Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to present Sonith Peou with the 2009 Community Health Leaders Award for providing health services to the Southeast Asian immigrants
PRINCETON, N.J. (October 8, 2009) — The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today announced its selection of Sonith Peou, program director of the Metta Health Center in Lowell, Mass., to receive a Community Health Leaders Award. He is one of 10 extraordinary Americans who will receive the RWJF honor for 2009 at a ceremony this evening at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Peou is being honored for his work to provide culturally competent services for Southeast Asian immigrants in Lowell, Mass., helping them to become healthy, economically independent citizens. "Sonith Peou has triumphed over tragedy in order to provide health care services to disadvantaged immigrants in the United States, many of whom were persecuted in their home countries," said Janice Ford Griffin, national program director for the award.
Peou helped to establish the Metta Health Center, an initiative of the Lowell Community Health Center, and he designed the facility to look like a clinic in Cambodia. He staffed it with native speakers and incorporated elements of Eastern medicine that are more traditional in Asian countries. Today, the Metta Health Center provides culturally competent health care services to thousands of Cambodians, Laotians and Vietnamese. Like other community clinics, the center focuses on preventive care and tries to keep members of the community out of the emergency room.
"I am very grateful for this award, but it would not have been possible without the strong and supportive leadership of the Lowell Community Health Center, whose leaders believed in this project," said Peou, who emigrated from Cambodia in 1981. "I hope this award will bring attention to the importance of providing quality health care to immigrants, as good health is the cornerstone to healing and making a better life."
The chief executive officer of the Lowell Community Health Center, Dorcas Grigg-Saito, said of Peou that he is a "born leader" who has risen to become one of the most respected Cambodian-American leaders in the Greater Lowell area, as well as nationally. "Throughout his work, Sonith displays a level of loving kindness and compassion (the definition of 'metta' in Khmer) that has created a welcoming atmosphere that engages a truly underserved population in ongoing primary and preventive care and ultimately better health outcomes," Grigg-Saito said.
The Community Health Leaders Award honors exceptional men and women from all over the country who overcome significant obstacles to tackle some of the most challenging health and health care problems facing their communities and the nation. The award elevates the work of the leaders by raising awareness of their extraordinary contributions through national visibility, a $125,000 award and networking opportunities. This year the Foundation received 532 nominations from across the United States and selected 10 outstanding individuals who have worked to improve health conditions in their communities with exceptional creativity, courage and commitment.
There are nine other 2009 Community Health Leaders in addition to Peou. Their work includes oral health services for remote communities; self-directed care for persons with physical disabilities; a marriage between health care and legal aid; a mentoring program to help disadvantaged youth pursue health careers; care for victims of torture; an innovative approach to combat obesity; quality health services for Native American elders; family planning and health services for women, men and teens; and mental health services for the underserved.
Since 1993 the program has honored more than 160 Community Health Leaders in nearly every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Nominations can be submitted for the 2010 Community Health Leaders Award through October 15, 2009. For details on how to submit a nomination, including eligibility requirements and selection criteria, visit www.communityhealthleaders.org.
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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) established the Community Health Leaders (CHL) Award to recognize individuals who overcome daunting obstacles to improve health and health care in their communities. Today, there are 173 outstanding Community Health Leaders in nearly all states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. For more information, visit www.communityhealthleaders.org.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 35 years, the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
After delays, Cambodia rekindles stock market dream
Thanhniennews.com
Last Updated: Tuesday, October 6, 2009 11:33:12 Vietnam (GMT+07)
Construction cranes and unfinished high-rise buildings surround the silty marshland where a year from now Cambodia hopes to turn the page on decades of upheaval by opening a stock exchange.
The idea of a Cambodian stockmarket has been floated since the 1990s but has struggled for traction in a country known for a culture of political impunity, chronic poverty and a history of violence, including the Khmer Rouge "Killing Fields."
But authorities argue those days are over and plan to sign a deal this month with World City Co Ltd, a South Korean-backed developer, to start building a $6 million, four-storey stock exchange on the waterfront of a new financial district.
"We want to do it next year," Mey Vann, director of the financial industry department at Cambodia's Ministry of Economy and Finance, said in an interview. "It'll be good timing for us with the economic recovery."
It was supposed to open in September, a target set last year when South Korea's stock exchange operator agreed with the Cambodian government to set up and run a joint stock exchange.
But the global financial crisis intervened, ending an unprecedented boom which saw Cambodia's economy expand 10 percent annually in the five years up to 2008. Foreign investment collapsed, tourist arrivals fell by double digits and garment exports, a mainstay of the economy, shrank by 15 percent.
In recent weeks, Cambodian officials have cautioned against moving too fast, in some cases questioning whether a country whose education system was decimated during Pol Pot's 1975-79 reign of terror is ready to invest in stocks.
