Economy and commerce
Economic policy and administration
Thousands expected at municipal court in support of 23
Union leaders say they expect upwards of 1,000 people to jam the streets around Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday in a show of support for 23 unionists, workers and bystanders who are on trial for their alleged part in violent protests in Pur Senchey ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/thousands-expected-at-municipal-court-in-support-of-23-57342/
Riel trust needed for stability
As much as $320 million is being lost annually as a result of Cambodia’s reliance on the US dollar, while a longstanding mistrust in the riel means there is less of the local currency in circulation, restricting the national bank’s ability to respond in times ...
Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/riel-trust-needed-stability
Garment maker to list at $2.41 per share
Grand Twins International, Cambodia’s second stock exchange listing, will list at the lower end of its expected buy-in range, an announcement on the Phnom Penh Securities (PPS) website said yesterday. GTI is to begin trading on May 29 with nine million shares at $2.41 each, according ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/garment-maker-list-241-share
Factory owners boycott wage talks for Cambodian garment workers
Garment factory owners failed to turn up for what was supposed to have been a tripartite meeting with the government and worker unions on Thursday to help break an impasse in negotiations to increase the minimum wage for workers, officials said. The International Labor Organization (ILO) ...
Radio Free Asia News Staff
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/talks-04242014182701.html
21 labor activists moved to Phnom Penh ahead of trial
Twenty-one labor activists who have been detained in Kampong Cham province since their arrests in January were moved to the main prison outside Phnom Penh on Wednesday. Supporters say the 21 are being detained as a lesson to other would-be demonstrators, after a brutal crackdown ...
Heng Reaksmey
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/labor-activists-moved-to-phnom-penh-ahead-of-trial/1899445.html
Trade deficit prompts call to diversify exports
Cambodia’s trade deficit expanded to almost half a billion dollars during the first three months of the year, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Commerce. Between January and March, Cambodia’s exports reached $1.99 billion, up 19 per cent compared to the same period ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/trade-deficit-prompts-call-diversify-exports
Economist Says Asean Likely To Miss Key Deadlines for Integration
Southeast Asian countries are likely to miss a deadline for the economic integration of Asean in 2015, a leading economist says. Jayat Menon, an economist for the Asian Development Bank, told reporters in Phnom Penh Wednesday that Asean countries are behind on key targets for integration ...
Suy Heimkhemra
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/economist-says-asean-likely-to-miss-key-deadlines-for-integration-/1899474.html
Foreign tourists to Cambodia's Angkor heritage site up 12 pct in Q1
Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple, a world heritage site, had attracted 778,740 foreign visitors in the first quarter of 2014, up 12 percent compared to the same period last year, official data showed Wednesday. The top five countries visiting the site are South Korea, China, Vietnam, Japan ...
Asean - China Centre News Staff
http://www.asean-china-center.org/english/2014-04/24/c_133286754.htm
Battambang Rice Investment gets international certification
Battambang Rice Investment Co Ltd says it has been certified as the first rice mill in Cambodia with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). In a statement, the company said it received confirmation of GMP and HACCP certification in a ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=YjA4ZDZhYTFmOTJ
Harsh restrictions imposed on union leader
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday ordered embattled union leader Ath Thorn to stay away from the SL garment factory and its workers and to avoid any public gatherings that could “damage public order,” drawing a tight circle around one of the country’s most ...
Mech Dara and Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/harsh-restrictions-imposed-on-union-leader-57067/
Minister calls for old car ban
Imports of older cars and vans should be banned to help reduce pollution, Minister of Industry and Handicrafts Cham Prasidh said on Monday. Speaking to Cambodia’s business community at a Green Industry workshop in Phnom Penh on Monday, Prasidh said all countries had a role to ...
Chan Muyhong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/minister-calls-old-car-ban
Cambodia's foreign trade up 15% amid ongoing political row
Cambodia’s trade volume with foreign countries has increased by 15 percent in the first quarter of 2014 even though the internal conflict between the ruling and opposition parties over July election results remains unsolved. The figures of the Commerce Ministry showed Tuesday that the Southeast Asian ...
