Economy and commerce

BarCamp Phnom Penh, a technology conference at the University of Puthisastra, promises to attract industry professionals from ASEAN countries, the US, Germany and other countries around the world later this month, Be Chantra, lead organiser of the conference, says. Be Chantra says BarCamp Phnom Penh is ...

Cambodia’s consumer price index (CPI) increased slightly year-on-year in July by 1.3 per cent, which was driven by increased food and fuel prices, according official data from the National Institute of Statistics (NIS). “The increase for all index groups was 1.3 per cent of inflation in July 2012 ...

PharmaProduct Manufacturing, Cambodia’s self-described first pharmaceutical plant, announced last week plans to expand into other ASEAN markets once the ASEAN Com­mu­nity frame-work is adopted in 2015. According to its online materials, the producer of the painkiller KINAL – among other medicines – opened its doors in 1996, and has ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has appointed his personal adviser Kong Vibol as director general of the General Department of Taxation at the Ministry of Econ­­omics and Finance, ac­­cording to the Royal Book en­­try of August 22. In addition to his expertise in taxation, Vibol is also ...

Ocean Garment, the Phnom Penh-based clothing manufacturer at the centre of sexual harassment claims and an illegal strike that lasted more than two weeks, has agreed to compensate more than 2,500 workers for wages lost during the protests, a move union advocates have highlighted as ...

China has done a lot to support Cambodia over the years, with millions of dollars in aid, loans and investment. But after reports last week that China has pledged another $500 million in soft loans and grants-and publicly thanked Cambodia for its support in Southeast ...

With GDP growth averaging around 9% for the past decade, Cambodia is certainly attracting interest from potential investors. It has possibly the most investor-friendly environment in Asean with no exchange controls, no restrictions on repatriation of profit, and no discrimination between foreign and local investors. Moreover, ...

Heng Chheang, the jailed ex-deputy general director of senator Kok An’s Anco Brothers Co, may have been improperly convicted of embezzling more than US$58 million from the tycoon, according to a letter sent to the Supreme Court from the Ministry of Economy and Finance last ...

Despite so much excitement in the run-up to the inception of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, experts and activists on human rights and democracy are ambivalent about what AEC’s repercussions will be on human rights and democracy. They have expressed concerns about AEC’s negative ...

Taiwan Cooperative Bank, the banking arm under Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding Co. Ltd., received the green light from Cambodia’s central bank to open a branch in the capital city of Phnom Penh, the bank said Saturday. Cambodia, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ...

With cargo traffic at the Phnom Penh Autonomus Port growing rapidly, a nearly completed container terminal just south of the city on the Mekon River should help ease the congestion. The 30-hectare port, in Kandal province’s Kein Svay district, was completed late last month, though cranes ...

British American Tobacco (Cambodia) Co. (BAT), which produces the cigarette brand ARA, suspended operations at its re-drying plant in Kandal province’s Takhmao commune yesterday, in order to allow time to redesign its air filtration system following repeated complaints about fumes that were allegedly spewing from ...

Acleda Bank has signed a $US10 million loan agreement   with Proparco, a development finance institution held in part by the Agence Francaise de Développement (AFD), according to a statement released on Wednesday. With the Kingdom’s financial sector expanding rapidly and a growing demand for banking and ...

About 600 garment workers of the Top Form factory in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district continued protesting yesterday against new income tax deductions from their pay outside the factory after police blocked them from marching on National Road 5. Workers have been protesting since Friday against ...

Cambodia’s tourism ministry and United Arab Emirates officials have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen tourism to the Kingdom, officials said during a press conference at Phnom Penh’s international airport. Tourism Minister Thong Khon said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) would provide more opportunities for ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday questioned three Borei Keila residents about a complaint they filed six month ago against the property development firm Phanimex from evicting them from their land. In March, a group of Borei Keila residents filed their complaint against Phanimex’s owner ...

One of Cambodia’s primary telecommunications companies, Cellcard, announced yesterday that longtime Chief Operating Officer Kay Lot has resigned. The departure of Kay Lot follows the departure of CEO David Spriggs who resigned his position about two months ago. Telecommunications industry insiders say the otherwise healthy and profitable ...

About 300 workers entered their sixth day of strikes yesterday at a bra factory in the capital, which manufactures lingerie supplied to Victoria’s Secret and Valentino, but their hopes of a quick resolution were dashed when a Ministry of Social Affairs official admitted he was ...

The rumour mill has been in overdrive regarding the arrest of The Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg; however, various government officials yesterday shunned the conspiracy theories. Tom Abrahamsson, head of administrative and consular matters at the Swedish Embassy in Phnom Penh, refuted speculation that Svartholm ...

The largest hydropower station on Lancang River in southwest China’s Yunnan Province — known as the Mekong River in southeast Asia — went into operation Thursday with its first power generating unit up and running. The Nuozhadu hydroelectric station, located in the city of Pu’er, is ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the Asia-Pacific region’s trade with Europe via Russia will surge by at least five-fold by 2020 as traditional sea routes become less competitive. His remarks came in a commentary published by the Wall Street Journal ahead of a summit of leaders ...

Economists and agriculture officials say Cambodia could export 1 million tons of milled rice by 2015, but that depends on improvements in the sector, along with some global factors out of the control of the country’s farmers and millers. Prime Minister Hun Sen has set the ...

ADB (Asian development bank) pledged to offer $55 million loan for infrastructure restoration from flood damage last year in Cambodia. At the same time, AusAid also offered 5.25 million US dollars, and the Cambodian government will spend 6.39 million US dollars for the whole infrastructure ...

Natural rubber (NR) production in Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) this year is set to rise by 4.9% to 10.83 million tonnes from 10.33 million tonnes in 2011 The members of ANRPC are Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, China, Papua New Guinea, the ...