Economy and commerce

Cambodia is close to signing an ambitious agreement with the Indonesian government that would pave the way for the Kingdom’s rice producers to export 1 million tonnes of rice under a new quota scheme, a state official said yesterday. ...

Casino operator Donaco International Ltd posted a seven-fold increase in revenue in its first full-year financial filing since acquiring the Star Vegas Resort and Club in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet commune, according to the company’s audited annual report, released yesterday. ...

A rising global demand for dates is behind the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in Phnom Penh yesterday between companies from Cambodia, Thailand and Israel, seeking to start growing the fruit in Cambodia within the next 10 years. ...

Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya released its first financial statement since completing its acquisition of Cambodian microlender Hattha Kaksekar Ltd (HKL) last month, showing a quarterly net profit increase of 10.6 percent from a year earlier. ...

Rubber exports have continued to rise in the first nine months of the year, despite the fall and current stagnation of prices as global demand continues to stall, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). ...

The central bank released its first-ever national study yesterday on perceptions and usage of the riel and foreign currencies in Cambodia, which aimed at not only understanding existing trends, but also at steering future financial legislation to boost the circulation of Cambodia’s national currency. ...

Ente Nazionale Risi (ENR), Italy’s national rice agency, has raised concern over increased European rice imports from countries such as Cambodia, according to rice industry publication Oryza. ...

Cambodia ranked third-worst for illicit trade out of 17 countries in the Asia-Pacific region in a recently released index by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) that analysed governments’ abilities to combat illegal trade operations.​ ...

An extensive tax treaty that would shield Chinese businesses operating in the Kingdom from double taxation, and vice versa, has been drafted and is expected to be approved imminently, according to a senior Cambodian tax official. ...

Kampong Speu province will soon be home to a Chinese-funded agricultural special economic zone (SEZ) with facilities to research plant diseases, after the Ministry of Agriculture and Tian Rui (Cambodia) Agricultural Cooperation SEZ Co., signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday. ...

The National Bank of Cambodia rolled out a new mechanism yesterday that offers immediate liquidity to financial institutions to cover their payments and reserve obligations, while giving the central bank greater control over the country’s money supply and moving toward the establishment of a benchmark ...

Singaporean customs data on sand imports from Cambodia show near identical figures to those recorded by the UN, which last month were dismissed by a top official amid a reporting discrepancy in the hundreds of millions of dollars. ...

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) provided Amret Microfinance Cambodia with a grant of $245,000 to help more women in the Kingdom access financial services and eventually contribute to local community development. ...

reah Sihanouk provincial authorities have ordered a casino that operated in Sihanoukville shut down after it failed to renew its operating licence, local media reported yesterday.​ ...

The Ministry of Commerce has extended the deadline for companies to re-register their businesses online for a third – and “final” – time, giving companies until December 31 to complete the online registration before penalties kick in, according to a document posted yesterday on the ...

A representative of the company behind a massive $23.2 billion development in Kampot province – which envisions creating two islands off the coast – insisted yesterday that the company was not engaged in any activities that would raise a conflict of interest and that it ...

Cambodia will establish commercial centres in three major Chinese cities to provide information and support to Chinese traders and investors looking to do business in the Cambodian market, a Commerce Ministry official said yesterday. ...

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) will unveil its initial rates that banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) will be able to use, as the NBC begins its liquidity-providing collateralized operation (LPCO) to boost the country’s riel liquidity, according to a senior bank official. ...

Several subordinates of a senior minister within the office of the prime minister registered and rubber-stamped a gargantuan $23.2 billion investment project chaired by the minister’s wife, while officials in the know say the project stands little chance of getting off the ground. ...

The Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP) announced a new partnership on Tuesday with Vietnamese company Viet Sac Port Service to set up local maintenance and repair service of shipping containers at its new LM17 container terminal located 30 kilometres south of Phnom Penh in Kandal ...

Kampot pepper sales both locally and internationally have continued to be strong since gaining coveted geographical indication (GI) status from the European Union in February, while domestic pepper competitors have complained of falling prices, industry figures said yesterday. Kampot Pepper Promotion Association president, Nguon Lay, told ...

The minister of commerce, Pan Sorasak, met with officials from the Chinese-based Jilin Provincial Investment Group Co Ltd yesterday to discuss strengthening rice-processing infrastructure in the Kingdom. ...

As part of ongoing efforts to boost exports of Cambodian mangoes, the Mong Rithy Group, an agro-industrial conglomerate that is heavily invested in the mango sector, announced yesterday that it was in negotiations to import drying machinery, which would greatly increase production of dried mango ...

Malaysian telecom giant Axiata Group will consider divesting a portion of its stake in Cambodian mobile operator Smart Mobile in a bid to free up capital to “pursue opportunities”, including infrastructure expansion and future acquisitions, a company executive said yesterday. ...