China has said it is on track to hit its growth target of 8% this year, after the economy grew 8.9% from a year ago in the third quarter. The figure is up from the 7.9% rate seen in the previous quarter and is the country's fastest GDP growth since the third quarter of last year. Separate reports show that industrial production and retail sales also accelerated in September. The economy grew by 7.7% in the nine months to September. Retail sales growth was 15.1% in the first three quarters of the year, the National Statistics Bureau said. China's car market has become the world's largest, with sales up 34% to 9.66 million vehicles in the first nine months of the year. Government investment At the end of 2008 the Chinese government announced a 4 trillion yuan ($586bn; £354bn) stimulus plan involving increased spending on infrastructure, such as rail and roads, to boost the domestic economy as exports slumped. Latest figures show that investment, accounting for nearly 88% of GDP growth earlier this year, is playing a vital role in China's growth. Investment in factories, construction and other fixed assets rose by one-third in the first nine months of the year to a record 15.5tn yuan. But factory owners say that in many cases, while the volume of goods they are producing has risen, the prices customers are prepared to pay for them are lower than before the financial crisis. Unemployment is still high in many areas, and some factory workers are reported to be working shorter hours and earning less. The next challenge for policy makers is to begin to withdraw elements of the stimulus plan, and to reduce the huge outflows of credit the country's state owned banks have issued, without damaging economic recovery. As the stimulus is withdrawn, the hope is that demand from the private sector, from consumer spending and eventually from renewed demand for China's exports, will keep the country's growth rate stable. |
South Korea's President Lee Muyng-bak (L) walks from the plane with his wife Kim Yoon-ok (R) upon their arrival at Phnom Penh international airport, October 22, 2009. Lee is on an official two-day visit to Cambodia. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
South Korea's President Lee Muyng-bak steps down from the plane with his wife Kim Yoon-ok (R) upon their arrival at Phnom Penh international airport on October 22, 2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
South Korea's President Lee Muyng-bak (L) walks with his wife Kim Yoon -ok (R) upon their arrival at Phnom Penh international airport, October 22, 2009. Lee is on an official two-day visit to Cambodia . REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak (2nd R) inspects a honour guard with his wife Kim Yoon-ok upon their arrival at Phnom Penh international airport on October 22, 2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
A student smiles while waiting to welcome South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak before his meeting with King Sihamoni , at the royal palace in Phnom Penh October 22, 2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Students hold portraits of South Korea's President Lee Muyng-bak, his wife, Kim Yoon -Ok and Cambodia King Sihamoni during the arrival of President Lee at the royal palace to meet Cambodia King Sihamoni in Phnom Penh October 22, 2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
A Cambodian student holds a portrait of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (L) and his wife Kim Yoon-Ok (R) while waiting to welcome them in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. Lee arrived in Cambodia Thursday for a two-day official visit to boost ties and develop economic relations between the two countries. (AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen waits for South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak to arrive for meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Phnom Penh October 22, 2009. Lee is on an official visit to Cambodia. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) shakes hands with South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Phnom Penh October 22, 2009. Lee is on an official visit to Cambodia. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) shakes hands with South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Phnom Penh October 22, 2009. Lee is on an official visit to Cambodia. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, second right, shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak after they ended their summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009. Lee paid two days of official visit to Cambodia to promote ties and develop economic relations. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, second right, shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak after they ended their summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia,Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009. Lee paid two days of official visit to Cambodia to promote ties and develop economic relations. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (L) during a signing ceremony at foreign ministry in Phnom Penh. Lee arrived in Cambodia Thursday for a two-day official visit to boost ties and develop economic relations between the two countries. (AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)
Poor Cambodian beggars in front of a pagoda (Photo: Koh Santepheap)
Dog life of a Cambodian king (Photo: NorodomSihanouk.info)
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bakLee also promised South Korea would provide 200 million dollars in soft loans to Cambodia between 2009 and 2013
PHNOM PENH — South Korean president Lee Myung-bak arrived in Cambodia Thursday for a two-day official visit to boost ties and develop economic relations between the two countries.
