Economy and commerce
Investment
Cambodia, Bangladesh ink visa exemption deal for diplomatic, official passport holders
Cambodia and Bangladesh on Friday signed a visa-free agreement for diplomatic and service passport holders in a bid to strengthen bilateral ties in politics, trade, investment and tourism, officials said. The deal was inked here between Long Visalo, secretary of state at Cambodian Ministry of Foreign ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-05/03/c_132357925.htm
Kids beaten over ELC
Five men working for Ratanakkiri rubber concessionaire DM Group, including a soldier, have been arrested for allegedly beating a villager and his children – one of whom, doctors say, may not survive – in a scuffle over their family’s land, the father said yesterday. Police confirmed ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050665430/National/kids-beaten-over-elc.html
Government Mulls Issuing Sovereign Bonds
Cambodia is considering offering sovereign bonds to raise more revenue for the national budget and move away from its dependence on overseas aid, a senior central bank official said Sunday. National Bank of Cambodia director-general Nguon Sokha said the Ministry of Economy and Finance was currently ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/government-mulls-issuing-sovereign-bonds-21989/
Pushing the ELC envelope
Three companies accused of illegal logging in Ratanakkiri province are in possession of a combined 30,000 hectares of economic land concessions (ELCs) that are likely illegal because they are owned by the same parent firm. Hoang Anh Andong Meas, Hoang Anh Lumphat and Hoang Anh Ouyadav ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050365405/National/pushing-the-elc-envelope.html
NGO, Boeung Kak activists offer solution
The Boeung Kak community and a land rights NGO yesterday released a proposed demarcation plan they say could solve the long-standing land dispute. In a map presented yesterday, villagers said they had agreed on a land division that would make room for 70 families locked out ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050365397/National/ngo-b-kak-activists-offer-solution.html
High Risk Seen in Kingdom’s Business Environment: Report
Corruption, a weak judicial system and the potential for complicity with human and labour rights abuses are key risks for firms looking to invest in Cambodia, a new report [by Maplecroft, a UK-based global risk and strategic consulting firm] analysing investment risk in the Kingdom ...
Made in Cambodia: Foreign Industry Calls on Cambodia as the Next “Low-Cost” Alternative in All Things Manufacturing
About a decade ago, global manufacturing firms staged a mass exodus to Asia in search of low-cost alternatives to increasing domestic wage demands and operational costs. The consensus was the continued development of a regional supply chain that had formed in countries like Vietnam and Indonesia, ...
Angry Villagers Confront Workers
Jarai minority villagers in Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district protested in two locations yesterday against a Vietnamese company that community leaders say has been clearing their protected land and forcing villagers to accept inadequate compensation. Community leader Sev Hem said 30 angry villagers directly confronted five Company 72 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050165347/National/angry-villagers-confront-workers.html
Telecoms Regulator Calls For Price Meeting
The Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) is calling all mobile phone operators to attend a meeting next week in order to reconsider the costs for within-and across-network calls, after disputes over bonus promotions in Cambodia’s crowded telecoms market. TRC director Mao Chakrya said that for the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050165340/Business/telecoms-regulator-calls-for-price-meeting.html
Investors Look For Hotel Opportunities In Southeast Asia
Hotel transaction volumes in Asia hit US$620 million (Bt18.18 billion) in the first quarter, up 190 per cent from the same period last year, and properties in Southeast Asia are attracting investor attention, according to real-estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle. “Rising visitor arrivals, robust trading ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=NGM4ODkxZTEzMjg
Government To Push Digital Empowerment
Senior government officials yesterday were promoting the development of the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector in the Kingdom, particularly the concept of digital empowerment among young people. Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who presided over the opening of ITU Asia-Pacific Regional Development Forum, held in ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013043065306/Business/government-to-push-digital-empowerment.html
Online Trader Eyes Kingdom
An online trading firm based in the tax haven of Cyprus is planning to open a subsidiary in Cambodia, an account manager at IronFX’s headquarters in Cyprus said yesterday. “We are on the planning stage in Cambodia. We are now studying law and regulations in the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013043065307/Business/online-trader-eyes-kingdom.html
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/
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
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
New CAA Fleet To Take Flight
Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA) intends to acquire seven more planes by 2015, more than doubling its existing fleet of five, as the airline plans new routes in the next few years to China, South Korea, Hong Kong and India. The plan was unveiled at an industry ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042665258/Business/new-caa-fleet-to-take-flight.html
Group Lease boosts Singapore unit to fund Cambodia operation
Group Lease has decided to raise the capital of its wholly owned Singaporean subsidiary Group Lease Holdings to serve as the main funding source for its Cambodian motorcycle leasing operations after six months of satisfactory trial operations there. Cambodia, which is managed by Group Lease’s ...
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
Demand for quality rice seed development
To enhance Cambodian rice yields, the government should encourage private development of rice-seed production and focus its efforts on farmers’ education and regulations that ensure the quality of seed, industry experts say. The Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), under the direction of the Ministry ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042565221/Business/demand-for-quality-rice-seed-development.html
Luxury tourism slowly on the rise
A helicopter flight tour to Preah Vihear is just one part of the 10-day Cambodia Immersion for Millionaires Tour launched this week. The cost per person? $25,000. According to Christopher Gramsch, sales manager for organiser Khiri Travel Cambodia, there is increasing demand among high-spending travellers and ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042565220/Business/luxury-tourism-slowly-on-the-rise.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, ...
Gaming Asia opens new club
Entertainment Gaming Asia will open up it’s second Dreamworld Club in Cambodia in the Thai-Cambodia border town of Poipet, in Banteay Meanchey province, according to a media release from the US-listed company on Monday. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042565219/Business/gaming-asia-opens-new-club.html
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
606 New Companies Opened in Cambodia in Q1, Down 33 pct
Cambodia had granted operating licenses to 606 new companies in the first quarter of this year, a 33 percent decrease compared with the 904 firms at the same period last year, the Commerce Ministry’s report showed Tuesday. Yim Rom, an official at the ministry’s statistics ...