[Reports] White House Status Report on Open Government

[Reports] White House Status Report on Open Government

On several occasions this blog has referred to the Obama Administration's initiatives to promote open government (see, e.g., here, here,  and here). Yesterday the White House released a Status Report on this topic (The Obama Administration's Commitment to Open Government: A Status Report, accompanied by a post on the White House Open Government Blog).

According to this Report, "for more than two and a half years federal agencies have done much to make information about how government works more accessible to the public and, beyond that, to solicit citizens' participation in government decision-making. Thus agencies have disclosed more information requested under the Freedom of Information Act. They have devised ambitious Open Government Plans designed to increase opportunities for public engagement. They have made voluminous information available on government websites. They have shined more light on federal spending. They have even undertaken to provide more disclosure of previously classified information and other types of information normally withheld from the public. Finally, agencies have also used technology in innovative ways that leverage government information to improve the lives of citizens, and have successfully encouraged those outside of government to do the same." The Report also anticipates next steps towards strengthening open government.

This document is organized around the following headings:

1. Freedom of Information: The Report reiterates the Administration's commitment to a reinvigorated freedom of information as summarized in President Obama's January 2009 FOIA Memorandum: Presume openness; disclose affirmatively; and modernize. Furthermore, it includes data suggesting increased disclosure: Over the last fiscal year (i.e., from October 2009 through September 2010) agencies made full disclosures -i.e., un-redacted disclosure of all requested information- for nearly 56% of all FOIA requests where responsive records were processed. Taking partial and full disclosures together, agencies made disclosures in 93-94% of all processed FOIA requests over the same period of time. The Report also highlights improvements to the agencies' FOIA infrastructure as well as proactive disclosure.
2. The Open Government Initiative: The Report refers to OMB's Open Government Directive and provides an update on Agency Open Government Plans including examples of such agency activities.
3. Data.gov and Data-Driven Innovation: According to the Report, as agencies developed their Open Government Plans, they made large amounts of information available to the public, in part through a centralized government platform, Data.gov. This platform, "a warehouse of original government information," now provides the public with access to hundreds of thousands of agency data sets. More specifically, by May 2010, one year after Data.gov's creation, federal agencies had provided the public with access to over 272,000 data sets. By September 2011, the number of agency data sets newly available to the public grew to over 389,000. These data are accessible to anyone, policy advocates, academic researchers, data developers, and entrepreneurs. As a result, they have been used to create useful applications for ordinary citizens; examples of such applications are available in the Report.
4. Spending Transparency: The Report informs us that the Administration's openness efforts have placed great emphasis on disclosure of federal spending decisions as well. It touches on a number of websites providing that transparency, and furthermore soliciting public participation to ensure the best use of taxpayer dollars.

5. Sensitive Government Information: The Report discusses Obama's Executive Order 13526 that imposes limits on the classification of government documents, and initiated the declassification of voluminous government information that should no longer be kept from the public. The Report argues that this Executive Order has already begun to have an effect: executive branch agencies in fiscal year 2010 reduced their personnel authorized to classify documents by 7%, recording their lowest number to date. Agencies also employed a 10-years-or-fewer classification designation for 74% of all original classification decisions, which is the highest percentage of that short-term designation used to date. With respect to declassification, the executive branch reviewed 53.1 million pages of classified information, and declassified 29.1 million pages (55.4%).
Last, the Report talks about the initiatives to enhance transparency in the White House and the Administration's engagement in promoting open government internationally.

Posted: Sep 17 2011, 06:44 PM by akis.psygkas | with no comments

Filed under: United States, transparency

Betfair Kept Chips About Cyber Attack…Oops!

October 1, 2011 · Filed Under Online Gambling News 

Continual drops in the shares of Betfair since their flotation on the London Stock Exchange, and key management departure woes, have been plaguing the massive online gambling operator Betfair – ensuring their hot-spot remains in industry news. However, this seems to be the least of their woes in face of the fact that they did not inform customers of a major cyber attack which took place just 18 months ago. According to the news reports, millions of credit cards details were stolen. Together with over 3.1 million account names, including encrypted security questions, plus 2.9 million usernames, and almost 90,000 bank account details with account usernames. Oops!
As the data stolen did not constitute a fraud risk – Betfair in its wisdom believed it was not necessary to inform customers when the theft took place in March of last year. Considering the company was getting ready for stock market flotation in October, this information coming to light only now does not make the company look any better. They maintain that their security measures were able to recover the stolen data in tact. It seems pretty obvious to us, that the reason why customers were not notified was to prevent mass migration and possible closure of accounts – this would be bad publicly for flotation. However, karma still seems to have played a role, and the Betfair share price has done nothing but plummet – at a drop of 41% – it is certainly not seen as performing.

