

“All Clubs are aware of their obligations in respect of providing the appropriate and necessary disclosures in accordance with EFL Regulations,” Nickson wrote. “The EFL will take the matter up with the Club.”

The EFL Championship is English soccer’s second highest division. 

Born in China in 1966, Wang Yaohui is a naturalized Cambodian citizen and minister counselor at Cambodia’s embassy in Singapore. He has extensive business ties to one of Cambodia’s most powerful families, headed by ruling party Sen. Lau Ming Kan and his wife Choeung Sopheap. The couple are allies of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Wang’s stake in the soccer club is held through a company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange called Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited, which owns 75 percent of the club. In December 2017, Wang acquired 8.52 percent of Birmingham Sports Holdings through a British Virgin Islands company called Dragon Villa Ltd. In the years since, filings with the Hong Kong stock exchange show he increased his stake to 17.08 percent, giving him a 12.8 percent interest in the club itself. 

In its own disclosure statement, Birmingham City identifies Dragon Villa as being owned by a Chinese citizen named Lei Sutong. However, documents seen by RFA suggest that he is owner in name only.

Corporate secrecy laws in the British Virgin Islands make it virtually impossible for members of the public to ascertain who the true owner of Dragon Villa is. However, filings lodged with the Singapore High Court reveal that it is in fact Wang.

Gold Star Aviation Pte Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dragon Villa involved in the owning and operation of private jets. It is currently the defendant in a civil action in Singapore. Among its co-defendants is a Taiwanese-American named Jenny Shao, who Wang has granted power-of-attorney over his affairs since at least 2009.

In a sworn affidavit submitted by Shao’s lawyers on her behalf and dated October 2020, she describes herself as Dragon Villa’s “authorized signatory.” She adds that Dragon Villa “is beneficially owned by Mr. Wang.” A beneficial owner is a person who enjoys the benefits of owning a company, even if it is held in someone else’s name.

Former associates of Wang, who asked not to be identified citing security concerns, confirmed to RFA that Wang was Dragon Villa’s beneficial owner. The statement is also echoed in other affidavits lodged as part of the Singapore court case. Records also show that Dragon Villa has been involved in the ownership networks of several other Wang-linked enterprises.

Should the EFL find the club violated regulations by failing to disclose Wang’s control of Dragon Villa – and therefore 12.8 percent of the club – then Birmingham City could face sanctions from the league.

Absentee owners

Birmingham City fan Daniel Ivery has been raising concerns over Wang’s possible association with the club for years. He wrote on his blog Almajir on Tuesday that he had, “repeatedly attempted to raise this issue of Wang Yaohui with the EFL since December 2017.”

Each time he raised the issue, he writes, the league refused “to even acknowledge that there may be an issue.”

While it seems the league is now taking notice, it remains to be seen what, if anything, they will do about it.

Ivery is not the only one who has been sounding the alarm over Birmingham City’s ownership. Local member of parliament Shabana Mahmood wrote to the UK Minister of Sport in January decrying “financial and professional mismanagement of absentee owners” at the club.

For its part, Birmingham City has so far remained silent. The club acknowledged RFA’s enquiries for the first time on Wednesday when media manager Dale Moon promised to raise the issue with the club’s board and senior management – although he did not expect a statement to be forthcoming.

“In all honesty,” Moon wrote, “given their historical stance on ownership, I don’t expect they will want to make any comment.”

As of publication, no statement had been issued by the club.

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