With more developers and more construction in Phnom Penh’s real estate market than ever before, there is inevitably more competition.
While standing out in a crowded market is never an easy task, property developers are placing even more emphasis on making the best first impression with prospective buyers via their showrooms.
Showrooms have long been used to showcase a company’s offering; a try-before-you-buy method which can help a buyer get a feel for a product before parting with their money.
For real estate companies in Phnom Penh, the showroom is the one place the company can share its project vision, and in the process, differentiate themselves from other players.
The brother of slain political commentator Kem Ley on Friday accused authorities of attempting to divert attention from their highly secretive investigation into the murder by staging a recent grenade blast in Phnom Penh.
The charge from Kem Rithisith, the popular analyst’s younger brother, came as court officials yet again refused to disclose details of the probe after questioning the main suspect on Friday.
Oeuth Ang, center, leaves the Phnom Penh Municipal Court after being questioned on Friday. (Siv Channa/The Cambodia Daily)The man charged with shooting Kem Ley inside a Phnom Penh convenience store in July has identified himself as Chuop Samlap, or “Meet Kill.” His family has identified him as Oeuth Ang, a former soldier and monk who left his village in Siem Reap province about a week before the murder.
The public has been kept in the dark about the murder investigation, only fueling suspicions of government involvement.
Mr. Ang was questioned at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, but court spokesman Ly Sophana was tight-lipped about what transpired.
“We brought him in for questioning after we found more evidence. We can’t tell you anything more because the investigation is ongoing,” he said. Investigating Judge Seng Leang declined to comment.
Mr. Rithisith said it was obvious that authorities were not interested in finding his brother’s real killer.
Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) addresses Cambodian-American protesters who called for the United States' intervention to put an end to human rights violations in Cambodia, Washington D.C., Friday June 10, 2016.
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Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) introduced House Resolution 728 on Monday, saying it was intended as a strong message of support for human rights and democracy in Cambodia.
WASHINGTON DC — The US Congress has passed a resolution condemning the Cambodian government for its attacks on the country’s main opposition, saying that if relations between the major parties did not improve, there would be consequences for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s administration.
Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) introduced House Resolution 728 on Monday, saying it was intended as a strong message of support for human rights and democracy in Cambodia.
“That’s why it is so important for us to pass this resolution and show that the United States stands with the people of Cambodia. We will send an important signal to the Cambodian government that political violence of any kind will not be tolerated and the Cambodian people must be able to enjoy the freedom to choose their own leaders. Only under these conditions can elections in Cambodia be considered free and fair by the international community,” he said.
In an interview with VOA Khmer on Tuesday, Lowenthal said if the government ignored the resolution and did not institute major reforms, stop persecution against the opposition, there would be “consequences”, without elaborating on what they might be.
Prior to the passing of the resolution, members of congress took to the floor to speak on issues affecting Cambodia, such as the targeting of the leadership of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party by the courts.
Republican Ed Royce, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said that since “deeply flawed” elections in 2013, there had been “significant attacks on those Cambodians peacefully opposing their government.”
Thailand Deports Thousands of Cambodians and Vietnamese in Crackdown on Illegal Immigration
2016-09-16
Cambodian workers repatriated from Banteay Meanchey province 's Poipet border checkpoint, Sept. 2016.
Photo provided to RFA.
Thai authorities are making good on their promise to crack down on illegal immigrants as each day they are sending thousands of migrant workers back to Cambodia and Vietnam, RFA has learned.
Sim Namm Yung, a provincial official in Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province, told RFA on Thursday that Thailand deported more than 4,000 Cambodian workers back to their homeland in August alone.
At least 300 Cambodians are being sent back home each day, Sim Namm Yung told RFA.
“They are from different parts of Cambodia,” she said. “Some went to Thailand by themselves to look for a job, but some were illegally cheated by the brokers.”
While Sim Namm Yung said most of the Cambodians worked in construction and resided in Thailand from three months to a year, some of them were also recently released from jail.
