Trade
Exports
Philippine, Cambodian rice deal still on hold
Four months after the Philippines and Cambodia signed an agreement to increase rice trade, the plan is stuck in limbo. Philippine Ambassador to Cambodia Noe Wong and Cambodian Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh signed a deal in April for the Philippines National Food Authority to import ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/philippine-cambodian-rice-deal-still-hold
UK Sugar Firm Investigating Child Labor Claims
U.K. sugar firm Tate & Lyle on Wednesday said it was looking into recent allegations of child labor on two plantations in Koh Kong province it has been buying sugar from since 2010, but rebuked NGOs for not bringing the claims to its attention sooner. The ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/uk-sugar-firm-investigating-child-labor-claims-36637/
Cambodia predicts 7.6 percent GDP growth in 2013
Cambodia’s economy would grow by 7.6 percent this year, driven by garment exports, agriculture, tourism and construction, according to a preliminary prediction by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Wednesday. The ministry said that the GDP volume would be around 15.19 billion U.S. dollars and ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-07/24/c_132570724.htm
Timing of stats questioned
For the first time in recent memory, the Ministry of Economy and Finance has released growth projections for the first half of the year, and the numbers are good. The ministry’s preliminary data claims that from January through June, economic growth stood at 7.6 per ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/timing-stats-questioned
Bamboo crafts furnish an income
Prior to 2009, Kong Channa, a rice farmer from Svay Rieng province, would leave his wife and young child for months at a time in neighbouring provinces to supplement his income in the off season. This all changed, though, when he began working with the Cambodian ...
Cambodia's rubber exports up 29 pct in 5 months
Cambodia reported a 29 percent rise in dry rubber exports in the first five months of 2013, but revenues from the exports rose only 4 percent due to price decline in international markets. Currently, the country has about 300,000 hectares of rubber trees, according to ...
http://www.asean-china-center.org/english/2013-07/19/c_132556398.htm#
Ethical Sugar Group Suspends Tate & Lyle Over Plantations
An international group that promotes the ethical sourcing of sugar for the food and energy industries has suspended the membership of U.K. sugar giant Tate & Lyle for failing to answer complaints that it was buying from Cambodian plantations accused of stealing land from local ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ethical-sugar-group-suspends-tate-lyle-over-plantations-35438/
Kingdom’s crafts can be hit in Korea
Cambodian handicrafts and home decor products could take off with South Korean buyers if certain obstacles – conceptual design, development techniques, and slow delivery services – are overcome, business owners and merchants said yesterday. Speaking at a seminar on Korean Market Access for Cambodia’s textiles at ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/kingdom%E2%80%99s-crafts-can-be-hit-korea
Cambodia's trade with S. Korea up 12% in 5 months
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and South Korea has reached 329 million U.S. dollars in the first five months of this year, up 12 percent over the same period last year, showed the latest figures from the Korea Trade- Investment Promotion Agency to Phnom Penh on ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-07/17/c_132549530.htm
UK Lawsuit Against Sugar Firm Heading to Trial
A lawsuit filed by families in Koh Kong province accusing U.K. sugar giant Tate & Lyle of wrongfully profiting off land stolen from them is heading to trial after efforts to mediate a settlement fell through earlier this month, according to those involved. Law firm Jones ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/uk-lawsuit-against-sugar-firm-heading-to-trial-35233/
GI benefits yet to be fully realised
While Kampot pepper and Kampong Speu palm sugar carry the brand-building Geographical Indication (GI) status, newcomers seeking the same tag continue to wait for funding to get their products off the ground. In 2010, Kampot pepper and Kampong Speu palm sugar were the first Cambodian goods ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/gi-benefits-yet-be-fully-realised
Asian garment industry to undergo further segmentation
The Asian garment manufacturing industry will undergo further segmentation in the next three to four years as competition becomes more intense, experts said. China, Thailand and Vietnam will mainly produce high-end clothing, while Bangladesh, Laos, Burma and Cambodia will mainly produce low-end clothing. Lu Qijian, ...
