Mon, Feb 14, 2011
The Nation/Asia News Network
While some national media are quick to cast Cambodians as people not to be trusted, locals in Si Sa Ket have a more complex view of their neighbours. This doesn't stop some national papers espousing archetypal bias towards Cambodians, though such popular misconceptions may backfire and hinder mending ties between the people of the two nations well into the future.
"Elderly people in the areas along the border who for long have been trading with their neighbour often remind their children and grandchildren that they have never trusted Cambodians because [Cambodians] are not predictable. 'They may be friends in the morning but by the evening become enemies'," wrote a columnist last Tuesday.
While some locals say they do not trust Cambodians and will demand cash upfront when trading with them, others say such stereotyping is simply wrong. "There's no absolutely good Thai or absolutely evil Cambodian and vice versa," Niphon Polsaet-rerk, a school teacher in Kantharalak, said yesterday.
What's more, some villagers are married to Cambodians and surely none would have done so if all Thais believe Cambodians are not to be trusted.
But history textbooks and popular beliefs among Thais and Cambodians perpetuate prejudice and distrust. A scholar like Thibadi Buakamsri, of Kasetsart University, explained in a chapter of the Thai-language book "Nationalism in Thai Textbooks" how Thai history books made Thai students regard Cambodians with prejudice and distrust. A heavy reliance on historical accounts written by Siam's elite meant Thai history books gave Cambodians short shrift, he said.
"Cambodia [in the past] is just a small protectorate that often seeks to exploit moments of Ayutthaya's weakness by taking away some people [as captives] and declaring independence."
Contemporary writing in newspaper columns, feature stories and other popular media is very much moulded by this narrow-minded perspective in school textbooks, he said.
Sarnti Pakdeekham, a Cambodian studies expert at Srinakharinwirot University, also wrote that Cambodian textbooks more often than not remind their readers that Thais are ruthless foreign aggressors.
Sarnti, writing in his Thai-language book published in 2009 entitled "Khmers debate about Siam", said that while Cambodians' attitude towards Thais (and Siamese of the past) was rather complex, it might best compared to the negative attitude Thais hold toward the Burmese, who twice attacked and burnt down Ayutthaya.
"The way Thai history portrayed Burma as the historical 'bad guys' is not that different from the way Cambodian history writes about 'Thailand'," Sarnti wrote on pages 3-4 of his book.
Given that Thai-Cambodian relations are based on deeply rooted beliefs, historical wounds and nationalism, the ongoing conflict should be treated most carefully in order not to exacerbate the situation further. The conflict also should serve as a wake-up call for people in the two societies to think about how they can best overcome past wounds and present prejudice and distrust. This will be no easy task, but the other option of going to war and hating each other even more should certainly be less desirable.
The challenge for both Thais and Cambodians is to learn not to become a prisoner of their past while also questioning the prison that current nationalist thinking lock us in.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
IMF Urges Cambodia To Boost Revenue
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), at the end of the 2010 Article IV Consultation with Cambodia, has agreed that enhancing revenue collection and administration procedures were essential to ensure internal fiscal sustainability, while also providing room for the country to meet its medium-term development objectives.
It was reported that, following a significant easing in 2009, it is probable that Cambodia’s 2010 budget target will be bettered and a gradual fiscal consolidation is on track. The rebound in tax revenue is broadening, with a rise in both direct and indirect cumulative tax revenue. In particular, profit tax collection has gained momentum, supported by the ongoing economic recovery. Continued efforts to strengthen revenue administration, and reduced incentives for smuggling due to diminishing regional disparities in gasoline and diesel prices, have also helped contain tax evasion.
The Cambodian government is committed to further improving revenue administration. It concurred with the IMF that gains in tax collection offer the best hope for Cambodia to meet the dual objective of securing fiscal sustainability and mobilizing resources for its large development needs. Specifically, there was agreement that the scope to improve the productivity of the tax system is significant.
The IMF estimated that, based on its experience in similar countries, Cambodia’s tax revenue to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is about 5%-7% below its potential. Since the mid-1990s, the tax revenue to GDP ratio has doubled, but at 12%, it is still the second lowest among Asian low-income countries (LICs) that average 17%. According to the IMF, bringing the productivity of the value-added tax alone to a level comparable with other Asian low-income countries would yield an additional 1.5% of GDP.