Lee descended from his airplane to a red carpet at Phnom Penh International Airport, and then received an audience with King Norodom Sihamoni at the capital's royal palace and held talks with premier Hun Sen later in the day.
"Cooperation and relations between Cambodia and South Korea have been growing through many projects," Hun Sen said.
During their meeting, Lee and Hun Sen agreed to form a "strategic and cooperative partnership" between their countries, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters.
Lee also promised South Korea would provide 200 million dollars in soft loans to Cambodia between 2009 and 2013, Hor Namhong said.
In the lunchtime speech distributed to reporters, the South Korean president promised to help develop Cambodia's agricultural sector by providing new technology and training.
Over 500 South Korean companies were currently investing in Cambodia, Lee added.
The two countries also signed an extradition agreement and a deal for an initiative in which Cambodia would issue South Korean tourists multiple entry year-long visas, officials said.
"The visit by the South Korean president is very important. It will boost economic relations between the two countries," government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told reporters.
The Yonhap news agency has reported that South Korean investment in Cambodia increased to nearly 2.5 billion dollars last year from 30 million dollars in 1997.
Lee descended from his airplane to a red carpet at Phnom Penh International Airport, and then received an audience with King Norodom Sihamoni at the capital's royal palace and held talks with premier Hun Sen later in the day.
"Cooperation and relations between Cambodia and South Korea have been growing through many projects," Hun Sen said.
During their meeting, Lee and Hun Sen agreed to form a "strategic and cooperative partnership" between their countries, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters.
Lee also promised South Korea would provide 200 million dollars in soft loans to Cambodia between 2009 and 2013, Hor Namhong said.
In the lunchtime speech distributed to reporters, the South Korean president promised to help develop Cambodia's agricultural sector by providing new technology and training.
Over 500 South Korean companies were currently investing in Cambodia, Lee added.
The two countries also signed an extradition agreement and a deal for an initiative in which Cambodia would issue South Korean tourists multiple entry year-long visas, officials said.
"The visit by the South Korean president is very important. It will boost economic relations between the two countries," government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told reporters.
The Yonhap news agency has reported that South Korean investment in Cambodia increased to nearly 2.5 billion dollars last year from 30 million dollars in 1997.
Thaksin and Hun Sen (file photo : epa)Bilateral ties at a new low, thanks to 'ruthless' PM and the 'trusty' Chavalit
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva hit back yesterday at controversial remarks by Cambodian PM Hun Sen. His comments - see the story below - are just the latest blip in years of rocky ties, in which ousted Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra has been a key player.
Relations between Thaksin and Hun Sen go back nearly two decades when the former was an up-and-coming businessman trying to align himself with important people.
It started with lucrative business contracts in the area of telecommunication with the Vietnamese-installed government in Phnom Penh at the time Hun Sen was top man on the hill.
And when it was time to lay a new foundation for the war-torn country through the UN-sponsored election in 1993, Thaksin was a supporter of Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP). Hun Sen lost to Prince Norodom Ranariddh's Funcinpec Party but was able to muscle his way in to become a "co-prime minister".
Ranariddh being PM meant the end of Thaksin's telecom and cable TV deal in the country, which he obtained through the help of the prime minister's half brother Prince Jakrapong before the 1993 election.
The cancellation was a set-back but it wasn't everything. Thaksin waited for his turn to reap whatever he could in Cambodia.
In mid-1994, bickering between Hun Sen and Jakrapong brought Thaksin back in the spotlight. There were allegations that Thaksin had financed a coup against Hun Sen. Jakrapong fled to Malaysia. A couple of Thai nationals working for Thaksin in Cambodia were detained but later released.
Thaksin denied meddling in Cambodia's internal affairs. No one knows if Hun Sen actually believed him. Perhaps for the sake of continuity, Hun Sen permitted the issue to pass by without really getting to the bottom of the allegation.
Noted Cambodia scholar Stephen Heder once described Hun Sen in stark terms: "He is both a competent political administrator and a ruthless political criminal."
