Economy and commerce
Investment
Cambodia's economy to grow by 6.7% this year: WB
Cambodia’s economy is expected to grow by 6.7 percent in 2013 thanks to anticipating increases in agriculture, foreign direct investment (FDI) and tourism, the World Bank said in its latest outlook Wednesday. “The growth is based on achieving the dividends from focus on higher rice ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-01/16/c_132106591.htm
iPhone struggles for a place in Cambodian market
It will not be enough for Apple to simply offer a cheaper iPhone for the company to gain share in the competitive Cambodian smartphone market, according to industry insiders. They say Apple’s operating system, iOS, may also restrict their potential growth. Bloomberg last week reported that Apple ...
Thousands protest outside Gladpeer Garment Factory
More than 2,000 workers demonstrated in front of Phnom Penh’s Gladpeer Garment Factory yesterday, demanding a higher minimum wage and several other concessions. The workers decided to strike after the Por Sen Chey district factory did not respond to repeated requests to raise their monthly minimum ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013011560786/National/thousands-turn-out-for-strike.html
Businesses Told to Close for 8 Days for King Father's Funeral
Business owners in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district yesterday said they will not follow a government directive to close their businesses for eight days in observance of the second mourning period for the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk. The order, which was distributed on Sunday to ...
Cambodia's exports to U.S. down 1 pct in 11 months last year
Cambodia exported products in equivalent to 2.49 billion U.S. dollars to the United States in the first eleven months of 2012, down 1 percent from 2.52 billion U.S. dollars it exported at the same period a year earlier, the report of the U.S. Department of ...
Maybank to increase branches in Cambodia to 20, from 12
Maybank Bhd is looking to increase its presence in Cambodia, by raising the number of its branches to 20 from 12 currently. Speaking at a public panel dialogue organised by The Wharton School about the economic prospects of the ASEAN region, Maybank’s CEO Datuk Sri Abdul ...
Police reopen OZ, Cochlear bribery cases
THE Australian Federal Police will reopen corruption inquiries into major Australian companies OZ Minerals and Cochlear, after searing criticism that it was lax in its investigations. OZ Minerals will be targeted following discussions with the OECD about the AFP’s previous investigation of alleged foreign ...
http://www.smh.com.au/business/police-reopen-oz-cochlear-bribery-cases-20130112-2cmrt.html
Cambodian economy expected to grow 7 pct in 2013: official
Cambodia’s GDP is projected to grow by 7 percent this year even though the global economy remains fragile and high risk due to persisting sovereign debt crisis in Europe and sluggish economic recovery in the United States, a commerce official said Monday. Last Tuesday, the ...
Firm to File Criminal Complaint Against Mfone
Norwegian energy firm Eltek Valere will file a criminal complaint today against mobile phone operator Mfone over an agreement that was signed last week to shift Mfone’s existing subscribers to MobiTel, according to a lawyer representing Eltek. The decision by the Thai-owned mobile operator Mfone to ...
Socially-Responsible Factory to give better deals to workers
Construction is due to start shortly on a socially responsible sun-glass case and cleaning cloth factory in Siem Reap. Pactics produces 40 per cent of cases and cloths for the larget sun-glass factory in the world, Luxottica, which has brands including Ray Ban, Oakley and ...
Local ISP claims licence overlap is causing losses
At least one internet service provider in Cambodia still claims to have overlapping frequencies, which means losses for the affected company MekongNet. The company’s chief executive, Sok Channda, reported that the internet service provider can’t use the frequencies that were supposed to cover the WiMAX service, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/Business/local-isp-claims-licence-overlap-is-causing-losses.html
Angkor Gold cashes in on Cambodia
It has been just over a year since Vancouver-based Angkor Gold (ANK-V) went public with its stable of Cambodian exploration projects, and it is looking like the company’s early mover strategy in the developing Southeast Asian nation might be poised to pay off. To kick ...
