CAMBODIA

Moet Hennessy goes exclusive Government to economise on new staff

ocal distributor Attwood Import Export Ltd. has received, after 15 years of non-exclusive co-operation, the exclusive rights for the distribution of Moet Hennessy brands to the Cambodian and Laotian markets. The contract includes

earing it doesnt have enough money to pay for salaries and pensions, the government has announced plans to reduce the number of official administrative posts by 10% this year. The government will hire 8,000 new staff a shortfall of more than 1,000 of the number requested by the various ministries for 2009. The current administration pays salaries of between $25 and $50 a month to its employees, accounting for

$85m of the $1.5 billon annual budget. In a recent survey, the International Labour Organisation estimates there are 275,000 unemployed Cambodians aged between 15 and 24 on the hunt for work. An additional 10,000 university graduates enter the job market each year. Acleda Bank recruited 2,400 staff members in both 2007 and 2008 but plans to limit it to 1,000 this year as its number of branches has fallen from 22 to 18.

well known champagnes and whiskeys such as MoetChandon, Dom Perignon, Glenmorangie and other Moet Hennessy brands.

Embassy websites issue local safety warning

Mobitel mystery

BRIEFS
Karaoke spreads healthy message

Cambodian forests to get more cover

he Cambodian Forestry Administration is designing a framework to better manage, rather than decimate, the countrys forests. The programme will enforce laws to crack down on illegal loggers, identify and demarcate forest areas, increase community participation in

forest conservation and invest in research projects related to the countrys woodland areas. The programme is expected to be launched in September. Mismanagement of Cambodias forests in the 1990s reduced the countrys forest cover to its lowest level on record.

16 SE GLOBE

Photos: T Chhin Sothy/AFP Photo; CreativCollection; Nicolas Brachet ang

araoke has become the new medium for spreading public health and water safety messages to the public. For the past 18 months, the US-based Resource Development International (RDI) group has taken a purposebuilt karaoke truck around rural Cambodia to spread the word on safe water consumption. Specially composed songs address a range of issues including HIV-Aids and bird flu, as well as water sanitation. The results, though difficult to quantify, are encouraging with reports of people still singing the songs months after the tours have concluded.

he French, German and US government websites have updated their travel advice to Cambodia with warnings of increased crime levels in Phnom Penh and elsewhere in the kingdom. The websites warn of a rise in muggings of foreigners during daytime hours, sometimes with assailants brandishing knives and guns. The US state department also warns of danger from a rising number of incidents of indiscriminate gun-fire, although this rarely affects foreigners.

oth the police and the military police were called to Mobitels Phnom Penh office to investigate an undisclosed security risk last month. The office was closed for four hours. Following this, the company published announcements explaining to customers that an internal problem had occurred. Cambodias Royal Group holds a minority share in the telecommunications company with Millicom International Cellular, a Sweden-based corporation holding 58.4%. Mobitel increased its number of customers in 2008 by 28% to more than two million, giving it a market share of 55%, and retaining number one spot in Cambodias competitive telecommunications market.