Economy and commerce
Investment
Slow year for Japanese investment
The Japanese embassy is reporting a $280 million drop in Japanese investment last year, but officials were quick to say that the numbers don’t necessarily reflect slumping investor confidence in Cambodia. Japanese investment in the Kingdom reached about $47.5 million in 2013, compared to $328 million ...
Hor Kimsay and Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/slow-year-japanese-investment
SBC to Rebrand Following Taiwan Acquisition
Locally owned Singapore Banking Corp. (SBC) will rebrand itself Thursday as Cathay United Bank (Cambodia) Corp. Ltd., or CUBC, as part of a deal that finalizes the acquisition of SBC by Taiwanese financial corporation Cathay United Bank, according to a copy of a speech that ...
Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/sbc-to-rebrand-following-taiwan-acquisition-50684/
Cambodia, Belarus set to boost bilateral ties
Cambodia and Belarus set to promote bilateral relations in politics, diplomacy, economics, trade, and tourism for mutual benefits of the two countries and peoples, a Cambodian spokesman said Thursday. Cambodia and Belarus established diplomatic relations in 1995, he said, adding that economic and trade relations ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-01/16/c_133049868.htm
Hun Sen: Minimum wage of workers cannot be increased to USD160
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday said it would be impossible to double the garment workers from USD 80 to USD 160 even though he wish to see them to have better life. “Which leaders and Prime Ministers don’t want to see their peoples have good ...
Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=M2EzNmZiZGVkNjA#sthash.0G8ytVha.dpuf
Vinamilk deal to go ahead
Vietnam Dairy Product Joint-Stock Co, better-known to milk lovers as Vinamilk, was granted a licence on Monday to open a $23 million processing facility in Phnom Penh’s Special Economic Zone. A statement to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange released by the dairy giant on Monday ...
Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/vinamilk-deal-go-ahead
Garment Workers Go Back on Strike Over Unpaid Wages
Thousands of garment workers from four factories have gone back on strike this week to protest a decision by their employers to withhold pay for the days they did not work during recent nationwide strikes. Between 8,500 and 12,500 workers at four factories—two in Phnom Penh, ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/garment-workers-go-back-on-strike-over-unpaid-wages-50580/
Free Trade Union Reports Overall Jump in Labor Strikes in 2013
The Free Trade Union (FTU) on Monday reported an overall increase in industrial action by its local branches last year with 136 total strikes in the first 11 months of 2013, up 35 percent from all of 2012, when there were 101 strikes by its ...
Jailed UK Businessman Faces Fresh Charges
The Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court laid fresh charges of money laundering on the detained chairman of an embattled British investment firm on Friday, the same day that a provincial official was arrested in relation to fraud charges the businessman was already facing, a court official ...
Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/jailed-uk-businessman-faces-fresh-charges-50494/
Government Urged to Ease Pressure on Unions
Visiting representatives from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on Monday urged the Labor Ministry to withdraw its threat to revoke the licenses of six unions behind recent strikes, and to drop legal proceedings against union leader Rong Chhun. His visit follows garment worker protests ...
Mech Dara and Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-urged-to-ease-pressure-on-unions-50492/
Mixed results for local dealerships
The new year has brought with it a mixed outlook for the vehicle market, as dealers post both positive and negative sales figures for 2013. Pily Wong, chief executive of Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen distributor Hung Hiep (Cambodia), said sales had been seriously affected by the Kingdom’s ...
Chan Muy Hong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/mixed-results-local-dealerships
Hotel with foreigners in mind set for PPSEZ
A hotel catering to foreign investors and expatriate employees is being built inside the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (PPSEZ), management confirmed yesterday. The project will be constructed through a joint venture between PPSEZ and the Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Tama Home. ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/hotel-foreigners-mind-set-ppsez
Hun Sen says investment in Cambodia increases sharply
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday said that the flow of investment in Cambodia increased sharply from USD2.9 billion in 2012 to USD4.9 billion in 2013. During the 4th Cambodia-Vietnam Conference on Investment Cooperation at Peace Palace, he said the Vietnamese investments also increased, from ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=ODA4OGVlYjcxNmM
Construction investment notably increases in 2013
Construction investment in Cambodia in the past 11 months of 2013 was worth of USD 2.4 billion or 1526 projects, covering construction area of 7 million sq km, said The Ministry of Urbanization and Construction. The ministry added that compared with the same period of last ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=NTEzNDI5N2YzMGE
Major Brands Concerned About Cambodia Violence
Major labels that have clothing manufactured in Cambodian factories have written an open letter expressing concern for the recent shootings of workers demonstrating for higher wages. Adidas, Gap, H&M, Levi’s and Puma were among those that signed the January 7 letter to the Phnom Penh government, ...