"We've been waiting for a green light," said Intyo Lee, project director for Korea Exchange, Asia's fourth-largest bourse operator which will own 49 percent of the exchange and is recruiting and training workers for it. Cambodian will own the rest.
"We're pretty much ready," he added, "but many people say it's too early. The government is trying to build consensus."
Starting small
The exchange expects to start small with just four or five companies issuing about $10 million worth of shares each, said Lee. That's comparable to neighboring Vietnam's first stock market launched in 2000 with its initial market capitalization of $43 million. Today, Vietnam's market is worth $27 billion.
Yet there are risks to Cambodian investors. In Vietnam, most of the investors were local, often unaware of the risks, and many were burned as the market steered a rollercoaster course. Meanwhile, foreign investors largely sought to dip into the potential high returns of an emerging frontier market while hedging their bets with a highly diversified portfolio.
Like its neighbor, Cambodia is giving privatizing state companies priority with a place to sell stock. The Finance Ministry has asked three state-owned companies to list shares: Telecom Cambodia, port operator Sihanoukville Autonomous Port and the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority.
Some of those companies have a simple question: why do it?
"We don't have any financial constraints. I don't understand the reasons we are going to be listed," said Ek Sonn Chan, who runs the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, which employs about 600 people, has about $200 million in assets and generates about $25 million in annual revenue. He said the company is profitable.
"If we become a public company, maybe we are more responsible, more transparent and maybe we can help the government allocate financial support to our company. But in the meantime, we don't know much about how it happens. It's very new to Cambodia, very new to me," he said.
Others say the timing may not be right for some time. Foreign direct investment nearly halved to an estimated $490 million from $815 million in 2008, according to the International Monetary Fund, which expects Cambodia's economy to shrink nearly 3 percent this year before growing about 4 percent next year.
Most of the disappearing capital had flowed into construction projects, including a $2 billion satellite city on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh where the exchange will be built.
Developed by South Korean-backed World City, the two-year-old project known as Camko City aims to create a new financial district by 2018 spread over 125 hectares, complete with glass-walled office towers for stockbrokers, upmarket apartments, securities regulator offices and sleek retail spaces.
But construction has slowed, said Kim Duk-kon, a vice president at World City. Although the first phase is nearly complete with many of the residential villas built and sold, subsequent phases are on hold after capital dried up.
Flooded swampland
The area where the stock exchange will be built is flooded swampland on the edge of Boeung Kak Lake in the heart of the city. The Finance Ministry said the end of the rainy season this month will allow workers to begin building the exchange on the corner of what developers are calling Phnom Penh Boulevard.
Cambodian officials rejected an initial design, saying the exchange's exterior was too modern and not Cambodian enough. It has since been redesigned using traditional Khmer accents.
Vann at the Finance Ministry and Kim said a news conference this month will announce construction of the exchange. A new Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia, he added, is drafting market regulations that will be issued soon.
"We have a very good team at the Securities and Exchange Commission. They graduated from overseas. They are new blood in terms of enforcement of the law," he said. "Our law is very strict in terms of speculation."
Some observers are unconvinced and say authorities need to demonstrate how investors will be protected in a country with a reputation for corruption at nearly every level of the bureaucracy. Some fear speculative gambling by public employees.
David Cowen, deputy division chief for the International Monetary Fund's Asia and Pacific Department, met recently with the new securities regulator and urged its officials to work closely with the central National Bank of Cambodia.
He said the Commission would soon issue operational guidelines on securities firms. The IMF wants to see if those rules are consistent with banking laws and recognize the central National Bank of Cambodia's role as the nation's chief regulator.
Source: Bloomberg
Last Updated: Tuesday, October 6, 2009 11:33:12 Vietnam (GMT+07)
Construction cranes and unfinished high-rise buildings surround the silty marshland where a year from now Cambodia hopes to turn the page on decades of upheaval by opening a stock exchange.
The idea of a Cambodian stockmarket has been floated since the 1990s but has struggled for traction in a country known for a culture of political impunity, chronic poverty and a history of violence, including the Khmer Rouge "Killing Fields."
But authorities argue those days are over and plan to sign a deal this month with World City Co Ltd, a South Korean-backed developer, to start building a $6 million, four-storey stock exchange on the waterfront of a new financial district.
"We want to do it next year," Mey Vann, director of the financial industry department at Cambodia's Ministry of Economy and Finance, said in an interview. "It'll be good timing for us with the economic recovery."
It was supposed to open in September, a target set last year when South Korea's stock exchange operator agreed with the Cambodian government to set up and run a joint stock exchange.
But the global financial crisis intervened, ending an unprecedented boom which saw Cambodia's economy expand 10 percent annually in the five years up to 2008. Foreign investment collapsed, tourist arrivals fell by double digits and garment exports, a mainstay of the economy, shrank by 15 percent.
