Latest news with #PhnomPenh
CNA
13 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
Singapore and Cambodia to deepen partnerships in renewable energy, carbon markets: PM Wong
SINGAPORE: Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong discussed "several priority areas of cooperation" - including renewable energy and agri-trade - with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet in Phnom Penh on Wednesday (Jul 2). Mr Wong is in Cambodia for an introductory visit. Following a ceremonial welcome, he met with with Mr Hun Manet, where they "reaffirmed the excellent ties between Singapore and Cambodia", Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement. MFA noted that 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. "The Leaders agreed on the importance of deepening bilateral cooperation across various sectors, including trade and investment, people-to-people exchanges, human capital development, renewable energy, carbon credits, agri-food cooperation, and the development of the ASEAN power grid," said MFA. "They also reaffirmed Singapore and Cambodia's commitment to maintaining ASEAN solidarity and unity, and building an ASEAN that is more prosperous, peaceful and interconnected." Mr Hun Manet also hosted an official lunch in honour of Mr Wong. In his toast speech, Mr Wong said that the two countries are working together to build a "greener and more interconnected ASEAN" by deepening cooperation in renewable energy. He noted Singapore's project to import low-carbon electricity from Cambodia, "one of the key building blocks for the ASEAN Power Grid". Mr Wong also said that the two countries are working together on "high-quality carbon markets", including an implementation agreement on carbon credits. "This will mobilise financing for clean-energy projects, uplift rural communities and improve livelihoods, while enabling both our countries to hit our net-zero goals," he said. Deepened collaboration in agri-trade will mutually benefit Singapore and Cambodia, as Singapore imports almost all its food, while the latter is a key agricultural exporter, Mr Wong said. Singapore and Cambodia will also "continue to strengthen ASEAN centrality and unity", Mr Wong said. "In this uncertain global environment, it is more important than ever for ASEAN to stay cohesive, uphold open channels of dialogue, and work together to resolve our differences peacefully. "Only then can we preserve our relevance, and continue advancing the region's collective interests." Mr Wong also called on Senate President Hun Sen at the Senate House, MFA said. Cambodia-Thailand border, and encouraged both sides to resolve the matter peacefully and amicably, in line with the spirit of ASEAN solidarity," said MFA. A territorial dispute at the border has seen a tense troop buildup by both sides. Mr Wong expressed his hope that both sides "de-escalate tensions, engage constructively, and reach an amicable solution that upholds international law and the broader stability of the region", added MFA.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Clubber from Newcastle reported missing a week ago by his girlfriend is found in a Cambodian jail arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling
A British man has been arrested in Cambodia after allegedly attempting to smuggle nearly 20kg of marijuana into the UK - just hours after he was reported missing by his girlfriend. Robert Brown, 41, from Newcastle, had been the subject of an urgent missing persons post on social media before he was arrested at Phnom Penh International Airport on June 17. Police found 22 packages of cannabis weighing nearly 20kg hidden inside his luggage. The drugs, which police believe originated from Thailand, are thought to have a street value of around £200,000. Brown has been charged with the use, possession, trafficking, and transport of drugs under Cambodian law and has been referred to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for legal proceedings. If convicted, he could face a hefty prison sentence of between 20 to 30 years, Khmer Times reported. Shortly after his arrest, the Anti-Drug Department in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, posted a statement on social media confirming a British male aged 41 had been arrested, while police had 'seized 22 pieces of dry marijuana, equivalent to 19 kg 902 grams.' It added that the Ministry of Anti-Narcotics 'states that trading, transportation, storage and growing of marijuana in Cambodia is illegal as provided in the Drug Control Act 2012.' The post included an image of Brown, with his face blurred out and apparently handcuffed, next to the massive haul of drugs allegedly found in his suitcase. His arrest came just hours after a post, which has since been removed, was shared on a social media group for expats in Cambodia reporting him as 'missing'. Posted by user 'Kasey Kasey', the appeal stated Brown had failed to board his flight home to the UK. It also revealed his luggage had been left inside his hotel room in central Phnom Penh, in Cambodia's capital city. The post read: 'Missing in Cambodia. Goes by the name of Robert Brown, he's 40 years of age, Geordie lad, broad accent. 