Economy and commerce

With Myanmar’s telecom industry showing signs of gradually opening, operators in Cambodia’s overcrowded telecom market see opportunities for potential investment. But in stride with the market’s latent potential come challenges, industry experts say, and lessons learned locally need to be applied overseas. “Myanmar remains one of the ...

In the hilly wilderness across southwestern Cambodia, the foundations of the country’s strengthening bonds with China are taking root. It is there that large dams supported by Chinese money are being built to literally bring the impoverished Southeast Asian nation out of darkness. The largest of ...

The bilateral trade between Cambodia and the United States in 2012 rose slightly, while Cambodia’s export decreased, according to a report of the United States Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce. U.S. Department of Commerce. The Cambodia-US bilateral trade saw its increase 0. 61%, while ...

Cambodia’s insurance industry earned a total premium of $36 million last year, a 21 percent rise year-on-year, according to the industry’s report on Monday. The main sectors of the premium are from fire insurance of 28 percent, motor insurance of 19 percent, personal accident insurance of ...

More than 100 mobile phone vendors protested yesterday outside the Phnom Penh headquarters of bankrupt mobile operator Mfone over their stocks of phone credit recharge cards that are now worthless, as the defunct company has transferred its subscribers to MobiTel, which does not recognize the ...

Phnom Penh could have a public bus system operating under a single company before the end of 2013 at the earliest, Phnom Penh governor Kep Chuktema said yesterday. Global (Cambodia) Trade Development, a joint venture between Cambodian and Chinese investors, had originally been chosen alongside South ...

Farmers have expressed concern over local brokers’ manipulation of the market during harvest season, reducing buying prices for farmers who have no access to actual market rates. While some farmers have already completed their harvests, others have left their fields barren, fearing brokers will reduce ...

Kampong Speu palm sugar production is projected to decrease slightly this year due to a late start, though prices are expected to rise thanks to the sugar’s growing popularity following its geographical indication certification. Despite the drop in production, Hong Hoeung, director of Kampong Speu Palm ...

Investment in Cambodia from overseas surged by at least 44 percent last year, according to an estimate from the central bank, despite figures suggesting a reduction in the overall flow of foreign currency into Southeast Asian economies. Nguon Sokha, director-general of the National Bank of Cambodia, ...

The Doha-based Qatar Airways will operate its daily flights from Doha to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, from Tuesday, Cambodia’s tourism minister Thong Khon said Monday. “Tomorrow (Tuesday), the airline will launch daily flights from Doha to Phnom Penh via Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam,” ...

Cambodia is predicted to greet 4 million foreign visitors this year, an expected 12 percent rise year-on-year, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said Monday. “Last year, we received 3.58 million foreign tourists, up 24 percent year-on-year, and generated total revenue of about 2.2 billion U.S. dollars,” he ...

Cambodian-Japanese bank Maruhan Japan opened an office in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on Saturday, making it the second Cambodian bank and the first Japanese bank to come to that country. Maruhan’s presence in Laos would boost economic and investment ties between the two ASEAN member ...

Workers at the shuttered Yung Wah I and II factories in Kandal province will continue protesting today, despite the government already agreeing to pay them using company funds. Worker Soy Sokchea said yesterday that he and his colleagues would keep demanding benefits and seniority bonuses. ...

Villagers near the Sesan River in Stung Treng province are a step closer to being forced to make way for a hydropower dam following a National Assembly vote on Friday, but they are no closer to learning the details of such a move, a community ...

Pharmaceutical giant Thai Nakorn Patana plans to invest $30 million over the next two years in a three- to four-star hotel in Phnom Penh, as it hopes to cash in on the lack of big names in the capital’s mid-tier hotels market. For the new 200-room ...

The minister of posts and telecommunications yesterday said he needs more time to investigate corruption and mismanagement allegations at state-owned firm Telecom Cambodia before involving other government institutions. Telecom Cambodia director-general Lao Saroeun is officially on sick leave, but staff at the company say they were ...

Cambodia’s Tonlesap Airlines said Saturday that one of its scheduled flights from Taiwan to the Cambodian city of Siem Reap that day would be further delayed due to an engine failure, further enraging 167 already angry passengers who had been waiting for hours for their ...

The director-general of Tele­com Cambodia, one of the country’s most highly regarded state-owned enterprises and a candidate for listing on the stock exchange, has left his post amid an investigation into corruption allegations, the minister of posts and telecommunications said on Thursday. Despite the staff’s ...

Oil prices in Cambodia hit the highest of all time on Friday, with a liter of premium gasoline going for 1.45 U.S. dollars at all petrol stations in the capital. The price is the highest ever if compared with the peak price of 1.41 U.S. dollars ...

PHNOM PENH: There are about a hundred Singapore-owned businesses in Cambodia, mainly located in the capital, Phnom Penh. Many, who set up shop there, feel the numbers have stayed low because there is a perception that the country is not safe. In 2011, Singapore invested close ...

A pair of cigarette brands distributed by two of the Kingdom’s most prominent businessmen are being smuggled from Cambodia to Vietnam at an estimated rate of more than 300 million packs a year, contributing to tobacco manufacturer losses of nearly $200 million annually, according to ...

Young Cambodians must develop diverse workplace skills if they are to compete in an integrated Asean, a leading economist and adviser to the government says. “We have to make sure we are able to do multiple things if others are able to do just one,” the ...

Malaysia-based Hong Leong Bank, a subsidiary of Hong Leong Financial Group Berhad, is planning to open a branch in Cambodia sometime this year, which would make it the fourth Malaysian bank and the 33rd commercial bank in Cambodia’s crowded banking industry. Ngoun Sokha, director general of the ...

The number of people arrested over land disputes jumped 144 percent from a year earlier to 232 in 2012, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc) said Thursday. Speaking at a news conference, he [Adhoc president Thun Saray] said Adhoc last year received 70 ...