Economy and commerce
Union representatives detained for distributing strike leaflets
Two union representatives said that they were detained and “educated” Thursday for distributing leaflets calling on workers to participate in a nationwide strike next month. Yin Saroeun, secretary-general of the National Trade Unions Coalition, said police detained him and his colleague, Chuob Noek, at about 11 ...
Long-term plans for durian
Though an occasional mango or pineapple can be spotted on Eung Uy Kheam’s sleepy farm in Kampot province, it’s the 130 durian trees that the fourth-generation farmer calls his cash crop. In Kampot, on Cambodia’s southwest coast, a pilot project led by the provincial Department ...
Chan Muy Hong and Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/long-term-plans-durian
Villagers in land dispute are summoned, but not questioned
Five Kompong Chhnang villagers locked in a land dispute with a company owned by the wife of Mines and Energy Minister Suy Sem, who had repeatedly tried—and failed—to file a complaint with their provincial court, were summoned for questioning at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court ...
Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-in-land-dispute-are-summoned-but-not-questioned-53334/
Details murky in Environment Ministry Phnom Penh land swap
In 2011, the Environment Ministry entered into a deal with the Ratana Cooperation and Construction company to swap its valuable 2,400-square-meter location on Sihanouk Boulevard in Phnom Penh’s Tonle Bassac commune for a 9,000-square-meter plot of land and a new headquarters 20 km away in ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/details-murky-in-environment-ministry-phnom-penh-land-swap-53323/
Hong Kong's Pacnet expands to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar
Hong Kong technology company Pacnet says it’s expanding its virtual private network (VPN) services to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. In a statement released Wednesday, the company said the expansion involved global internet protocol VPN services based on multi-protocol label switching (MPLS). ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=OTg3YWUwNmRhYWJ
Cambodia’s economy remains strong this year: Hun Sen
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday said that Cambodia’s economy remains strong with an expected growth of 7 percent this year. Hun Sen made the comments during the 2014 Cambodia Outlook Conference on “Cambodia the next five years – Reforms and Competitiveness in Integration Region. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=15&token=ZWRjY2Q1NWU4ZTk
Gov’t suspends freedom of association for unions
Following a complaint from the Free Trade Union (FTU) over the Ministry of Labor’s refusal to register 10 local branches of its organization, a ministry official said Wednesday that the constitutional right to freedom of association has been suspended until a new trade union law ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-suspends-freedom-of-association-for-unions-53271/
Garden-view condominium complex a hit with locals and foreigners alike
With the 15-storey Vimean Keo Choronai Condominium close to completion, some 70 per cent of its apartments have already been sold. Vimean Keo Choronai sits in what eventually will be an expansive, leafy garden setting on National Road 1 about 600 metres from Monivong Bridge ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/garden-view-condominium-complex-hit-locals-and-foreigners-alike
Cambodia warned, again, on intellecual property regulation
Cambodian manufacturers are at risk of being blocked from exporting to the United States for using pirated software, IT industry bodies warned yesterday. Speaking at a seminar that was held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Phnom Penh, Michael Mudd, the secretary general of the Asia-Pacific Open ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cambodia-warned-again-intellecual-property-regulation
Vietnam, Cambodia trade volume grows, but slightly
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and Vietnam increased only about 3.4 per cent last year compared to 2012, data from the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh showed yesterday. An embassy official said the sluggish growth could be attributed to the political deadlock between the Cambodian People’s Party ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/vietnam-cambodia-trade-volume-grows-slightly
Environment minister visits UDG; Villagers disappointed
Environment Minister Say Sam Al failed to meet the villagers locked in a long-running land dispute with the Chinese-owned company Union Development Group (UDG) on Wednesday, despite visiting company officials in Koh Kong province, according to a rights worker and a provincial official. Mr. Sam Al ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/environment-minister-visits-udg-villagers-disappointed-53277/
Coca-Cola auditors visit sugar suppliers
Third-party auditors hired by The Coca-Cola Company are conducting an audit of Cambodian sugar suppliers, NGO and community representatives said yesterday. “Coke has commissioned them to conduct an assessment on their suppliers. They will talk to all parties, the community, NGOs and the company,” said Eang ...
