Economy and commerce

A forestry officer and a reporter from a little-known newspaper were arrested Friday on allegations of attempted extortion and assaulting a man they caught illegally transporting luxury timber, but were released on Saturday, military police officials said yesterday. Seng Chandaron, the chief of Sandan commune Forestry ...

With the aim of attracting 25 million international visitors from 2013 to 2015 to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CVLM) the respective ministers of tourism pushed for greater cooperation in developing the region’s tourism sector on Friday,  according to the Vietnamese Communist Party official news ...

A local journalist and a forestry official were arrested by military police in Kratie province’s Sambo district on Friday night for allegedly discharging a weapon into the air and beating a man with a boat oar in an extortion bid gone awry. According to district military ...

Leaders from Vietnam’s southern province of Tay Ninh and Cambodia’s Kampong Chhnang province signed a cooperative agreement in Tay Ninh on September 17. The agreement falls within the framework of the minutes of the 7th Cooperation and Development Conference for Vietnamese and Cambodian border provinces that ...

Southeast Asia is a growth market for the mobile industry, with Indonesia and the Philippines being key markets for growth, particularly in smartphones, reports GfK Asia. The Southeast Asian mobile phone market is on the rise, having grown by 24% in volume in the past 12 ...

The price of Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority stock over the Sept. 6-12 period fluctuated between KHR 6,350 (US$1.57) and KHR 6,300 (US$1.55). The price on Sept. 6, KHR 6,350, fell to KHR 6,300 (US$1.58) on Sept. 7 and remained there until climbing to KHR 6,350 ...

China is encouraged by growing cooperation with Asean countries and hopes to see even more development in China-Asean trade to generate benefits for both sides. Under the China-Asean Free Trade Agreement (Cafta) that went into effect on Jan 1, 2010, more than 7,000 products are now ...

The PTT Public Company Limited is looking to invest 800 million baht in energy business expansion in Cambodia and Laos in the next five years. The PTT planned to open 4-5 more gas stations in Laos and Cambodia each. The Thai energy giant already has 14 ...

The price of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority stock over the Aug. 30-Sept. 5 period fluctuated from KHR 6,350 (US$1.57) to KHR 6,450 (US$1.59), but trading volumes went down to zero again on Aug. 31, the second time in the bourse’s short history. With ...

A group of Chinese trade officials from South China’s Shenzhen city has been visiting Cambodia to promote the bilateral trade and investment ties. The group was led by Zhang Jinsheng, director of Shenzhen WTO Affairs Office. Addressing a Shenzhen Economic and Trade Forum on Friday afternoon, Zhang ...

Two weeks after Prime Minister Hun Sen returned from China with more than half a billion dollars in new loans and grants, Cambodia once again asked Beijing for money on Thursday. In a bilateral discussion held alongside this week’s series of meetings between Asean energy ministers, ...

With the deadline to pay annual property taxes rapidly approaching, hundreds of Phnom Penh homeowners queued this week at Canadia Bank’s headquarters on Monivong Boulevard to pay their tax bills in relative comfort, and avoid long visits to district and municipal taxation offices. Canadia Bank signed ...

Cambodia reported a trade deficit of 34% in equivalent to US$1.51-B in the 1st 7 months of this year, the report of the Commerce Ministry showed Thursday. During January-July period this year, the country’s total import and export value was US$7.45-B, up 15% from US$6.47-B at ...

CIMB Bank Thai (CIMBT) clients will one day able to use ATMs for financial transactions anywhere in Asean. The regional linkage of ATMs is aimed at improving service and cost efficiency as a part of the CIMB Group’s regional strategy. Executive vice-president Dusanee Klewpatinontha said Cambodia has ...

Cambodians like pork. The average Cambodian consumes almost 9.29 kg of the meat each year, and local farmers supplied about 2 million pigs, more than 90 percent of the domestic demand, in 2008. But the market for small-scale pig farmers has flown. Live pig prices have fallen ...

Royal Media Entertainment Co. Ltd., a joint venture between local conglomerate Royal Group and Russian General Satellite Co., announced yesterday that it has launched the country’s first digital pay-television service, ONE TV. Offering promotional subscription rates between $3 and $12 a month, services will begin in Phnom ...

The Greater Mekong Sub-region development scheme, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is moving forward with a new generation of investment aimed at strengthening connectivity, competitiveness and community over the next decade. The GMS will play a strategic role in connecting Southeast Asia with South ...

Cambodia expects the arrival of the ASEAN Community in 2015 to present challenges as well as opportunities for its people. Economic advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sok Siphanna believes that the ASEAN integrity will create more opportunity for Cambodia. “Cheap labor in ...

Cambodian Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy on Thursday hailed Chinese companies for hugely investing in the country’s energy sector, which is a key element to support the sustainable social and economic development. Suy Sem’s appreciation was made during a bilateral meeting with Wu Yin, ...

About 500 garment workers gathered in front of their factory in Kompong Speu province yesterday to protest that the factory had not paid their full salary for August, a worker representative said yesterday. The protest started on Tuesday at Sien-Atree Co. Ltd. in Samraong Tong district ...

Total investment in new construction projects reached $1.53 billion through the first  eight months of the year, a 73.96 percent improvement compared to the same period last year, according to data released yesterday by the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. Though the number of permits ...

The plan to create an economic union in the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will likely see a delay of a year, Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said at the meeting of the bloc’s energy ministers in Phnom Penh. During the meeting, Mr. Surin said ...

Vietnam Airlines outlined expansion at the 4-Code presentation seminar, Wednesday, just prior to the opening of 8th International Travel Expo 2012 in Ho Chi Minh City. The national airline reiterated its commitment at the trade fair to build Vietnam as a major gateway to the other ...

Container traffic through Phnom Penh Autonomous Port increased by 7.5 percent in the first eight months of this year versus the same period last year, hitting the port’s record on Tuesday. During the January-August period this year, the port had received 57,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units, or TEUs, ...