Indeed, this former Khmer Rogue cadre has never been afraid of using force. In late 1995 he sent armed men in tanks to arrest Prince Sirivudh, King Sihanouk's half-brother, after hearing a rumour that the then secretary-general of Funcinpec had whispered that it may be easier to hire thugs to kill Hun Sen than put up with him.
No one ever believed the CPP-Funcinpec coalition would last. Four years after the UN-sponsored election that was supposed to end bloodshed, Hun Sen launched a bloody coup against Ranariddh.
The prince's men were forced to flee as his military faction, led by General Nek Bunchhay, retreated to the border while Khmer Rouge cadre in Anlong Veng came to their aid.
In early 2001, Thaksin came to power in Thailand at a time Cambodia was trying to pick itself up after decades of war and look for ways to benefit from being part of Asean. But all this time, Hun Sen never forgot the people who helped his step to power in Phnom Penh - namely, Vietnam.
When Funcinpec was still around - in or out of power - Vietnam, because of its historical support for CPP, was always at the butt of Ranariddh's jokes and sarcasm. Thailand's escaping the talkative prince's verbal assault partly because Funcinpec heads tended to take refuge at Soi Suan Phlu whenever there was trouble in Phnom Penh.
Today, Thailand is effectively the butt of Hun Sen's sarcasm.
In 2003 Hun Sen gave legitimacy to an unconfirmed remark by a Thai celebrity about Angkor Wat and the end result was the torching of the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh and the looting of Thai businesses.
But the strongman managed to come out of this ahead. Hun Sen used the riot as a pretext to remove then Phnom Penh governor Chea Sophara from his post and install a CPP man from his faction.
Relations between Thailand and Cambodia took a nosedive but for a businessman like Thaksin, money could heal all wounds. Thaksin's investments in the country were taken care of, and it was eventually the same for other Thai-owned businesses. Things were back in sync until the border dispute over Preah Vihear.
The recent pronouncement by Hun Sen that the fugitive Thaksin was welcome to reside in Cambodia not only adds salt to the Thailand's wounds but has brought bilateral ties to a new low. And of all people, it was a veteran Thai politician, a man known for his lack of trustworthiness, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who handed Hun Sen the ammunition.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva hit back yesterday at controversial remarks by Cambodian PM Hun Sen. His comments - see the story below - are just the latest blip in years of rocky ties, in which ousted Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra has been a key player.
Relations between Thaksin and Hun Sen go back nearly two decades when the former was an up-and-coming businessman trying to align himself with important people.
It started with lucrative business contracts in the area of telecommunication with the Vietnamese-installed government in Phnom Penh at the time Hun Sen was top man on the hill.
And when it was time to lay a new foundation for the war-torn country through the UN-sponsored election in 1993, Thaksin was a supporter of Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP). Hun Sen lost to Prince Norodom Ranariddh's Funcinpec Party but was able to muscle his way in to become a "co-prime minister".
Ranariddh being PM meant the end of Thaksin's telecom and cable TV deal in the country, which he obtained through the help of the prime minister's half brother Prince Jakrapong before the 1993 election.
The cancellation was a set-back but it wasn't everything. Thaksin waited for his turn to reap whatever he could in Cambodia.
In mid-1994, bickering between Hun Sen and Jakrapong brought Thaksin back in the spotlight. There were allegations that Thaksin had financed a coup against Hun Sen. Jakrapong fled to Malaysia. A couple of Thai nationals working for Thaksin in Cambodia were detained but later released.
Thaksin denied meddling in Cambodia's internal affairs. No one knows if Hun Sen actually believed him. Perhaps for the sake of continuity, Hun Sen permitted the issue to pass by without really getting to the bottom of the allegation.
Noted Cambodia scholar Stephen Heder once described Hun Sen in stark terms: "He is both a competent political administrator and a ruthless political criminal."
Indeed, this former Khmer Rogue cadre has never been afraid of using force. In late 1995 he sent armed men in tanks to arrest Prince Sirivudh, King Sihanouk's half-brother, after hearing a rumour that the then secretary-general of Funcinpec had whispered that it may be easier to hire thugs to kill Hun Sen than put up with him.
