Economy and commerce

Unions and labour groups fear a solitary sick day could cost garment workers their entire month’s attendance bonuses – about 15 per cent of their base wage – under a new scheme meant to make life easier. The Kingdom’s 600,000 garment and footwear workers will receive ...

The government earned just over $25 million in rental fees from state land leased to private companies in the first six months of the year, according to new figures from the Ministry of Economy and Finance. While the data shows that earning have risen, critics say ...

As mining companies continue to scour Cambodia for minerals, work is also under way to build a network of local monitors and activists to shed light on the country’s often-opaque mining sector and its practices. {T]he Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy has granted an unknown ...

Cambodia’s needs and how they overlap with the UK’s strengths are an important issue in trade and investment relations between the two countries, according to British Ambassador Mark Gooding during a presentation to the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce (CCC) yesterday. Bilateral trade is mainly driven by ...

A okyo-based human rights group has called on the government to cease forced evictions and branded the use of armed forces against ordinary citizens defending their land as an :unforgivable human rights violation.” Human Rights Now (HRN), which in June sent a team of Japanese investigators ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen returned home yesterday from a quick trip to Beijing with the promise of some $523 million in new loans and grants, one day after Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jabao praised Cambodia for helping China maintain “friendly relations” with Asean. Speaking with ...

Despite the establishment of the Cambodian Clean Water Supplier Association last week, the clean water sector still lacks sufficient investment to connect rural Cambodia. There is very little clean water in Cambodia and accelerating its supply requires the government, private sector and other development partners ...

Officials at the Cambodian Securities Exchange (CSX) may increase the number of daily stock trading sessions from two to seven, giving traders more flexibility to buy and sell, an official at the bourse said yesterday. Currently, trading on the CSX occurs in just two sessions, starting ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has returned home from his trip to China a wealthier leader having secured upwards of US$2.5 billion in Chinese investment and loans over the next year alone, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The package includes a $2 billion ...

China has pledged more than $500 million in soft loans and grants to Cambodia and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao thanked it for helping Beijing maintain good relations with the regional grouping ASEAN, a Cambodian junior minister said. A summit of the 10 members of the Association ...

As business opportunities open wider ahead of the launch of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, the four less-developed economies, often referred to as CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) are among the most attractive for Thai investors The disparity between CLMV and the three ...

It was not her degree in finance and banking that encouraged Keo Sopheap to start her own business. It was her sister’s marriage to an American that introduced her to foreign fast food. Now Sopheap owns a sandwich shop in Phnom Penh. Sopheap, a Norton ...

ASEAN economic ministers on Friday agreed to spur stronger cooperation and make more of an effort to enhance the region’s integration in preparation for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. Speaking during the press conference on the closing of the 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting ...

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) will soon begin a national payment system that will allow the clearance of checks at all banks within a day, as well as facilitate intra-bank electronic payments, Nguon Sokha, director general of the NBC, said yesterday. Through the establishment of the national ...

The International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) program must overhaul its monitoring practices before it can meaningfully improve working conditions in the garment sector, accoring to the authors of a new report. the new report by Community Legal Education Center and the Netherlands-based ...

India is financing the construction of a US$70 million transmission line to bring electricity from hydroelectric projects in Laos to Cambodia, according to Indian Chamber of Commerce President Debasish Pattnaik. Speaking yesterday after the official launch of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia (ICC), Pattnaik ...

About 100 Indian businessmen and government officials gathered in Phnom Penh yesterday for the official launch of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Cambodia. Speaking at the launch the ICC president, Debasish Pattnaik, said that since the new organization registered with the government in February, it has gained 54 ...

The United States and Cambodia have agreed to begin discussions on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) in a bid to spur trade and investment between the two countries, officials said on Friday following the end of the ASEAN-US Business Summit in Siem Reap. “A bilateral investment ...

An investigation by garment factory monitor Better Factories Cambodia into the alleged sexual harassment of four female employees at Ocean Garment uncovered extensive verbal abuse, according to BFC technical adviser Jill Tucker. A BFC team visited the Dangkor district site on August 24 after a group ...

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced Friday that the U.S. and Cambodia have agreed to explore the creation of a bilateral investment treaty that would regulate the rules of foreign direct investment between the two countries, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement. According to the Embassy, such a treaty ...

Almost 150 garment factory workers from two Phnom Penh factories fainted late last week after inhaling toxic fumes used to treat clothes, workers and union leaders said yesterday. The mass faintings came as the Clean Clothes Campaign and Community Legal Education Center released an evaluation report ...

Better Factories Cambodia must name and shame garment factories that abuse the labour law if it is to transform Cambodia into an ethical sourcing option, a report on the International Labor Organization initiative says. Better Factories should make monitoring reports public, according to the 10 Years ...

The office of the Indian Chamber of Commerce was officially launched here Sunday to promote economic, trade and investment ties between India and Cambodia. The office is to act on behalf of Indian business organisations and individuals for business facilitation, regulatory exchange as well as to ...

Although the Cambodian government has projected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of around 7 percent this year, a bit higher than come other international financial organizations like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), it does not mean that the country’s projection could not ...