GMAC boycotts workshop on minimum wages
A would-be tripartite workshop intended to improve the garment sector’s minimum wage setting process closed Friday, with the industry’s most influential player, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), boycotting the talks at Phnom Penh Hotel. The two-day workshop would have been the first meeting between ...
Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/gmac-boycotts-workshop-on-minimum-wages-57430/
Of Fish, Monsoons and the Future
As the sun rises on Tonle Sap Lake, fishermen head out from floating villages like this one, past half-submerged mangroves and flooded shrub land, to check their nets, much as they have for centuries. Every year, the lake yields about 300,000 tons of fish, making it ...
Chris Berdik
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/10/science/of-fish-monsoons-and-the-future.html?_r=2
NGOs say input and transparency are key
In the wake of a speech by Prime Minister Hun Sen denouncing civil society’s criticism of the way that three judiciary laws sailed through the Council of Ministers without outside input or transparency, NGOs released an open letter yesterday calling for the Kingdom’s renewed commitment ...
Amelia Woodside
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ngos-say-input-and-transparency-are-key
Institutional reforms or leadership change?
A Cabinet reshuffle is expected this year after Prime Minister Hun Sen warned that if there were no quick and effective reforms, several cabinet ministers would be removed. The Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Agriculture have been rated as the lowest performers, but other ...
Chheang Vannarith
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22338/institutional-reforms-or-leadership-change-/
PM institutes land concessions moratorium
Prime Minister Hun Sen has issued an immediate and indefinite moratorium on the granting of new economic land concessions and called for a review of all existing concessions, a regulation signed by the premier yesterday states. Dated to an April 27 Council of Ministers’ meeting, the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050856036/National-news/conceding-a-problem.html
Local banks gain trust: survey
Nearly nine out of 10 Cambodians have confidence in local financial institutions, a trend that stands in sharp contrast to Europe and the US, a poll published last week found. However, industry insiders question the results, as the Kingdom’s financial services are still under-developed. The poll ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052765847/Business/local-banks-gain-trust-survey.html
More capital for factories
The government approved 103 factories with a combined investment of $660 million last year a big increase from the previous year’s 52 factories valued at $230 million, according to data from the Council for the Development of Cambodia. Industry representatives and economists said the sharp ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031361912/Business/more-capital-for-plants.html
Informal lending still thriving
The expanding banking sector and the spread of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in rural areas have failed to elbow informal, unlicensed money lending out of the market, industry experts say. Fast and easy access to money – as well as the fear of “losing face” by borrowing ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070266598/Business/informal-lending-still-thriving.html
Export figures up 42% in 2011
Strong growth in garment, textile, and agricultural exports drove a 42.7 per cent increase in Cambodia’s total exports for 2011, official Ministry of Commerce data shows. The Kingdom exported $4.98 billion in goods last year, compared with $3.49 billion the year before. Market diversification and a relaxing ...
South China Sea Will Not Surface at Asean
Cambodia, in its role as Asean chair, has decided that the thorny issue of the South China Sea will not be on the agenda at next month’s Asean Summit in Phnom Penh, CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap announced yesterday. “Cambodia is a neutral country, and based on ...
Minister tells UN ‘perfect democracy’ not realistic
Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn defended the government before the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Saturday, saying that the ruling party was being held to unrealistic expectations of a “perfect democracy” while the opposition was “committing very serious crimes.” Delivering his first major address to ...
Colin Meyn
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/minister-tells-un-perfect-democracy-not-realistic-118422/
Asean needs bigger role: researcher
The July 12 arbitration decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in favor of the Philippines’ maritime rights against China’s overarching claims in the South China Sea means Asean will need to play an active, diplomatic role in diffusing tension and maintaining ...
Safiya Charles
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/27486/asean-needs-bigger-role--researcher/
Cambodia worst in region for rule of law: report
Cambodia ranked 112 out of 113 countries surveyed globally and dead last in the East Asia and Pacific region when it comes to the perceived rule of law, a new report released today states. ...
Cristina Maza
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cambodia-worst-region-rule-law-report
Acleda takes out $10 Million
Acleda Bank has signed a $US10 million loan agreement with Proparco, a development finance institution held in part by the Agence Francaise de Développement (AFD), according to a statement released on Wednesday. With the Kingdom’s financial sector expanding rapidly and a growing demand for banking and ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012090758553/Business/acleda-takes-out-10m-loan.html
ADB Institute: too much focus on 2015
Masahiro Kawai, dean of the Asia Development Bank Institute, believes too great a focus is being placed on the realization of the 2015 ASEAN Economic Community at the cost of considering middle- and longer-term issues in the ASEAN region. “Economic community-building is not going to be completed in ...
Officials say Cambodia's price rises manageable
Cambodia’s inflation rose by 5.49 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of the year, due to increases in food and fuel prices, according to the monthly data from the National Institute of Statistics compiled by the Post. However, economists and government officials said they were ...
Media Groups Call On ‘Political Elite’ to Protect Reporters
More than a dozen journalism and human rights groups have called on Cambodia’s political forces to protect journalists and guarantee citizens’ access to an open and unobstructed press during the current political unrest. In a statement released Wednesday, the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, along with ...
Lindsey Peterson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/media-groups-call-on-political-elite-to-protect-reporters-45436/
Tea Banh 'hurt' by calls for PM to step down
A day after a bipartisan election reform committee put the neutrality of the armed forces into a list of proposed areas of reform, Defence Minister Tea Banh reiterated that the armed forces would not tolerate opposition supporters calling for Hun Sen to step down. ...
Vong Sokheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/tea-banh-hurt-calls-pm-step-down
Value chain in decline: WTO
Cambodia is one of only two economies worldwide to have declined in global value chain (GVC) participation since 1995, according to the World Trade Organization’s latest study. The WTO’s World Trade Report 2014, released Monday, shows Cambodia’s overall percentage of GVC participation – one country’s contribution ...
Eddie Morton
http://phnompenhpost.com/business/value-chain-decline-wto
Cambodian scholars hail China's contribution to Silk Road Fund
Cambodian scholars have voiced their support to Chinese President Xi Jinping for his announcement of China’s contribution of 40 billion U.S. dollars for the establishment of a Silk Road Fund, saying that such a fund is vital for developing countries. Chheang Vannarith, senior researcher of ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-11/10/c_133778379.htm