PHNOM PENH, Dec 13 2012 (IPS) - For a brief moment last month, mainstream international media turned the spotlight on Cambodia, one of the world’s 48 least developed countries (LDCs), as a high-level visit from U.S. President Barack Obama and the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gave this country of 14.3 million people a glamorous edge. ...

PHNOM PENH, Nov 15 - A group of 62 human rights and other organisations say the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, expected to be adopted at the ASEAN summit later this month in Cambodia, is "not worthy of its name" and issued a statement roundly rejecting it if the document is indeed issued in its current form. ...

Nov 6 (ISEAS Perspective) - Cambodia will host the 21st ASEAN Summit and related summits in Phnom Penh from 18-20 November 2012. This Perspective article reviews what to expect from the 21st ASEAN Summit. ...

BANGKOK, Nov 14 (Bangkok Post) - Cambodia will fulfil its last major obligation as this year's Asean chair on Nov 18-20, when it hosts the annual Asean Summit and seventh East Asia Summit (EAS). ...

In this Sep.26 open letter, human rights activists argue that "serious flaws" in the draft ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, set to be adopted by ASEAN later in the year, must be addressed. If not, they say, the declaration would "not bode well for the reputation and credibility" of the ASEAN human rights mechanism. ...

JAKARTA, Aug 25 (Jakarta Post) - Despite the absence of a joint communiqué from the 45th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM), foreign ministers of the regional grouping have agreed to release its “key elements” to public as part of consultations before the adoption of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) at the 21st ASEAN Summit in November in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. ...

KAMPOT/PHNOM PENH/KAMPONG CHAM, Aug 28 - Cambodia’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are busily preparing for the ASEAN Economic Community’s (AEC) free flow of goods in 2015. They are probably not that different from the other 10 ASEAN member states’ own SMEs. ...

Photo: Truong Van Vi/Imaging Our Mekong-IPS Asia-Pacific  ...