No one ever believed the CPP-Funcinpec coalition would last. Four years after the UN-sponsored election that was supposed to end bloodshed, Hun Sen launched a bloody coup against Ranariddh.
The prince's men were forced to flee as his military faction, led by General Nek Bunchhay, retreated to the border while Khmer Rouge cadre in Anlong Veng came to their aid.
In early 2001, Thaksin came to power in Thailand at a time Cambodia was trying to pick itself up after decades of war and look for ways to benefit from being part of Asean. But all this time, Hun Sen never forgot the people who helped his step to power in Phnom Penh - namely, Vietnam.
When Funcinpec was still around - in or out of power - Vietnam, because of its historical support for CPP, was always at the butt of Ranariddh's jokes and sarcasm. Thailand's escaping the talkative prince's verbal assault partly because Funcinpec heads tended to take refuge at Soi Suan Phlu whenever there was trouble in Phnom Penh.
Today, Thailand is effectively the butt of Hun Sen's sarcasm.
In 2003 Hun Sen gave legitimacy to an unconfirmed remark by a Thai celebrity about Angkor Wat and the end result was the torching of the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh and the looting of Thai businesses.
But the strongman managed to come out of this ahead. Hun Sen used the riot as a pretext to remove then Phnom Penh governor Chea Sophara from his post and install a CPP man from his faction.
Relations between Thailand and Cambodia took a nosedive but for a businessman like Thaksin, money could heal all wounds. Thaksin's investments in the country were taken care of, and it was eventually the same for other Thai-owned businesses. Things were back in sync until the border dispute over Preah Vihear.
The recent pronouncement by Hun Sen that the fugitive Thaksin was welcome to reside in Cambodia not only adds salt to the Thailand's wounds but has brought bilateral ties to a new low. And of all people, it was a veteran Thai politician, a man known for his lack of trustworthiness, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who handed Hun Sen the ammunition.
Thailand rebuked neighbouring Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday for his offer to let fugitive former Thai prime Thaksin Shinawatra stay 'anytime.' -- PHOTOS: REUTERS, AFP
BANGKOK - THAILAND rebuked neighbouring Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday for his offer to let fugitive former Thai prime Thaksin Shinawatra stay 'anytime.'
Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, in charge of national security, told reporters that Mr Hun Sen should not be meddling in Thailand's affairs after he reportedly said that Thaksin had not received justice at home.
'We have an extradition treaty with Cambodia, so if Thaksin goes there we will officially notify the Cambodian government and seek his extradition,' said Mr Suthep. 'This is Thailand's own internal affair and we can solve this issue by ourselves. No foreigner can solve an internal matter. Thai people can think for themselves.'
Cambodia's state-run TVK said Wednesday that Hun Sen made the invitation during a private meeting Wednesday with Chavalit Yongchaiyuth, a key member of Thailand's main opposition party Puea Thai.
Thaksin, on his online Twitter feed, thanked Hun Sen for his controversial invitation but stopped short of accepting it. 'I thank Prime Minister Hun Sen for telling the public that I am still his friend and that he would welcome me at any time and arrange a house for me in Phnom Penh,' Thaksin wrote.
"He didn't say that," Khieu Kanharith said. "Some people have said we would allow Thaksin to have a permanent home in Cambodia - it's not true."
The comments that appeared in Cambodian and Thai media and were attributed to Hun Sen had earlier drawn a frosty response from Thailand with Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban warning Thursday that Thaksin risked being extradited back to Thailand if he took up the reported offer of a home in Cambodia.
Khieu Kanharith said Cambodia, which has an extradition agreement with Thailand, knows its legal obligations.
Hun Sen, often at loggerheads with the Thai government, was reported on Wednesday to have offered shelter to Thaksin, who is living in self-imposed exile to avoid a two-year jail term at home for abuse of power.
Hun Sen was reported to have made the remarks at a meeting with veteran Thai politician and former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyuth, a senior member of Thaksin's Puea Thai Party.
