Economy and commerce
New Tuol Kok Mall to Add to District’s Growth
A new open-air mall sporting high-end luxury shops and restaurants in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kok district is the latest expansion of the suburban neighborhood, though widespread commercialization of the area could still take years, property executives said Monday. The mall, called TK Avenue, opened Friday at ...
Joshua Wilwohl and Sek Odom
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/new-tuol-kok-mall-to-add-to-districts-growth-49777/
Gov’t Unveils Legal Plan to Break Garment Industry Strike
As mass demonstrations by garment factory workers continued Monday, the government laid out plans to bring an end to the labor unrest within the next three days, including suing union leaders in the courts and mobilizing security forces to take unspecified action. Signed by Council ...
Aun Pheap and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-unveils-legal-plan-to-break-garment-industry-strike-49763/
Cambodian deputy PM leads delegation to China for bilateral meeting
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong will lead a group of senior officials representing relevant ministries to attend the first meeting of Cambodia-China Intergovernmental Coordination Committee to be held from Jan. 1 to 3 in Beijing. The Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said ...
People's Daily Online News Staff
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90883/8499809.html
Protesters take aim at prices
Tuk-tuk, motorbike and taxi drivers were among hundreds of workers from Cambodia’s “informal economy” who called on the government yesterday to cap fuel prices at 4,000 riel ($1) per litre, amid claims that the current 5,000 riel price leaves them unable to cover any more ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/protesters-take-aim-prices
Royal Group makes deal during PM’s official visit
A Royal Group subsidiary has signed a deal with two Vietnamese firms to import fertiliser, a senior official with the company said yesterday. Among several deals agreed to during Prime Minister Hun Sen’s trip to Vietnam this weekend, Nitrogen Chemicals and Fertilizer Cambodia Ltd, the subsidiary ...
Chan Muy Hong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/royal-group-makes-deal-during-pm%E2%80%99s-official-visit
Factories Closed Until Safety Guaranteed
The Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) on Sunday said all of the country’s 400-plus garment factories will remain closed until the government and striking trade unions can guarantee the safety of the factories and all employees who want to work. The decision, outlined in an ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factories-closed-until-safety-guaranteed-49749/
Cambodians rally to demand PM's resignation
Tens of thousands of Cambodian opposition supporters, backed by striking garment-factory workers, rallied on Sunday to demand long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen step down and call an election. The garment workers have in recent days joined the opposition protests to press their demand that the government ...
Prak Chan Thul
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/29/us-cambodia-protest-idUSBRE9BS03P20131229
Cambodia Factories Grapple With Issue of Underage Workers
SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia—In this quiet beach town, Lim Loeung says she spends up to 80 hours a week gluing soles onto shoes at a factory that does work for companies including Japanese sneaker-maker Asics Corp. 7936.TO +0.95% The factory believes Ms. Lim is at least 18 ...
Kate O' Keeffe
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303799404579287353595133592
Increasingly, Cambodians Say They are ‘Suffering’: Poll
An increasing number of Cambodians see themselves faring worse, a Gallup polls suggests. In a global survey released earlier this month, the US-based firm ranked Cambodia near the very bottom in terms of life satisfaction, and it found that 34 percent of surveyed Cambodians consider themselves ...
Vannarin Neou
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/increasingly-cambodians-say-they-are-suffering/1819008.html
Cambodian PM encourages local businesses to invest in his country
PM Hun Sen made the statement at a meeting with Vietnamese investors in Ha Noi yesterday, which also included Viet Nam’s Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Cambodian Deputy PM cum Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Nam Hong. Hun Sen praised Vietnamese businesses, ...
Saigon GP Daily
http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/National/2013/12/107495/
Hun Sen, Tan Dung Sign 9 Agreements During Vietnam State Visit
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday signed off on nine wide-ranging deals with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung during a state visit that ends Saturday, including arrangements to tighten media, public security and trade cooperation, according to Cambodian and Vietnamese state media. Cambodian state news ...
