Blending may fuel energy sector
A container storage facility off the coast of Preah Sihanouk province that allows Cambodia to blend oil before export could hold the key to sustainable growth in the country’s nascent energy sector, according to a Danish oil and gas expert. With Chevron positioned to lead offshore ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/blending-may-fuel-energy-sector
Leprosy Hospital Expands as Cases Increase
About 20 leprosy patients have been treated at a rehabilitated and expanded wing of the Battambang Provincial Referral Hospital, the second hospital to offer professional treatment for leprosy patients in Cambodia. “We have two doctors and one nurse who specialize in leprosy treatment, and in the ...
Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/leprosy-hospital-expands-as-cases-increase-46778/
Norwegian Energy Firm Eltek Demands Mfone Pay Up
Norwegian energy firm Eltek on Thursday demanded $5 million it is owed from bankrupt telecommunications company Mfone by the end of October and blamed the court and the government for stalling payment. During a meeting at Mfone’s headquarters in Phnom Penh’s Boeng Keng Kang III commune, ...
Simon Henderson and Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/norwegian-energy%E2%80%88firm-eltek-demands-mfone-pay-up-42823/
Evening the odds with Mother Nature
About 20 people grinned for the camera as they posed in front of a flagpole-like structure located just off a muddy dirt road in Kampong Chhnang province’s Samaki Meanchey district on Thursday morning. While a rather unimpressive visual, the agrometerological station is a first-of-its-kind device in ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/evening-odds-mother-nature
UN urges Cambodia to hold companies to account over land disputes
Companies that have seized land, confiscated livestock and destroyed homes and property have gone unpunished, the UN special rapporteur for Cambodia has said. Surya Subedi, professor of international law at Leeds University, said all the communities he had met raised the issue of misconduct by ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/may/14/un-cambodia-companies-land-disputes
Graft claims over mining revenue
Political activists and watchdog organisations say Cambodia’s US$13 million revenue from the mining sector over the last five years is exceedingly low and that the government must be more transparent. The claims come after the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy (MIME) released its figures on the mining ...
Garment, shoe exports set to surpass $4bn
Buoyed by strong demand from the economies of Europe and North America, the total amount of garment, shoe and textile exports that left Cambodia last year was on target to surpass the $4 billion mark, dwarfing 2010’s total of $2.88 billion, the Garment Manufacturers Association ...
IMF says Cambodian economy to grow 6.5 per cent, but warns of risks
Cambodia’s economy is expected to grow 6.5 per cent in 2012, up from 5.75 per cent last year, the International Monetary Fund said in its annual review, adding that government policies to boost the investment climate were paying off. However, in its assessment, which was released ...
Pailin land dispute brought to capital
About 100 villagers from Pailin province travelled to Phnom Penh yesterday to ask Prime Minister Hun Sen to intervene in their 70-hectare land dispute with the provincial governor, a village representative said. Dem Deam, 40, a resident of Pailin’s Stung Trang commune in Sala Krao district, ...
Trial of the 'secessionist' commences
Throngs of protesters gathered at the Olympic Stadium yesterday, at times straining against a mix of police force barriers and riot shields in their effort to show support for jailed Beehive Radio director Mam Sonando, whose trial was beginning just down the street at Phnom ...
Prosecutor Wants Change To Sonando Charges
In a bizarre twist at the Appeal Court hearing of radio station owner Man Sonando, the prosecution yesterday asked that judges drop the charge against Mr. Sonando of inciting antigovernment violence, but then asked the court to uphold another charge leading to an insurrection. Mr. ...
Cambodia suspends new land concessions to companies
Cambodia’s government, facing growing protests by villagers and warnings about disappearing wilderness, suspended the granting of land to domestic and foreign companies on Monday in a move to curb forced evictions and illegal logging. Rights groups in the impoverished but resource-rich Southeast Asian country said the ...
http://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFL4E8G79HB20120507
Tourism Sector Faces Dearth of Skilled Labor
With the number of tourists visiting the country increasing rapidly, hotels are coming under strain due to lack of skilled chefs and waiters in the industry, according to hotel managers. In the first six months of 2012, international visitors reached 1.75 million, a 26.8 percent ...
Graduates fear career jobs woe
A year from now, 23-year-old Sum Tiara will graduate from the Royal University of Law and Economics with a degree in law. At the moment, however, she needs to earn a living and pay for her studies by working in bars and restaurants in Phnom Penh. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013021261305/Business/graduates-fear-career-jobs-woe.html
Trade Deficit Up 34 Percent On Last Year
Cambodia’s trade deficit in the first half of the year grew 34.31 percent compared with the same period in 2011, reaching $1.36 billion, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce. Though revenues earned from exports grew 12.13 percent to about $2.50 billion, a growing ...
Eating locally
The Cambodian governemnt is lobbying the tourism sector to focus more on using local foods, which it says could generate millions of dollars in revenue a year. But hotels and restaurants say quality standards and supplies of local products are often not adequate and businesses ...
Mobile Firms Agree to Stop Price Dumping
Cambodia’s nine mobile phone operators on Friday agreed to refrain from engaging in unfair competition by offering generous top-up bonuses aimed at increasing their market share, officials said. Mao Chakrya, director of the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC), said that all of the country’s operators agreed ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/mobile-firms-agree-to-stop-price-dumping-20689/
Largesse and threats ahead of election
Prime Minister Hun Sen warned thousands of villagers yesterday that his most popular initiatives, including his far-reaching land-titling scheme, will simply disappear if he is not re-elected in July’s national election – amid suggestions his campaigning has unofficially begun. In a marked shift from his apparent ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032664688/National/largesse-and-threats-ahead-of-election.html
FAO Raises Paddy Production Outlook
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has raised its forecast of global paddy production in 2012 by about 1.5 million tonnes to 730 million tonnes (487 million tonnes, milled). The scaling up of production mainly concerned Asian countries, in particular Cambodia, ...
Thai restrictions cap cassava exports
Cambodia’s cassava exports reached 245,438 tonnes in the first quarter this year, a 47 per cent decline quarter-on-quarter, from 465,640 tonnes in the final quarter of last year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce released early this month. While most exports went to Thailand, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051565618/Business/thai-restrictions-cap-cassava-exports.html