Economy and commerce

Malaysia-based agricultural and commodities company Felda Global Ventures Holdings is considering investing in palm oil, sugar and rubber crops in Cambodia. Felda Global head of corporate communications Izan Hussain said yesterday the company had received numerous business proposals, but had not made any decisions. “Our discussions and ...

Taiwan Cooperative Bank, one of the leading banks in China’s Taiwan, officially commenced business in capital Phnom Penh on Thursday, bringing the number of commercial banks in the kingdom to 33. Taiwan Cooperative Bank is the 2nd bank from China’s Taiwan in Cambodia after the Mega ...

The number of large-scale factories in Cambodia has increased by 29 percent to 907 in 2012, Minister of Industry, Mine and Energy Suy Sen said Thursday. Those large-scale enterprises employed 559,600 employees last year, a 38 percent increase from 403,560 a year earlier, he said ...

The Japanese government has provided $118,996 for constructing a cassava propagation and distribution centre in Battambang province. The fund comes in response to the recent challenges facing farmers in the province who are facing a shortage of cassava trees to plant. Kumamaru Yuji, Japanese ambassador to ...

VimpelCom, the parent company of local mobile operator Beeline, is looking to sell the majority share of its Cambodian assets and has entered into negations with a possible buyer, according to a document obtained yesterday. “VimpelCom intends to dispose its entire indirect 90.0 percent stake in ...

Thousands of creditors have come forward alleging they are owed a combined $160 million by bankrupt mobile phone operator Mfone, the administrator appointed to the case said yesterday. “Mfone owes money to hundreds of companies and thousands of individuals totaling $160 million,” he said. Nim Solida, ...

Lawmakers from the European Union (E.U) are again urging the block’s trade commissioner to investigate Cambodia’s Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) over a raft of alleged rights abuses and consider revoking the duty free access their owners currently enjoy to member states. Going mostly to industrial ...

The Kingdom’s tax revenue increased 27.85 per cent in the first two months compared to a year earlier, a figure the opposition party said is low due to corruption and tax cheats. According to the data from the General Department of Taxation (GDT), total tax revenue ...

Eric Sidgwick, Country director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to Cambodia applauded Cambodia for managing it’s, sometimes problematic, public debts. During the Wednesday meeting with Deputy Prime Minister, Sok An, Eric Sidgwick said, good management led to the positive changes of donations and ...

Police have cracked down on illegal large-scale rosewood smuggling at the Cambodia-Thai border in the district of Malai. In the sting operation Tuesday night, led by Banteay Meanchey prosecutor, Phan Pirom, the authorities have seized around three tons of rosewood, hidden in the truck bed used ...

Local real estate company Vtrust Property Group plans to engage an underwriter in as little as two years to help it list on the Cambodia Stock Exchange, the company’s chairman, Kuy Vat, said yesterday. The company is now preparing the necessary documents on its business, corporate ...

A delegation from a Thai agricultural co-operative yesterday discussed means of improving agricultural products and market access with representatives of the Ministry of Commerce in Phnom Penh. Kamit Likhitvidhayavuth of the Thai co-operative said his team aimed to strengthen market access for Cambodian goods. No agreement ...

A BHP Billiton mining deal being investigated for alleged corruption was personally overseen by Cambodian strongman Hun Sen, diplomatic cables reveal. The miner’s aborted attempt to establish a bauxite mine in Cambodia, and its hospitality program for Chinese officials at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, are at ...

The Prime Minister said Tuesday there will be another discussion about the increase of minimum wages for factory workers. Speaking at an inauguration ceremony for the Toul Sophy Secondary School in the district of Ou Rang Ov, he said around 500,000 to 600,000 people are working ...

A week after British researchers released a study warning that the nation’s grasslands would soon be lost if drastic action was not taken to protect them, some agricultural experts have called for moderation, noting that the intensive rice cultivation blamed for the grasslands’ destruction is ...

The British chairman of a Biofuel firm is facing up to 15 years in jail after he was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) in Phnom Penh on Saturday and charged with forgery, a court official said yesterday. Gregg Fryett’s company, Sustainable Agro Energy, has been ...

Malaysia-based Harta Packaging Industries Sdn Bhd opened a new Cambodian factory to meet the demands of a growing exports sector and benefit from Sihanoukville port’s ambitious expansion plans, officials said. Harta Packaging, a wholly owned subsidiary of HPI Resources Berhad and part of the Oji Paper ...

Cambodian officials say they will focus on nine different sectors in a bid to diversify and ensure continued national economic growth. Among the nine priorities, rubber will play a crucial role in Cambodia’s trade integration strategy. After opening a workshop on Cambodia’s trade strategy for the coming ...

Villagers who confiscated land-clearing equipment during a forest patrol yesterday in Khsuem commune in Kratie province’s Snuol district are claiming the equipment belongs to a rubber concessionaire attempting to expand into state land, an allegation local authorities denied. Villager representative Mom Sokkin said the Binh ...

Jarai ethnic minority villagers appeared at Ratanakkiri provincial court yesterday, demanding compensation from a Vietnamese company they say illegally cleared 30 hectares of community land in November last year. Chea Chanrith was granted a licence from the Ministry of Agriculture last year to clear land ...

The Department of Foreign Trade plans to set up a “rice trade zone” project in the East to process Cambodian rice for export to other countries. Tikhumporn Natvaratat, deputy director-general of the department, said his organisation plans to implement the project in Chanthaburi, Trat, Sa Kaeo ...

About a quarter of the garment factories in Cambodia that supply Swedish clothing giant H&M have been the scene of mass faintings or large-scale strikes since 2010, based on a suppliers list the clothing giant released late last week. Along with its 2012 sustainability report, the ...

A major Vietnamese bank is closing its brokerage and securities arm in Cambodia, an official said yesterday, amid the ongoing drought of listings on the Cambodian Securities Exchange (CSX). Sacombank, which will continue to operate as a bank in Cambodia, set up the securities firm ...

The British chairman of an embattled agricultural investment firm was arrested Saturday by Cambodian authorities over charges of forging documents and using them in an attempt to illegally purchase thousands of hectares of land, a court prosecutor said. Greg Fryett, the main shareholder of Sustainable Agro ...