Economy and commerce

Cambodian startups currently face several regulatory challenges in pursuing growth and profitability, according to three of the Kingdom’s most successful startup founders who shared their experiences over the weekend with the hope to inspire increased innovation and entrepreneurship. ...

Beijing has agreed to increase the number of Cambodian rice exporters allowed to sell to the Chinese mainland. The Ministry of Agriculture has been advised that eight more companies will be granted licenses, taking the total to 34. ...

Chinese locomotive and railway equipment giant CRRC Zelc is to conduct a feasibility study into the investment potential of Cambodia to help improve the kingdom’s railway system while contributing to the One Belt; One Road initiative.   ...

The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) is planning to form a joint committee chaired by government officials and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to promote small loan disbursements as the new 18 percent loan interest rate cap takes effect, according to an announcement released by the ...

Cambodian microlender Hattha Kaksekar Ltd (HKL) has secured a $15 million cash injection to expand its business operations from its parent company, Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya, Hout Ieng Tong, president and CEO of HKL, confirmed yesterday.  ...

Sany Heavy Industry, one of the biggest manufacturers of heavy construction machinery in China’s Hunan province, plans to expand in Cambodia to tap into rising infrastructure development. ...

The National Bank of Cambodia will develop a blockchain-based payment system with help from a Japanese financial technology startup to offer people a secure, low-cost way of sending and receiving money.   ...

The state-owned enterprise that operates Cambodia’s only deep-sea port officially announced that it will launch its six-day bookbuild and public roadshow starting next Tuesday with an expected initial public offering (IPO) on the Kingdom’s stock market set for May 31, the company’s sole underwriter said ...

After Cambodian rice exports declined dramatically in March, caused by what millers claimed was a stricter enforcement of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures by the Chinese government, the Ministry of Agriculture announced yesterday that it would lobby on the sector’s behalf to allow more millers ...

Cambodia’s financial sector saw healthy growth last year with increased deposits and profits amid slower credit growth, reflecting sustainable development and increased public confidence in the sector, according to a recently released central bank report. ...

Cambodian rice exports declined dramatically in March, causing the average export growth of the Kingdom’s dominant cash crop to increase by only 3 percent during the first quarter of this year, nearly wiping out the double-digit growth seen in January and February. ...

Smart Axiata Co., Ltd. and AIA (Cambodia) Life Insurance Plc. have jointly announced a long-term partnership in bringing differentiated life insurance products and services to people in Cambodia to meet their growing financial protection and long-term saving needs.   ...

The World Bank has predicted that Cambodia’s GDP will grow at a more modest 6.9 percent this year and next, and slow slightly to 6.7 percent in 2019.   ...

Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings will team with Toshiba to manage power grids in Cambodia, hoping to secure a new earnings source as the utility grapples with soaring cleanup costs for the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster. ...

The World Bank on Thursday forecast a slight dip in the country’s economic growth rate by 2019 amid declining foreign investment, rising inflation and a slowdown in the expansion of garments manufacturing, and advised improvements to infrastructure and training to keep the economy on its ...

The vast majority of local companies lack corporate governance standards and provide insufficient business information, requiring investors and regulators to do heavy due diligence work that stops businesses from tapping into additional funding sources, officials said yesterday. ...

Trade between China and Cambodia swelled to $4.8 billion last year, up by about $200 million from the year before, while Beijing has now given the government $4.2 billion in grants and loans, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that China has been playing a critical role in contributing to the development of the Cambodian economy through direct investment and helping to develop infrastructure.  In 2016 trade reached about $4.8 billion of which exports from Cambodia amounted to ...

With the interest rate cap of 18 percent in full force for all new and restructured microfinance loans after the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) issued a populist measure to curb high interest rates, microfinance institutions (MFIs) are starting to give predictions for lower profits ...

Lack of trust from investors has so far limited the growth potential of the growing number of Cambodian technology startups. Five-year old Khmerload, a Cambodian entertainment news website modeled after the American media giant Buzzfeed, has become one of the country’s first local tech startups ...

Representatives from global ride-hailing behemoth Uber confirmed the company’s interest in starting operations in Cambodia during a meeting this week with Transportation Minister Sun Chanthol, according to one of the minister’s aides. ...

The Cambodia Chamber of Commerce and the Korea International Trade Association have announced a partnership to bring more South Korean investors to Cambodia. ...

Cambodia’s economic growth remained strong last year though the Kingdom must now address major systemic challenges to build on its ascension into lower-middle income status in order to maintain healthy levels of development, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in its annual report yesterday. ...

South Korea is pushing forward with discussions to hammer out a double taxation agreement (DTA) with the Kingdom that would provide an additional incentive for Korean businesses to set up shop and increase fiscal transparency while shielding individuals and corporations from being taxed twice. ...