Suthep said the meeting was "purely aimed at creating a good image for the deposed premier," the Bangkok Post reported Thursday.
The hubbub over the invitation came ahead of Friday's start in Thailand of the summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), to which both Thailand and Cambodia belong.
About 18,000 soldiers and police have been deployed to protect the 16 leaders attending from protestors loyal to the populist Thaksin. A summit in April had to be cancelled when pro-Thaksin demonstrators broke into the venue.
Thaksin, overthrown in a bloodless military coup in September 2006, is loathed by much of the Thai elite and middle class, but his populist economic policies have given him a big following among the poor. His critics have accused him of seeking to become an authoritarian leader, a label often also applied to Hun Sen.
Hun Sen was quoted Wednesday as praising Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon, as a "great friend" and a victim of unfair politics who deserved a respectable home.
Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen is not able to attend the opening ceremony of Asean summit because he has to welcome the president of South Korea who is scheduled to pay an official visit to Cambodia on Friday, secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Surin Pitsuwan, said on Thursday afternoon.
“But Mr Hun Sen will certainly attend the Asean summit late in the afternoon on Friday as scheduled,” Mr Surin said.
Photo by: Tracey Shelton
King Norodom Sihanmoni at his birthday concert in May.
I recently had the opportunity to attend a conference in Washington, DC, arranged by Oxfam. The conference was titled “Managing Cambodia’s Oil and Mineral Resources: Opportunities and Challenges for Development”.
While listening to the excellent presentations made by your ambassador and by one of the spokesmen of the host organisation, I felt tears coming to my eyes when I heard of exactly the same dreams and illusions that I heard in my own country, Venezuela, 35 years ago, when oil prices increased dramatically. Those dreams have now been horrendously shattered by the awful realities of what is known as the oil curse.
Both speakers duly addressed the challenges and explained what “had to be done” in order to avoid this oil curse, but the arguments, such as the need for transparency, good long-term investments and setting aside funds for the future, and the determination with which they were made were also identical to those we made three-and-a-half decades ago. All of it proved far from sufficient, did not serve us well and, in fact, only provided us an excuse for going down the wrong path.
The real problem is that not a single one of the precautions suggested has a real chance to stand up against the darkest forces of the oil curse.
No matter what you do, the fact is that oil revenues, when they are both generous and centralised in the hands of the state, provide for an independently wealthy government that does not need the citizens, and therefore becomes arrogant and cruelly turns citizens with high expectations into beggars for favours.
May I, therefore, respectfully beg of your Majesty to support the possibility that Cambodia’s net oil revenues be paid directly to the Cambodian citizens, in full and from the very first day.
That Article 58 of your Constitution states that mineral resources are the property of the state is no impediment for the results of the exploitation of those resources being paid out directly to the citizens. On the contrary, if the oil revenues were to remain in the hands of the state, that would effectively impede complying with Article 56, which states “the Kingdom of Cambodia shall adopt a market-economy system” and, more importantly, with Article 51, which states that “the Cambodian people are the masters of their country”.
I am not the one to remind a King of his duties, nor do I wish to presume to have royal wisdom, but having read in your Constitution that the King shall be the protector of rights and freedom for all citizens, and shall assume the august role of arbitrator to ensure the faithful execution of public powers, let me in all humility say that, if I were the King of Cambodia, there would be no better legacy I could dream of leaving to my people and country than freeing it forever from the dark side of an oil curse.
If there is an absolutely urgent need to initiate government projects, then allow the citizens to have the right to pay for these projects by giving back as income taxes a certain percentage of any oil revenues received, but please help your subjects to be and feel relevant to the future of their nation.
Your Majesty, I would deeply appreciate any attention you give this letter and, if it is considered an undue intrusion into the affairs of Cambodia, please know that it has been written with utmost sincerity, thinking of a country that has gone through much suffering and destruction, and
therefore truly deserves the help that oil could bring, in the words of its Constitution, to turn “Cambodia into an Island of Peace … moving toward perpetual progress, development, prosperity and glory”, instead of forcing it to face new nation-destroying hardships.
