Economy and commerce

Sri Lankan agricultural group Lankem Ceylon PLC says it plans to plant 20,000 hectares of rubber in Cambodia as part of a diversification strategy. Lankem chairman A Rajaratnam disclosed the strategy in the company’s annual report for the year to March, 2012, released by the company ...

The private sector has called on the government to review Cambodia’s taxation law, a statute that business leaders say is outdated and needs to change if Cambodia wants to continue to attract foreign investment. Led by Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) president Kith Meng, a delegation ...

Phnom Penh’s garment factories are operating at a greatly reduced capacity as workers return home to the provinces in droves in response to the government’s decision to increase security after the opposition warned they plan to hold mass demonstrations against the election results. Ken Loo, secretary-general ...

Locals and rights groups on Wednesday said dozens of farmers in a village in Preah Vihear province have been singled out for eviction after supporting the opposition CNRP in last month’s vote, a claim their village chief denied. Residents of Choam Ksan district’s Kom Prak village ...

The 8th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting for Social Welfare and Development will be held in Cambodia’s Siem Reap City from Sept. 3 to 7, according to a statement of Cambodia’s Ministry of Social Affairs released Thursday. ...

Japanese automaker Mazda opened its first showroom in Cambodia on Wednesday, making it the third foreign car company to move into the country since the beginning of the year. “Mazda starts selling in Cambodia from today,” said Chanthan Ngon, general manager of HGB Auto, the company’s ...

Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI) Sathapana Limited will receive $15 million in loans to provide additional support to small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), which make up the vast majority of the country’s businesses. The loan comes courtesy of German Investment and Development Company DEG, a subsidiary of ...

More than 170 trainees at a Chinese-backed power plant under construction in Preah Sihanouk province ended a five-day protest on Monday after securing higher wages from their employer, according to a union representative and provincial official. Khmer Workers Power Federation Union president Chey Sovann, who negotiated ...

What happened to Cambodia’s electric car? The short answer is, the wait continues. More than seven months after its owners unveiled the new and improved Angkor EV 2013 to great fanfare, they are chronically short of funding and assembly is taking place in piecemeal fashion. Seang Chan ...

More than 700 families living in Stung Treng province’s Siem Pang district have appealed to local authorities, demanding that they intervene to stop a Chinese company mining gold near their homes. Sin Dan, chief of Thma Keo commune, said he had delivered the petition to both ...

Cambodia has sent about 11,940 laborers overseas in the first six months of this year, down 29 percent from 16,900 it sent over the same period last year, the figures of the Ministry of Labor showed Tuesday. In January to June period this year, the country ...

In the wake of last month’s election, production levels at Cambodian garment factories are still below the norm as lingering fears of political unrest keep workers at home and away from the capital. Shrugged off at the outset as a natural byproduct of the election that ...

The deal between national flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Royal Group of Cambodia (RCG) to form Cambodia Airlines Co.  Ltd. is set to be completed within the next two months. This was according to Ma. Cecilia Pesayco, assistant corporate secretary of PAL’s parent firm PAL ...

U.S.-listed firm Entertainment Gaming Asia’s (EGA) Dreamworld casino in Poipet province has seen revenue drop by almost 18 percent this year, according to financial results released by the company. Results issued on Thursday from Hong Kong said the casino, which opened in May 2012, made revenue ...

Entertainment Gaming Asia Inc (EGA), a NASDAQ-listed company that supplies NagaWorld Casino with slot machines and operates casinos in Poipet town and Pailin province, reported a net loss of $385,000 from continuing operations in the second quarter of 2013, according to a statement from the ...

CIMB Bank announced over the weekend that it will enlarge mortgage loans provided to clients, going from 70 per cent last year to 80 per cent financing of the total purchase price of properties for 2013. Heng Thida, head of retail financial services for the Malaysia-based ...

Finance Minister Keat Chhon has signed a deal with China’s ambassador to Cambodia to secure a concessional loan of $121 million to fund irrigation and power projects. In the latest promise of cash from Cambodia’s biggest donor, Chi­na will fund a power transmission line con­necting Phnom ...

The governor-general of New Zealand, Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae, began a four-day visit to Cambodia on Thursday at the invitation of King Norodom Sihamoni to promote bilateral relations between the two countries. “The visit reflects the priority New Zealand attaches to its relations with the ...

On May 16, immediately after the ceiling of a shoe factory collapsed in Kompong Speu province, leaving two people dead, promises were made to prosecute those responsible for the tragedy and to conduct a nationwide in­spection of all factories. “We will have a committee investigate clearly ...

Trade volume between Cambodia and Japan had grown 19 per cent in the first six months of 2013 compared with the same period last year, figures from the Japan External Trade Organisation show. Cambodian exports to Japan were up 31 per cent in the first six ...

Cambodia’s Minister of Commerce and long-time ruling party stalwart Cham Prasidh said yesterday that post-election demonstrations could prevent growth and even result in small-scale looting. “If they want to destroy the economy, they have to protest more and more in order to destroy,” he said. Speaking ...

For the first time since a railway rehabilitation project was launched in 2006, Cambodian rice is now being transported from Phnom Penh to the Sihanoukville port along the country’s southern line for export, operators Toll said on Wednesday. Speaking at the Phnom Penh cargo loading station, ...

After two years of assembling Hyundai vehicles in Cambodia for the domestic market, South Korea-based Hyundai Motor Company is increasing its production to meet rising demand, aiming to reach 800 units in 2013, a company’s representative said. Located in the Koh Kong Special Economic Zone, ...

At least 20,000 tourists and travellers will participate in the so-called “sea festival” at the end of this year, officials at the Kep province tourism department said. The two-day event, which started in 2011 as a tourism booster for the country’s coasts and beaches, was cancelled ...