Economic policy and administration

The European Union will spend €3 million ($3.9 million) on a program to encourage small and medium enterprises to invest in Cambodia. Speaking at a conference yesterday in Phnom Penh, EU Ambassador to Cambodia Jean-Francois Cautain said the five-year grant – to be managed by EuroCham ...

A China-invested Apsara International Air is going to launch flights in Cambodia later this month after it has received an air operator certificate from the Cambodia’s Civil Aviation, the company’s chief executive officer Zhang Xiaopeng said Monday. ...

NagaCorp Ltd, the operator of the NagaWorld casino resort (pictured) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, says it has commissioned “an independent professional party to review the internal controls of the company and its subsidiarieswith a focus on anti-money laundering”. The firm gives the information in its interim ...

Plans to establish air links between Seychelles and the Asian nation of Cambodia are being finalised following the signing of a memorandum of understanding and air service agreement between the two sides. The signing by the Secretary of State of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation of Cambodia, Mao Havannall, and ...

A group of investors from Israel showed their interest in investing in cassava in Cambodia, according to a statement by Ministry of Commerce. Chanthol expressed his support for this cassava investment project and recognized the importance of advance technology in agriculture production and processing to ...

A U.S. based agriculture consultancy firm has urged Cambodia rice exporters to focus on promoting their exports to the Chinese market as it has a huge untapped potential for more imports in the future, according to local sources. ...

Businesses registered in Cambodia have until the end of the month to pay their annual property tax to the country’s General Department of Taxation (GDT). According to the GDT, business owners must pay by September 30 to avoid being fined. ...

Cambodia currently has approximately 514,278 business establishments, up 11 percent compared with 463,363 in 2011, according to the results of the intercensal economic survey released Monday. ...

The Council of Ministers on Friday approved a three-year $5.24 billion “public investment program”—a package of several hundred projects from 2015 to 2017 designed to help the government reach its goal of 7 percent annual growth or better. ...

A proposed project hopes to channel the widespread use of mobile phones among factory workers to bring the voice of the 600,000 Cambodians employed in the crucial garment sector into future wage negotiations. The project, which would collect information about working hours, conditions, wages and expenses ...

Cambodian labor unions this week lowered their demands for a 60 percent increase to the country’s $100 minimum wage, as talks loom next month on setting a new wage.Unions agreed to call for $150 a month during a meeting with officials from the Garment Manufacturers’ ...

California-based real estate firm Century 21 enters the emerging Cambodian property market with today’s formal opening of its local operations in the country. According to Goos, the local franchise of Century 21 would concentrate on foreign buyers, especially on selling new condominiums, to avoid competing ...

A lack of innovation has contributed to Cambodia dropping seven spots on the World Economic Forum’s 2014-15 Global Competitiveness Report (GCR), which was released on Wednesday. The Kingdom ranked 95th out of 144 countries, down from 88th in the previous report, according to the GCR. Apart ...

Manufacturers of soy and fish sauces should fortify the products with iron in order to improve Cambodians’ health, government officials said yesterday. During a workshop on iron fortification, Sat Samy, secretary of state at the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts, called on producers to help combat ...

The Yakjin Trading Corporation, a South Korean company whose factory was at the center of major demonstrations earlier this year, has begun a review of its operations. ...

The Israeli gaming firm behind Sihanoukville’s Queenco Casino is seeking investors to expand its operations in the seaside town, according to a report released by the company last week, but after six months of “cash flow distress” and losses of more than $1 million, those ...

A human rights group on Thursday urged authorities in Cambodia to end the prosecution of six trade unionists accused of stoking violent clashes between protesting workers and security forces, calling the case against them “politically motivated.” New York-based Human Rights Watch said prominent activists Pav Sina, ...

More than a dozen of American company representatives are visiting Cambodia to look into investment opportunities, a Cambodian spokesman said Thursday. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday defended his government, saying its reputation for corruption is undeserved, laying blame on the private sector for initiating the bribe process and calling out international development partners for applying double standards. Speaking at the Eighth Regional Conference of Anti-Corruption Intiative for ...

One of six union leaders charged and summonsed for questioning over a strike that ended in government forces shooting dead at least five people in January has sent a message to authorities to hurry up and get his hearing over with. ...

Cambodia needs to develop a trade logistics plan to align the Kingdom with the regional production network and increase its competitiveness as an investment destination, a senior World Bank economist said yesterday. ...

Cambodia has granted operating licenses to 2,424 new companies in the first seven months of 2014, up 44 percent compared with 1,688 firms over the same period last year, according to the latest report of the Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday. ...

More than 5,000 workers from a footwear factory in Kompong Cham province went on strike Monday, calling on factory management to increase their benefits. The lively crowd rallied outside the Taiwanese-owned Juhui Footwear factory in Choeung Prey district, dancing to music pumped out of loudspeakers as ...

Developing Cambodia as a diverse travel destination and establishing direct flights will help attract more travelers from China, the country’s second largest source market. Cambodian Ministry of Tourism director of marketing and promotion, Visothy So, emphasized that Cambodia needs to brand itself as a destination with ...