'Was meant to return to the UK today, but didn't board a plane and has left his luggage in the hotel room. 'Please share and hopefully he's found thanks. He was staying at the Old Durbar Hotel Restaurant.' Posts on Brown's social media profile reveal the Newcastle native is a fan of electronic dance music and clubbing. A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told MailOnline: 'We are supporting the family of a British man who was detained in Cambodia and are in contact with the local authorities'. The arrest is the latest in a spate of incidents involving Brits being detained abroad on charges of alleged drug smuggling. Earlier this month, airport officials in Mauritius swooped on seven British citizens - including a six-year-old boy - who were found to have £1.6million worth of cannabis concealed in their suitcases. Customs officials at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport were stunned to discover 14 kilos of cannabis concealed in the young boy's bag and 17 kilos in luggage belonging to another individual on June 22. Altogether, 161 kilos of the drug were found hidden throughout several other suitcases. Eleven numbered Apple AirTags were discovered, suggesting the operation may have been linked to an organised crime gang responsible for smuggling drugs from Europe to Mauritius. The six arrested British adults - all from Cambridgeshire - included Laura Kappen, 28, a bar worker from Orton Goldhay, Shannon Holness, 29, a caterer, from Bretton, Shona Campbell, 33, a cleaner from Standground, Lily Watson, a caterer from Peterborough and window fitter Patrick Wilsdon, 21, also from Peterborough. Romanian national, Florian Lisman, 38, a machine operator living in Huntingdon, was additionally arrested. Charlotte Lee May, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, has been locked up in a Sri Lankan prison after police discovered 46kg of 'Kush' - a synthetic strain of cannabis - in her suitcase when she arrived on a flight from Thailand In recent weeks, 18-year-old Bella Culley, from Billingham, County Durham, was arrested in Georgia after allegedly carrying 12kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish into the ex-Soviet nation from Thailand, where she had been holidaying. She claimed in court that she is pregnant and has confided in legal sources that she was in love with a mystery man who now forms a central part of the investigation. In a similar case, 21-year-old Charlotte Lee May, from Coulsdon, south London, has been locked up in a Sri Lankan prison after police discovered 46kg of 'Kush' - a synthetic strain of cannabis - in her suitcase when she arrived on a flight from Thailand. The former cabin crew member for Tui was placed in handcuff after £1.15million worth of cannabis was allegedly found in her luggage last month. She is being detained in a prison north of Colombo and could face up to 25 years in prison if found guilty. A flurry of cases have since followed including OnlyFans model Clara Wilson, 36, from Nottinghamshire, who allegedly tried to smuggle around £200,000 of Thai cannabis into Spain and 21-year-old Cameron Bradford, from Hertfordshire, who was arrested for allegedly smuggling cannabis into Germany. Meanwhile, British beautician Kimberly Hall, 29, from Middlesbrough, was accused of attempting to smuggle $6.2m of cocaine from Chicago O' Hare Airport to the UK, having come off a flight from Cancun, Mexico. Many of the alleged smugglers face decades in prison if convicted. Phineas Float, Jonathan Collyer and Lisa Stocker were formerly facing the death penalty over allegedly smuggling cocaine from the UK to Indonesia, but prosecutors last week said they would now be seeking a prison term instead. And 79-year-old William 'Billy Boy' Eastment, a bowls-loving pensioner from Somerset, faces dying behind prison bars after he was intercepted at Santiago Airport with £200,000 worth of meth.
Wall Street Journal
3 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
One American's Two-Year Quest to Move His Business Out of China
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—For the first time in nearly two decades of visiting factories in Asia, Ryan Bursky's business trip didn't include a stop in China. Until last year, his company's products—lamps and other lighting goods sold to retailers including Walmart and Home Depot—had been made in China. President Trump's first-term tariffs on Chinese goods pushed him to find an alternative.