The report on the theft came to light just six days after Betfair announced their intention to float. However the theft had been reported to the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency. Apparently a review of security has taken place, and systems have been strengthened to minimize the chances of this ever taking place again. Apparently the criminal masterminds behind the attack were believed to be operating from Cambodia, and Betfair did not discover the theft until 2 month AFTER it had taken place.

Written by Neha A

Tags: Betfair Kept Chips About Cyber Attack…Oops!

Lodi man deported to Cambodia

News-Sentinel file photograph

Bunly Bou, left, was deported to Cambodia on Sept. 13, 2011, leaving behind five children. His wife, Patricia Bou, is filing paperwork to try and get him back into the country so they can be reunited

By Maggie Creamer/News-Sentinel Staff Writer | 0 comments

Bunly Bou knew he was no longer in America after watching a car accident on the frenetic, unruly streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

A man driving an expensive car rammed into a poor man on a motorcycle.

Even though it was his fault, the rich man got out of the car and started kicking the poor man while Bou watched in horror. Because the poor man had no money, the rich man took his motorcycle.

“Over here, if you are rich, you are rich. If you are poor, you are poor. There is no in-between,” Bunly said.

Early in September, the former Lodi resident found himself dropped into a country where he knows only one person and barely speaks the language. He left behind a wife and five children, all U.S. citizens.

Now, he struggles to find his way in an alien and hostile environment while his wife wrestles with making ends meet — and dreams of one day reuniting his family.

Since arriving in Cambodia, Bunly has experienced harder rain than he has ever seen in his life and often has to slosh through water up to his knees. He has already had to bribe officials, and he has been pick-pocketed.

“It’s not the best, but I’m free and alive,” Bunly said.

Bunly and his parents arrived in Stockton as refugees from Cambodia in 1983. He was 3 years old.

His problems started when he ran into trouble with the law in 2003 for drugs and 2005 for evading police. He served 16 months in prison and was released in 2007.

During the four years after he got out of prison, Bunly said he was a law-abiding citizen, worked full-time and took care of his children.

It took four years, but the United States and Cambodia eventually reached a deportation agreement.

In July, Bunly received a call from his wife while he was working at Round Table Pizza on Kettleman Lane, saying there were immigration officers at his house waiting to see him. He was taken into custody, spent a month and a half in the immigration area of the Sacramento County Jail, and then was deported.

“It breaks my heart being away from my kids. I was just getting my life back on track,” Bunly said.

‘I don’t even look Cambodian’

While on a cellphone in his one-room temporary home in Cambodia, Bunly answers the question of how he is doing with, “I’m breathing.”

Having few contacts and no memories of Cambodia has made daily life difficult.

“I ... have nothing out here. I came over with the clothes on my back,” Bunly said.

Bunly is living in a village outside of Phnom Penh, where he is constantly stared at by villagers.

His struggle started the second he got off the plane.

“The police were already asking for money. All of the police are corrupt over here,” Bunly said.

His family knew this would happen, so he had $100 sewn into his pants. His uncle, Song Im, had to take four of the top officials out to eat for a large meal to get Bunly through security without paying a monetary bribe.

“They are really poor over here, even if they are police they are still poor,” he said. “The meal was pretty extravagant. He didn’t have the money to do that.”

He feels lucky to have plumbing and electricity that flickers all day long at the temporary housing of his uncle’s nonprofit organization.

Im also immigrated in the early 1980s and was deported in 2002, Bunly said. Im’s nonprofit, Returnee Immigration Support Center, has helped 305 people transition from America to Cambodia.

Im, who works for less than $200 a month, said he helps immigrants get IDs and teaches them the basics of the language and cultural customs.

“They don’t speak Khmer and come to Cambodia, and that’s hard for them. I tell them, ‘You don’t understand, you have to listen more, you have to learn your language (again),’” Im said.