In recent weeks, Cambodian officials have cautioned against moving too fast, in some cases questioning whether a country whose education system was decimated during Pol Pot's 1975-79 reign of terror is ready to invest in stocks.
"We've been waiting for a green light," said Intyo Lee, project director for Korea Exchange, Asia's fourth-largest bourse operator which will own 49 percent of the exchange and is recruiting and training workers for it. Cambodian will own the rest.
"We're pretty much ready," he added, "but many people say it's too early. The government is trying to build consensus."
Starting small
The exchange expects to start small with just four or five companies issuing about $10 million worth of shares each, said Lee. That's comparable to neighboring Vietnam's first stock market launched in 2000 with its initial market capitalization of $43 million. Today, Vietnam's market is worth $27 billion.
Yet there are risks to Cambodian investors. In Vietnam, most of the investors were local, often unaware of the risks, and many were burned as the market steered a rollercoaster course. Meanwhile, foreign investors largely sought to dip into the potential high returns of an emerging frontier market while hedging their bets with a highly diversified portfolio.
Like its neighbor, Cambodia is giving privatizing state companies priority with a place to sell stock. The Finance Ministry has asked three state-owned companies to list shares: Telecom Cambodia, port operator Sihanoukville Autonomous Port and the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority.
Some of those companies have a simple question: why do it?
"We don't have any financial constraints. I don't understand the reasons we are going to be listed," said Ek Sonn Chan, who runs the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, which employs about 600 people, has about $200 million in assets and generates about $25 million in annual revenue. He said the company is profitable.
"If we become a public company, maybe we are more responsible, more transparent and maybe we can help the government allocate financial support to our company. But in the meantime, we don't know much about how it happens. It's very new to Cambodia, very new to me," he said.
Others say the timing may not be right for some time. Foreign direct investment nearly halved to an estimated $490 million from $815 million in 2008, according to the International Monetary Fund, which expects Cambodia's economy to shrink nearly 3 percent this year before growing about 4 percent next year.
Most of the disappearing capital had flowed into construction projects, including a $2 billion satellite city on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh where the exchange will be built.
Developed by South Korean-backed World City, the two-year-old project known as Camko City aims to create a new financial district by 2018 spread over 125 hectares, complete with glass-walled office towers for stockbrokers, upmarket apartments, securities regulator offices and sleek retail spaces.
But construction has slowed, said Kim Duk-kon, a vice president at World City. Although the first phase is nearly complete with many of the residential villas built and sold, subsequent phases are on hold after capital dried up.
Flooded swampland
The area where the stock exchange will be built is flooded swampland on the edge of Boeung Kak Lake in the heart of the city. The Finance Ministry said the end of the rainy season this month will allow workers to begin building the exchange on the corner of what developers are calling Phnom Penh Boulevard.
Cambodian officials rejected an initial design, saying the exchange's exterior was too modern and not Cambodian enough. It has since been redesigned using traditional Khmer accents.
Vann at the Finance Ministry and Kim said a news conference this month will announce construction of the exchange. A new Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia, he added, is drafting market regulations that will be issued soon.
"We have a very good team at the Securities and Exchange Commission. They graduated from overseas. They are new blood in terms of enforcement of the law," he said. "Our law is very strict in terms of speculation."
Some observers are unconvinced and say authorities need to demonstrate how investors will be protected in a country with a reputation for corruption at nearly every level of the bureaucracy. Some fear speculative gambling by public employees.
David Cowen, deputy division chief for the International Monetary Fund's Asia and Pacific Department, met recently with the new securities regulator and urged its officials to work closely with the central National Bank of Cambodia.
He said the Commission would soon issue operational guidelines on securities firms. The IMF wants to see if those rules are consistent with banking laws and recognize the central National Bank of Cambodia's role as the nation's chief regulator.
Source: Bloomberg
In Brief: Bourse prakas passed
The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 06 October 2009 15:00 Nguon Sovan
CAMBODIA’S securities regulator signed off on two prakas (edicts) Friday, one regulating securities firms and the other setting out rules for operators within the securities market, said a statement Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC). The prakas are part of 30 being prepared by the SECC to run the bourse, it said. Among the minimum financial requirements set, securities firms wishing to underwrite offerings must have minimum capital of US$9.52 million, dealers $6 million, brokers $1.42 million and investment advisors $0.97 million, the prakas said.
Tuesday, 06 October 2009 15:00 Nguon Sovan
CAMBODIA’S securities regulator signed off on two prakas (edicts) Friday, one regulating securities firms and the other setting out rules for operators within the securities market, said a statement Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC). The prakas are part of 30 being prepared by the SECC to run the bourse, it said. Among the minimum financial requirements set, securities firms wishing to underwrite offerings must have minimum capital of US$9.52 million, dealers $6 million, brokers $1.42 million and investment advisors $0.97 million, the prakas said.
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