Economy and commerce

Chinese President Hu Jintao asked close economically Cambodia on Saturday not to push talks on the vexed issue of the South China Sea “too fast” as he pledged to double bilateral trade to $5 billion and announced fresh aid to the impoverished country. Cambodia holds the ...

The Svay Rieng Provincial Court yesterday questioned two of the three female garment factory workers who were shot during a protest at a special economic zone (SEZ) in Bavet City in February, the provincial prosecutor said yesterday. Keo Nea, 18; Bun Chenda, 21; and Nuth Sokhorn, ...

Cambodia is close to a deal that would ship as much as 20,000 tonnes of milled rice to Indonesia, according to sources familiar with the matter. Thon Virak, director of state-owned rice exporter Green Trade and chairman of Federation of Milled Rice Exporters Association, said Green ...

Government officials did not, and Lao students could not, attend yesterday’s Asean Peoples’ Forum in Phnom Penh, where more than 1,500 members of civil society groups discussed the region’s most pressing issues, including human rights, poverty, land usurping and domestic violence. The three-day forum, which is not ...

In an effort to stop their homes from being swallowed up by a Chinese mega-tourism project, Koh Kong villagers said they will submit a petition to the Chinese Embassy today, calling for intervention from visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao. Villager representative Tith Ten, 54, from Kiri ...

The Kompong Chhnang Provincial Court yesterday once again declined to receive a joint complaint from villagers in Kompong Tralach district embroiled in a land dispute with the wife of Industry Minister Suy Sem. Chhuon Siven, provincial clerk director, said that the court could not take the ...

The National Bank of Cambodia this week signed a Memorandum of Under-standing with the State Bank of Vietnam that would allow for the exchange of information to fight money laundering and terrorism financing. The MoU, signed by NBC Governor Chea Chanto and SBV Governor Nguyen Van ...

Myanmar’s moves toward economic and political reform would not subtract from Cambodia’s regular stream of foreign investment, experts and insiders said – at least not in the short run. Word of an investor-friendly Myanmar has spread quickly with the US’s partial waiver on trade sanctions in ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has appealed for military cooperation between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a source said. Hun Sen was quoted as saying that regional military cooperation was needed as ASEAN countries would soon become one family. ...

President Hu Jintao today becomes the first Chinese head of state to visit Cambodia in 12 years, in a trip days before Southeast Asian leaders gather for talks that may touch on territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Hu’s visit, which lasts until April 2, ...

A shortage of workers, particularly those with skills, is the biggest threat to economic growth in Cambodia today, Sok Chenda, secretary general of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), said yesterday. Speaking at the Greater Mekong Subregion Investment Policy Forum organized by the Organization ...

Hyatt Hotels Co will open its first hotel in Cambodia next year by rebranding the well-known five-star boutique resort Hotel de la Paix, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. As part of the agreement, KS Hotels and Resorts, a Thai-based firm, will retain full ...

Beer promoters are hoping a new documentary chronicling the conditions they face in the workplace will pressure beer companies to increase their wages and reduce harassment from customers. The documentary, launched yesterday at a meeting with members of the Cambodian Food and Service Workers Federation (CFSWF), ...

Cambodian tycoon Ly Yong Phat has signed a US$3 billion joint-venture agreement with Thai energy firm Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Plc on what would be the Kingdom’s largest power station. Just under 90 per cent of the power, however, would be sold to Thailand. The 1,800 megawatt ...

The Phnom Penh municipal police chief yesterday denied claims his officers had beaten three female garment factory workers with batons and shields during a protest in which a 21-year-old’s nose was allegedly broken on Tuesday. Police chief Touch Naruth called the Post yesterday claiming no weapons ...

The Supreme Court has requested that the owner of Phnom Penh’s shuttered Renakse Hotel deposit $200,000 with the court as proof that it is able to pay compensation to the hotel’s former manager, a lawyer said yesterday. In 2008, the ruling CPP sold the French colonial-era ...

Protecting human rights, especially those of Cambodian migrant workers traversing borders to countries such as Malaysia, dominated discussions at yesterday’s ASEAN Peoples’ Forum, one of two competing pre-summit forums that claim to be giving a voice to Cambodians. Speaking at yesterday’s forum, Seng Sakda, director-general ...

Diamond Island Development Co Ltd, owned by Canadia Bank, yesterday bought a 15 per cent stake in Investment and Development Company of Cambodia (IDCC)’s Cambodia-Vietnam Insurance Plc. The companies declined to give the value of the stake. Ngay Mengly, sales officer at Cambodia-Vietnam Insurance Plc, said ...

The three young women wounded in last month’s factory shooting in Svay Rieng province will meet with provincial prosecutor Hing Bunchea today to give their account of the February 20 incident that has yet to produce an arrest warrant. Bun Chinda, 21, Nuth Sokhorn, 23, and ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), one of the two major financiers of the rehabilitation of Cambodia’s railways, yesterday rejected criticism that they were providing insufficient resettlement packages to residents displaced by the project. On Friday, the ADB released a cost study that showed that the compensation ...

In addition to security and public order initiatives in the lead-up to next week’s Asean Summit, Phnom Penh authorities said yesterday they would be redoubling their “clean city” efforts. “We’re keeping security and order, and we asked Cintri [waste disposal company] to double the numbers of ...

ASEAN finance officials and the heads of regional central banks yesterday homed in on the possibility of economic crisis as well as potential means of averting contagion in fledgling Southeast Asian economies. The officials have also agreed “in principle” to doubling a regional currency fund to ...

The government is finalizing a draft law that will aim to prevent importers from price dumping and protect local producers by allowing authorities to raise tariffs on goods, according to a copy of the draft law. In the past, local producers have been negatively affected by ...

Green Trade, a state-owned, milled-rice exporter, had not been updated on a government-to-government rice deal with the Philippines despite recent media reports that claimed a deal was near. ...