Because of budget cuts, the nonprofit has to move to a smaller house. Bunly will eventually have to move out of the housing, and will probably move into his uncle’s one-room hut.

His uncle is constantly watching over him because the country is not friendly to returnees from the United States.

“Take it step by step. Don’t rush into stuff because that’s when bad stuff happens,” Bunly said.

When Bunly first arrived, he had to get a haircut and his mustache and beard shaved off at a barber, because long hair is frowned upon in Cambodia. On his way to a haircut, a local kid waved him down, but he did not understand what the kid was saying.

After the haircut and shave, he realized he had been pick-pocketed when he reached in his pocket and his $10 was gone.

He has not yet been able to look for work because he needs to pay $200 for an ID. His uncle plans to take him to the countryside, where there is no running water or electricity, and offer a bribe for an ID.

“Everything over here is about money. If you don’t have money, you can’t do anything,” Bunly said.

Bunly eats what the nonprofit provides him or what his uncle’s wife cooks him, usually rice and vegetables.

“Rice — breakfast, lunch and dinner,” he said.

There are other deportees who are scattered throughout the country, but he has not yet met any of them because his uncle said many of them are on drugs or are alcoholics.

Bunly said he constantly feels like a target because everyone stares at him, especially because of his tattoos, which include his wife’s name, on his forearm.

“It’s very scary out here. I don’t want to go out, because I don’t fit in,” he said.

He rarely meets anyone who speaks English, and he can’t speak the little Cambodian he does know because it is so Americanized the locals think he is being disrespectful.

“I don’t even look Cambodian; they say I look like I’m a different race,” he said.

Bunly is working on reading and writing in Khmer, so he will be able to communicate with more people. He is ready to work and would like to teach English or eventually translate once he learns more Khmer.

“It would be something to keep me busy and keep my mind off thinking about my kids and my wife,” he said.

His homesickness flares the most at night when he is alone in his room.

“I can’t even describe it. Sometimes when I’m here by myself, I cry myself to sleep, but I’ll only sleep an hour before waking up again,” Bunly said.

Trying to get back to the U.S.

Bunly talks with his wife, Patricia, and his kids at least daily.

The 22-year-old is in the process of filing paperwork to get back into the United States.

The two met six years ago through mutual friends. She knew her husband had immigrated to Stockton from Cambodia.

When he arrived, the government gave him all the paperwork he needed, and told him to file for permanent citizenship after he turned 18 or got married.

As an adult, he never filed for permanent citizenship because he was always working good jobs with national companies like Big O Tires and Yoplait Yogurt, and didn’t feel like he needed to go through the process.

After getting into trouble and serving 16 months in prison, the United States started the deportation process, but ICE was not able to get travel documents to send him back to Cambodia.

He was released under supervision in 2007 and was required to check in every three months. In July, the travel documents cleared, so ICE took him into custody.

Bunly and Patricia, who is his common-law wife, hope his track record after getting out of prison will help with the appeal process.

He worked full-time at Round Table Pizza and paid his taxes.

He had two children with Patricia. He went to court to get full-time custody of his two oldest children, whom he had with another woman. He also paid child support for another child who lives with her mother in Stockton.

“I was working and spending time with my wife and family because I knew what I did in the past was wrong. I did a (180) from what I did,” Bunly said.

Bunly was told he is barred from the U.S. for at least 10 years from when the deportation process started in 2007.

“No, I don’t think it’s fair, because I did my time in prison already. I was obeying the laws and paying my taxes for years,” Bunly said.

However, there are extreme hardship waivers that a U.S. resident can file to bring their loved one back into the country sooner than 10 years, said Angelo Paparelli, a partner with Seyfarth Shaw Attorneys.

Paparelli, who is based out of Los Angeles and New York, handles immigration cases.

Patricia would need to first file an immigration visa petition with the United States Customs and Immigration Service, he said.

“They would decide if it was a marriage entered into to make a life together,” Paparelli said.

Then, she would need to file a waiver showing that his absence is an extreme hardship for her and her family.

Most people prove the hardship by getting expert testimony from a psychiatrist, sociologist or licensed social worker that “there is suffering beyond ordinary suffering,” Paparelli said.

