April 22, 2010
Matt Chambers and Matthew Stevens
The Australian
BHP Billiton yesterday joined Rio Tinto in battling graft allegations, saying it had uncovered evidence of possible corruption by employees on an overseas project.
The Australian understands the conduct, now under investigation by the powerful Securities and Exchange Commission in the US, relates to a bauxite exploration project in Cambodia.
BHP has admitted making a $US2.5 million ($2.7m) payment to the community near the bauxite project, in the northeastern Cambodian province of Mondulkiri, near the Vietnamese border.
A Cambodian government minister described the payment as "tea money", a local term for unofficial payments to government officials.
BHP has rejected this, saying the money was put into a development fund investing in local social welfare programs. The company said it had paid $US1m in September 2006 to the Cambodia government for bauxite exploration rights.
BHP yesterday declined to reveal where the alleged corruption occurred, stressing only that it was not China. It would not comment on what the behaviour involved and whether employees had stood down or been fired but it said the activities involved mineral exploration, not marketing its products.
Last month, Rio sacked four workers, including Australian Stern Hu, after they were convicted of bribery and stealing commercial secrets related to deals to sell iron ore to Chinese steel mills. Rio has introduced sweeping changes to its Chinese operation and is conducting a review to avoid a repeat of the scandal.
Yesterday, BHP said the alleged corruption was uncovered after the SEC queried it during an investigation into mineral exploration projects.
"The company has disclosed to relevant authorities evidence it has uncovered regarding possible violations of applicable anti-corruption laws involving interactions with government officials," BHP said yesterday in a statement.
According to a report in The Cambodia Daily in July 2007, the nation's National Assembly was told BHP had paid $US2.5m to the government to secure exploration rights to a bauxite deposit in Mondulkiri with Japanese industrial giant Mitsubishi.
The claim was made by the then water minister, who described the payment as "tea money".
The minister's comments informed a report into Cambodian corruption by the non-government organisation Global Witness. The report, Country for Sale, details the claims and BHP's rejection of them.
Global Witness wrote to BHP in October 2008 requesting details of any and all payments made to the Cambodian government.
BHP responded saying it had put $US2.5m into a development fund and it had paid $US1m in September 2006 to the government for bauxite exploration.
"BHP Billiton has never made a payment to a Cambodian government official or representative, and we reject any assertion that the payment under the minerals exploration agreement is, or amounts contributed to the Social Development Projects Fund are, `tea money'," the miner said.
While Global Witness did not draw any negative conclusions about the management of the development fund, it did identify an issue with the $US1m payment to government, although one outside the control of BHP.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Tech giant EMC seeks to take advantage of emerging opportunity
Wednesday, 21 April 2010 15:01
The Phnom Penh Post
Ellie Dyer
MULTI-NATIONAL technology infrastructure firm EMC hopes to invest in Cambodia in order to make the most of emerging market opportunities, the company’s Asia Pacific president said Tuesday.
Steven Leonard told the Post, via phone from Singapore, that the US-based business has put US$2 billion aside to invest in the Asia-Pacific region by 2014.
He said the company, which competes with brands such as IBM and HP, is now looking to Cambodia for potential opportunities.
A group representative added via email that the Kingdom “has been identified as one of EMC’s fast-emerging growth markets across the Southeast Asian region”.
“We need to be in Cambodia and we want to do that in a more meaningful and substantial way,” said Leonard on Tuesday.
He added that EMC is working with a number of Cambodian telcos, which he declined to name.
"We need to be in cambodia and want to do that in a more meaningful way."
EMC provides businesses with both hardware and software to secure or encrypt data such as billing records, bank systems and archives. It has 43,000 employees across the world and earned $14 billion in revenue in 2009. Around 12 percent of revenue is currently derived from the Asia-Pacific region.
On Sunday, 400 representatives of the company completed a two-day event detailing their achievements in Siem Reap. Leonard, who returned from the Kingdom to Singapore days ago, has carried out several fact-finding missions to see where potential opportunities may lie and has met with government officials.
He added that EMC as yet has no permanent presence in the Kingdom, an issue they are currently considering.
“Cambodia is at a real transition intersection. There are so many opportunities. The country is rising up from a difficult past.
“A lot of companies have been here since the 1990s, but in terms of multi-nationals there is still an opportunity to get in early. I hope we can be a part of Cambodian growth,” said Leonard, before adding that software provision is “at the ground floor” of development in Cambodia.
The president added that, to his knowledge, no similar firms yet have a presence in the Kingdom. He said he believes that multinational entry into Cambodia has “an important part to play” in creating a diverse business community.
“It’s a foundation for Cambodia, or any other country, to continue to develop IT to help give opportunities to citizens,” he said, citing the benefits for education and knowledge expansion that technology can bring.
He was unable to say how much money EMC is set to invest in the Kingdom.
EMC has already announced investment in India, where it is expanding infrastructure at the India Center of Excellence, and Singapore, where it is opening its first technology development lab outside of North America. It has also sought out investment opportunities in China.
