IT revolution

Cambodia has been slow in adopting the IT revolution, which has transformed much of East Asia. But a radical scheme is underway to give technical and skilled jobs to the country's most disadvantaged and break the poverty cycle. Digital Divide Data (DDD) is a nongovernmental organization operating in Phnom Phenh.
It provides career choices beyond traditional handicrafts, where unskilled workers are trained until they can find better paying jobs.
24 year old Treng Kuy Chheng was born into grinding poverty; at the age of two she had polio. Chheng was lucky to survive, but her illness left her disabled, and badly affecting her future prospects. Despite her disability she had to work every day at her family's food stall.
Treng Kuy Chheng: "This is my house. I lived here for about 18 years. Every morning I went to the market to buy vegetables which I sold just here. I never thought that I would have a life like I have today. I really thought I would just sell fruit forever."
Treng is now is one of five hundred disabled and disadvantaged people who have been offered the chance of a better life by Digital Divide Data (DDD). The people who find themselves at this Phnom Penh office arrive for all sorts of reasons. General Manager Kunthy Kann says the company supports socially and economically disadvantaged Cambodians.
Kunthy Kann, General Manager: "We founded Digital Divide Data to provide data entry jobs to some of the most disadvantaged people in Cambodia-- such as orphans, landmine survivors, polio victims and trafficked women."
Over one hundred and fifty people are now employed in DDD's Phnom Penh headquarters, with another one in Siem Reap. DDD doesn't just offer its employees work, it gives them confidence, independence and the opportunity to realize a better life for themselves. Unlike traditional crafts to which many of the unemployed workers have to turn to, they are given skills in a constantly growing 21st century industry.
Lynn Watson, VP of Client Services, Phnom Penh Office: "We've got young people coming on board who have never worked with a computer before; they certainly haven't worked in a large business environment. Part of what we do is to help train and teach what that's about: not only how to use a computer- but how to use it well, how to work in a business environment- skills that they can take and carry on to the next level in their careers."
New employees start by learning to type, and after six months training, they work on professional data entry projects. The staff is well rewarded; they earn about (US) $90 each month, that's double the national average. DDD also has strong market ambitions.
Kunthy Kann, General Manager: "We are competing with international companies in countries such as China and India, which have access to a skilled workforce. We take people with no experience or suitable education and train them to compete."
Even so the working day at DDD is only six hours long-- this is to ensure that its workers are given the opportunity to study at university in the evening. Thlok Srey Nay, 26, appreciates the company's benefits.
Thlok Srey Nay, 26, Employee: "Before I never used computers, but in here I practice on them a lot. I'm learning to use a lot of computer programs such as Word, which I never used before. And most important for me, DDD also provide me with a scholarship to study at university."
The employees say the opportunity give them independence and earning power to take care of themselves and not have to rely on other people. The company's goal is to build up human capital in Cambodia to tackle the root cause of poverty. Sor Sontheary, DDD's external relations coordinator recounts an old proverb.
Sor Sontheary, External Relations Coordinator, Phnom Penh: "We believe that developing human capital is the key to developing the Cambodian economy. We train people how to work because as the proverb says: it's better to teach a man to fish instead of just giving him fish to eat."
DDD plans to increase its work force to 1500 people by 2012. There are high hopes in Cambodia that projects such as DDD can play a key role in helping to reduce the country's poverty and help disadvantaged Cambodians

Cash for Clunkers to end on Monday

Cash for Clunkers to end on Monday
457,000 vehicle sales later, Obama administration announces end of Cash for Clunkers on Monday
By Ken Thomas and Stephen Manning, Associated Press Writers
On Friday August 21, 2009, 7:14 am

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Car shoppers have until Monday night to take advantage of lucrative Cash for Clunkers rebates from the government, and the Obama administration is hoping for a smooth ending to a program that has spurred auto sales but created headaches for many auto dealers.

