Agriculture and fishing
Exports reach $3.5 billion in the first nine months
Total exports during the first nine months of the year rose 41 percent to $3.5 billion compared to the same period in 2010, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce. Of the total amount, $3.1 billion was in garments, $10 million in paddy rice, ...
Rice Crops Take A Pounding From Southeast Asian Floods
October marks the start of the main rice harvest in Thailand, the world’s largest exporter of the grain. Traders are waiting to see the full impact of flooding on the crop, but it’s already clear that output across Southeast Asia will fall substantially. The U.N.’s ...
Floods to push up non-performing loans in 4th quarter
The worst floods in a decade may boost the number of nonperforming loans in the Kingdom’s microfinance industry in the fourth quarter, insiders said yesterday. However, those insiders said the damage done to Cambodia’s agriculture sector would not have a significant impact given the MFIs’ diversified ...
Agriculture minister pushes for pig imports
The Minister for Agriculture yesterday appealed to buyers to address the shortage of pigs in Phnom Penh by applying for licenses that would allow them to import more livestock from neighbouring countries. An industry representative and a market expert, however, warned of the potential fallout that ...
Government looks at flood recovery ahead
The Agriculture Ministry is preparing to distribute rice seedlings in an effort to replace more than 220,000 hectares of rice paddy that has been destroyed by flooding. However, by the time floodwaters recede, there won’t be enough time left in the rainy season to replant ...
Poor farmers are hit the hardest by damage from floods
With ongoing floods causing an unprecedented $521 million in estimated damages, economists warn that poor farmers are being the hardest hit. The latest government estimate marks a roughly threefold increase from an earlier prediction of more than $161 million, which was the cost of the ...
Kingdom's fish exports in decline
The Kingdom’s fish exports declined 48 per cent in the first nine months of 2011, as a result of growing local demand, according to Ministry of Commerce figures. The statistics showed that Cambodia’s export of fish totalled 1,099 tonnes from January to September, compared to 2,123 ...
New UN flood numbers grim
The latest United Nations assessment shows that the damage from flooding is far worse than previously thought, according to a report received by the Post late yesterday. Drawing on data from three ministries as well as the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), the assessment raises ...
No improvement in 'Doing Business' report
With few reforms made in the past year, Cambodia ranked 138th out of 181 countries for the second consecutive year in the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ report released yesterday, a ranking that put it behind countries such as Syria and Sudan. The report ranks countries based ...
Tourists discouraged from visiting orphanages
NGO Friends International launched a government-backed campaign yesterday to discourage visitors from participating in “orphanage tourism” in an effort to protect children from being exploited, organizers said yesterday Citing an unreleased report by Unicef and the Ministry of Social Affairs, James Sutherland, international communications coordinator for ...
Cassava exports jump 94%
The Kingdom’s cassava exports soared 94 per cent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2011, despite the recent flood devastation the agriculture sector has experienced, according to Ministry of Commerce figures. The statistics showed that Cambodia’s export of dry and fresh cassava hit about 22,652 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011101952198/Business/cassava-exports-jump-94.html
Banks spared flooding woes
Cambodia’s banks should be largely spared the heavy damages already seen in many parts of the Kingdom’s economy, officials said yesterday, though microfinance lenders will feel some impact. Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon last week revised downward the government’s gross domestic products for 2011 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011101952199/Business/banks-spared-flooding-woes.html
Government aims to boost lobster industry
A new lobster-breeding program could generate up to $600 million in revenues over the next five years, according to Nao Thuok, director of the Fisheries Administration at the Ministry of Agriculture Mr Thuok first mentioned the new breeding program at a meeting in Phnom Penh hosted ...
Study says country unlikely to meet rice goal
Cambodia is unlikely to meet even half of its 2015 goal to export 1 million tons of milled rice unless export and production costs are greatly reduced and more private investment goes toward the agriculture sector, according to a new World Bank study obtained Monday. The ...
High-output rice seed factory set to be built
Cambodia firm Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Singapore-based company to develop a high-output rice seed factory in the Kingdom. The cooperation between major investment firm OCIC and agriculture research company Smah Prum Royal International Pte Ltd is set to ...
Halim in Cambodia RM2bil agriculture joint venture
PHNOM PENH: Malaysia expects to minimise its dependence on imports of animal feed and lessen the impact of the global food crisis by 2020 under the reciprocal investment policy, Agriculture and Agro-based Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar said. One such initiative under the policy was the ...
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/10/17/business/9710198&sec=business
Phnom Penh orders rice sell-off to fight price gouges
City Hall coordinated the release of 120 tons of rice in cooperation with the state-run Rural Development Bank yesterday to keep prices in the city stable amid reports that vendors were using the current floods to gouge customers. Last week, Prime Minister Hun Sen said the ...
Cash crop deal to aid Kingdom
A Malaysian firm on Saturday signed a joint agricultural agreement with property development company Paragon Corporation Cambodia worth a potential US$2 billion in exports of corn, rubber, coffee and other cash crops. Penned by Paragon Corporation Cambodia and Markmore Group Malaysia, the joint development project will ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011101752151/Business/cash-crop-deal-to-aid-kingdom.html
EU organizes a seminar on food security
The Delegation of the European Union to Cambodia in collaboration with the Council for Agricultural and rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and three of the EU-funded projects (CEDAC, HKI, WHH) on October 6 organized a Food Security Project Workshop “Improving Food Security—Lessons ...
Chinese animal feed mill opens in Cambodia
A Chinese animal feed mill officially opened at the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (PPSEZ) on Aug 28. It is the first animal feed mill from China and the fifth animal feed factory to operate in Cambodia Cambodia has strongly depended on the imports for animal ...
245,500 tons of rubber per year to be collected by 2020
Rubber production in Cambodia is expected to increase by 245,500 tons per year by 2020, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). MAFF Minister Chan Sarun said on Aug 30 that Cambodia will have 365,000 hectares for rubber production as the amount ...
Japan introduces fresh water fish in Cambodia
A group from the Japanese Fish Rearing Association led by Kazuki Nishimura met with Chan Sarun, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. During the meeting Kazuki Nishimura told the minister that the Japanese Fish Rearing Association wished to introduce Japanese fresh water fish (Nishiki Koi) ...
Kampot pepper prices expected to grow in January
The Kampot Pepper Association said yesterday that the price of pepper would increase in January to $8 per kg, up from $7 currently. Nguon Lay, president of the association, said that the price hike was due to strong demand from abroad and high production costs ...
Flooding destroys 3% of national crop
Three percent of the country’s rice crops have been destroyed by flooding in provinces along the Mekong River and around the Tonle Sap lake, and another seven percent is at risk of being lost, the minister of agriculture said yesterday. New government estimates also show that ...