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
With tools and equipment spread out around them, a cluster of trainees watch as their instructor clambers up a ladder to demonstrate the installation of a new air conditioner. Running the gamut from basic safety protocols to proper communication and coordination, the trainees are in the midst of a weeklong training program at Daikin's newest sales company and training center in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. 'There is a lot of potential in Southeast Asia, especially in countries like Cambodia,' said Toshiyuki Tanaka, managing director of Daikin Airconditioning Cambodia. 'Even though Daikin as a company is a century old, Daikin Cambodia is barely a year old. It is still a baby, but will soon grow up.' Founded in Osaka in 1924, Daikin is one of Japan's oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan's population — and thus potential customer base — drops, the firm is keying in on overseas growth. The business' latest expansion into Cambodia highlights this shift. The kingdom's fast-growing population and predicted rise in median household income, paired with increasingly extreme heat due to climate change, makes Cambodia a solid bet for companies like Daikin. But as companies make major investments in Southeast Asia, experts note that more air conditioning access could exacerbate inequality issues rife in the region. Climate scientists, meanwhile, point to a vicious cycle that is likely to continue if unaddressed: as air conditioner use rises in Southeast Asia and around the globe due to extreme heat, so do emissions. Skyscrapers under construction in Phnom Penh. With continued growth expected for Cambodia's economy and population, air conditioning companies are keen to capitalize on the opportunity. | ANTON L. Delgado The global cooling industry is estimated to account for 7% of global electricity demand and 3% of carbon emissions, while the number of air conditioning units worldwide is expected to jump from 2.4 billion this year to 5.6 billion in 2050. 'The demand for air conditioning is so huge, its carbon footprint is equally high. That demand will not go away,' said Sanjay Srivastava, chief of the Disaster Risk Reduction Section within the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (U.N. ESCAP). 'Air conditioning does still have a role in both climate adaptation and mitigation, but only if technological innovations can catch up and make AC more efficient and reduce its emissions,' Srivastava said. 'This is where Japanese companies can play a very important role.' Emissions loop The Paris Agreement's goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is now impossible according to some leading scientists and a hotter world will mean more reliance on air conditioning. Amid that reality, dozens of countries, including Japan and Cambodia, and a large group of industry giants, including Daikin, signed the 2023 Global Cooling Pledge at COP28 in Dubai. But realizing the pledge's goals to reduce cooling-related emissions by 68% by 2050, increase the global average efficiency of new air conditioners by 50% and significantly increase access to sustainable cooling by 2030 is a daunting task — especially as trends in fast-growing economies in regions, like Southeast Asia, point to a rise in the cooling industry's electricity consumption. An International Energy Agency (IEA) report published in 2019 found the energy use for air conditioners increased nearly eightfold over the past 30 years among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). An employee of Daikin Cambodia demonstrates the use of a safety harness during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. | ANTON L. Delgado While the report found that only 15% of homes in Southeast Asia have air-conditioning, the IEA forecasts higher temperatures and better wages could see the number of air-conditioning units in Southeast Asia jump from 40 million in 2017 to over 300 million by 2040. This predicted trend is what Daikin is positioning itself to capitalize on. In the announcement of Daikin's new Cambodia facilities, the company cited the kingdom as a 'promising market' because of its expected population growth. The release said that Cambodia's overall heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) market is expecting 10% annual growth over the next five years. Hem Vanndy, Cambodia's minister of industry, science, technology and innovation in Cambodia, said Daikin's move into the country 'represents more than a business expansion, it is a strong affirmation of the confidence that Japanese and other investors place in Cambodia's economic and industrial potential.' Japan is one of Cambodia's top foreign aid donors. Ties between Tokyo and Phnom Penh go beyond the political realm, including partnerships between universities and businesses spanning climate resilient infrastructure, landmine detection technology and a range of business sectors. Daikin is not the only major Japanese manufacturing company taking advantage of these predicted trends and Japan's existing relationship with countries in Southeast Asia. In May, Mitsubishi Electric Group opened a commercial representative office in Phnom Penh as it seeks to boost air conditioner sales in Cambodia. Earlier this year, Panasonic was reported to be boosting its production at its main factory for air conditioner parts in Vietnam and starting sales for HVAC infrastructure in Cambodia. 