Oxfam urges freeze of land investments
Global development group Oxfam on Wednesday called on the World Bank to suspend financing for large-scale land acquisitions to ensure that its practices do not encourage foreign land grabs in developing countries. Oxfam urged Jim Yong Kim, the lender’s new president, to announce a six-month moratorium ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/04/worldbank-oxfam-land-idUSL1E8L2LKF20121004
Obama steers US towards focus on Asia
On his first foreign trip since Tuesday’s election, US President Barack Obama is planning a historic visit to encourage reforms in Myanmar – seen as a key success during his first term – and he’ll also go to Thailand and Cambodia. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ...
Renewed US Interest in Region Puts Cambodia in Tough Spot, Analysts Say
The US “pivot to Asia,” which will be punctuated next week with the Cambodian visit of US President Barack Obama, will likely put Cambodia in a tough spot in the region, caught between the renewed focus of the United States and the increased influence of ...
Minh: Connectivity is key to Asean's tourism plans
Connectivity is crucial to the process of building the Asean Community, and ties in with the effort to market the region as a single tourist destination, the grouping’s chief said. “Asean is in the process of building the Asean Community, and in the process of building ...
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/aec/Minh-Connectivity-is-key-to-Aseans-tourism-plans-30198610.html
Opportunities for Cambodian growth
China’s transition from export-led to domestic-led growth, combined with the rising costs of production, could provide opportunities for Cambodian growth and diversity, analysts say. Faisal Ahmed, the IMF representative for Cambodia, said the Kingdom was already experiencing an increase in trade activity as a result of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012560983/Business/opportunities-for-cambodian-growth.html
Hun Sen says Hydropower Is the Key to Stable Electricity Prices
Cambodia’s focus on hydropower will reduce its independence on oil and ensure nationwide access to electricity at a stable price, Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a speech Saturday during the inauguration of a $47.1 million hydropower dam in Koh Kong province. However environmental groups ...
‘Historic’ deal for workers
Labour-rights groups are lauding a “historic” deal that will result in about $200,000 in wages and benefits being paid to workers who were stranded when the Kingsland Garment factory in Phnom Penh closed unannounced in December. In a meeting on Friday that took place as more ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030461726/National/historic-deal-for-workers.html
Phnom Penh Asean Meeting Braced for More S China Sea Talks
A dispute over territory in the South China Sea is once again set to hang over talks when China and the U.S. join in on a week of high-level Asean meetings that start in Phnom Penh on Friday. So far, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ...
Chinese state firm in talks to take over rail project
With renovation work on the country’s dilapidated railway at a standstill, the Ministry of Public Works has entered into talks with a regional consortium backed by one of the largest firms in China to replace the railway’s current operator, officials said yesterday. Faced with a ...
Southeast Asian Rice Exporters Eye Cartel to Boost Prices
Southeast Asia’s rice-exporting nations are in talks to create a formal alliance aimed at boosting prices and increasing export revenues, a move that could cause tensions with rice-importing nations. An alliance of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar will aim to share information and cooperate ...
In Speech, Hun Sen Implicated His Cousin in Land Grabbing
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday implicated his cousin as being behind an attempt to sell land in Svay Rieng province that was set aside by the government in 2009 to provide hundreds of land titles to villagers on a social land concession. Speaking at a ...
Rice mills need to show solidarity, minister says
At the Cambodian Rice Forum 2012, Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said thAt if the Kingdom wants to reach the government’s goal of exporting 1 million tons of rice annually by 2015, rice mills need to join forces and work closely together. Such an associAtion [of rice ...
CSX: Six months down the line
Trading on the Cambodian Securities Exchange remained low yesterday, which also marked six months of operation for the bourse. An official said this is due to a lack of public awareness and listed companies. Ming Bankosal, General Director of the CSX, said that as listed companies ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012101959319/Business/csx-six-months-down-the-line.html
Export diversity induces growth
In order for Cambodia to maintain the same rate of growth it has enjoyed in the past few years, exports need to diversify from textiles and tourism to modern services, said the World Bank’s country manager yesterday in Phnom Penh. “Cambodian firms are already tentatively exporting ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102459390/Business/export-diversity-induces-growth.html
Cambodia's garment workers confront multinationals
Since mid-January a group of illegally laid off Cambodian garment workers – mostly women – have been picketing the factory they worked in. Their objective was to stop the company, which closed down, owing the workers, collectively, about US$200,000 of unpaid wages, from removing the ...
Illegal Logging a Challenge for Carbon Trading
A Ministry of Agriculture official said yesterday he was aware of allegations of illegal logging by Royal Cambodian Armed Forces soldiers within protected community forests in Oddar Meanchey province and was looking into it. “I am following this case, but I haven’t received their petition yet,” ...
Group Starts Online Petition to Stop Land Dispute Violence
Hoping to end the cycle of violence in land disputes in Cambodia, and to garner public support for people who are the victims of land grabbing, five concerned citizens held a press conference Friday to announce the launch of their own online petition whose results ...
Swiss doctor calls for more help to stay afloat
On vibrantly patterned straw mats, crowded around small plastic hampers of food, children – some with balloons, others with neon-coloured fans – huddle against their parents under the noon sun. But the parents are unblinking; some of the children barely have a pulse. Families have travelled up ...
Neglecting to conduct good market research is hurting SMEs in Cambodia
A large majority of Cambodian small and medium-sized enterprises are operating without conducting good market research, say experts in the field, and relying too heavily on informal information and networks. As a result, they are growing slowly and in some cases, falling behind their competitors. Market research involves gathering information about markets and customers. Laurent Notin, ...
Gas Imports Grow to Nearly 1M Tons This Year
Oil imports to Cambodia in the first half of the year increased 22 percent to nearly 1 million tons compared to the same period last year, according to figures obtained yesterday from the Ministry of Commerce. According to the data, Cambodia imported 922,860 tons of gas ...