May 16: A Grand Opening Ceremony was held to innaugurate the extablishment

of Singer Nikko Cambodia Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the King Group. Minister of Commerce

Cham Prasidh presided at the event.

May 16: CAMS released visitor arrival figures to the Kingdom for the month

of April which totalled 29,366. Of this amount, 20,553 were tourists. Taiwan led

the list of nationalities coming to Cambodia with 3,824 arrivals, followed by Japan

(3,118), France (2,407) and the U.S. (2,173). Total arrivals included 8,384 Cambodian

nationals returning from trips abroad.

May 18: The Grand Final of the Mild Seven Cambodia Motorcycle Grand Prix

'97 took place at the old stadium.

May 18: The first official Mekong River Crossing Competition organised

by the Khmer Federation of Amateur Swimming (FKNA) and sponsored by Milo was held

in front of the Royal Palace. Nestle representative Dominique Peterhans presented

a check for $3,800 to FKNA president Kong Rithy Chup to support the event.

May 18: A delegation from the Rotary Club of Singapore led by the club's

president Alfred Wong arrived in Phnom Penh for a one-week visit. The delegation

included a number of doctors and medical experts who were here to explore how they

could contribute and share their expertise to help those in need in the Kingdom.

A ceremony was held at the Hotel Inter-Continental where gifts including a used ambulance,

two vans for eye-camps, 4.5 tons of milk powder, canned food, 20 wheelchairs and

vitamins were donated to the government.

May 19: Reuters reported Cambodia has agreed to work with a UN-affiliated

group to try and stop child labour from spreading. The government signed a memorandum

of understanding with the International Labour Organisation laying out areas of cooperation

on May 18. A recently compiled ILO report found that more than 600,000 Khmers under

the age of 17, or 16 percent of children, were economically active, mostly in the

agricultural sector.

May 19: British American Tobacco Cambodia Ltd held a press briefing to

launch "The 555 Smoking Lounge" at Pochentong International Airport. The

lounge has a capacity to hold 30 people and is equipped with air conditioners and

smoke filters so fresh air can be provided constantly.

May 20: The United Nations released a copy of a letter from Thomas Hammarberg,

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia to senior

officials in the RGC expressing his strong support and encouragement to the signers

of the Declaration of the Joint Commission for Abnormal Conflict Resolution. According

to a press release, in the letter Hammarberg "Welcomed and appreciated their

effort to stabilize the situation, prevent violent confrontation and further political

violence and thereby protect human rights."

May 20: Reuters reported that about 10 students protested in front of the

Parliament on May 19, the first time demonstrators have ventured on to the site since

a deadly March grenade attack there.

May 22: The Hotel Inter-Continental held a signing ceremony for its new

Clark Hatch Fitness Centre. Fitness guru Clark Hatch was in town for the event.

May 22: Reuters reported that U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

will visit Cambodia at then end of June.

May 23: The Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC)

issued a press statement calling on factory owners and managers to abide by the Prime

Ministers joint decision on paid holidays, rather than that of the Ministry of Labor.

FTUWKC says that workers were required to work on May 21 (Buddha's Birthday) and

May 25 (the Plowing Ceremony) without any bonus pay.

May 24: The French Cultural and Linguistic Cooperation Centre sponsored

a dance performance by the National Centre for Advanced Musical Studies (CNSM) of

Lyon which took place at the Chatomuk Theatre. The event was part of a larger collaboration

between CNSM and the Royal University of Fine Arts initiated in 1996.

May 26: A delegation from IDP Education Australia met at the Hotel Inter-Continental

to promote Austalian education to organisations involved in education and training

in Cambodia.

May 27: The UNDP held a workshop entitled "Options for the Development

of the Tonle Sap Region". Hosted by the Cambodia National Mekong Committee,

the seminar looked at major resources and development potential of the lake area,

and examined government economic policy objectives which would effect the 1.2 million

people living in the Tonle Sap region.

May 27: The American-Cambodian Business Council (AmCam) held its monthly

luncheon at the Hotel Inter-Continental. Guest speaker Minister of Commerce Cham

Prasidh spoke to the attendees about the RGC's efforts to expand trade.

May 28: The third annual "Surgery Day" was celebrated at the

Faculty of Medicine.

May 28: The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications held a ceremony to

celebrate the opening of CAMNET (Internet) Services.

May 29: The opening ceremony for the Asian Development Bank's Cambodia

Resident Mission was held at the ADB's new offices at No. 93 Norodom Boulevard. Mr.

Mitsuo Sato, ADB president, presided at the event.