The Mirror, Vol. 11, No. 522
“Siem Reap: The 7th Conference of the ASEAN Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministers Meeting, hosted and chaired by Cambodia, selected a slogan for the promotion of Information and Communication Technology to Rural Areas, and the slogan is supported also by Samdech Prime Minister of Cambodia, because it is very appropriate for the present situation.
“Samdech Hun Sen, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, stated during the opening ceremony of the conference that the selection of the slogan of Information and Communication Technology to Rural Areas acknowledges that there is a gap related to information technology which is still big, both among ASEAN countries and within each member country.
“Samdech raised the example of Cambodia which has, at the present time, a rate of telephone use of approximately 12% of the population. However, in cities and towns, the rate is up to approximately 45%, which is very different from the rate of the use of telephones in rural areas, where the rate is approximately 1% only.
“Samdech said that at a quick glance, it seems that the gap is not big. However, when the gap is overcome, the real advantage, which can result from overcoming this crisis, is very big. Samdech raised another example: that the availability of mobile phones in rural areas in Bangladesh made the farmers’ income increase by approximately 20%. Mobile phones enable the farmers to reduce a lot of expenses on communication, and also enable the farmers to have the possibilities to observe new market prices of goods from the cities – information which they could not get very long ago.
“Samdech added that, moreover, the influence of getting sufficient information promotes the capacity of poor people in discussions or negotiations about appropriate prices of goods, related to the original prices of production, and to enable them to receive proper benefits from their participation in the market. Recently, reports of the World Bank and of some other agencies also show the same about a surprising development in Africa due to the promotion of information and communication through the services of the technology for telecommunication and information sharing.
“It should be stated that the Conference of the ASEAN Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministers is held in the Sokha Angkor Hotel in Siem Reap, starting on the morning of 23 August 2007, and presided over by Samdech Hun Sen. Before opening the conference, Samdech Prime Minister also gave an audience to the ministers of telecommunication of the ten ASEAN member countries plus Japan, China, and [South] Korea in the Sokha Angkor Hotel. The conference was to continue for two more days under the leadership of Mr. So Khun, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications of Cambodia.” Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.15, #4371, 24.8.2007
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Friday, 24 August 2007
Areyathor, Vol.14, #1264, 24-25.8.2007
- Case of Oknha Oum Chhay [an advisor of National Assembly President Heng Samrin, who was arrested for involvement in drugs, and is reported to have committed suicide] Ends with His Suicide Jumping Down [from the building], but Many People Involved Are Pursued to Be Arrested…
Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.6, #1426, 24.8.2007
- Samdech Hun Sen Notices Advantages of Mobile Phones for Rural Areas
- Municipality Announces that if People Are Asked for More than Riel 28,200 [US$7] for Issuing Motorcycle Driving Licenses, They Should Take Legal Action [against the officials]
- People from Four Villages [Takhmao, Kandal] Come to Samdech Hun Sen’s House to Complain about the Authorities Taking Away 200 Hectares of Dry Season Rice Fields
- Thai Police Help to Free Eight Khmer Laborers Who Had Been Forced to Work Like Slaves [Nakhon Pathom, Thailand]
- Smuggled Gasoline Mostly Imported through Svay Rieng Corridor [from Vietnam]
Khmer Amatak, Vol.1, #10, 24-25.8.2007
- Yim Sovann [SRP parliamentarian, from Phnom Penh]: I Suspect that Oum Chhay’s Suicide May Be Related to theInvolvement of Other High Ranking Officials
- Mr. Yash Ghai [Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia] Considers Appointment of You Bun Leng as Director of Appeals Court to Be Political
- Mr. Khim Bor [former Governor of Kandal, who has recently been removed for filling Kob Srov Lake], Who Committed a Mistake as Big as a Mountain, Is Appointed to a New Position at the Council of Ministers
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.15, #4371, 24.8.2007
- Samdech Hun Sen Supports Slogan of Information and Communication Technology to Rural Areas
- International Committee of the Red Cross Still Continues to Provide Aid to Cambodia
- World Health Organization Provides $500,000 to Fight Dengue Fever [in Cambodia]
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