Also, other evidence that someone was the sole breadwinner or the family will have to go on welfare without the other spouse is submissible.

The whole process takes about a year and a half, Paparelli said.

‘You are going to see daddy again, I’m going to bring him back’

Since Bunly has left, Patricia Bou said she has had a hard time making ends meet. She had to quit her job at Long John Silver’s to go on welfare, so she can take care of her four kids and work on her husband’s appeal.

“I feel pretty confident he will come back, but we just don’t know when,” she said.

The hardest part has been watching her four kids miss their dad.

She plans to eventually go visit or move to Cambodia with her two youngest children — 4-year-old son, Bara, and 3-year-old daughter, Dany. She plans to leave her 12-year-old son, Saahvin, and her 9-year-old daughter, Annastasia, in Stockton with family so they don’t miss out on their education.

Recently, the two oldest have said don’t want to stay here.

“Annastasia said, ‘You can’t leave me here. I already lost my dad. I don’t want to lose my mom,’” she said.

Dany is taking it the hardest, and cries all night, yelling, “Daddy, daddy, daddy!”

“The other three are going with the flow, and she is taking it much harder than anyone,” she said.

She has become more clingy, and Patricia said she hates watching her daughter be so depressed.

“I promise her all the time, ‘You are going to see daddy again, I’m going to bring him back,’” Patricia Bou said.

Bunly said he told her that it is her decision if she wants to come, but he is worried about her bringing the kids.

“There really is no education out here at all. If you do put your kids in school, you have to have money,” he said.

Despite the separation, the two have managed to keep a positive attitude. They both have faith they will be together — whether it is on Cambodian or U.S. soil.

“No matter how long it’s going to take, we are going to be here for each other, even if we are on the other side of the world. I look forward to our future and whatever has God planned,” Bunly said.

Contact reporter Maggie Creamer at maggiec@lodinews.com.

UN urges Asian governments to invest in disaster risk reduction as floods affect millions

UN urges Asian governments to invest in disaster risk reduction as floods affect millions

30 September 2011 75 views No Comment BY: BNO News

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) on Friday voiced concern as hundreds of people have been killed and millions more have been affected by the floods ravaging a number of Asian countries.
Pakistan, the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Thailand are all suffering from the effects of flood waters and many people have lost their lives as a result. The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) went on to urge governments to increase their investments in disaster risk reduction.
Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, underlined that people should not die because of floods. "We have the technology to alert communities before floods arrive," Wahlström said. "People can be evacuated in time, lives saved and livelihoods protected. Once again, early warning systems are the smart choice and the most efficient of all disaster prevention measures."
In addition, many have seen their infrastructure damaged and their services interrupted by heavy rains, Wahlström noted, expressing concern over the long-term economic impact of the floods on the affected countries.
Floods account for a significant amount of damage to public assets such as health and education facilities as well as to the livelihoods, homes and assets of poor people, according to a UNISDR report. However, most of these losses are not recorded by governments, making it difficult for them to invest in disaster reduction measures.
"The invisible nature of this large volume of disaster loss is one reason why so many countries are finding it difficult to make both political and economic decisions to prioritize investment in disaster risk management," said Wahlström.
Cambodia has been struck by the worst flooding in a decade, as tens of thousands of hectares of rice paddies have been inundated and about 300 schools have been closed after heavy rains. More than 17,000 families have been evacuated to higher ground in 12 provinces across the country while at least 141 people have been killed.
Meanwhile, in Thailand, more than two million acres of farmland are underwater and more than 635 schools have been damaged, leaving thousands of children out of school. Floods there have also left more than 170 people killed.
Devastating floods have further affected Pakistan for the second year in a row. The World Food Program (WFP) reports that 5.4 million people have been affected, 73 percent of the harvest has been destroyed, and 36 percent of the livestock has been killed in flooded areas.
WFP spokesperson Gaelle Sévenier said the agency has provided 7,000 tons of food rations to 490,000 people in flood-affected areas in Pakistan and added it will increase its efforts to provide food assistance to 500,000 new beneficiaries by the end of the month. More than 300 people have also been killed.

Link the original source here 

Mekong Areas Slammed by Floods

2011-09-30

Southeast Asia suffers the worst floods in more than a decade.