“Most of those who were in jail and were sent back home mostly to the Sras Keo province (Sakaeo in Thai),” she said.
Sum Chankea, an official with the Cambodian human rights organization ADHOC, told RFA that the repatriated Cambodians were packed “like pigs” into vans with metal bars over the windows.
After arriving at the Poipet International Checkpoint in Banteay Meanchey province the Cambodian authorities “educate” them about the illegal immigration for about 15 to 20 minutes, before allowing them to return to their home villages.
“Cambodian authorities in charge of workers along the border seem to pay no attention to the problem,” Sum Chankea said. “The authorities also are not making any attempts to arrest and punished the brokers who have taken workers to Thailand illegally.”
Human traffickers charge Cambodians as much as U.S. $100 per person to illegally transport them across the border in the northwestern part of the country, human rights groups told RFA in April.
Workers, who do not have passports, pay 300,000 to 400,000 riel (U.S. $75 to U.S. $100) each to help them cross over the border in Banteay Meanchey and Battambang provinces, Sum Chankea told RFA at the time.
Aung San Suu Kyi Urges U.S. Business Leaders to Invest in Myanmar
2016-09-16
Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi tells U.S. business leaders to invest in Myanmar at an event in Washington, Sept. 15, 2016.
RFA
Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi told U.S. business leaders on Thursday that the country’s pro-democracy government has undertaken several measures to create a more welcoming business environment, and that their investments will help the Southeast Asia nation with its transition to full democracy.
One of Aung San Suu Kyi’s goals during her first official trip to the United States in her capacity as state counselor was to address the business community to promote trade with and investment in Myanmar, along with greater economic ties with the U.S.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who is Myanmar’s de facto national leader, also stressed that certain political issues have to be worked out by her National League for Democracy (NLD) government to achieve economic success
“In order to make the political transition work, we have to have the economic expectations of our people fulfilled as well,” she told businesspeople, diplomats, and government officials.
“Our economy can succeed only if our political system succeeds,” she said.
Aung San Suu Kyi is leading renewed efforts to bring armed ethnic groups to the negotiating table to end decades of separatist fighting against the Myanmar military. She also is pushing for constitutional reform to reduce the role of the military in politics.
To woo investors, the Myanmar government has undertaken labor reforms and put in place economic policies that promote a better investment climate.
Myanmar lawmakers are reviewing a new bill on investment in Myanmar that has been introduced to simplify and speed up the procedures that investors must follow, she said.
The economic policy of the new government, which came to power in April, includes the improvement of public financial management through greater transparency, privatization of certain state-owned enterprises, promotion of the role of small- and medium-sized enterprises, expansion of vocational training opportunities, and creation of a credible dispute resolution system, she said.
International Court to Prosecute Environmental Crimes in Major Shift
VOA News
FILE - A boy holds a banner reading "Please stop grabbing our land" at a rally by evection victims in front of the National Assembly in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sept. 1, 2014.
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The International Criminal Court said Thursday that it will start focusing on crimes linked to environmental destruction, the illegal exploitation of natural resources and unlawful dispossession of land.
The United Nations-backed court, which sits in The Hague, has mostly ruled on cases of genocide and war crimes since it was set up in 2002.
Now, in a move widely hailed by land rights activists, the court said that environmental destruction and land grabs could lead to governments and individuals being prosecuted for crimes against humanity.
The court, which is funded by governments and is regarded as the court of last resort, said it would now take into consideration crimes that have been traditionally underprosecuted.
Land grabbing has become increasingly common worldwide, with national and local governments allocating private companies tens of millions of hectares of land in the past 10 years.
The anti-corruption campaigners from Global Witness say this has led to many forced evictions, the cultural genocide of indigenous peoples, malnutrition and environmental destruction.
លោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្រ្តី ហ៊ុន សែន និងលោក កឹម សុខា កាលពីកន្លងទៅ
RFA/Brach Chev
RFA/Brach Chev 
RFA/Cheu Sideth 
Photo provided to RFA. 
