Economy and commerce
Trade
World Bank Says Credit Growth Still a Risk
The World Bank has warned that the rapid growth of lending by Cambodia’s Banks is still a concern, despite a recent slow-down in credit disbursals. “Credit growth, which has been driven largely by wholesale and retail financing, and starting in 2011 agriculture financing, has eased to ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/world-bank-says-credit-growth-still-a-risk-20690/
New Kampot Salt Farm Has Big Ambitions
TOEK CHHOU DISTRICT, Kampot province – A donor-backed project launched here on Saturday aims to produce Cambodia’s first export-quality sea salt and invigorate the struggling local salt industry. In a ceremony among Kampot’s vast fields of coastal saltpans and low levees, company representatives from Asia Salt ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/new-kampot-salt-farm-has-big-ambitions-20505/
Mobile Firms Agree to Stop Price Dumping
Cambodia’s nine mobile phone operators on Friday agreed to refrain from engaging in unfair competition by offering generous top-up bonuses aimed at increasing their market share, officials said. Mao Chakrya, director of the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC), said that all of the country’s operators agreed ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/mobile-firms-agree-to-stop-price-dumping-20689/
Kingdom spending $3m to boost rubber quality
A $3 million initiative to purify the quality of rubber trees planted across the country is intended to spur farmers to plant more rubber, a government official said. Ly Phalla, director general of the General Directorate of Rubber at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042965285/Business/kingdom-spending-3m-to-boost-rubber-quality.html
Cambodia’s Crude Oil Imports Fall 12 pct in Q-1
Cambodia imported 412,190 tons of Crude Oil in Q-1 of Y 2013, a 12% fall compared with the 471,000 tons it imported at the same period last year, the Commerce ministry’s report showed Saturday. During the January-March period this year, the country spent US$ 397-M to ...
Cambodia's garment exports up 17 pct in Q1
Cambodia exported garment and textile products in equivalent to 1.34 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2013, up 17 percent from 1.14 billion U.S. dollars at the same period last year, the Commerce Ministry’s report showed Friday. Garment industry is the country’s ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-04/26/c_132342123.htm
Rubber draft law addresses regulatory holes
The government is drafting a rubber law to regulate the sector in response to the rapid growth of rubber plantations across the country, an official said. Ly Phalla, director general of the General Directorate of Rubber at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said officials ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042665257/Business/rubber-draft-law-addresses-regulatory-holes.html
Farmers Suffer From Illegal Pig Imports
Small pig farmers are struggling to stay in business as illegal imports of pigs from neighbouring countries rise, squeezing them out of the market, industry insiders say. Srun Peu, deputy director of the Cambodia Pig Farmers Association, an organisation with 4,000 members, said the increase in ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042565222/Business/farmers-suffer-from-illegal-pig-imports.html
Cambodia’s first dairy plant
Cambodia’s first dairy factory is being planned for Phnom Penh, as one of the owners, a Vietnam-based dairy company, hopes to tap strong local demand for its products. The 2.7-hectare factory, in the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (PPSEZ), would produce condensed milk, yoghurt and UHT ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042565223/Business/cambodia-s-first-dairy-plant.html
Kingdom’s rubber exports rise, but prices stay flat
Rubber exports from Cambodia were up over 17 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, but the revenue from rubber stayed steady as prices decline worldwide, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. The data showed that in the first quarter of this year, ...
Export Values Up 21 Per Cent
Cambodian export values increased more than 21 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, and officials said the rise was a positive sign for the Kingdom’s economic growth. According to the Ministry of Commerce’s export data ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042465194/Business/export-values-up-21-per-cent.html
Sihanoukville port volume increases 15 per cent
The volume of cargo passing through the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (SAP) rose 15 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared with the corresponding period last year. Experts say milled-rice exports and fuel imports contributed to the boost in activity. From January to March, ...
