Day: July 19, 2022

Cambodia exported a total of 327,200 tonnes of milled rice to 51 countries and regions during the first half of this year, a 16.6 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Official report from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries showed that the total milled rice export was valued at US$279 million.

China remained the largest market for Cambodian rice, said that report, adding that some 168,280 tonnes of Cambodian milled rice were imported by China, up 17.4 percent year-on-year.

Besides, about 98,624 tonnes were shipped to the European market, up 47 percent, the report pointed out.

The Kingdom also exported 1.73 million tonnes of paddy rice to Vietnam, up 2.3 percent, earning US$336 million.

Last year, Cambodia shipped 617,069 tonnes of milled rice to international markets, a year-on-year decrease by 10.67 percent.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MOWRAM) has appealed to the public to remained vigilant of possible natural phenomena this week.

In a new weather forecast released this morning, the ministry warned of rainfall, along with thunder, lightning and gusts throughout the country from July 20 to 26, 2022.

For the temperature, during the period, it would vary between 24 and 36 degrees Celsius for the central lowland areas, and from 23 to 36 for the highland areas, the source pointed out.

In the coastal regions, the ministry underlined, the temperature would be from 23 and 35 degrees Celsius.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

The General Department of Taxation (GDT) earned nearly US$2 billion in tax income in the first half of this year, a 30 percent increase compared to that of last year.

The figures were mentioned in a monthly meeting held here on July 19 under the chairmanship of its Director General H.E. Kong Vibol.

The six-month tax income equals to 70 percent of the financial plan set in 2022, pointed out the GDT, adding that in June alone, US$243 million were collected as tax income.

“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the GDT continues to collect more tax revenue than planned,” H.E. Kong Vibol said.

The Kingdom has two institutions responsible for tax collection. One is the GDT, which focuses on interior taxes such as income tax, salary tax, value added tax and property tax.

The other is the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE), which collects taxes on goods entering and leaving the country.

For the January-June period of this year, the GDCE generated US$1,293 million as customs income, representing 50.1 percent of the yearly financial plan.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

The 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (55e AMM) and Related Meetings are just around the corner, while almost all the preparations have been done, said Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Prak Sokhonn, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in an inclusive interview with AKP here this morning.

The Cambodian top diplomat stressed that this is the first physical meeting of the bloc in three years due to the COVID-19 threat, to be attended by 39 foreign ministers, including 27 foreign ministers from the member countries of the ASEAN Regional Forum and 12 foreign ministers as the Chair’s guests.

“We are now in full stage of preparations and the important task is the drafting of the documents (to be adopted at the meetings) which need to go through a lot of discussions, negotiations and debates. The documents will determine the success and failure of the upcoming meetings. Besides, we have also prepared logistics, hospitality, security and health…,” he said.

Most of the things have been well prepared, affirmed H.E. Deputy Prime Minister.

“I have already conducted a site visit to oversee the overall preparations at Sokha Phnom Penh Hotel recently, […] and also tasted some food to make sure everything goes well,” he said.

H.E. Kim Pichpinun, Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said the artists have been ready to provide warm hospitality to all delegates from the ASEAN Member States and dialogue partner countries.

“We have been trained and prepared the scripts, music, stages, contents and cross-checked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation last week,” he underlined.

All artists have been practiced for three important events, including the welcome dinner, the opening ceremony, and the gala dinner. There will be more beautiful and attractive stages and traditional dances, and especially the “ASEAN welcomes 2022” for the opening ceremony and the “the 39-flags dance” for the gala dinner, said H.E. Kim Pichpinun.

We are also prepared Chai Yam dance – a traditional musical dance performance with drums – to welcome and accompany all delegates along with meaningful foreign songs from ASEAN, and others, he added.

The 55th AMM and related meetings will be held from July 31 to August 6, 2022 in Phnom Penh in physical format. AMM was established under the Bangkok Declaration in 1967. The AMM ministers meet at least four times a year and may convene special meetings when there are necessary to discuss issues that require ASEAN’s immediate attention. The AMM regularly reviews and discusses ASEAN community-building efforts, its strategic future directions, as well as the conduct of ASEAN’s external relations.

Cambodia joined ASEAN on April 30, 1999, and from that time, it has successfully hosted the AMM twice, in 2002 and 2012.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

The Reach Bo pagoda’s ancient hall has received the second restoration phase under technical assistance and financial support from the APSARA National Authority.

According to the authority, the second phase of the restoration project will focus on the structure of the hall including the walls, the staircase, and the carving arts of the hall’s platform as well as cleaning of the tiles, columns, ceilings, etc.

The hall is dilapidated, and some parts have collapsed, so the APSARA National Authority’s restoration team has repaired and strengthened it in many places, it added.

The second phase of the restoration project started since early this month and is scheduled to end in October 2022 to contribute to the preservation of Khmer cultural heritage in Buddhism, as well as to raise the cultural value of Khmer art from ancient times, concluded the source.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press