Heavy flooding during the rainy season, affecting 10 out of 17 provinces in Laos, has underlined the need for stronger disaster-management efforts, experts say. Tropical storm Haima struck central and northern parts of the country on June 24, with Nock-10 hitting central and southern areas on ...

CAMBODIAN telecoms must produce digital content to remain competitive in the country’s crowded sector, experts said yesterday. However, others claimed the consumer market for that content was still too small. A lack of domestically produced TV programs, websites and other digital offerings has Cambodia’s estimated 755,000 internet ...

  After a slow year in 2010, demand for office space in Phnom Penh is beginning to rebound as occupancy levels in new and existing units increase, real estate experts said yesterday. However, it is still unclear whether or not there is enough demand to fill ...

More than one-sixth of Cambodian businesses in 2011 were part of the Kingdom’s information and communications sector, a government census showed. Of the 182,439 new enterprises that sprang up in the country between June 2009 and March 2011, some 95,590 serviced the sector, according to the ...

A return to work on larger construction projects in Cambodia is leading to an increase in the impartation of construction materials, experts said yesterday. Cambodia’s construction materials are generally imported from China, Vietnam and Thailand, and also as far afield as Europe, said Khuon Savuth, Statistics ...

THE supply of pharmaceutical products has outstripped demand, causing a decrease in the value of drug imports during the first half of 2011, experts say. An increase in the number of firms importing pharmaceutical products in 2010 led to this year’s drop, Medical Trust Company ...

Cambodia’s current accounts deficit has increased in recent years, but is not yet a cause for concern, according to experts. The Asian Development Bank’s July update showed Cambodia’s current accounts deficit stood at 11 percent of GDP in 2010, and statistics show the trade gap ...

An elephant was found dead at a cashew nut plantation in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province’s Keo Seima district on Sunday. Experts initially thought the elephant may have been poisoned by a chemicals used by locals, but later confirmed it had been shot. ...

As the harvest season of Cambodia’s most important crop kicks off, a crisis is looming as both rice farmers and millers face crippling capital shortages and a promised industry lifeline has yet to materialise. Industry experts said yesterday that these small farmers desperate to pay their ...

Experts are warning that the Lower Mekong Basin may soon face depleting fish stocks, further erosion of the coastline and rising salinity that will make rice fields uncultivable. An extensive, government- funded study by the Vietnam National Mekong Committee estimates the value of fish from ...

A day after the US Federal Reserve increased interest rates, which can potentially impact incoming investments and make debt more costly, experts say the Kingdom’s strong underlying growth will help maintain investments flows and leave the country largely unaffected.The Fed’s 25 basis point rate hike ...

Cambodia’s waterways are significantly under-used for the transport of commodities such as rice, and enhanced infrastructure and a review of government fees is needed at the Kingdom’s ports to make exports more competitive, industry experts say. According to figures from the Alliance of Rice Producers and ...

For many years, Phnom Penh’s villas have represented the most attractive and obvious options for both commercial and residential use in the city, but experts say the number of villas available is on the decline. The stock of villas is decreasing, due to the demolition and ...

Cambodian milled rice exports to international markets grew only 2 per cent year-on-year, leading rice trading experts to express concern that the goal of exporting a million tonnes in 2015 cannot be accomplished. Hean Vanhorn, deputy director general of the Ministry of Agriculture and director of ...

More creative thinking is needed to restore trust in Cambodian products, but intense competition from foreign investment has the potential to stifle local innovation, industry experts say. A survey of more than 600 Cambodian consumers undertaken by Thai Market Research Company Envirosell found that Cambodian consumers ...

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 ...

To enhance Cambodian rice yields, the government should encourage private development of rice-seed production and focus its efforts on farmers’ education and regulations that ensure the quality of seed, industry experts say. The Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), under the direction of the Ministry ...

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 ...

Thai rice millers are lining up to build mills in Cambodia to cash in on imminent regional economic integration, with experts warning Cambodian rice is likely to flood Thailand. An industry source said several millers from Thailand’s central and northeastern regions are preparing to set up ...

Thirty-year-old Sam Hoiy never dreamed her son would have the opportunity to live a life without the cleft lip that has always marred his otherwise delicate features. Hoiy’s seven-month-old son is one of more than 100 Cambodians being treated and screened by a team of ...