Victory claimed in land dispute
More than a month after halting construction around a disputed land concession in Ratanakkiri province, a Vietnam-based company has reportedly gone a step further and agreed to return 30 hectares of razed forest, a village representative and commune chief maintained yesterday. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/victory-claimed-land-dispute
Electronics market in Cambodia booms
The burgeoning demand for high-end electronic devices in Cambodia, driven by a more affluent and growing middle class, has doubled or even tripled sales revenues in the country, industry leaders say. “The market demand is shifting to the premium segment – from normal phones to smart ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012460963/Business/electronics-market-in-cambodia-booms.html
Mfone $65 million in debt
Failed Cambodian telco Mfone owes at least $65 million to multiple creditors that sources say include the government. A court injunction to freeze Mfone‘s assets, obtained by the Post yesterday, shows Mfone owes Chinese telco provider Huawei Technologies more than $65 million. Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013013061068/Business/mfone-65-million-in-debt.html
Second-hand, first in imports
Cambodia imported almost 10 times as many used clothes as new ones in the first 11 months of last year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Some 79,217 tonnes of used garments worth $61.5 million were brought in during that period, compared ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030461731/Business/second-hand-first-in-imports.html
Slight rise in truck numbers
The total number of new trucks registered last year increased slightly, but industry insiders said that even though more trucks are needed to boost the Kingdom’s trading volume, the country’s export capacity is relatively unaffected because of trucks bought in previous years. The number of big ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032564655/Business/slight-rise-in-truck-numbers.html
Strongman's hand in BHP deal
A BHP Billiton mining deal being investigated for alleged corruption was personally overseen by Cambodian strongman Hun Sen, diplomatic cables reveal. The miner’s aborted attempt to establish a bauxite mine in Cambodia, and its hospitality program for Chinese officials at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, are at ...
http://www.smh.com.au/national/strongmans-hand-in-bhp-deal-20130325-2gqae.html
Officials in ‘contract’ farms drive
Officials are seeking expert firms to implement projects on so-called contract farming and the enhancement of the involvement of farmers’ organisations in paddy collecting and processing, officials said. Contract farming is an agreement on agricultural production carried out between a farmer and buyers, which establishes conditions ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052265766/Business/officials-in-contract-farms-drive.html
Wing Star Widow in Limbo
Government officials have suggested the widow of the man crushed to death last month at the Wing Star Shoes factory, a supplier to Asics, will still be denied compensation from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), a labour rights worker said yesterday. American Center for International ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013060366021/National/wing-star-widow-in-limbo.html
The ‘silent’ in silent majority
Throngs of young Cambodian People’s Party supporters have gathered on the corners of Sihanouk and Sothearos Boulevards for days now, their mere presence a testament to the CPP’s ostensibly broad-based popularity. They represent a powerful voting bloc in a country where the lion’s share of the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/%E2%80%98silent%E2%80%99-silent-majority
Another complaint in Sen Sok
Yet another resident of Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district came forward yesterday to join “Crocodile Grandmother” Chhin Sokoutheary in accusing city and district officials of issuing a false sub-decree to acquire land in the vicinity of Pong Peay Lake in Phnom Penh Thmey commune. Chea Savean, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032062038/National/another-complaint-in-sen-sok.html
Telecom revenue rose in 2012
CAMBODIA Post (CP), which plans to list on the local bourse, earned 8.1 per cent more revenue year-on-year in 2012, driven in part by its recent transformation from a wholly state-owned delivery company into a semi-autonomous entity. Revenues last year hit more than $4 million, compared ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032062037/Business/telecom-revenue-rose-in-2012.html
Factory’s owner in crosshairs
Some 400 garment workers yesterday gathered outside the Ministry of Social Affairs to plead for government intervention against a factory owner who fled without paying them overdue wages three months ago. Khem Chamnan, a Free Trade Union representative from the Pine Great (Cambodia) factory in Phnom ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070266604/National/factory-s-owner-in-crosshairs.html
Voters split in Boeung Kak
The battle for Phnom Penh at Sunday’s national election will be fought out with the years-long Boeung Kak land dispute still unresolved, after the city’s governor announced yesterday a solution would be found only after the ballot, villagers said. Phnom Penh Governor Pa Socheatvong, who in ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/voters-split-boeung-kak
Baby milk recalled in Cambodia
Potentially contaminated infant milk powder that had been banned in China, Russia and Vietnam is now being recalled in Cambodia. The Cambodian distributor of a milk powder product that uses a suspect ingredient from New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra is recalling thousands of units as a ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/baby-milk-recalled-cambodia
Promotions few in financial sector
In late 2009, two months after graduating with a degree in economics, Heng Piseth found a job as a credit officer with a microfinance institution in Kampong Thom province. The story reflects a larger trend confronting young Cambodians entering the financial sector’s job market. While ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/promotions-few-financial-sector
Villagers Seize Trucks in Protest
More than 300 protesters seized two company trucks outside the Kratie office of Korean-owned timber company Think Biotech Co yesterday as protests by villagers who allege land-grabbing continued for a second day. “We have seized the company’s two trucks to ask the company to come ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052865873/National/villagers-seize-trucks-in-protest.html
In carbon, gains for agriculture
Paying Cambodian farmers to capture carbon by not removing mulch during planting and harvesting would help support climate change mitigation, reduce soil deterioration and return higher yields in the long term, say leading agriculture experts. Speaking at a conference in Phnom Penh last Friday, Professor Rattan ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013062466434/Business/in-carbon-gains-for-agriculture.html
Timber cache hidden in plantation
A raid on an orange plantation netted more than five cubic metres of illegally logged rosewood and other luxury-grade timber in Pursat’s Kravanh district on Friday, local officials said. More than 25 police officers, forestry administration officials and environment ministry officers conducted the operation, which found ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/timber-cache-hidden-plantation
Tata moves in on agriculture
India-based Tata International Ltd announced yesterday that it would import and distribute its Farmtrac Tractors in Cambodia to profit from the country’s growing agricultural sector. Speaking at the launching ceremony at the Koh Pich exhibition centre, Jitendra Manghinani, country manager of Tata South East Asia (Cambodia), ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/tata-moves-agriculture
Little won in logging crackdown
Early on Monday morning, at about 1am, two trucks carrying roughly 10 cubic metres of illegally felled timber were bouncing down the road between Oddar Meanchey and Siem Reap. Police stopped the trucks – one of which bore military plates – and seized the haul, but ...
Stuart White and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/little-won-logging-crackdown