Economy and commerce
Land-grabbing letter hits nerve
The government yesterday lashed out at a letter sent by opposition lawmakers to the World Bank that urged the bank to increase pressure on the government to end forced evictions, land grabbing and threats against community members involved in land disputes with well-connected companies. Council ...
Farmers respond to lobster price hikes
As prices continue to climb for freshwater lobster, farming of the crustacean in Cambodia is increasing. A kilogram of top-quality lobster sells for about US$30, up from $10 in 2005, according to lobster farmers. The government is seeking to foster new growth in Cambodia’s wild ...
Port will transfer bulk of capacity to Kandal
The Phnom Penh Autonomous Port will transfer 75 per cent of its loading capacity to a new location at Kandal to better handle the increased shipments passing through the capital, according to PPAP officials. The PPAP had received US$68 mill-ion in financing from the Chinese ...
Big brands talk labour rights
The biggest names in the apparel industry, including Nike, Puma and Gap, would meet today with officials from the Ministry of Labour to discuss issues plaguing the Cambodian garment manufacturing industry, such as mass fainting and contractual disputes, labour activists said yesterday. Dave Welsh, country ...
Rail project in ADB sights
The Asian Development Bank said yesterday problems with a railway rehabilitation project – funded by the bank and AusAID – identified by a local NGO that was suspended by the government last month “may require further investigation or analysis”. In July, STT released a report ...
China's investment in Cambodia reaches 8.8 bln USD
PHNOM PENH– Cambodia has received 8.8 billion U.S. dollars of investments from China from 1994 to July 2011, making China the leading country in the investments in the country, according to the reports from the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) on Tuesday. The ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-09/06/c_131104903.htm
Land rights acrimony in AusAID Asian project
A TAXPAYER-FUNDED development project is mired in controversy after the Cambodian government launched a crackdown against land rights organisations critical of the compulsory resettlement of families. The Cambodian government has cautioned a small group of foreign organisations against stirring up unrest among those being forced off ...
US Fortune 500 Firms Wrap Up Cambodia Visit
A US-Asean Business Council delegation representing 11 fortune 500 companies concluded a two-day visit to Phnom Penh on Saturday, the council said in a statement. With Cambodia scheduled to take the chairmanship of Asean next year, members from US companies such as Chevron, GE, Abbot, ...
Land Grabs Mar Cambodia’s Investment Boom
The evictions and so-called “land grabs” have angered aid donors, putting at stake hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid as well as a trade scheme that gives Cambodian produce tariff-free access to the EU. International donors and lenders such as the World Bank ...
US firms eye new markets in the Kingdom
VISA, Mastercard, Dell and Cisco Systems have been added to a growing list of US companies looking to enter the Cambodian market, according to Frances Zwenig, counsellor of the US-ASEAN Business Council. The financial services and information technology companies joined GE, Chevron, Johnson & Johnson ...
ADB and World Bank Help Upgrade External Audit
ADB and World Bank have organized the training Audit workshop on the theme: “Strengthening quality of external audits of ADB and World Bank Funded Projects,” at Phnom Penh Hotel on 29 August 2011 aiming at increasing the auditors’ capacity to establish a good reporting statement ...
Most U.S. Firms Plan to Expand Business in SE Asia: Amcham
Eighty-five percent of U.S. companies in Southeast Asia plan to expand their business as the region will become more important in the next two years, the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Singapore said on Monday. “ASEAN continues to grow in importance for businesses in the ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/05/us-firms-asia-idUSTRE78411L20110905
Laos Urges Cambodian Businesspeople to Invest More
President of Laos National Assembly, Her Excellency Pany Yathotou, on September 1st arrived here for the four-day official visit in order to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the neighboring countries “Both sides will exchange visits of the officials and lawmakers of National Assemblies to strengthen bonds and ...
Cambodia's special economic zones waiting for foreign investments
PHNOM PENH — Eight out of Cambodia’s 19 special economic zones (SEZ) are being operational across the country, while the rest are still waiting for both local and foreign investors, the data from Council for Development of Cambodia (CDC) showed on Saturday. The statistics showed that ...
http://www.asean-china-center.org/english/2011-09/05/c_131100346.htm
Cambodia, South Korea Ties
Cambodia-Korea Alumni Association (CAMKAA) in cooperation with The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Cambodia Office launched the 3rd Seminar on the “Exchange Experiences of the Cambodia Korea Alumni Association” on August 26th to observe the mutual cooperation between Cambodia-South Korea. Mr. Seng Setha, President of CAMKAA, ...
Cambodia, Thailand Will Likely Resume Talks on Offshore Oil and Gas
Cambodia’s and Thailand’s governments will likely resume negotiations on offshore drilling for oil and gas which will bring mutual benefits of the area of overlapping maritime claims after Cambodia gave the green light for issues before the visit of new Thai foreign minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul ...
Rice Scheme Will Hurt Thais and Help Vietnam
Thailand–Consumers face prospect of high prices, low quality rice from Burma, Cambodia: TDRI. While consumers and taxpayers will suffer from the government’s controversial rice policy, Vietnam will substantially gain, the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) has warned. Ammar Siamwalla, a prominent economist, yesterday asked the ...
Gov’t to Watch Shipments From Bird Flu-Hit Countries
Manila–Incoming bird and poultry shipments from countries affected by the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) will be seized and destroyed given concerns of a resurgence, the government said. The Agriculture department last Friday announce heightened surveillance at all ports of entry as well as the ...
Moody’s Downgrades Acleda, Cites Risk
Ratings agency Moody’s changed its outlook on Acleda Bank’s financial strength yesterday to “negative” from “stable” and downgraded its rating of the bank’s local currency deposits to Ba2 from Ba1. The rating downgrade was applied due to changes in shareholders at the bank over the ...
Nine Companies Barred From State Projects for Not Paying Tax
The Ministry of Finanace in August barred nine local companies from working on government infrastructure projects for allegedly failing to pay tax owed on several projects funded by foreign money, government and company officials said yesterday. The move by Finance Minister Keat Chhon to freeze ...
World Bank Influence Curbed by ‘New’ Donors
The World Bank is losing influence in Cambodia to “emerging donors” and making no major headway in stemming corruption, the Bank’s Independent Evaluation Groups said in a report released Wednesday. Specifically focused on the World Bank;s 2007 anti-corruption initiative through 2010, the report uses six ...
Exports to be unaffected by debt crisis
As Cambodian exports continue to grow, commerce officials predict sovereign debt crises in the United States and Europe will not threaten the sector. Total exports surged by more than 46 per cent to US$2.677 billion in the first seven months of the year, compared to ...
Major bank downgrade
Moody’s Investors Service announced yesterday it had downgraded the credit rating of ACLEDA Bank, citing the departure of two of the bank’s major investors in as many years. The loss of a second big sharehol-der in the first half of this year had led to ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011090251414/Business/major-bank-downgrade.html
England Promises to Invest US$ 2.22 Billion in Cambodia
England promised to invest in Cambodian around US$ 2.22 billion make total investment projects in country during 7 month of the year increased up to US$ 5.5 billion, Council for Development of Cambodia (CDC)’s reported to the media. According to the report, in the first ...