Economy and commerce
Rice exports to Thailand rise
Exports of Cambodian unpolished rice to Thailand are increasing, and the trend is promising if the Thai government continues its intervention policy to guarantee the minimum paddy price for their farmers, industry insiders said. Government figures show that in the first four months of this ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013053165969/Business/rice-exports-to-thailand-rise.html
ADB advises region to combine grids
Cambodia is expected to be able to produce about half the energy it needs by 2035, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), but the Kingdom – along with its neighbours – should also consider integrating their energy grids, which would bring about more competitive ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013053165966/Business/adb-advises-region-to-combine-grids.html
Airports operator looks to expand
While Cambodia Airports, of which France-based Vinci Group is major stakeholder, sees tourist numbers taking off, eviction issues are gnawing at the company’s image. Emmanuel Menanteau, chief executive of Cambodia Airports, talked to the Post’s Sarah Thust about the expansion plans. How many tourist arrivals do ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013053165965/CEO-Talk/airports-operator-looks-to-expand.html
Cambodia's trade with foreign countries up 25 pct in four months
Cambodia’s trade volume with foreign countries had reached 5.12 billion U.S. dollars in the first four months of this year, a 25 percent rise compared with 4.1 billion U.S. dollars over the same period last year, according to a report from the Ministry of Commerce’s ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-05/30/c_132419210.htm
Against the Grain
On the palm-studded plains of Cambodia, rice farmers’ eyes light up with the prospect of sending their crop northward to China. The poor Southeast Asian nation had been trying for several years to export rice to the mainland but only last year did it gain ...
http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/china-rice-demand-market-import
CEDAC Introduces Guidlines
The Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) yesterday introduced techniques to prepare a good rice harvest for farmers ahead of the rainy season, CEDAC announced. Yang Saing Koma, president of CEDAC, said farmers could improve their harvests if they follow the seven steps. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013053065930/Business/cedac-introduces-guidlines.html
NagaCorp rolls dice on $15 million VIP terminal
A private VIP terminal costing $15 million is being planned at Phnom Penh International Airport by NagaCorp, which hopes that once it is ready – likely by early next year – high-rollers would flock to its casino and double their spending to $8 billion. NagaWorld, the ...
Loans and deposits up 30%
Outstanding loans and deposits made at Cambodian banks grew by 32 per cent and 28 per cent respectively at the end of March this year from a year earlier, according to data from the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC). The data from the NBC that the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013053065929/Business/loans-and-deposits-up-30.html
Workers not underage, factory says
A Ying Dong Shoes representative yesterday denied claims his factory employs workers as young as 13 and shares an owner with Wing Star Shoes, where two died in a ceiling collapse on May 16. Chan Kosal, a representative of Ying Dong, a supplier to Asics, said ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013053065943/National/workers-not-underage-factory-says.html
Mfone Parent Firm to Consider Workers Demands
The company behind the defunct mobile operator Mfone has told its former employees that it will consider covering millions of dollars allegedly owned to them in severance pay. The former employees have vowed to keep protesting until they are paid the $44.44 million to which ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/mfone-parent-firm-to-consider-workers-demands-27821/
Water Cannon Crackdown on Cambodian Land Activists
Cambodian police used water cannons Wednesday to disperse around 200 women demanding a quick resolution to long-running land disputes, knocking at least three of the protesters, including a 72-year-old, unconscious. The move came two days after authorities used stun batons to disperse a protest over wages ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/land-05292013164116.html
Sea tourism along coast needs infrastructure, investors
Plans to create a tourist circuit encompassing coastal areas of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand could be delayed as infrastructure is not yet in place and authorities cannot find investors. The sea route from the Mekong River Delta province of Kien Giang to Sihanoukville in Cambodia and ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=OTEzNTNmYzMyZDI
Kingdom lacks engineers: minister
Because Cambodia’s youth has not focused enough on studying technical or engineering subjects, the Kingdom now faces a lack of human resources and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports plans to reform the country’s education system, according to the minister in charge. Minister Im Sethy ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052965901/Business/kingdom-lacks-engineers-minister.html
Gym membership gets a lift
Two or three times per week Hong Chandara finds the time to unwind from work, family and social responsibilities by exercising at his gym. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs see potential in the fitness service sector, as gyms gain popularity in Cambodia. Meas Sok Dany, owner of the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052965900/Business/gym-membership-gets-a-lift.html
Villagers Petition Against Crematorium’s Removal
More than 1,000 villagers in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district have signed a petition protesting the removal of a crematorium that is currently on land slated for a large development project. According to a letter from the Council of Ministers addressed to the Ministry of Cults ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-petition-against-crematoriums-removal-27487/
Underage, Overworked
Child labour is being used at a footwear factory owned by the same Taiwan-based company as Wing Star Shoes – where two workers were killed in a ceiling collapse this month – numerous employees have told the Post. A former Ying Dong employee said the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052965915/National/underage-overworked.html
Thai border SEZs set for discussion next month
In an effort to boost trade activity between Thailand and Cambodia, both countries will discuss plans for two special economic zones along the Thai-Cambodian border next month, according to the secretary of state at the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday. “It will provide us ...
Hor Kimsay and Anne Renzenbrink
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052965902/Business/thai-border-sezs-set-for-discussion-next-month.html
Former Mfone Employees Protest for Severance Pay
More than 100 former employees of bankrupt mobile phone operator Mfone traveled from three provinces yesterday to protest outside the firm’s shuttered office on Phnom Penh’s Monivong Boulevard demanding their severance pay. Sok Samphorn, an engineer who was employed by Mfone, said employees from Phnom Penh, ...
Geopacific extends its copper zone
Geopacific Resources, an Australian mineral exploration company, said it has extended the zone of copper found in Preah Vihear province’s Kou Sa district to 18 kilometres, the company announced yesterday. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052965899/Business/geopacific-extends-its-copper-zone.html
Thais to urge transport push
Thailand will propose to Cambodia that they jointly develop border areas and transport links between the two countries, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said yesterday. Thailand will also develop roads, railways and border checkpoints, he said. Proposed road projects include improving roads Nos.5, ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/352101/thais-to-urge-transport-push
PAL to complete investment in Cambodia Air in July
PAL Holdings Inc., operator of flag carrier Philippine Airlines Inc., said Monday it expects to complete a $10-million investment in Cambodia Air by July 15 this year. PAL teamed up with Royal Group of Cambodia in April to establish its first international airline venture known as ...
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/05/28/pal-to-complete-investment-in-cambodia-air-in-july/
Firms’ Timber Trade Decried
Two firms holding concessions in rapidly disappearing northern forests are amassing stockpiles of tens of thousands of luxury logs cut both within and outside their leases and trucking them on to Vietnam, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights has alleged. CCHR investigators that tracked logging operations ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052865880/National/firms-timber-trade-decried.html
Factories Asked to Voluntarily Assess Safety
The Garment Manufactures Association of Cambodia (GMAC) and International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Better Factories Cambodia yesterday asked factory owners to voluntarily conduct structural audits on their buildings in light of building collapses at two garment factories that killed two people and injured 23. “In the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factories-asked-to-voluntarily-assess-safety-27319/
Villagers Seize Trucks in Protest
More than 300 protesters seized two company trucks outside the Kratie office of Korean-owned timber company Think Biotech Co yesterday as protests by villagers who allege land-grabbing continued for a second day. “We have seized the company’s two trucks to ask the company to come ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052865873/National/villagers-seize-trucks-in-protest.html