Economy and commerce

Cambodian cashew nut exports are on the rise, yet export figures are still well below production numbers, with thousands of tonnes unaccounted for. Unshelled cashew nut exports totalled close to $2.5 million in the first six months of the year, with 2,800 tonnes exported, a rise ...

The National Bank of Cambodia on Wednesday hosted its first annual macroeconomic conference, outlining the need to ensure Cambodia’s rapidly growing financial sector supports sustainable and inclusive economic growth while managing greater risks. Cambodia’s banking and microfinance sectors have seen enormous growth in recent years with ...

Trade unions at either end of the political divide Wednesday said they were eager to renew their agreement with garment factories to abide by the rulings of the country’s Arbitration Council, with some changes, despite a new report showing that both unions and employers often ...

About 150 ethnic Kuoy villagers gathered outside Preah Vihear Provincial Court yesterday to protest the questioning of eight villagers and an NGO staff member for allegedly inciting villagers in Tbeng Meanchey district to destroy 36 tonnes of sugarcane. ...

Discussion about hydroelectric power plants in Cambodia tends to focus on two aspects, both negative. One is an overdependence on Chinese investment, and the other is a relatively disproportionate focus on the environmental impacts of hydroelectric power. Chinese Influence Most hydroelectric power plants in Cambodia are associated ...

Skywings Asia Airlines completed its maiden voyage from Seoul to Sihanouk International Airport on Tuesday, marking the launch of seasonal direct charter flights between Sihanoukville and South Korea. The new service, which will run from July through August, will connect the beach resort to the large ...

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) is planning new measures for trading on the local stock exchange that it says will encourage investors to trade more actively. Investors currently need to wait for six intervals – occurring every half-hour between 8.30am and 11.30am – ...

For as long as Cambodian rice farmers can remember, their product has had an unsavory reputation. Tough, dirty and unmilled, it was impossible to cook evenly, and even farmers traded it as pig feed in exchange for cash or better-quality rice from Vietnam or Thailand. Even ...

Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) are intra-state legal mechanisms which encourage foreign investment. This is particularly so as they provide foreign investors with Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms to enforce investment protections through international arbitration against the host state before a neutral tribunal. Cambodia has signed over ...

Cambodia has seen a 91 percent rise in dry rubber exports in the first half of 2014 as revenue from the exports increased only 3 percent due to global decline of rubber prices. During the January-June period this year, the country exported 42,190 tons of dry ...

US-listed firm Nord Anglia Education has taken over the management of Northbridge International School, the education provider announced earlier this month. Nord Anglia, which currently operates 29 schools stretching from the US to the Middle East, to China, on July 10 took over the day-to-day operations ...

Rights groups have called on the government to increase tax rates for logging companies amid the latest domestic revenue figures. According to the Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, timber exports produced $9.4 million in government tax revenue during the first half of the year, up ...

Cambodia’s world heritage Preah Vihear temple greeted 63,610 local and foreign visitors in the first half of 2014, up 53 percent over the same period last year, a report from the Preah Vihear provincial tourism department showed Tuesday. The temple welcomed about 56,870 local visitors and ...

The ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPTC) has postponed a two-day meeting with telecom firms to discuss a controversial draft law leaked to the Post last week, which details the government’s plan to assert control over the industry. A representative from one telecommunications provider who wished ...

Svay Pak is an internationally known district for child sex in Cambodia’s capital of Phnom Penh, where foreign men come to seek sex with young girls. According to a 2011 study by ECPAT Cambodia, around 75 percent of the victims of sex trafficking within Cambodia were children. The study also ...

In southwest Cambodia, at the foot of the Cardamom Mountains, is a single dirt road that meanders through the heart of the pristine Areng valley. Ten miles down this road, villagers have set up an encampment to stop a hydroelectric dam project that they fear ...

Cambodia’s business community is anticipating keen interest from overseas investors as registration for the country’s international investment conference opens this week. The International Business Chamber (IBC) of Cambodia investment conference will take place on October 6th and 7th at the Intercontinental Hotel in Phnom Penh. The ...

More than 200 residents from seven villages in Ratanakkiri province’s Taveng district have filed a complaint to the local Administrative Fisheries Department and two right groups over claims that rival anglers in the area are collecting fish in their protected lot by poisoning the catch. ...

Melees at a garment factory in Kandal province between striking workers and employees who are against the industrial action have left five people mildly injured. Employees at the Tae Young factory began striking a week ago, calling for two administrators at the plant to be fired, ...

From the finance to the education sector, the interest from companies looking to list on Cambodia’s nascent stock exchange is on the rise, a CSX official said yesterday, after a meeting with some of the Kingdom’s largest firms. Some 30 companies, the CSX say, are eyeing ...

Cambodia’s telecom sector is outraged over a draft law handed down by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPTC) on Wednesday, which details a government plan to assert control over the industry. In what is being labeled an “unprecedented, draconian” effort to nationalise the industry, the ...

After striking for more than a week, employees at Phnom Penh’s Sun Well Shoes yesterday marched to Por Sen Chey district hall, demanding their voices be heard. Some 300 people marched from their Veng Sreng Boulevard factory with a list of seven demands, including the ...

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Federation was inaugurated here on Thursday with an aim to advance Cambodia to a digital age, officials said. Speaking at the launching ceremony, Kan Chanmeta, secretary of state of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, said the federation would be ...

Environment Minister Say Sam Al on Wednesday lauded the country’s controversial sugar industry and the jobs it has created, saying that companies operating in the sector need to be defended against the widespread criticism they have been receiving. Rights groups and the opposition CNRP have undertaken ...