AFP

Cambodians use boats to navigate flooded streets at Kian Svay district in Kandal province, Sept. 24, 2011.

The worst floods in more than a decade along Southeast Asia's Mekong River has left nearly 200 people dead, destroyed vast tracts of farmland and fishponds and sent tens of thousands of people fleeing from their homes.

Worries are growing about food shortages as rice paddy fields came under water. Water-borne diseases triggered by the death of livestock and poultry swept away by the floods are also posing a threat to flood victims.

Among the worst hit is Cambodia, with at least 141 people killed as the floods lashed 15 cities and provinces in the country, the National Disaster Management Committee said.

In flood prone Prey Veng province, which has suffered the highest death toll, residents are already grappling with food shortages and have appealed for immediate government assistance.

“I urge the government to help me. I am poor and now I'm facing floods,” said Prey Veng villager Chhun Chantha, a mother of five, lamenting that her family does not have enough rice, a staple diet, to eat.

"Most of the villagers are fishermen but now we can’t fish because of the floods," she said.

Some 173,063 people had been affected by the floods in Cambodia, with 17,273 evacuated to higher grounds, and 61,473 hectares (151,903 acres) of rice paddies completely damaged, according to the disaster panel.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has instructed the Red Cross to provide 200 million Cambodian riel (U.S.$50,000) to each province reeling from the floods, according  Uy Sam Ath, the director of national disaster management with the Cambodian Red Cross.

High rice prices

Other countries affected by the swelling of the Mekong River are Laos, where at least 30 people have died and 400,000 others affected, and Vietnam, where flooding has helped drive rice prices to a three-year high, adding to the country's double-digit inflation problems.

The Mekong delta in Vietnam produces more than half of Vietnam's rice and 90 percent of its exportable grain.

Sources said that the authorities in Laos were under-reporting the flood destruction in central and southern provinces in a bid to avert public criticism.

RFA's request to cover the situation in flood devastated areas in Laos has been turned down with no reasons given.

Eri Kudo, the World Food Program's Representative to Laos, said a large number of communities across the flood-stricken Khammuane province had lost their 2010 harvest in flash floods.

They were "struck by disaster not once but twice," Kudo said in a statement after the WFP distributed three month rations of U.S.-provided rice and vegetable oil to villagers who lost their harvest to recent floods.

The WFP provided aid to more than 200,000 people in five provinces "to ensure their food and nutrition security until the next harvest in November 2011."

In Vietnam, at least 14 people have died in the floods, which also devastated 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of rice paddy fields and damaged 4,000 homes. Flooding is expected to peak in Vietnam in early October.

Vietnam News Agency reported that typhoon Nesat, which killed at least 39 people in China this week, had slammed the northern Quang Ninh province and nearby Hai Phong city on Friday.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai urged the provincial authorities to evacuate people from dangerous areas, speed up the rice harvest and close more schools to prevent deaths, Reuters news agency reported.

Around 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of the Mekong Delta's third rice crop in Vietnam have been inundated as floods broke through dyke sections in the provinces of Dong Thap and An Giang, and another 90,000 hectares (22,240 acres) were under threat.

Disaster officials in Vietnam also said that fish and shrimp farmers had been  moved to safe areas along the northern coast, the Associated Press reported.

Fish ponds destroyed

Aside from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, the Mekong River also runs through Burma and Thailand from its source in China’s Tibetan plateau.   

The Mekong is a vital source of protein for 60 million people who live along its lower basin and is the world's largest inland fishery.

In Burma, more than 2,500 acres of fish ponds have been inundated throughout the country with losses estimated at about 25 million U.S. dollars, according to the Myanmar Fisheries Federation General Secretary Win Kyaing.

"Flooding was due to unprecedented rains and all the fish have gone with the flood waters," he said.

Farmers also lost their crops in the Pegu division, as paddy fields came under water for several days.

"They are getting some loans from the government for the next season but it is not sufficient. They are in great trouble," said former director-general of Burma's  department of meteorology, Tun Lwin.

In the northern Mandalay region, non-governmental organizations and local donors donated rice, cooking oil and drinking water when floods hit the area in early September.
 
In Thailand, the flood death toll had risen to 188 as the country was lashed by a series of tropical storms since late July. Nearly two million people have been affected by floods and mudslides, and 122 roads were impassable.