Thais remove cassava and maize import restrictions
In order to boost the Kingdom’s trade performance and improve the quality of lives of farmers along the Thai-Cambodia border, Thailand has agreed to remove import restrictions on Cambodian cassava and maize. Speaking to reporters after the forth meeting of the Joint Trade Committee between Cambodia ...
Thai-Cambodian trade along Surin looks set to prosper further
The commerce affairs office in northeastern Surin has reported robust trade along the Thai-Cambodian border despite unresolved Phra Viharn [Preah Vihear] temple dispute. Mr. Sitthiporn Bangkeaw from the Office of Commerce Affairs Surin revealed that even though the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s public hearings in ...
http://thainews.prd.go.th/centerweb/newsen/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNECO5604220010001
US embassy to hold investment webinar
The US embassy in Phnom Penh intends to hold a webinar on doing business in Cambodia, providing information on the benefits and challenges of working in the country for US firms. “This is the first webinar that will focus on investment opportunities and an overview of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042265136/Business/us-embassy-to-hold-investment-webinar.html
Adhoc Investigator Under Investigation for Inciting Protest
Officials in Ratanakkiri province are investigating the provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc for incitement after he helped villagers organize a demonstration, ultimately canceled, against a Vietnamese rubber company in O’Yadaw district. Mr. [Chhay] Thy, [Adhoc’s Provincial Investigator] said yesterday that he met with about ...
Cambodian Garment Exports likely to Grow in 2013: GMAC
Cambodian garment exports are expected to grow in 2013 with the increasing foreign investments along with focus on new market including Japan and China, according to the Garment Manufactures Association of Cambodia (GMAC). In 2012, apparel exports of Cambodia grew nine percent to US$ 4.61 ...
Stronger ties with Cambodia sought ahead of rice-trading zone
Thailand will forge closer ties with Cambodia and other neighbouring countries to increase competency in rice trading and boost the bargaining power of Asean countries by setting up a rice-trading zone soon. Also, Thailand will expand crop cooperation to cassava to raise farm incomes in the ...
Bank of China to raise business operations in Cambodia: deputy-governor
The Bank of China is going to expand its business operations in Cambodia after it was launched here two years ago and seen rapid business growth, Zhu Shuming, visiting deputy governor of Bank of China, said Friday. Speaking at a meeting with Chea Chanto, governor of ...
Cambodia growth to continue, but development faces shortfalls
Despite steady economic growth in recent years, Cambodia remains one of the least-developed countries in the Asia-Pacific region and faces the challenge of diversifying its economy and moving up the production value chain, the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) ...
Lauren Crothers, P. 20
http://The Cambodia Daily
Salt Harvest Below Forecast
The Kep-Kompot Salt Producers Community says salt production fell nearly 50 per cent below forecasts because of early rainfall, which is assumed to end salt harvesting for the year. Prime Minister Hun Sen, however, has stepped in to ensure that price remains stable. Hun Sen ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013041965112/Business/salt-harvest-below-forecast.html
Cambodia's bourse sees slow progress in 1st year of operations
The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) has seen slow progress in its first year of operations because there has been only one listed firm and public knowledge about the stock market remains low, officials said Thursday. The CSX was officially launched trading on April 18 last year ...
Nguon Sovan
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-04/18/c_132320982.htm
IMF Says Cambodia’s Economic ‘Takeoff’ Not Yet Sustainable
Government action will be needed to ensure that nearly two decades of impressive economic growth continues in Cambodia, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report published Wednesday. In its 2013 World Economic Outlook, the IMF put Cambodia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2012 ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/imf-says-cambodias-economic-takeoff-not-yet-sustainable-18880/
Pepper Crop in Kompong Cham Hit by Hot Weather
As this year’s pepper harvest gets under way, farmers in Kompong Cham province are expecting lower yields due to severe hot weather in recent months. Yin Sopha, executive director of the Dar Memot Development Agriculture Pepper Cooperative, said the hot weather and lack of rain ...