Thai soldiers patrol with an explosive detector at a hotel in Cha-Am, a resort town in southern Thailand on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009. Cha-Am is the venue for the 15th ASEAN Summit meeting scheduled for Oct. 23-25. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)CHA-AM, Thailand — Thailand has mounted one of its biggest security operations in recent history with more than 36,000 military and police to prevent anti-government demonstrators from overrunning a summit of Asian leaders, an official spokesman said Thursday.
The government is still smarting from the storming of the East Asian Summit in April in the seaside city of Pattaya where protesters charged through thin police ranks and forced the evacuation of several leaders by helicopter and boat.
Leaders of 16 Asian and Pacific nations, including Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, will gather Friday for an annual conference of the Association of South East Asian Nations in Cha-am, a beach resort 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Bangkok.
About half of the security forces mobilized have thrown a security cordon around this summit venue, backed by 20 armored vehicles, said government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn. The others will be on alert in the Thai capital.
"Security forces have also set up emergency escape routes by land, air and sea," he said. "We don't expect it to be necessary but we want to be ready and to assure leaders that they will be able to meet without distraction."
Security forces have also been empowered to impose curfews and restrict freedom of movement around Cha-am and Bangkok.
Roadblocks were thrown up around the summit venue Thursday. Sniffer dogs patrolled hotels and even local fishermen were stopped from going out to sea.
Thailand has been rocked by years of protest and counter-protest by supporters and opponents of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup on accusations of corruption, abuse of power and disrespect to the country's monarch.
Nearly 10,000 demonstrators took to Bangkok's streets last Saturday, demanding a pardon for Thaksin and that he be allowed to return from exile.
The three-day conference includes the annual gathering of the 10-member ASEAN leaders and those of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
ASEAN is due to unveil a human rights body for Southeast Asia, sign a declaration on climate change and discuss food security, disaster management, bio-energy and economic integration. The groups aims to set up an economic community by 2015.
China wants to expand regional trade and investment and plans a $10 billion infrastructure building fund to deepen ties with its Southeast Asian neighbors. A free trade zone between China and ASEAN is slated to be completed by January 2010.
As at previous ASEAN conferences, violation of human rights in military-ruled Myanmar, which joined the group in 1997, will likely cast a shadow over the proceedings. The international community is pressing ASEAN to pressure the junta to reform.
The government is still smarting from the storming of the East Asian Summit in April in the seaside city of Pattaya where protesters charged through thin police ranks and forced the evacuation of several leaders by helicopter and boat.
Leaders of 16 Asian and Pacific nations, including Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, will gather Friday for an annual conference of the Association of South East Asian Nations in Cha-am, a beach resort 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Bangkok.
About half of the security forces mobilized have thrown a security cordon around this summit venue, backed by 20 armored vehicles, said government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn. The others will be on alert in the Thai capital.
"Security forces have also set up emergency escape routes by land, air and sea," he said. "We don't expect it to be necessary but we want to be ready and to assure leaders that they will be able to meet without distraction."
Security forces have also been empowered to impose curfews and restrict freedom of movement around Cha-am and Bangkok.
Roadblocks were thrown up around the summit venue Thursday. Sniffer dogs patrolled hotels and even local fishermen were stopped from going out to sea.
Thailand has been rocked by years of protest and counter-protest by supporters and opponents of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup on accusations of corruption, abuse of power and disrespect to the country's monarch.
Nearly 10,000 demonstrators took to Bangkok's streets last Saturday, demanding a pardon for Thaksin and that he be allowed to return from exile.
The three-day conference includes the annual gathering of the 10-member ASEAN leaders and those of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
ASEAN is due to unveil a human rights body for Southeast Asia, sign a declaration on climate change and discuss food security, disaster management, bio-energy and economic integration. The groups aims to set up an economic community by 2015.
China wants to expand regional trade and investment and plans a $10 billion infrastructure building fund to deepen ties with its Southeast Asian neighbors. A free trade zone between China and ASEAN is slated to be completed by January 2010.