The damage was not along the Mekong areas but mostly from rising flood levels in the key Chao Phraya River and other smaller rivers.

More than two million acres (809,371 hectares) of farmland in Thailand were also under water early this week, an area 11 times the size of Singapore, Reuters reported.

Thailand is the world's biggest rice exporter and its main rice crop of the year is normally harvested from October.

Reported by RFA's Burmese, Lao, Khmer and Vietnamese services. Translated by Samean Yun from Khmer service, Viengsay Luangkhot from Lao service, Viet Ha from Vietnamese service and Khin Maung Nyane and Khin May Zaw from Burmese service. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.

Copyright © 1998-2011 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.

Print...      E-Mail this story

Follow the Mekong and feel good about it

Follow the Mekong and feel good about it

JANE REDDY

October 1, 2011

Sustainable listings ... Cambodia's Angkor Wat. Photo: Reuters

Guide follows the Mekong
From hand-woven silk in Laos to a heritage hotel in Cambodia, responsible tourism operators in the Mekong region will be easier to find with the launch of a new online guide.

Spanning Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the Guangxi and Yunnan provinces of China, the project is funded entirely by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs based in Thailand and Cambodia.

The e-guide's 193 listings so far include operators working at a national or regional level, boutique hotels and home stays, hotels, museums, fair-trade shops, handicraft workshops and restaurants.
On the list are Luang Prabang's homeware's shop Ma Te Sai (meaning "where is it from?") and Phnom Penh's The Pavilion, a 20-room boutique hotel of Khmer-French colonial architecture 100 metres from the Royal Palace.

A spokeswoman for Mekong Responsible Tourism, Christine Jacquemin, says the guide aims to shine a light on small and medium-sized tourism enterprises, many of which don't have the financial or human resources to market themselves on the world stage.

She says there are two target markets: independent travellers who want their journeys to be a learning experience and overseas operators looking to add reliable local businesses to their itineraries.
Applicants were scored and included based on how they contributed to social, cultural and environmental sustainability. A French-language version of the guide is under way.


Grand tours of Europe
Of the 46 nation states in Europe, Insight Vacations has 42 of them covered next year in an expanded Europe and Britain collection of escorted tours.

There are 22 new itineraries on a schedule of more than 100, including an expansion of its "gold" luxury itineraries and more options and destinations in eastern Europe - among them a 17-day Grand Tour of Russia and Ukraine.

One of the new trips is close to the heart of Insight's global chief executive, John Boulding. He lives on the island of Guernsey, which has been added to a tour of the quirky Channel Islandsdevised by travellers who belong to the company's online forum.

Australians comprise the lion's share (38 per cent) of Insight's global clients, who travel in luxury coaches configured with business-class leg room. Boulding says there are 149 new hotels included this year, many of them five-star, and a focus on fine dining and "authentic" meals off the beaten track.

The seven-day Channel Islands tour costs from $1985 a person, twin share; a 12-day Ukraine and the Crimea tour costs from $4599 a person, twin share. See insightvacations.com.

Saffire treatment
The five-star treatment for those headed to Saffire on Tasmania's Freycinet Peninsula will now start at Hobart Airport.
On landing, guests will be escorted to the new Saffire Lounge in the airport with refreshments, wi-fi and shower, while bags are collected and loaded into the chauffeur-driven vehicle for the three-hour drive to the east coast.

On departure from the 20-suite resort overlooking the Hazards Mountains, Freycinet Peninsula and Great Oyster Bay, guests will again be able to use the airport lounge while staff handle luggage. Rooms cost from $1450 a night.

Polar expedition addition
The Akademik Sergey Vavilov will join Akademik Ioffe as a second polar expedition vessel for One Ocean Expeditions trips. With a capacity of 105 passengers (but limited to 92), the Vavilov's rooms, bar and restaurant will be refurbished before sailing in Antarctica next year, followed by the 2013 Arctic season. Both vessels were built in Finland in the late 1980s for the Russian Academy of Science and both were engaged in hydro-acoustic research, with stability a feature - a plus in challenging waters such as Drake Passage.

Join the steam team
Another school term complete, another school holiday calendar to fill.