The popular program will end at 8 p.m. EDT Monday after burning through much of its $3 billion in funding in just a month. All new deals will have to be completed and dealers must file their paperwork by the deadline in order to get repaid for the big incentives.
President Barack Obama and administration officials declared the program a success Thursday, saying it has revitalized the ailing auto industry and finally brought reluctant car buyers back to dealership lots. Originally a $1 billion program, Cash for Clunkers was boosted to $3 billion in early August after heavy customer demand nearly depleted its funds in just one week.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the program has been "a lifeline to the automobile industry, jump starting a major sector of the economy and putting people back to work." He said the department was "working toward an orderly wind down of this very popular program."
But it has also created problems for dealers, many of whom have yet to be repaid for the clunker deals they have made. Under the program, dealers take rebates of $3,500 or $4,500 off the price of a new car in return for older, less fuel-efficient trade-ins that are sent to the scrap heap. They then must submit a 13-page application with proper documentation of the sale in order to get repaid.
That has left many dealers with unpaid claims worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"It has brought in some traffic that we would not have had, but if you don't get paid, it is all for naught," said Alton Owen Jr., sales manager at Owen Ford in Jarratt, Va. His dealership won't be offering the clunker deals this weekend because it has yet to be repaid for 21 sales.
Obama and LaHood pledged that dealers will get their money back. But government data shows that many claims are still outstanding. As of Thursday, 457,000 sales worth $1.9 billion had been received. About 40 percent of those claims have been reviewed, but only $140 million, or about 7 percent of the claims dealers submitted, have actually been paid.
Government officials said there were no plans to extend the program again. The Monday deadline was set to avoid surpassing the $3 billion funding level, given deals that may be made this weekend and those that are still in the pipeline for approval.
Applications for rebates will not be accepted after the Monday deadline, administration officials said. The Transportation Department cautioned dealers about making sales this weekend, advising them to make sales only where the buyer's paperwork is clearly in order and can be submitted immediately for repayment. Dealers will be able to resubmit rejected applications after the deadline.
John McEleney, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, said he remained concerned that so few dealers had been reimbursed for Clunker deals. But he said the Monday deadline should give dealers time to get their paperwork in order.
"I think if we can get a clean cutoff Monday and get everything processed by then, it will have been a pretty darned successful program," he said.
But Mike Mahalak, who runs a Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep dealership in Winter Haven, Fla., said the Monday end date could lead to a similar rush that nearly crippled the federal government's computer systems that were set up to handle claims.
"That Web site will lock up again once everyone is cramming it again on Monday," Mahalak said. The administration has said it expanded the capacity of the computer network in an effort to improve the process for dealers.
Obama said in an interview Thursday that the program has been "successful beyond anybody's imagination" but dealers were overwhelmed by the response of consumers. He pledged that dealers "will get their money." The administration has said it has tripled the number of staffers sorting through the paperwork.
It remains unclear whether the Monday deadline will create a new rush of sales this weekend and if dealers will continue to make deals knowing their claims have to be filed in four days.
To help cash-strapped dealers, both Chrysler and General Motors said they would begin providing cash advances to help dealers cover any cash shortfalls related to the program. The automakers said they would provide the advances for up to 30 days to dealers who have already completed a sale and that they will be available as long as the program remains in effect.
The program provided at least a temporary boost for the beleaguered auto industry and dealers.
GM announced plans to rehire more than 1,300 workers and automakers have been paying overtime to ramp up production. Hyundai recalled 3,000 workers in Alabama. Many dealers have made hundreds of sales and reported that even customers who don't qualify for the program are visiting lots to buy new cars.
Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of the auto Web site Edmunds.com, said the government incentives could dry up sales in September and October, along with a tight vehicle inventory, higher prices for new models arriving in the fall and consumers who are focused on finding a good deal.
"It's been a nice party for a few weeks. The hangover, I don't think, is going to be anywhere near as much fun," Anwyl said.

Oil hovers near $73 amid mixed US economic data

Oil hovers near $73 in European trade as mixed US economic data suggest slow recovery
By George Jahn, Associated Press Writer
On Friday August 21, 2009, 6:36 am EDT
Buzz up!
VIENNA (AP) -- Oil prices stayed close to $73 a barrel Friday, as traders weighed mixed economic data from the U.S. suggesting a recovery in demand will be slow.
Benchmark crude for October delivery was up 9 cents to $73 a barrel by noon European electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Thursday, the contract fell 92 cents to settle at $72.91.
The September contract, which expired Thursday, advanced 12 cents to end at $72.54.
Investors are digesting news that indicates U.S. consumption remains weak even as the economy recovers from recession.
The "bad headlines ... overshadowed the less-bad headlines," wrote trader and analyst Stephen Schork in his Schork Report, referring to the economic data.
The Labor Department on Thursday said the number of first-time unemployment claims rose unexpectedly for the second straight week. And the Mortgage Bankers Association said more than 13 percent of homeowners with a mortgage are either behind on their payments or in foreclosure.
"There are no real signs that consumption in the U.S. is picking up," said Ben Westmore, energy analyst with National Australia Bank in Melbourne. "Until we see that, investors won't be assured that the recovery is imminent."
Investors were cheered earlier this week when the Energy Information Administration said crude in storage fell by 8.4 million barrels last week, suggesting demand could be improving.
On Thursday, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve said factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region jumped back into positive territory in August, reaching its highest level since November 2007.
Meanwhile, the Conference Board's economic forecasting gauge, the Index of Leading Economic Indicators, rose for the fourth straight month during July.
"The data is quite volatile," Westmore said. "If we see more inventory draws, oil could break through the $75 a barrel mark."
In other Nymex trading, gasoline and heating oil for for September delivery were steady at $1.98 and $1.89 a gallon. Natural gas for September delivery held at $2.95 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent prices rose 27 cents to $73.60 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Associated Press writer Alex Kennedy contributed to this report from Singapore.