http://www.northernminer.com/news/angkor-gold-cashes-in-on-cambodia/1001981285/?type=HotSectors
Real Estate Market Showing Signs of Recovery
Land prices in Cambodia continued to recover in the last half of 2012, especially in urban areas, following a collapse of the market in 2008, real estate investors say. Keuk Narin, vice president of Asia Real Estate Cambodia, told VOA Khmer that commercial land prices ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/real-estate-market-showing-signs-of-recovery/1580588.html
Britain life insurer Prudential officially launches operations in Cambodia
The U.K.-based life insurer, Prudential Plc, on Wednesday announced the commencement of its life insurance operations in Cambodia, according to the firm’s press release. Alongside the launch of its business operations, Prudential Cambodia and Acleda Bank, the largest commercial bank in Cambodia, also announced the establishment ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-01/09/c_132091413.htm
Angkor Car Reintroduced Without Defects
After delaying mass production of the Angkor Car because of technical difficulties with starting the engine and opening the doors, Heng Development Co. Ltd. on Monday unveiled a new model and said it had severed ties with the Hong Kong-based firm responsible for the original ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/angkor-car-reintroduced-without-defects-7536/
Cambodia has great potential for FDI
An assistant to former US president Bill Clinton said Cambodia has many potential areas for foreign direct investment (FDI) from many countries, including the US. Karen Tramontano, founder, along with Clinton, and president of the Global Fairness Initiative and CEO at Blue Star Strategies, met with ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010960687/Business/cambodia-has-great-potential-for-fdi.html
Okvau explorer raises $10m
Renaissance Minerals has raised $10 million for its gold-mining program at the Okvau deposit, in Mondulkiri province. The Australian company had estimated the area contained 729,000 ounces of gold. Renaissance’s biggest challenge would be to finance the project by equity investments world-wide, Tremain said. Renaissance is ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010960685/Business/okvau-explorer-raises-10m.html
Fired Phone Company Workers File Complaint
One of Cambodia’s most active unions has filed a complaint against a Thai mobile phone provider, claiming it laid off more than 50 staff members without warning and without compensation. The complaint was filed with the Ministry of Labor against Mfone, a company that belongs to ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/fired-phone-company-workers-file-complaint/1579895.html
China's Guangxi donates 100 tons milled rice to Cambodia
China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Tuesday donated 100 tons of milled rice to Cambodia as humanitarian aid. Hun Sen expressed gratitude to China’s Guangxi, saying that Cambodia and China’s Guangxi have seen growing relations and cooperation in agriculture. He asked Zhang to encourage more ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-01/08/c_132089011.htm
‘Guards are more than farmers in uniform’
Located in a humble, barrack-like building with small offices that are still under construction, Global Security Solutions enjoys the proximity to its biggest customer: Toll Royal Railways. The company not only provides security for embassies, but for petrochemical companies, hotels and airlines as well. Since the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010860663/Business/guards-are-more-than-farmers-in-uniform.html
Union sues Mfone director for violating labor law
Free Trade Union of Workers of Cambodia said Tuesday it had sued the director of Thailand’s Mfone Co Ltd for not respecting local labor laws. In a letter issued Tuesday to the Department of Labor Disputes, the union’s deputy secretary general Sam Srey Mom accused Mfone ...
Cambodia’s low wages lure manufacturers away from China, other countries
Inside a gleaming white-and-blue garment factory in Cambodia stand rows of second-hand Singers — weathered sewing machines transported from a plant in China that closed last year. The Hong Kong-headquartered Top Form, which has 700 workers at the plant, is one of many businesses that have ...
Royal Group to Take Stake in Mining Project
A mining company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange has announced a plan to pay $14 million for a license to explore for copper in Preah Vihear province, in a deal involving local conglomerate Royal Group. In an announcement to the bourse last Thurday, Geopacific Resource ...
Cambodia unveils 1st home-made cars
Cambodia’s Heng Development Company on Monday unveiled the first-ever electric-powered cars manufactured by its factory in Kandal province. The show was made after the firm has completed the construction of a 20 million U.S. dollar car manufacturing plant branded ” Angkor” in Kandal province’s Takhmao district. Speaking ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-01/07/c_132085823.htm