Kevin Ponniah and May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/coca-cola-auditors-visit-sugar-suppliers
Letting it ride: NagaCorp lifts lid on large-scale expansion
NagaCorp recently announced it would invest $369 million in its latest project opposite the Buddhist Institute. The Hong Kong-listed casino operator’s latest Phnom Penh venture, Naga2,will include a casino, a hotel and a conference hall. The announcement of the investment by NagaCorp, Cambodia’s biggest casino operator, was ...
Siv Meng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/letting-it-ride-nagacorp-lifts-lid-large-scale-expansion
‘River town’ project sees budding prospects in sales
Borey River Town, a residential property development around three kilometres northeast of downtown Phnom Penh on National Road 6A has been selling well for the first two months of the year, according to Teng Rithy, the development’s general manager. Rithy said that the rate of sales ...
Moeun Nhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/%E2%80%98river-town%E2%80%99-project-sees-budding-prospects-sales
As garment sector strikes loom, soldiers watch over factories
Armed soldiers will continue to patrol Veng Sreng Street, the garment factory-lined thoroughfare in Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district where military police shot dead five workers during a nationwide strike last month, until labor unrest in the garment sector subsides, the deputy commander of the ...
Mech Dara and Alex Willemyns
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/as-garment-sector-strikes-loom-soldiers-watch-over-factories-53275/
IFC accepts complaint over Ratanakkiri rubber plantations
The International Finance Corporation’s compliance ombudsman has officially accepted a complaint filed by ethnic minority families in Ratanakkiri province against the IFC for investing in rubber plantations accused of stealing land and clearing forests. In a letter sent to the families on Monday, the ombudsman deems ...
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ifc-accepts-complaint-over-ratanakkiri-rubber-plantations-53251/
No oil for up to five years: Cambodian government
It will be years before oil starts to be produced by energy giant Chevron’s offshore site in the Gulf of Thailand, a senior Cambodian official said yesterday. Meng Saktheara, secretary of state at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, said that negotiations over taxation have continued ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/no-oil-five-years-cambodian-government
Mixed reaction to coal-fired plant
Cambodia’s first coal-fired power plant, which is expected to fill shortages in demand by producing an additional 100 megawatts of electricity every year, commenced full-time operations yesterday. Representatives from Malaysian company Leader Universal Ltd (LU), which built the plant, joined Prime Minister Hun Sen and ...
Hor Kimsay and Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/mixed-reaction-coal-fired-plant
Strike justified, suppression not, experts say
Garment workers’ calls for a $160 minimum wage are justified and should be honored, a new report by an international team of academics and labor experts has found. The authors—including a team from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, South Korean and ...
Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/strike-justified-suppression-not-experts-say-53255/
PATA Travel Mart set for Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The Pacific Asia Travel Association will hold the 37th PATA Travel Mart at Diamond Island Convention & Exhibition Centre, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The event is being hosted by the ministry of tourism of Cambodia and will take place from September 17th-19th. PTM 2014 will offer delegates the ...
Breaking Travel News Staff
http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/pata-travel-mart-set-for-phnom-penh-cambodia/
Cambodian PM holds opposition-backed unions responsible for future factory closures due to strikes
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday that the opposition-aligned unions, inciting garment workers to stage strikes for higher wages, must take responsibilities for any future closures of factories. “The government has worked very hard to attract investors to build factories and has urged manufacturers to ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-02/25/c_133142013.htm
UDG accused of farming instead of building
The Chinese-owned Union Development Group in Koh Kong province is bulldozing swaths of its land concession, originally intended for a massive tourist resort, to plant cassava and palm oil trees instead, a CNRP lawmaker-elect said Monday. Son Chhay, lawmaker-elect and CNRP chief whip, visited the area ...
Lauren Crothers and Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/udg-accused-of-farming-instead-of-building-53164/
BreadTalk chain set to open up in the capital
Singaporean bakery chain BreadTalk will open up in two locations in Phnom Penh this July, the bakery’s franchisee confirmed yesterday. Ly Daline, CEO of Cham & Ly Corporation, whose company will run BreadTalk in Phnom Penh, said a rising middle class means changes in consumer ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/breadtalk-chain-set-open-capital
Kings of concessions
Vietnam and China lead the pack of foreign companies granted economic land concessions in Cambodia for agro-industrial development by a wide margin, new data released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries show. According to the ministry’s annual report, released last month, since 1993 the ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kings-concessions