Economy and commerce

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 ...

Cambodia exported about 233,859 tons of rice in January-August 2014, down about 1.2% from about 236,728 tons rice exported in the same period last year, according to data from the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export Formality (SOWS-REF). Cambodia exported about 379,856 tons rice in all ...

Wah Seong Corporation Bhd’s subsidiary will be selling 48,000 MW of power per annum over 10 years to Cambodia’s power company. Wah Seong said on Friday its subsidiary PMTI Energy (Cambodia) Co Ltd had signed a power purchase deal with the Electricité Du Cambodge to sell ...

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 ...

Despite failing in its latest attempt to win the Philippine government’s bid to import rice, Cambodia will once again throw its hat into the ring when the offer is reissued, industry representatives said yesterday. ...

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 ...

Preah Sihanouk provincial governor Chhit Sokhon ordered three construction sites near Sihanoukville’s O’Tres Beach to scale back their projects on Friday after the owners overstepped building limitations, officials said Sunday. Mr. Sokhon ordered three construction sites along the O’Tres stream, an inlet that stretches about 2 ...

Russia is set to approve duty- and quota-free imports for up to 3,000 Cambodian agricultural products, according to local government officials. A statement issued by Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce on Friday states that Russia’s Minister for Economic Development, Alexey Ulyukaev, agreed in principal to increase the ...

Cambodia is the third most at-risk country to money laundering and terrorist financing in the world, according to a global index released last month, trailing only Iran and Afghanistan. The Anti-Money Laundering Index, first published by the Swiss-based Basel Institute on Governance in 2012, assigns the ...

Cambodia has launched its first large-scale paddy rice bank to ensure uninterrupted supplies to millers and exporters, according to local sources. Thaneakea Srov (Kampuchea) Plc is the rice bank that aims at supporting the local rice industry by way of purchasing, storing and drying rice, as well as ...

Airlines are taking a wait and see attitude about the proposed air route between Hanoi and HCM City that will fly over Cambodia and Laos airspace, cutting flight time compared to the current route.  Experts have said that this will be the most economical air route ...

Economic ministers from the 16 participating countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have reiterated their commitment to conclude negotiations by the end of 2015. The ministers reaffirmed they are committed to ending the RCEP negotiations in line with the vision endorsed by their state ...

Mobile service provider Smart has outperformed its fellow Axiata Group subsidiaries in the first half of the year, according to the Malaysian conglomerate’s latest financial report. Driven by a 115 per cent increase in data traffic revenue, Axiata’s results show Smart’s gross revenue totalled 270 million ...