Trade
Exports
National products chase GI recognition
A lack of funds would prevent Cambodia registering some of the country’s specialty products as geographic indications (GI), a form of international recognition that has boosted the sales of other domestic products such as Kampong Speu palm sugar. The government would like to see Siem Reap ...
Cambodia’s trade with Hong Kong jumps 22%
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and Hong Kong rose more than 22 per cent year-on-year in 2011, according to data from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, whose regional base is in Hanoi. Total trade was US$741 million, compared with $607 million in 2010. Cambodia’s exports to Hong ...
Kingdom's first gem-testing lab opens
London-based checker of rare gems and jewellery Intertek has established a laboratory in Cambodia to help regulate and provide guidelines for the gem trade. Officially opening today, it is the Kingdom’s first gem laboratory. Intertek director in Cambodia Khut Sothy said the country had been ...
UN labour agency troubled by Cambodia's failure to arrest gunman
The United Nations‘ labour agency said Tuesday international buyers were “extremely concerned” at Cambodia‘s failure to arrest the suspect in last month‘s shootings of three garment workers at a subcontractor for German sportswear firm PUMA SE. Jill Tucker, technical advisor to the International Labour Organization, said ...
Whereabouts of Bavet governor still a mystery
Government and police officials were at a loss yesterday to pinpoint the whereabouts of the Bavet town governor, who has been identified as a suspect in the shooting of three women at a protest two weeks ago. An arrest warrant had still not been issued for ...
Kampot dredging escalates
Dredging in Kampot has escalated in the face of community concerns, with more boats now mining sand right in front of the provincial capital and dumping vast amounts of it directly outside the provincial land management authority. The Post counted a total of 17 boats ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012030554851/National-news/kampot-dredging-only-grows.html
Chea Mony sued over strike
Kampong Chhnang Provincial Court has summonsed Free Trade Union president Chea Mony and two of his officers to answer incitement charges at the court tomorrow relating to his alleged involvement in a mass strike at a garment factory last year, officials said yesterday. M&V garment factory ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012030554857/National-news/chea-mony-sued-over-strike.html
Police Arrest TTY Manager Over Shooting
Kratie provincial police have arrested the general manager of TTY rubber company, and he is now facing charges for his role in a Jan. 18 shooting of four villagers by the company’s armed guards, police and court officials said yesterday. Authorities arrested two TTY guards ...
Corn sales fall, profits sought in cassava
Revenues from Cambodian corn exports fell by 52 per cent last year as farmers scrapped the crop for the more lucrative, but less stable, cassava plant. The Kingdom exported 35,381 tonnes of corn, worth US$2.2 million, in 2011, down from 86,533 tonnes worth $4.57 million the ...
Photo Said to Show SEZ Shooter With Police
A week and a half after a uniformed man opened fire on three female protesters at a special economic zone in Svay Rieng province, a photograph surfaced in a local newspaper on Friday showing the alleged gunman brandishing a pistol and surrounded by police and ...
Certification Quandry Stunts Sugar Exports
In April 2010, Kampot Pepper and Kompong Speu palm sugar both gained a geographical indication (GI) from the Ministry of Commerce that recognized their unique qualities and protected their name. But while Kampot pepper producers export almost all of their 17-ton annual production at high ...
Truck Accident Leaves 1 Garment Worker Dead, 30 Badly Injured
One garment worker was killed and 30 others seriously injured on Wednesday when the truck in which they were travelling crashed in Kandal province’s Ang Snuol district, a police official said yesterday. Free Trade Union (FTU) President Chea Mony said all 58 women were workers ...
Report Notes Major Increase in Migrant Workers Abused
The number of migrant workers abused by their foreign employers abroad more than doubled in 2011, rights group Adhoc announced yesterday before calling on the government to improve its efforts to protect both migrant and repatriated workers. “It’s a dangerous sign,” said Adhoc president Thun Saray ...
Governor Arrested as Shooting Suspect
The governor of a city in southeastern Cambodia was arrested Friday in connection with a shooting that left three workers hospitalized as they took part in protests for better labor conditions at a sportswear factory that supplies goods to German sportswear giant PUMA. Moeun Tola, head ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/shooting-03022012172935.html
Gov't Opens Rivers to Sand Dredging
Nine companies have put in bids for the rights to dredge the lengths of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers and sell the sand for export, Water Resources Ministry officials said yesterday, noting that the dredging would be beneficial in terms of deepening the waterways. ...
NGOs Urge Cambodia, Malaysia to Agree on Maid Protection
More than 60 Cambodian and international human rights groups and trade unions yesterday called on Cambodia and Malaysia to reach a bilateral agreement that would guarantee strong labor rights and working conditions for Cambodian maids employed in Malaysia. “The time is ripe for the Cambodian ...
IMF says Cambodian economy to grow 6.5 per cent, but warns of risks
Cambodia’s economy is expected to grow 6.5 per cent in 2012, up from 5.75 per cent last year, the International Monetary Fund said in its annual review, adding that government policies to boost the investment climate were paying off. However, in its assessment, which was released ...
Protesting Garment Workers to Resume Work
After four days of protests, which at times grew violent, striking garment workers at the Manhattan Qing Dao Textile Corp in Kompong Cham province said they would be resuming work Monday after reaching a tentative agreement with the company. On Thursday, more than 1000 workers ...
Fishermen back in Kingdom
Eight fishermen who escaped after more than a year of forced labour aboard a Thai fishing boat recounted tales of abuse and miserable working conditions upon their repatriation to the Kingdom yesterday. The men said that brokers had promised them salaried jobs in Thai factories, but ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012022454703/National-news/fishermen-back-in-kingdom.html
Cambodia looks to banking and agriculture to spur growth
Garment-making has been a mainstay of Cambodia’s fledgling economy, chalking up between 6 and 7 percent annually for the past four years. But, the country is turning its focus back to the land in the hope that rice growing and other farming produce, will lift growth ...
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/economicnews/view/1184944/1/.html
Fear, rumours in wake of shooting
Speculation is bubbling in Bavet town over the identity of the man who shot three people protesting outside a shoe factory on Monday, with eyewitnesses, police and villagers suggesting blame lies with town officials. The shooting, which took place outside the Kaoway Sports Ltd factory ...
Workers Protest at Factory Linked to Manhattan SEZ
More than 3,000 factory workers protested yesterday at the Manhattan Quing Dao Textiles Corp in Kompong Cham Province’s Kompong Siem District to demand that the factory owner abide by an Arbitration Council Ruling issued in late 2010, a union representative said yesterday. The factory web site ...
Exports to Korea Climb 100%
Cambodia’s exports to South Korea rose by more than 100 per cent last year, according to officials at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). Agricultural and garment exports largely accounted for the surge. KOTRA data shows total exports were worth US$87.3 million in 2011, compared ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012020854369/Business/exports-to-korea-climb-100.html
Thais ask Cambodia to curb cassava exports
Thai cassava farmers have asked Cambodia to stop exporting the commodity into Thailand in an attempt to keep prices high and avoid saturating the market, officials said yesterday. Sao Sarat, Pailin provincial cabinet chief, said that Thai government officials representing local cassava farmers met with Pailin ...