Economy and commerce

Cambodia’s Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak told British Ambassador Bill Longhurst he would like to see the two countries enter into a free trade agreement (FTA) as soon as possible following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union (EU). ...

Cambodia must accelerate economic reform and develop a sense of “urgency” if it wishes to continue to attract American investment amid growing regional competition, the head of the US-ASEAN Business Council said yesterday. ...

Total Japanese investment in Cambodia under the Kingdom’s qualified investment project (QIP) scheme surged tenfold during the first half of the year, driven by Japan’s improved economy and a hefty capital injection by one of its biggest retail giants. ...

The government yesterday named three bogus companies that have taken deposits from ordinary Cambodians and later absconded, after promising them monthly returns in the form of high interest rate payments. ...

The Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) will for the first time sign bilateral cooperation agreements with Malaysia’s External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) to pave the way for businesses in both countries to carry out matching activities, like events and expositions. ...

American sporting goods giant Nike has opened its first dedicated retail store in Cambodia in what observers have described as another sign the Kingdom’s strong economy and rising incomes had not gone unnoticed by international retail giants. ...

With a greater number of Cambodians devoting time and money to exercise, bicycles are shedding their lowly image as a cheap means of transportation and fast becoming a symbol of the wealthier, more health-conscious elite. ...

Cambodia is one of the smallest and poorest economies in ASEAN. It accounts for only 0.7% of total regional economic activity and had the lowest GDP per capita in 2014 (Table 1). Only the Lao PDR has a smaller economy, and the next-poorest countries in ...

Despite some appearances to the contrary, things in Cambodia are looking pretty rosy at least according to the World Bank. In its latest revision of world economies the Bank raised Cambodia’s status from a low-income economy to a lower-middle income country. ...

The Tourism Ministry has started urging businesses and tour operators to accept Chinese yuan notes as part of a drive to attract tourists from China, sparking concern among some business owners who fear losses and fake currency. ...

More than 200kg of old meatballs were seized by the government’s Camcontrol in a crackdown on goods past their use-by dates in Pailin on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Commerce. ...

Dai-ichi Life Insurance will become the first Japanese life insurer to establish a presence in Cambodia, setting up a representative’s office in the capital Phnom Penh this month. ...

The specter of insolvency looms large over the businesses of rice millers in the Kingdom as the government drags its foot in providing emergency loans to bail out the sector, currently reeling from the aftereffects of a severe drought and facing stiff competition from low-grade ...

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Cambodia could start raising capital from the public, through the stock exchange, if government efforts to amend financial regulations to allow SMEs to be publicly listed get off the ground. ...

Cambodia, along with six other Asean member countries, reached an agreement to form an alliance of sugar-producing countries ‒ or so the called Asean Sugar Alliance (ASA) ‒ to promote and support the regional sugar industry and make it more competitive globally. ...

Cambodia’s economy continues to perform strongly, but rapid credit growth must be contained to reduce the risk of economic and financial instability, and to ensure a “soft landing” of the credit cycle, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a statement issued yesterday at the ...

Even though Cambodia’s insurance industry is still young compared to neighboring countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, there is potential for its growth with the development of human resources in the sector. ...

More Cambodians than ever are turning to microfinance for money to cover their small business endeavours or pay expenses, and, increasingly, they are looking to protect their families from the burden of these debts in the event of death or disability. ...

Three months since the central bank soft-launched its FAST payment system it is taking the system public, making electronic riel-denominated transfers available to the customers of more than a dozen financial institutions. ...

Financial markets in Cambodia have to serve more people, especially the poor, with more products at a lower cost and the key challenge lies in creating a broader interconnected financial ecosystem that reaches populations that cannot access banks, said industry experts. ...

The rapid growth in the number of Cambodians using mobile money services to transfer remittances is a positive step towards greater financial inclusion, and is serving as a gateway to financial services for the largely unbanked rural population, experts said yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Interior and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) issued a joint release yesterday announcing that investigations of Empire Big Capital Ltd (EBC) and related firms AIF and ICA showed the companies had engaged in investment fraud.     ...

Clients of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Kingdom can now expect some form of protection from over-indebtedness that arises from their inability to meet their financial obligations on time as agreed in a credit agreement. ...

Branchless banking, including mobile banking, is one of the hottest trends in Cambodia’s microfinance industry, helping financial institutions deliver their products conveniently and affordably to people living in rural areas, industry insiders said yesterday.   ...