The Phnom Penh Post
Ellie Dyer
MULTI-NATIONAL technology infrastructure firm EMC hopes to invest in Cambodia in order to make the most of emerging market opportunities, the company’s Asia Pacific president said Tuesday.
Steven Leonard told the Post, via phone from Singapore, that the US-based business has put US$2 billion aside to invest in the Asia-Pacific region by 2014.
He said the company, which competes with brands such as IBM and HP, is now looking to Cambodia for potential opportunities.
A group representative added via email that the Kingdom “has been identified as one of EMC’s fast-emerging growth markets across the Southeast Asian region”.
“We need to be in Cambodia and we want to do that in a more meaningful and substantial way,” said Leonard on Tuesday.
He added that EMC is working with a number of Cambodian telcos, which he declined to name.
"We need to be in cambodia and want to do that in a more meaningful way."
EMC provides businesses with both hardware and software to secure or encrypt data such as billing records, bank systems and archives. It has 43,000 employees across the world and earned $14 billion in revenue in 2009. Around 12 percent of revenue is currently derived from the Asia-Pacific region.
On Sunday, 400 representatives of the company completed a two-day event detailing their achievements in Siem Reap. Leonard, who returned from the Kingdom to Singapore days ago, has carried out several fact-finding missions to see where potential opportunities may lie and has met with government officials.
He added that EMC as yet has no permanent presence in the Kingdom, an issue they are currently considering.
“Cambodia is at a real transition intersection. There are so many opportunities. The country is rising up from a difficult past.
“A lot of companies have been here since the 1990s, but in terms of multi-nationals there is still an opportunity to get in early. I hope we can be a part of Cambodian growth,” said Leonard, before adding that software provision is “at the ground floor” of development in Cambodia.
The president added that, to his knowledge, no similar firms yet have a presence in the Kingdom. He said he believes that multinational entry into Cambodia has “an important part to play” in creating a diverse business community.
“It’s a foundation for Cambodia, or any other country, to continue to develop IT to help give opportunities to citizens,” he said, citing the benefits for education and knowledge expansion that technology can bring.
He was unable to say how much money EMC is set to invest in the Kingdom.
EMC has already announced investment in India, where it is expanding infrastructure at the India Center of Excellence, and Singapore, where it is opening its first technology development lab outside of North America. It has also sought out investment opportunities in China.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Finance officials come up with work-habit ideas
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The Japan Times
By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer
A Finance Ministry project team compiled a set of proposals Monday to reform the ministry, focusing on achieving a more efficient working style and better work-life balance for its bureaucrats.
The ministry's officials are generally considered the elite of the nation's bureaucrats, but they also have a policy-wonk image.
Some of the 50 proposals encourage officials to use their paid vacation, take parental leave and have family members visit the ministry once in a while.
"In our ministry, not many male workers have had child-care leave, but I think if the situation is right they should take it more," said Hidenori Sakota, director of the ministry's policy planning and research division.
Sakota is part of the project team that has 20 members from various sections of the ministry.
The workload for central government bureaucrats is notoriously heavy. For instance, when budget-related bills are deliberated in the Diet, some Finance Ministry officials often have to work all night to prepare notes so Cabinet ministers can answer questions during committee sessions.
When Naoto Kan became finance minister in January, he instructed the bureaucrats under his sway to create an in-house project team to come up with suggestions for reforming the ministry and its work style, with the catch phrase "bureaucrats can go out on dates on weekdays."
The team's report calls for other reforms as well, such as more interaction with the private sector and other ministries.
Kan said that while the report is well-written, it should have addressed more specific issues.
"I'd give it a 77" out of 100, he said.
The Japan Times
By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer
A Finance Ministry project team compiled a set of proposals Monday to reform the ministry, focusing on achieving a more efficient working style and better work-life balance for its bureaucrats.
The ministry's officials are generally considered the elite of the nation's bureaucrats, but they also have a policy-wonk image.
Some of the 50 proposals encourage officials to use their paid vacation, take parental leave and have family members visit the ministry once in a while.
"In our ministry, not many male workers have had child-care leave, but I think if the situation is right they should take it more," said Hidenori Sakota, director of the ministry's policy planning and research division.
Sakota is part of the project team that has 20 members from various sections of the ministry.
The workload for central government bureaucrats is notoriously heavy. For instance, when budget-related bills are deliberated in the Diet, some Finance Ministry officials often have to work all night to prepare notes so Cabinet ministers can answer questions during committee sessions.
When Naoto Kan became finance minister in January, he instructed the bureaucrats under his sway to create an in-house project team to come up with suggestions for reforming the ministry and its work style, with the catch phrase "bureaucrats can go out on dates on weekdays."
The team's report calls for other reforms as well, such as more interaction with the private sector and other ministries.
Kan said that while the report is well-written, it should have addressed more specific issues.
"I'd give it a 77" out of 100, he said.
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