Yearender: Hosting ASEAN Summit tops major achievements of Cambodia in 2012
The successful hosting of the 21st Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its related summits here in November was definitely the biggest achievement of Cambodia in 2012 despite some sad events such as the death of the venerated former King Norodom ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2013-01/01/c_132075147.htm
Sharp fall in insurance claims
Claims in the Kingdom’s six insurance companies declined dramatically last year, while the total premium revenue sharply increased by more than 20 per cent year-on-year, official data from the General Insurance Association of Cambodia (GIAC) show. GIAC data shows total claims reached $4.8 million, down from ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022061468/Business/sharp-fall-in-insurance-claims.html
Move to lift energy efficiency in Cambodia
A national energy efficiency policy is currently in development, officials told the Post last week. Experts at the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy (MIME) and the multi-donor fund EU Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue Facility (EUEI PDF) are in discussions about details of the policy, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022061465/Business/move-to-lift-energy-efficiency-in-cambodia.html
Gov't Denies Flouting Ban on Concessions
The government on Friday denied it had violated a moratorium on granting new land concessions when Prime Minister Hun Sen signed off on more than 20,000 hectares of land to three rubber companies 11 days after the ban was announced on May 7. According to documents ...
Waste to Watt
In an outbuilding at Lok Sear’s rice milling operation in Kandal province, two four-meter-high cylindrical machines vibrate and hum as the occasional chicken and duck pecks near the concrete blocks holding them up. While they do both feature a thinck band of aluminium around their ...
Critics dismiss Hun Sen’s pledge as empty promises
Prime Minister Hun Sen made a bold pledge to the hundreds of thousands of Cambodian villagers fighting companies for their homes yesterday, ordering that in every economic land concession across the country, space must be provided for those they would displace. But last month’s royal book ...
Trade Deficit Up 34 Percent On Last Year
Cambodia’s trade deficit in the first half of the year grew 34.31 percent compared with the same period in 2011, reaching $1.36 billion, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce. Though revenues earned from exports grew 12.13 percent to about $2.50 billion, a growing ...
Recent Development and Economic Outlook
The UN’s assessment suggests that Cambodia is one of the top five countries that have made significant progress toward meeting its MDGs by 2015. The poverty rate has dropped dramatically from 47.50 percent in 1993 to 34.70 percent in 2004 and 23 percent in 2011, ...
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
Hun Sen Reaches for Ambitious Income Target
Going by the World Bank’s method of grouping nation states by their wealth, Cambodia this year could become a lower-middle income country. Not satisfied, however, with this graduation—a feat in itself from Cambodia’s position of extreme poverty just two decades ago when gross domestic product (GDP) ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/hun-sen-reaches-for-ambitious-income-target-18766/
FAO Raises Paddy Production Outlook
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has raised its forecast of global paddy production in 2012 by about 1.5 million tonnes to 730 million tonnes (487 million tonnes, milled). The scaling up of production mainly concerned Asian countries, in particular Cambodia, ...
Cambodian rice exports to Thailand rising; Democrat revives allegations
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will consider claims of corruption in the government’s rice-pledging scheme made during a recent parliamentary session, a senior official from the agency said. However, it remains unclear when the NACC will conclude its ongoing probe. During screening of the 2014 ...
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/NACC-to-probe-rice-scheme-testimony-30207459.html
Skyscraper’s woes continue
The saga of the stalled $240 million Gold Tower 42 was revived last week when it emerged that a supplier for the project had accused the owner and builder of failing to pay out nearly $500,000 in fees, according to an injunction request obtained by ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013061866319/Business/skyscraper-s-woes-continue.html
Timing of stats questioned
For the first time in recent memory, the Ministry of Economy and Finance has released growth projections for the first half of the year, and the numbers are good. The ministry’s preliminary data claims that from January through June, economic growth stood at 7.6 per ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/timing-stats-questioned
Cambodia's 2012 unemployment rate stands at 2.7 pct: survey
Unemployment rate in Cambodia stood at 2.7 percent in equivalent to 202,300 persons aged 15 or older in 2012, according to the first-ever Cambodia Labor Force Survey Report released on Thursday. Conducted by the National Institute of Statistics and the International Labor Organization (ILO), the survey ...
Global Post News Staff
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/131128/cambodias-2012-unemployment-rate-stands-at-27-pct-survey
Cambodia’s GMAC says factory closures continue due to ongoing strikes
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) said Thursday most of its 559 factories would continue to be closed due to security concerns after six pro-opposition trade unions led striking workers to destroy factories’ properties and forced workers to join their protests. “Because of the current ...
NZ Week News Staff
http://www.nzweek.com/world/cambodias-gmac-says-factory-closures-continue-due-to-ongoing-strikes-107149/
Flooding Kills 7, Spreads to Kandal Province
Flooding across the country has now killed seven people, including four children, since water reached emergency levels in some areas on Friday, the National Disaster Management Committee (NDMC) said Monday. Flooding is affecting a total of seven provinces and authorities have already evacuated hundreds of families ...
Ben Sokhean and Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/flooding-kills-7-spreads-to-kandal-province-43053/
Hunger Reduced, Malnourishment Next Issue
Cambodia has reached its millennium development goal of reducing by half the number of people who suffer from hunger, but more needs to be done to make sure that the population now receives the right nutrients, officials said on World Food Day Wednesday. Making the announcement ...
Denise Hruby and Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hunger-reduced-malnourishment-next-issue-45363/
PAL vows to pursue Cambodia airline deal with local tycoon
Philippine Airlines continues to pursue talks to form a new Cambodian flag carrier with local telecommunications, banking and property tycoon Kith Meng despite missing a deadline to close the deal for a second time this week, its top executive said. PAL president Ramon S. Ang said ...
Business Inquirer Net News Staff
http://business.inquirer.net/148155/pal-vows-to-pursue-cambodia-airline-deal-with-local-tycoon
Flooding could affect growth
When the extent of flood damage becomes clear, the Asian Development Bank may lower its economic growth forecast for Cambodia to reflect the severity of the aftermath, a senior official with agency’s local office said yesterday. “It is possible that we will have to revise downward ...
Joe Freeman and Sen David, P.7
http://www.phnompenhpost.com