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-tan-dung-sign-9-agreements-during-vietnam-state-visit-49735/
Cambodian labor minister holds urgent talk with pro-opposition trade unions over strikes
Cambodian Minister of Labor Ith Samheng on Friday afternoon held an urgent talk with the representatives of six pro-opposition trade unions after they have led tens of thousands of workers off work in protest against low wage increase for 2014. As the meeting was going on, ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-12/27/c_133002053.htm
Human Rights Watch attacks IMF chief over Cambodia visit
American lobby group Human Rights Watch has lashed out at Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, for her trip to Cambodia earlier this month. In a commentary posted Thursday, it noted that the IMF recognized that corruption threatened market integrity, distorted competition, ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=YTNmNDE1NGJiZjY
UN rights expert calls for calm amid growing demonstrations in Cambodia
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya P. Subedi, on Friday reiterated his call for calm and restraint as demonstrations are now taking place daily in Phnom Penh. “Demonstrations such as those of recent days and weeks are a ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-12/27/c_133002304.htm
Cambodia Police, Garment Workers Clash Amid Strike
Police clashed Friday with a group of striking garment workers on the outskirts of Cambodia’s capital, leaving about 20 people injured, police and workers said. The incident occurred when thousands of striking workers-marching from a province bordering the capital-tried to get into the Phnom Penh Special ...
Sun Narin and Chun Han Wong
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303799404579283802423278442
Burger King to Open New Phnom Penh Branch
U.S. fast-food chain Burger King will open its second location in Phnom Penh in Boeng Keng Kang I commune by the end of January, the restaurant’s manager said Thursday. Located at the corner of streets 51 and 310, the restaurant will take over the building that ...
Sek Odom and Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/burger-king-to-open-new-phnom-penh-branch-49728/
Factories to lose millions
The economic fallout from garment worker protests and the industry’s response is expected to cost the key sector millions of dollars while tarnishing the country’s reputation among international buyers, interviews with suppliers and figures from previous periods of labour unrest show. Disputes over wages came to ...
Eddie Morton and Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/factories-lose-millions
Cambodia's GMAC tells all factories to stop production amid strike
The Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) on Thursday asked all its members to temporarily stop production operations this week due to concerns over security and safety after thousands of workers walked out of work in protest against the 19 percent wage hike in the ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-12/26/c_132997783.htm
EU clarifies rice comments
While the European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht never told the Ministry of Commerce that Cambodian rice was “30 per cent” mixed with the same product from Vietnam, he did say Cambodia had to better ensure that its harvest was homegrown and not from ...
Eddie Morton and May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/eu-clarifies-rice-comments
‘New Voices’: Poor Education Hurts Economic Growth
Economic growth has a close correlation with the quality of education, and not its quantity, a graduate student at the University of Chicago says. While education for all has been introduced in Cambodia, more needs to be done toward offering equal access to quality education, ...
VOA Khmer News Staff
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/new-voices-poor-education-hurts-economic-growth/1816811.html
Rice Trader Claims Being Wrongly Fined Bad Scale to Measure Her Truck
A rice trader on Monday filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Unit, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cabinet and three ministries alleging that officials in Kompong Cham province had wrongly fined her for an overweight truck after using improperly weighted scales. Saing Darlin had her truck impounded ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/rice-trader-claims-being-wrongly-fined-bad-scale-to-measure-her-truck-49631/
BIDV to open in Phnom Penh
A subsidiary of the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) opened its seventh branch in Mean Chey District, Phnom Penh, on Sunday. The new branch is also expected to meet local demand and boost the development of trade and investment ties between ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=YTY2YzNlODE3YTk
Sam Rainsy Visits Svay Rieng’s Protesting SEZ Workers
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy on Monday visited thousands of workers from two special economic zones (SEZs) in Svay Rieng province who have been on strike over wages and working conditions since December 16. More than 25,000 workers from 36 factories in the Manhattan and Tai Seng ...
Aun Pheap and Alex Willemyns
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sam-rainsy-visits-svay-riengs-protesting-sez-workers-49605/
Low awareness of AEC pact
The Asean Economic Community (AEC) will cut red tape and allow freer trade between the bloc’s 10 member states. But many companies in the region aren’t even aware of the AEC blueprint, a sobering report from the Asia Development Bank has found. The bank also ...
Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/low-awareness-aec-pact