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2013-07/15/content_16778408.htm
Real Wages in Garment Sector Fell Over 10 Years
Wages for Cambodian garment workers decreased by more than 20 percent in real terms between 2001 and 2011 despite the industry’s exponential increase in exports, which in 2012 were valued at more than $4 billion, according to a recent report by a U.S.-based workers advocacy ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/wages-in-garment-sector-fell-22-over-10-years-34788/
FAO sees slight decline in Cambodian rice harvest this year
Cambodia’s rice harvest is forecast to reach 9.1 million tonnes this year, down from an estimated 9.3 million tonnes last year but up from 8.8 million tonnes in 2011, the Food and Agricultural Organization said Thursday. The estimates were contained in the UN agency’s quarterly Crop ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=MDBmNGIwNDFiZWY
Sales of palm sugar not so sweet
Sales of Cambodia’s World Trade Organization-certified palm sugar from Kampong Speu province dipped to 12 tonnes at the end of the harvest season this year, about a 30 per cent decline from 2012. Two districts with palm trees in Kampong Speu province were granted geographical indication ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/sales-palm-sugar-not-so-sweet
Cargo Traffic Grows at Sihanoukville Port
The total weight of goods transported through the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port in the first six months of the year was up 15 percent compared with the same period last year, according to figures released Thursday. Some 1.51 million tons of goods passed through the port in ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/cargo-traffic%E2%80%88grows-at-sihanoukville-port-34628/
Cambodia records 1.32 bln USD trade deficit in H1
Cambodia saw a trade deficit of 1.32 billion U.S. dollars in the first six months of this year, according to a Commerce Ministry’s report on Thursday. The country’s total imports and exports were valued at 7.62 billion U.S. dollars during the period, up 20 percent from ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-07/11/c_132533088.htm
Cambodia's rice exports up 125 pct in first half of 2013
Cambodia has seen a sharp rise in the exports of milled rice in the first six months of this year thanks to increasing demand on international markets, an official said Wednesday. The figures, from the single window secretariat for facilitating milled rice exports, showed that the ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-07/10/c_132529640.htm
Myanmar rice is back
While exports of Cambodian rice have been booming, analysts are predicting that new competition from Myanmar could eventually rain on the parade. Cambodia exported nearly 176,000 tonnes of rice in the first six months of the year, a 125 per cent increase from the same period ...
Garment Exports Booming Despite Concerns
Despite criticisms over safety, outbreaks of sometimes violent industrial action and a raise in the minimum wage that it was warned would scare off manufacturers, Cambodia’s garment sector is booming, according to government figures. A report on state newswire Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP) on Friday said ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/garment-exports-booming-despite-concerns-34035/
Phnom Penh Port Trade Volume Increases by 29%
The number of shipping containers that passed through the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port increased by 29 percent during the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2012, according to figures released yesterday. The port received 50,157 standard containers between January and ...
Goods traffic through Phnom Penh port up 29 pct
Cargo shipments moving in and out of the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP) increased 29 per cent in the first six months of this year when compared to the same period in 2012, according to official data. The figures show that imported and exported goods amounted ...
Cambodia Falls Short as Garment-Industry Model
This small Southeast Asian country was supposed to become a model for the world apparel industry, with tough factory monitoring and strong worker protections. But a dozen years after the United Nations’ International Labour Organization launched a program to manage Cambodia’s booming garment trade—the first of ...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324423904578521240151597504.html
China currency deals surge
As trade activity between Cambodia and China intensifies, banks are seeing an increase in deals transacted in yuan, the Chinese currency. Operating in Cambodia since 2010, Bank of China’s Phnom Penh Branch has been trying to promote business transactions in yuan, and has seen a significant ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070866712/Business/china-currency-deals-surge.html