Infrastructure
Cambodia Posts 29 pct Rise In Large-Scale Factories Last Year
The number of large-scale factories in Cambodia has increased by 29 percent to 907 in 2012, Minister of Industry, Mine and Energy Suy Sen said Thursday. Those large-scale enterprises employed 559,600 employees last year, a 38 percent increase from 403,560 a year earlier, he said ...
http://www.asean-china-center.org/english/2013-03/28/c_132269109.htm
Blackouts tell tale of two cities
It is barely dawn in the quiet suburb of Phnom Penh Thmey, but already the silence has been pierced by the cacophony of generators. On some streets, nearly every household has one of the machines burning through diesel in a bid to fill their basic electricity ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032764725/National/blackouts-tell-tale-of-two-cities.html
Cambodian PM to visit China to advance bilateral ties
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday that he will pay an official visit to China early next month to meet with new Chinese leaders for talks on further enhancing bilateral relations. “I hope that new Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-03/25/c_132260956.htm
Hun Sen Seeks Chinese Help for Bridge Project
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday urged China to come up with enough funding for Cambodia to build a 3.5km bridge across the Tonle Sap and connect National Road 6 in Kampong Thom with Kampong Chhang province. Speaking at a ground-breaking ceremony for a $20 million Chinese ...
British Man Faces Lengthy Jail Term After Phnom Penh Arrest
The British chairman of a Biofuel firm is facing up to 15 years in jail after he was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) in Phnom Penh on Saturday and charged with forgery, a court official said yesterday. Gregg Fryett’s company, Sustainable Agro Energy, has been ...
Ministry pushes for safer use of industrial chemicals
The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (MIME) and the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) yesterday discussed means of safely stocking industrial chemicals, with the hope of reducing environmental pollution in the region. At a conference on sustainable manufacturing practices, Sok Narin, the head of UNIDO ...
Koh Thom Bridge construction launched
A ground breaking ceremony of the $19.39 million, Koh Thom Bridge, has been launched Monday. The 407 meter bridge will be built over the, Tonle Bassac River, linking National Road 110 in the village of Prek Thmey, Chroy Takeo commune and National Road 21 in ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=YjY1MTY0ZWI3ZjE
British Businessman Arrested over Alleged Land Fraud
The British chairman of an embattled agricultural investment firm was arrested Saturday by Cambodian authorities over charges of forging documents and using them in an attempt to illegally purchase thousands of hectares of land, a court prosecutor said. Greg Fryett, the main shareholder of Sustainable Agro ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/british-businessman-arrested-over-alleged-land-fraud-15882/
Powerless Phnom Penh Struggles With Hot Season
As air-conditioning units slow to a halt, computers die and the lights go out, the frustration of local business owners and organizations in Phnom Penh is boiling over once again as the annual hot season blackouts have arrived. The 190-megawatt, Chinese-built Kamchay hydropower dam in ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/powerless-phnom-penh-struggles-with-hot-season-15655/
Joint venture will take part in oil explorations
Malaysia-based Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad has tied up with Rex International Holding Pte Ltd to participate in exploration opportunities in Cambodia and 10 other countries across the Asia-Pacific region, according to a statement released last Thursday. Hibiscus’s wholly owned subsidiary Orient Hibiscus Sdn Bhd and Rex International ...