Shanghai Daily News Staff
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=213997
Failing to sew up support
Cambodian stockbrokers yesterday admitted to a disappointing level of investor interest in Grand Twins International’s (GTI) initial public offering. Garment industry unrest, distrust in the private sector and a lack of liquidity in the market were all said to be discouraging investors from buying into the ...
Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/failing-sew-support
Lack of funds delays railway
The China Railway Group’s planned $7.5 billion Cambodian north-south railway line has been delayed due to funding shortages, according to the company’s top official. Originally slated to begin construction last year, China Railway’s chairman, Li Changjin, told the South China Morning Post that work on the 400-kilometre railway ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/lack-funds-delays-railway
Industry urged to go green
Small and medium-size enterprises (SME) have been urged by the Cambodian government to employ more environmentally friendly practices at a green industry workshop in Phnom Penh yesterday. Cham Prasidh, minister for the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts, said SMEs and handicraft producers’ reliance on fossil fuels ...
Chan Muyhong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/industry-urged-go-green
Stay-at-home strike a bust as workers return to factories
The vast majority of the country’s 600,000-strong garment factory workforce appeared to be back on the job Monday despite a call from unions to continue a stay-at-home strike until Tuesday. Eight unions had spent weeks urging workers to stay home after the Khmer New Year from ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/stay-at-home-strike-a-bust-as-workers-return-to-factories-56888/
DefTech targets Cambodia, Myanmar jobs
Malaysia’s leading armoured vehicle maker DRB-Hicom Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd (DefTech) is setting its sights on Cambodia and Myanmar, said chief executive officer Amril Samsudin. ...
The Star News Staff
http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/04/21/DefTech-targets-Cambodia-Myanmar-jobs/
Phnom Penh Water to hold annual meeting this week
Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority is scheduled to hold this week its annual general meeting of shareholders, the second since its shares were listed two years ago. The meeting is due to take place at the authority’s headquarters in Daun Penh district on Thursday morning. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=Yzc0YmFjMjc1MmI
2,500 workers in Bavet SEZ go on strike
More than 2,000 workers at three factories in Svay Rieng’s Bavet City went on strike Saturday, claiming their bosses owed them money. About 500 workers at the You Li factory, which makes baby clothes, went on strike Saturday because management refused to pay them for Thursday ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/2500-workers-in-bavet-sez-go-on-strike-56762/
Nationwide garment factory strike sputters into second day
A few garment factories resumed operations in Phnom Penh on Friday, albeit at reduced capacity, as thousands of workers returned to the city after Khmer New Year celebrations in the provinces. While the majority of factories in Meanchey and Pur Senchey districts stayed closed, it remained ...
Sek Odom and Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/nationwide-garment-factory-strike-sputters-into-second-day-56740/
Cambodia's second stock listing delayed
A Taiwanese-owned garment maker has delayed its planned Cambodia listing by three weeks, setting back what would be just the second initial public offering to be held in this developing Southeast Asian nation. Grand Twins International (Cambodia) PLC now plans to list on May 29, according ...
Chun Han Wong
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304626304579509390823129458
Little appetite for garment strike in Phnom Penh
Most garment factories did not open for business Thursday, choosing to extend the Khmer New Year holidays—which officially ended Wednesday—rather than face industrial action in the form of a planned nationwide stay-at-home strike. However, a number of workers interviewed Thursday said they knew nothing about the ...
Zsombor Peter and Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/little-appetite-for-garment-strike-in-phnom-penh-56695/
Rice customs fees dropped
The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF) will scrap customs fees for rice exporters from May 1 in an effort to reduce production costs and boost Cambodia’s competitiveness in the sector, according to a letter obtained by the Post. “[The ministry] has agreed to eliminate charges ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/rice-customs-fees-dropped
Mu Sochua to restart Freedom Park campaign
Mu Sochua, a lawmaker-elect for the opposition CNRP, announced Thursday that she will on Sunday morning resume her campaign to enter Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park. Last month, Ms. Sochua appeared at the park alone for four straight days—each day being physically barred by authorities—in an effort ...
Alex Willemyns
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/mu-sochua-to-restart-freedom-park-campaign-56712/