As at previous ASEAN conferences, violation of human rights in military-ruled Myanmar, which joined the group in 1997, will likely cast a shadow over the proceedings. The international community is pressing ASEAN to pressure the junta to reform.
"An agreement will also be signed later Thursday on Cambodia's provision of 200,000 hectares of land, over 10 times the size of Washington D.C., for forest plantation by South Korea."
PHNOM PENH, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak began a two-day trip to Cambodia with a visit to Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni shortly after his arrival here Thursday.
KI-Media Note: Such land agreement is against the Cambodian constitution as it exceeds the 10,000 hectares maximum
Lee was set for a bilateral summit with Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen later in the day.
"President Lee and King Sihamoni discussed ways to expand cooperation between their countries in various areas, including the agricultural and cultural sectors, while the president noted the development of their relationship since the normalization of their ties in 1997," Lee's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.
Lee's trip here comes as part of a three-nation tour that earlier took him to Vietnam. He will head to Thailand on Friday for a regional summit hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that will also involve the leaders of Japan and China.
The trip was expected to help significantly improve Seoul's relations with Phnom Penh as the sides were set to sign an extradition treaty and a revision to the basic agreement on South Korea's Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF).
Seoul agreed in June to provide US$60 million in loans from its development fund in a summit between Lee and the Cambodian prime minister held in Seoul.
The revision to the EDCF agreement, to be signed on the sidelines of the Lee-Hun Sen summit, will lead to the provision of an additional $140 million by 2012, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye.
"As we face a great opportunity to further improve our countries' relationship this year through an exchange of visits with Prime Minister Hun Sen, I hope the countries will hold discussions on various measures for their joint development during my visit this time," Lee said in an interview with Cambodia's largest-circulation daily Rasmei Campuchea published Thursday.
South Korean investment in Cambodia increased 75 times to nearly $2.5 billion last year since their diplomatic normalization in 1997. Seoul had severed its ties with Cambodia in 1975 when the communist Khmer Rouge government took control.
Seoul has agreed to launch a joint development project for Phnom Penh, through which it will help set up "master plans" for the development of Cambodia while sharing its own development experience with the country, according to the Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman.
An agreement will also be signed later Thursday on Cambodia's provision of 200,000 hectares of land, over 10 times the size of Washington D.C., for forest plantation by South Korea.
"Considering the complementary nature of their economies and the enactment of a free trade agreement between South Korea and ASEAN, as well as Cambodia's rapid economic growth, the cooperation between the countries will continue to show remarkable growth," Lee said in the interview with Rasmei Campuchea, held in Seoul before starting his trip.
The signing of the extradition treaty, to apply to those suspected of crimes punishable by two or more years of imprisonment, will help improve South Korea's image here, spokeswoman Kim said.
"It will also help protect the citizens and South Korean residents in Cambodia by making sure that Southeast Asia will no longer be the safe haven of criminals," she said.
The "eternal friends" playing golf"Though I'm not Thai, I'm hurt by what has happened to him. My wife even cried on knowing about it and has an idea to build a home for Thaksin to come and stay honourably" - Hun Sen talking about his eternal friend ThaksinRunaway ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra thanked Cambodia's PM Hun Sen in his twitter for welcoming him to the country and having an idea to build a home for him.
"I have to express deepest thanks to Prime Minister Hun Sen for saying in public that I am his friend. I also would like to thank him for arranging me a house," Thaksin said in his tweeter; Thaksinlive.
Hun Sen on Thursday told reporters after meeting with visiting Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh who visited Phom Penh on Thursday.
"I consider Thaksin as my eternal friend. Cambodia will welcome him to stay here for anytime. I make the house available for him at any time if he decides to visit Cambodia."
"I also talked with Chavalit about the cooperation between Puea Thai Party and Cambodian People's Party".
"Though I'm not Thai, I'm hurt by what has happened to him. My wife even cried on knowing about it and has an idea to build a home for Thaksin to come and stay honourably," Hun Sen said.
"We have been great friends since Thaksin was businessman and the relationship has remained the same since he entered politics," Hun Sen said.