'With improving living and lifestyle standards in Cambodia, we are witnessing a rapid rise in demand for electrical appliances, air-conditioners and effective cold chain solutions, especially for the food and agro-industrial sector,' said Hem Vanndy. A vendor sells ice to passing fishermen during the dry season on Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake. Experts are warning that booming sales of air conditioners could exacerbate inequality and leave the country's laborers to struggle in a warming world. | ANTON L. Delgado This 'rapid rise' has been seen across the world and has led to the marked increase in the cooling industry's climate change-causing emissions. 'Our hope and plan is to contribute to Cambodia's goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, while also growing as a business in the country and across the region,' Tanaka said. Daikin, like many companies and countries, has vowed to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Tanaka explained that Daikin's advancements in energy-saving mechanisms and a more eco-friendly refrigerant were designed to assist global goals to cut carbon emissions. According to Daikin's most recent sustainability report, the company's greenhouse gas emissions in fiscal 2023 totaled nearly 330 million tons of carbon dioxide. About 84% was emitted during the use of Daikin products, with air conditioners contributing 67% of these emissions — or nearly 222 million tons of CO2. To slash emissions, Daikin aims to switch to inverter products to improve efficiency and promote the use of low 'global warming potential' refrigerants, like the new R-32 refrigerant — the use of which contributed to a 19% reduction in residential air conditioner emissions in 2023. These efforts are gaining added importance as climate change accelerates. Trainees practice installing an air conditioner at a Daikin facility in Phnom Penh. Daikin has vowed to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 as it seeks to rollout more efficient products. | ANTON L. Delgado Extreme heat is beginning to outrank Southeast Asia's many other hazards, said UNESCAP's Srivastava, who challenged industry leaders to follow through on their ambitions for net neutrality through innovation. 'This is where the role of air conditioning companies becomes so important,' Srivastava said. 'The innovation in air conditioning technology needs to have minimum carbon footprints, efficient to reduce energy consumption, if you want air conditioning to be part of combating extreme heat.' Rising inequality Heat scholars, meanwhile, point to inequality issues inherent in the rollout of technology that not everyone can afford. 'Air condition can be very good if you can afford it, but that depends on whether or not you can pay the bills,' said Jason Kai Wei Lee, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore's Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. 'Climate change is an inequality issue. We will further exacerbate inequality because those who are most vulnerable, usually will not have access to technology like aircons.' Workers lay pipes at a contruction site in Phnom Penh. Cambodia is expected to see 10% growth over the next five years in its heating, ventilation and air conditioning market. | ANTON L. Delgado As Southeast Asia's rainy season brings a welcome relief to the extreme heat across the region, Lee, who also leads the university's Heat Resilience & Performance Centre, notes that 'air conditioning is one of the best inventions of humankind, but the problem is that this technology should be allocated to those who need it most and that is not happening.' He specifically cited farmers, fishers and construction workers, exceedingly common professions in Southeast Asia with a high exposure to extreme heat. 'Heat is a silent killer,' Lee said. 'You can feel it for sure, but you can't see and it comes and goes, like a ghost, which makes people forget about it during certain seasons. But if left unaddressed, extreme heat will continue to creep in as a crisis in Southeast Asia.'
Free Malaysia Today
6 days ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Cambodia's Hun Sen accuses Thai PM of ‘insulting king'
Thailand has strict lese majeste laws, which bans criticism of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family. (EPA Images pic) PHNOM PENH : Cambodia's influential ex-premier Hun Sen today accused Thailand's prime minister of insulting the Thai king, as tensions between the neighbouring countries intensified. He said prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra's comments about her military commander – who she labelled an 'opponent' – in a leaked phone call with the veteran leader over a border dispute were 'an insult to the king'. 'An insult to a regional commander is an insult to the Thai king because it is only the king who issued a royal decree to appoint him,' Hun Sen said in a livestream on his official Facebook page. The daughter of controversial ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra – who goes on trial for lese-majeste next week – faces being sacked as prime minister as the phone call scandal has triggered calls for her to step down and her government to teeter. Hun Sen – father of Cambodia's prime minister Hun Manet and former close ally to Thaksin – last week posted the full 17-minute recording of the private conversation on his official Facebook page. 'I just let Thailand know how the prime minister committed a dirty act to their nation,' he said today. In the recording posted online, the two leaders discussed restrictions imposed on border crossings after a military clash last month killed a Cambodian soldier. Thailand has strict lese majeste laws, which bans criticism of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family and carries sentences of up to 15 years in jail per offence.