VOA News Staff
http://www.voanews.com/content/major-brands-express-concern-for-violence-against-striking-cambodians/1826132.html
UN wants probe into Cambodian violence
The UN human rights agency urged Cambodia to launch an investigation into the “disproportionate” use of force by security forces last week against garment factory workers striking over pay. Military police opened fire on workers protesting outside a factory in Phnom Penh on January 3 and ...
Peninsula On-line News Staff
http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/asia/267595/un-wants-probe-into-cambodian-violence
Koh Pich: diamond in the rough slowly comes together
Since being designated for development by the municipal government in 2006, Koh Pich has been abuzz with activity. Now covered in the widest, least-congested roads in central Phnom Penh, this island is filling up quickly with residential, retail and hospitality projects aimed at affluent locals ...
Chris Horton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/koh-pich-diamond-rough-slowly-comes-together
Korean deal gives palm sugar farmers pay day
Palm sugar farmers in Kampong Speu province will soon export their goods to South Korea, the senior officer of a grower’s network said on Monday. Sam Saroeun, president of the Kampong Speu Palm Sugar Promotion Association, said an agreement with the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency ...
Chan Muy Hong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/korean-deal-gives-palm-sugar-farmers-pay-day
Germany's finance firm lends 10 mln USD to Cambodian microfinance institution
German Investment and Development Corporation (DEG) on Thursday signed to lend 10 million U.S. dollars to a leading Cambodian microfinance institution Hattha Kaksekar. The loan deal was inked here between Herbert Jaeger, Vice President of DEG Representative Office in Bangkok, and Hout Ieng Tong, President and ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2014-01/09/c_133032485.htm
Still much to learn about Times Centre
Construction on Times Centre’s three skyscrapers near Olympic Stadium will commence early this year, but little is known about several key aspects of the project, including the company behind the project. The Times Centre project, which will incorporate retail and office space with 1,000 condominium ...
Siv Meng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/still-much-learn-about-times-centre
As Strikers Return to Work, Factories Sue Garment Unions
As garment workers continued to return to their factories Wednesday after several days of strikes that turned deadly last week, some of their employers have wasted no time in suing the unions behind the strikes, demanding compensation. Phnom Penh Municipal Court chief clerk Prak Savouth said ...
Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/as-strikers-return-to-work-factories-sue-garment-unions-50360/
Vietnamese Shops Worry Over Possible Violence
Vietnamese business owners and managers in Phnom Penh on Tuesday said they were concerned their shops could become potential targets of ethnically motivated violence as anti-Vietnamese sentiment among protesters increases, but added they would continue to operate as normal—for now. In recent weeks, there has ...
Ben Sokhean and Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/vietnamese-shops-worry-over-possible-violence-50301/
Unions Tell Garment Workers to Suspend Strike
Unions behind last week’s garment factory strikes said their members had largely gone back to work this week, although they have not ruled out resuming protests for a higher minimum wage later this month. Tens of thousands of workers went on strike starting on December 24 ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-tell-garment-workers-to-suspend-strike-50299/
Cambodia's industry loses 275 mln USD due to outlawed protests
Cambodia’s garment and shoe industry has lost roughly 275 million U.S. dollars due to outlawed garment strikes in the past two weeks, Van Sou Ieng, President of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), said Monday. The garment and shoe industry comprise more than 900 ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-01/06/c_133022880.htm
Borei Keila Families Mark Anniversary Of Eviction
About 100 former residents of the Borei Keila community on Friday morning marked their violent eviction two years ago by authorities from their former neighborhood and demanded that their homes be rebuilt. “We are the families of Borei Keila, and with this ceremony we mark the ...
Sek Odom
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/borei-keila-families-mark-anniversary-of-eviction-50070/