Documentary Looks at Impact of Mekong Dams
An updated documentary, “Where Have All the Fish Gone?,” examines the impacts of hydroelectric dams on the Mekong River. The Xayaburi dam, which would produce hydropower for market, has become a divisive issue among Mekong River countries. Critics say it could severely damage ecosystems on which ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/documentary-looks-at-impact-of-mekong-dams/1626779.html
Evicted Railway Families Facing Debt 'Crisis'
Debt levels among the more than 1,000 families being evicted by a $142.6 million railway project bankrolled by Australia and the Asia Development Bank (ADB) have reached “crisis” proportions and require major intervention, according to a U.S resettlement expert who was hired by the ADB ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/evicted-railway-families-facing-debt-crisis-15618/
Million-dollar machine sweetens outlook
Local food producer Ly Ly Food Industry had invested about $1 million for a Chinese-made machine to improve production and food quality as it prepared for the coming regional economic community, the company’s owner said yesterday. Keo Mom said a tremendous amount of goods from neighbouring ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032164553/Business/million-dollar-machine-sweetens-outlook.html
Kingdom, Japan to ink $33.9m grant today
Cambodia will sign a $33.9 million grant aid today from the Japanese government to support various small hydropower dam projects, improve a hospital and update resources of a university, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032164548/Business/kingdom-japan-to-ink-33-9m-grant-today.html
ADB Smothers Report On Families Hit by Rail Project
The Asian Development Bank has refused to release a critical study on the impacts its $141.6 million railway project is having on thousands of Cambodian families because disclosure of the report could hurt its relationship with the government, an ADB spokeswoman said. Raising concerns about the ...
Japan to provide Cambodia with nearly 34 mln USD grant aid
Cambodia will sign to receive 33.9 million U.S. dollars in grant aid from Japan for three projects in small hydropower dams, healthcare and education, according to a news release from Cambodia’s foreign ministry on Monday. ...
Thailand, Cambodia mull joint business, trade body
Thailand and Cambodian signed an agreement for the formation of a joint business council to promote bilateral trade and investment. The memorandum of understanding was officially endorsed on Tuesday evening by Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen on the sidelines of ...
http://www.pattayamail.com/news/thailand-cambodia-mull-joint-business-trade-body-23289
World's largest freshwater fish threatened
The 16th Conference of Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) has brought thousands of delegates from over 150 countries to Bangkok to discuss cross-border cooperation, sustainable use of biodiversity and transnational endangered species issues. Construction has already begun on the ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/340170/mekong-dams-threaten-world-largest-freshwater-fish
Villagers pin big hopes on little dam
In the past four years, families in Anlong Chrey village, in Kampong Speu provinces’s Thpong district, have watched a small multipurpose dam being built at their back doors. For village chief Soung Pao, 59, who gave up two hectares for the dam – one of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031361911/National/villagers-pin-big-hopes-on-little-dam.html
ASEAN countries agree to greater economic cooperation
Senior representatives for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and ASEAN met here Tuesday and issued a joint statement highlighting their agreement to forge stronger mutual investment, trade, transport and scientific cooperation links. The joint statement was released at the conclusion of the 6th annual Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam (CLMV) Summit, ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-03/12/c_132228469.htm
Upstream Dams, Downstream Trouble
As examples, Laos broke ground on a new Mekong River dam that’s causing concern bordering on fury in Cambodia and Vietnam. India is enraged about a new Chinese dam going up on the Brahmaputra River. And Ethiopia’s new dam on the Nile is angering Sudan, ...
http://www.hydroworld.com/news/2013/03/12/upstream-dams-downstream-trouble.html
Waterways may reduce export costs
Cambodia’s waterways are significantly under-used for the transport of commodities such as rice, and enhanced infrastructure and a review of government fees is needed at the Kingdom’s ports to make exports more competitive, industry experts say. According to figures from the Alliance of Rice Producers and ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031261877/Business/waterways-may-reduce-export-costs.html
France set to grant Kingdom $47.7m for infrastructure
The French Development Agency yesterday agreed to grant Cambodia a total of $47.7 million, $8.7 million of which is a loan. The sum is to support the Kingdom’s irrigation infrastructure investment, to improve the country’s access to drinkable water and to fund the fight against emerging ...
Chinese Firms Foresee Industrial Hub in Preah Vihear
Preah Vihear province – The residents of this sleepy district, on the edge of the Boeng Per Wildlife Sanctuary, grow rice, cassava and cashew nuts. But in a few short years, Chinese investors envisage that Rovieng will be rapidly transformed into an industrial town. ...