The IMF, therefore, supported the government’s target of improving the tax revenue to GDP ratio through better administration by 0.5% per year, which means that about one-third to one-half of the revenue enhancing potential would be realized over the medium-term.
There was also agreement that much will depend on following through with detailed action plans of the revenue collecting agencies, including: the enhancement of taxpayer compliance through auditing; information sharing among revenue-collecting and law-enforcement agencies; taxpayer education; and improved governance within the agencies (notably through better protection of enforcement officers and disclosure requirements under the recently adopted anti-corruption law).
The IMF recommended that a comprehensive strategy to enable a more aggressive collection of tax arrears, which rose 20% in the year ending July 2010, be put in place.
It was suggested that reducing the scope for evasion will also critically enhance the effectiveness of tax policy changes that are currently considered with a view to raise revenue. For example, the IMF estimated that replacing the reference price for taxes on petroleum imports to the current transactions price level would yield about 1% of GDP, and higher “sin” taxes on alcohol and tobacco could generate an additional 0.2% of GDP.
However, it was pointed out that these calculations assume that the resulting increase in domestic retail prices over those in neighbouring countries does not erode the tax base. This requires that greater incentives for smuggling are effectively curbed by the envisaged improvements to customs control. It was agreed that better information sharing and transfer of know-how in the fight against tax evasion from the General Customs and Excise Department to the General Tax Department will also be needed in light of trade liberalization commitments and the growing reliance on domestic taxes relative to trade taxes.
Source: http://www.tax-news.com/cyprus/cyprus_review_2010.asp
It was reported that, following a significant easing in 2009, it is probable that Cambodia’s 2010 budget target will be bettered and a gradual fiscal consolidation is on track. The rebound in tax revenue is broadening, with a rise in both direct and indirect cumulative tax revenue. In particular, profit tax collection has gained momentum, supported by the ongoing economic recovery. Continued efforts to strengthen revenue administration, and reduced incentives for smuggling due to diminishing regional disparities in gasoline and diesel prices, have also helped contain tax evasion.
The Cambodian government is committed to further improving revenue administration. It concurred with the IMF that gains in tax collection offer the best hope for Cambodia to meet the dual objective of securing fiscal sustainability and mobilizing resources for its large development needs. Specifically, there was agreement that the scope to improve the productivity of the tax system is significant.
The IMF estimated that, based on its experience in similar countries, Cambodia’s tax revenue to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is about 5%-7% below its potential. Since the mid-1990s, the tax revenue to GDP ratio has doubled, but at 12%, it is still the second lowest among Asian low-income countries (LICs) that average 17%. According to the IMF, bringing the productivity of the value-added tax alone to a level comparable with other Asian low-income countries would yield an additional 1.5% of GDP.
The IMF, therefore, supported the government’s target of improving the tax revenue to GDP ratio through better administration by 0.5% per year, which means that about one-third to one-half of the revenue enhancing potential would be realized over the medium-term.
There was also agreement that much will depend on following through with detailed action plans of the revenue collecting agencies, including: the enhancement of taxpayer compliance through auditing; information sharing among revenue-collecting and law-enforcement agencies; taxpayer education; and improved governance within the agencies (notably through better protection of enforcement officers and disclosure requirements under the recently adopted anti-corruption law).
The IMF recommended that a comprehensive strategy to enable a more aggressive collection of tax arrears, which rose 20% in the year ending July 2010, be put in place.
It was suggested that reducing the scope for evasion will also critically enhance the effectiveness of tax policy changes that are currently considered with a view to raise revenue. For example, the IMF estimated that replacing the reference price for taxes on petroleum imports to the current transactions price level would yield about 1% of GDP, and higher “sin” taxes on alcohol and tobacco could generate an additional 0.2% of GDP.
However, it was pointed out that these calculations assume that the resulting increase in domestic retail prices over those in neighbouring countries does not erode the tax base. This requires that greater incentives for smuggling are effectively curbed by the envisaged improvements to customs control. It was agreed that better information sharing and transfer of know-how in the fight against tax evasion from the General Customs and Excise Department to the General Tax Department will also be needed in light of trade liberalization commitments and the growing reliance on domestic taxes relative to trade taxes.
