MFI survey claims debtor success
A survey by Cambodian microfinancers showed debtors were better off in several respects than those who didn’t borrow from the institutions, MFI officials claimed. Responding to recent concerns over the role of microfinance institutions in creating poverty and loss of property in the Kingdom, the Cambodia ...
Plans set for Silk Research Centre at RUPP
Cambodian silk producers will be soon able to get quality silkworms from a breeding centre at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), thanks to a specialised team that is seeking to increase professionalism in the Kingdom’s silk industry. ...
Hor Kimsay
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/plans-set-silk-research-centre-rupp
MFI lending continues on course
Cambodia’s microfinance sector continued to expand rapidly during the first half of the year, despite concerns over rising default rates as the industry’s main borrowers – provincial farmers – struggle to repay their loans after successive seasons of drought and poor harvests. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/mfi-lending-continues-course
Riel fund transfers to expand under FAST system
Two weeks since the central bank launched its FAST system, which provides instant riel-denominated fund transfers between banking institutions, operations are running smoothly, with usage of the new electronic payment system expected to pick up as it integrates more customers. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/riel-fund-transfers-expand-under-fast-system
First-ever FDI survey identifies $20B in capital inflow
Foreign direct investment (FDI) to Cambodia over a 20-year period – from 1994 to 2014 – is estimated to have reached $19.2 billion and was heavily weighed by inflows of capital from China, according to the first-ever comprehensive survey on FDI, released yesterday. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/first-ever-fdi-survey-identifies-20b-capital-inflow
Gov’t urged to bridge gaps and support private sector
The government should throw its weight behind Cambodia’s young and dynamic private sector, which has the talent and skills to capitalise on the opportunities presented by ASEAN regional economic integration, a government adviser said during a forum on Friday. ...
Ayanna Runcie
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/govt-urged-bridge-gaps-and-support-private-sector
Woori ruled out of Prasac bid
South Korean financial giant Woori Bank, widely seen as the preferred bidder for a 50 per cent stake in Cambodian microlender Prasac, is out of the running as it was not presented to the central bank as an official bidder, local banking officials have said. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/woori-ruled-out-prasac-bid
CARDI raises climate change concerns in report
A report from the Cambodia Agriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI), a semi-autonomous organisation, showed that 83 per cent of farmers surveyed in Kampong Speu, Kampot and Kampong Cham provinces had noticed the effects of climate change. ...
Kali Kotoski and Sorn Sarath
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cardi-raises-climate-change-concerns-report
Draft of long-awaited access-to-information law unveiled
A proposed access-to-information law more than a decade in the making was unveiled to the public yesterday, with just one item left to finalise – punishments for officials who refuse to disclose public information. ...
Daphne Chen
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/draft-long-awaited-access-information-law-unveiled
Microfinance Firms Look to Retail Lending
While shopping for a brand-new television, 27-year-old Loek Bunhai recently bought a Sony flat-screen at the Sunsimexco retail outlet on Phnom Penh’s Monivong Boulevard for $345. But with a monthly salary of $300 from his job as a microfinance officer in Phnom Penh, Mr. Bunhai was ...
Land Issues Are Dominating Talks Between Citizens, Lawmakers
Land conflicts, discrimination, corruption and inequality dominated discussions between citizens and lawmakers at forums across the country this year, according to the U.S.-based organization the National Democratic Institute (NDI). In its annual report, obtained yesterday, the NDI noted “significant consistencies in the concerns facing Cambodians across ...
Cambodia needs to polish reputation
The chief economist at the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia says Cambodia needs to attract greater numbers of multinational companies and treat them well, in order to establish production networks that will transfer technology to smaller Cambodian businesses. In an interview with the ...
S&P reaffirms rating despite political worry
Cambodia has retained its B credit rating despite ratings company Standard & Poor’s citing the country’s ongoing political standoff as a “major” constraint. S&P affirmed Cambodia’s B/B credit rating last week, labeling the country as having a strong and stable long-term and short-term outlook. Engagement of international ...
Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/sp-reaffirms-rating-despite-political-worry
Hope for freedom of information?
Representatives from civil society and the opposition gathered yesterday to push for the adoption of an access to information law – a move that comes less than a month after Prime Minister Hun Sen urged the Ministry of Information to hasten its development. Two laws dealing ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hope-freedom-information
Inmate died after hours without aid, prisoners say
A 41-year-old prisoner died of a heart attack in Prey Sar prison’s Correctional Center 1 on February 15, but only after he spent more than two hours stuck in his overcrowded cell waiting for medical treatment, his fellow prisoners allege. CC1 administrator Khuth Vuthy, who confirmed ...
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/inmate-died-after-hours-without-aid-prisoners-say
Push to transform bright female students into future gov’t leaders
As a child growing up in a poor family in Banteay Meanchey, Yang Leaphea struggled to imagine a world outside her province. She turned to her desperately under-resourced local library, but found few books there to expand her horizons. All that changed when the intelligent daughter ...
Holly Robertson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/push-to-transform bright-female-students-into-future-govt-leaders-66806/
LOLC Group acquires 60 pct stake in Cambodian Microfinance Company for USD 20.3 Mn
Sri Lanka’s Lanka Orix Leasing Company acquired a 60 percent stake in Thaneakea Phum Cambodia (TPC) a microfinance company in Cambodia, for 20.3 million US dollars, identifying the immense potential in emerging economies of the South East Asian region the company said in a media ...
Lanka Business Online News Staff
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/news/lolc-group-acquires-60-pct-stake-in-cambodian-microfinance-company-for-usd-20.3-mn/1806143502
Population to grow 22% by 2030: UN
Cambodia’s population is expected to grow by 22 per cent to almost 19 million by 2030, while infant mortality is slated to decrease and life expectancy to increase, according to a UN report released on Wednesday. ...
Sarah Taguiam
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/population-grow-22-2030-un
Phnom Penh's new apartments soar on high rents
Real estate developments covered in green tarp have sprung up across the capital’s Boeung Kang Kong commune, and housing units are filling before the projects are finished, insiders said. The value of construction approvals in Phnom Penh jumped by 557.5 per cent in March to US$150.5 ...
French agency to offer loans for solar panels
The French Development Agency (AFD) confirmed Wednesday that it will sign $6 million worth of loan agreements with three microfinance institutions (MFIs) to help rural households purchase solar panels and electricity. ...
Kang Sothear
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/french-agency-to-offer-loans-for-solar-panels-71345/