For Thomas the Tank Engine obsessives, family days will be held at Trainworks at Thirlmere on October 8 and 9. The Fat Controller, Henry and Donald will also be at the event with jumping castles, inflatable slide and face painting.

Trainworks is about an hour's drive south on the M5 from Sydney's central business district; that's the Thomas and Friends theme tune sung 43 times. Entry costs $35 for adults, children (2-16 years) $25.
See trainworks.com.au.
Send news items to smarttraveller@fairfax.com.au.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/follow-the-mekong-and-feel-good-about-it-20110930-1l14l.html#ixzz1ZUSCuy7d

Foreign Investment Brings Cambodia Growth, New Issues

Foreign Investment Brings Cambodia Growth, New Issues

Ron Corben | Bangkok

Photo: Reuters

A train prepares to start during the official recommencement of commercial train services on a rehabilitated rail corridor in Phnom Penh October 22, 2010.

Cambodian officials say the country's economic growth rate is set to exceed seven percent this year. According to financial analysts even if the global economy slows, Cambodia is well prepared to deal with it, partly because of strong foreign investment. But the billions of dollars flowing into the country are also raising concerns about the political and social impact from massive development projects.

Cambodia has posted strong economic growth in the two years since the 2008 global financial crisis. Foreign investment, a growing tourism industry and a strong agricultural sector have been key to that growth.


The country's garment and textiles sector is also doing well, with exports set to rise by 40 percent this year.


"The Cambodian economy is probably in the best shape it has ever been in - absent is what is going on the rest of the world," said Stephen Higgins, chief executive officer for ANZ Royal Bank in Phnom Penh. "The economic growth this year we think will be in the range of seven to eight percent, and the normal global environment we would expect probably eight to 10 percent in the next few years."


But Higgins says inflation must be kept under control, especially with regard to rising food prices.


Despite economic uncertainty in Europe and the United States, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimated growth this year at 6.8 percent and only expects the rate to decrease slightly next year.


Analysts say foreign investors from Japan are seeking alternatives to China and Thailand. They are joining long standing regional investors such as Vietnam and South Korea.


But China remains the country's top investor. Chinese state media report that investors have poured in about $5.5 billion in the first seven months of the year.


Among the investments is a luxury property development project worth $3 billion. China has also provided money for hydropower and road construction. And two of China's leading banks, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Bank of China, opened branches in Cambodia this year.


ADB senior economist Peter Brimble says while funds from China are welcome, Chinese aid can be restrictive.


"Chinese aid is extremely tied; [there is] no bidding.  It's quite likely - especially if it's a loan rather than a grant - you may actually be paying more for what you are getting just because the Chinese don't believe in competitive bidding. I think the government knows that."


Critics say China's economic influence is linked to its political concerns. They point to an incident in 2009 when Cambodia deported 20 Muslim ethnic Uighurs who sought asylum after fleeing violence in China. Soon after their departure, a senior Chinese official arrived in Cambodia to sign 14 trade deals worth $850 million.


David Carter, president of the Australian Business Association of Cambodia, says Cambodia has welcomed investment from China.


"Certainly it has a big influence on the place," said Carter.  "Bridges and roads are being built. So there's a feeling that a lot of Chinese money around the place, but I think most people are aware it will come with obligations attached. So it's good, but you have to pay your bills back at some time."


The development projects funded by those investments can have a dramatic impact on one of South East Asia's poorest nations. While officials have welcomed investments in upgrading Cambodia's infrastructure, there have also been thousands of evictions to make way for new projects. In 2010, rights groups estimate 30,000 people were forced from their homes by mining, agriculture and hydropower projects.


The Housing Rights Task Force, a rights group that has been critical of government resettlement policies, says up to 150,000 people may be evicted in the coming years.  They say at least 80,000 evictions could occur in the capital, Phnom Penh.


Hang Chayya, director of the Khmer Institute for Democracy, says foreign investors must respect human rights in order to maintain long term relationships in Cambodia.


"Any bilateral relationship with China has to be done on one that respects human rights and democracy in the country," said Chayya.  "And this is what is not happening in the government taking the option of dealing with China."


Cambodia's economic performance will be highlighted in 2012, when Phnom Penh hosts the annual meetings of the regional Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).


Analysts say Cambodia's economic future increasingly lies with the fortunes of its close neighbors Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, and its distant neighbor to the north, China.