Cambodia’s growing economy and hunger for new brands, particularly among young people, contribute to making Cambodia a profitable market for the franchise business, industry insiders said at the Franchising Forum in Phnom Penh last week. [Rami Sharaf, CEO of RMA Group in Cambodia] said Cambodia is ...

As Asian and European leaders gather for high level meetings this month in Cambodia and Laos, the luxury living quarters and extensive security arrangements made for their arrivals have come at considerable human and environmental expense. Government authorities went on a building spree ahead of this ...

Activists are welcoming Prime Minister Hun Sen’s public vow to prevent logging and rosewood trafficking, but they also say it’s too little too late to have any serious impact on protecting Cambodia’s already decimated forests. In a speech on Friday at the Ministry of Interior, Hun ...

Property experts say foreign companies are coming to invest in Cambodia’s property sector, as they see the growth and potential of the Kingdom. Sung Bonna, director of Bonna Realty Group, said that the number of foreign companies in the sector has grown, and most are from ...

A GROUP of Japanese businessmen yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with Sonatra Group chairman Sorn Sokna to develop a special economic zone along the Mekong River at the site of the Prey Veng ferry terminals. The ferry service is expected to become redundant when the ...

Senior representatives for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and ASEAN met here Tuesday and issued a joint statement highlighting their agreement to forge stronger mutual investment, trade, transport and scientific cooperation links. The joint statement was released at the conclusion of the 6th annual Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam (CLMV) Summit, ...

Despite offering an uplifting outlook for Cambodia’s economy this year, economists at the World Bank said yesterday that it could still succumb to volatile commodities prices, particularly food and gas. Speaking to journalists after the release the bank’s East Asia and Pacific Economic Update for 2012, ...

While the CPP in Phnom Penh has spent much of the campaign period broadcasting speeches by Prime Minister Hun Sen, hosting music concerts and sending well-known comedians into the streets to work the crowds, the SRP has a starker campaign focus. When the sun sets, 10 ...

On his first day of questioning at the Khmer Rouge tribunal yesterday, Sar Kim Lomouth, the deputy director of the State Bank of Democratic Kampuchea, described how the national financial institution was nothing but a charade during the Pol Pot regime. Currency had been abolished and financial transactions eliminated under ...

A union representative was beaten with electric batons and arrested by police in Phnom Penh yesterday after more than 20 garment workers marched to submit a petition to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cabinet. The petitioners, workers at the Tai Yang garment factory who belong to the ...

About 300 villagers living inside a social land concession in Preah Vihear province’s Kulen district protested at Phnom Penh’s Wat Botum yesterday, requesting that Prime Minister Hun Sen stop provincial authorities from clearing their farmland in preparation for the area to be used to house ...

As Cambodia continues to develop, information technology skills are increasingly in demand, especially as the government seeks to diversify the economy and bring in companies which will need staff with strong high-tech skills. To that end, last month the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), in cooperation with the Cisco ...

A Cambodian court has jailed a 71-year-old broadcaster and land rights campaigner for 20 years after finding him guilty of leading an anti-state rebellion, a verdict condemned by activists as the latest crackdown on human rights. Three judges at the Phnom Penh court convicted Sonando, who ...

Following a ceremony to honor late King Father Norodom Sihanouk on Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich, more than 2,000 additional student volunteers were deployed yesterday morning by the Ministry of Land Management to measure plots of land in 19 provinces, officials said. Mr. Chhun Lim [Land Management Minister] said that ...

A majority of small and medium enterprises in Cambodia were not registered, despite the advantages it offered to businesses, participants at a workshop on business registration procedure, intellectual property and business etiquette for women heard yesterday. Referring to 2011 statistics, Chan Sorey, vice-minister of the Ministry ...

When Asia-Pacific leaders gather this weekend in Southeast Asia—a bright spot in a sputtering global economy—their Cambodian hosts may extend a warm welcome to U.S. President Barack Obama, but they will view officials from Beijing as old friends. Mr. Obama’s visit to Cambodia—this year’s host for ...

The Alliance of Rice Producers Exporters of Cambodia (ARPEC) will release US$2 million after December 15th to its members in nine provinces so they can buy paddy rice before the harvest season ends and stocks been depleted. He said the pay out is being drawn from ...

For the second time, an investigating judge at Ratanakirri Provincial Court has closed the investigation into the murder of Virakchun Khmer newspaper journalist Hang Serei Oudom. Odom was found dead in the trunk of his car. The murder happened only days after an article about ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday signed up to provide 230 million U.S. dollars to Cambodia for six development projects, aiming at promoting inclusive growth and reducing poverty in Cambodia, according to the bank’s media statement. The financing agreements were inked between Eric Sidgwick, country ...

While the ministries of health and agriculture are taking measures to stem the spread of avian influenza – which claimed its fifth victim in just three weeks on Thursday – a lack of compensation for poultry owners affected by culling is limiting their effectiveness, officials ...