Source: http://www.tax-news.com/cyprus/cyprus_review_2010.asp
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Ministry accused of graft
The Phnom Penh Post
WEDNESDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2010 20:06
MOM KUNTHEAR
A woman has filed a complaint to the Anticorruption Unit accusing Interior Ministry officials in Phnom Penh of extorting money from her after wrongfully arresting and detaining her son.
Teng Sokchea, 46, said yesterday that she filed a complaint to the ACU on Monday after her 22-year-old son and three of his friends had been arrested in Russey Keo district on Sunday, and accused of buying a motorbike with fake licence plates.
She said the four suspects were detained in a cell at the Ministry of Interior overnight, and were only released the following morning when family members arrived to pay fees of up to US$400 demanded by officials.
“They accused my son and his friends of buying a motorbike with fake number plates and they tried to force my son to admit the crime they accused him of,” she said.
“I gave $250 to the officer for the release of my son. At first I told them that I have only $200, but they asked me for $50 more,” she said, adding that she had had to borrow the extra $50.
She said her son had bought the motorbike in question from his uncle, and denied that it had fake number plates.
“I still wonder why the police arrested and detained my son that night,” she said. “He is a good person and he did not do anything wrong from the law.”
But Horm Kunthy, director of the Investigations Bureau at the Interior Ministry’s Criminal Police Department, said yesterday that the arrests were justified.
“We got information from the local police [that they] suspected that [the four accused] bought a motorbike from a thief to sell in the province, and then we went to arrest them in order to question them,” he said.
He said he had accepted money from Teng Sokchea in exchange for her son’s release, but claimed that Teng Sokchea had offered the money freely.
“Actually she agreed to give me $250 [in exchange] for taking her son back home,” he said, adding that officials had only agreed to accept the money and release Teng Sokchea’s son because they “felt pity for her”.
He said he was not concerned about the possibility of an ACU investigation.
“I don’t care or worry about her complaint to the ACU because it is her right to do that and I will prepare myself to appear to answer all the questions about her case if the ACU officers invite me for questioning,” he said, adding that he was not worried “because I am not wrong”.
ACU head Om Yentieng, and spokesman Keo Remy could not be reached for comment yesterday.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010121545413/National-news/ministry-accused-of-graft.html
WEDNESDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2010 20:06
MOM KUNTHEAR
A woman has filed a complaint to the Anticorruption Unit accusing Interior Ministry officials in Phnom Penh of extorting money from her after wrongfully arresting and detaining her son.
Teng Sokchea, 46, said yesterday that she filed a complaint to the ACU on Monday after her 22-year-old son and three of his friends had been arrested in Russey Keo district on Sunday, and accused of buying a motorbike with fake licence plates.
She said the four suspects were detained in a cell at the Ministry of Interior overnight, and were only released the following morning when family members arrived to pay fees of up to US$400 demanded by officials.
“They accused my son and his friends of buying a motorbike with fake number plates and they tried to force my son to admit the crime they accused him of,” she said.
“I gave $250 to the officer for the release of my son. At first I told them that I have only $200, but they asked me for $50 more,” she said, adding that she had had to borrow the extra $50.
She said her son had bought the motorbike in question from his uncle, and denied that it had fake number plates.
“I still wonder why the police arrested and detained my son that night,” she said. “He is a good person and he did not do anything wrong from the law.”
But Horm Kunthy, director of the Investigations Bureau at the Interior Ministry’s Criminal Police Department, said yesterday that the arrests were justified.
“We got information from the local police [that they] suspected that [the four accused] bought a motorbike from a thief to sell in the province, and then we went to arrest them in order to question them,” he said.
He said he had accepted money from Teng Sokchea in exchange for her son’s release, but claimed that Teng Sokchea had offered the money freely.
“Actually she agreed to give me $250 [in exchange] for taking her son back home,” he said, adding that officials had only agreed to accept the money and release Teng Sokchea’s son because they “felt pity for her”.
He said he was not concerned about the possibility of an ACU investigation.
“I don’t care or worry about her complaint to the ACU because it is her right to do that and I will prepare myself to appear to answer all the questions about her case if the ACU officers invite me for questioning,” he said, adding that he was not worried “because I am not wrong”.
ACU head Om Yentieng, and spokesman Keo Remy could not be reached for comment yesterday.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010121545413/National-news/ministry-accused-of-graft.html
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