Economy and commerce

Cambodia’s capital market regulator officially granted its first round of derivatives trading licences this week, nearly 10 months after it vowed to formally regulate the inherently risky financial instrument and provide investors with more options to earn profits.   ...

With mobile money transfer services such as Wing and True Money continuing to spread their agent-based networks into rural parts of the country, local banks are increasingly leveraging their branch locations and ATM presence to provide a similar service through “Cash by Code”. ...

A new initiative aimed at encouraging more trading on Cambodia’s persistently quiet stock exchange will allow securities underwriters and dealers to become liquidity providers who can hold and trade shares in listed companies. ...

With ride-hailing giants Uber and Grab yet to enter the Cambodian market, a pair of local entrepreneurs have seized the initiative and developed the first private-hire car service and smartphone application for Phnom Penh’s frenetic city streets. ...

Sokha Hotels and Resorts will open the first dedicated convention centre in Siem Reap next month, giving the country’s leading tourist destination another major draw to attract foreign visitors.   ...

Japan-based Yusen Logistics has opened one of Cambodia’s largest temperature-controlled distribution center in Phnom Penh, which is becoming a significant air cargo destination for its textiles and perishable exports. The 33,000-square-foot facility has almost twice the capacity of the existing warehouse and includes a 4,237-square-foot ...

A civil society organisation has raised concerns about the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), claiming that one provision of the sweeping trade agreement would limit the Kingdom’s ability to draft socially beneficial policies. ...

One of the Kingdom’s largest microfinance institutions (MFI), Prasac MFI, increased its paid up share capital by $29 million in a bid to increase public confidence and comply with the National Bank of Cambodia’s (NBC) requirements. ...

The Kingdom’s once-promising home-grown coffee industry has been laid low by adverse weather and fierce global competition, with the total area under coffee cultivation cut in half over the last three years as desperate farmers switch to other crops, a senior official at the Ministry ...

Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (SAP), the Kingdom’s largest maritime container hub, reported a six percent increase in cargo shipments in the first six months of the year, while tonnage rose by 10 percent in the same period. ...

China’s Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng, who has been on an official visit to Cambodia, will discuss roads, railways, airport construction, agriculture and other projects with senior government officials in the next few days. ...

A large US-based international hotels and resorts group plans to invest close to $120 million in a multi-resort development project in Preah Sihanouk province. ...

The export of crude palm oil (CPO) from agro-industrial conglomerate Mong Reththy Group reached 13,000 metric tons in the first six months this year, up a huge 116 percent compared to the same period last year. ...

Japan’s investment in Cambodia continues to grow and its investors are playing a leading role in developing and diversifying the Kingdom’s light industrial sector. ...

The National Assembly’s (NA) Second Commission on Economics, Finance, Banking and Auditing yesterday asked the European Union (EU) to increase rice and clothing import quotas from Cambodia, after a discussion on EU subsidies to the Kingdom. ...

Foreign direct investment (FDI) to Cambodia over a 20-year period – from 1994 to 2014 – is estimated to have reached $19.2 billion and was heavily weighed by inflows of capital from China, according to the first-ever comprehensive survey on FDI, released yesterday. ...

The state operator of Cambodia’s only deep-water port remains on course to float shares on the stock exchange and is seeking ways to speed up the listing.   ...

Just weeks since the United States announced it would grant new trade privileges that allow Cambodian-manufactured travel goods such as luggage and backpacks to enter the US market duty-free under its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) scheme, a visiting American trade official hinted yesterday that ...

The Kingdom’s central bank ‒ the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) ‒ is working closely with experts from the US Treasury to set up a depositors’ protection scheme among banks in the country. This move was welcomed by the country’s banking industry with CEOs saying ...

The Vietnamese government yesterday agreed in principle to provide a grant of $2 million to Cambodia to build a model market aimed at boosting cross-border trade between the two countries, officials at Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce said. ...

Bosch Cambodia, a supplier of power tools and automotive parts, announced yesterday that its sales revenue grew by 22 per cent in 2015, driven largely by a greater number of construction and automotive projects in the Kingdom. ...

Cambodia’s Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak told British Ambassador Bill Longhurst he would like to see the two countries enter into a free trade agreement (FTA) as soon as possible following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union (EU). ...

Cambodia must accelerate economic reform and develop a sense of “urgency” if it wishes to continue to attract American investment amid growing regional competition, the head of the US-ASEAN Business Council said yesterday. ...

Total Japanese investment in Cambodia under the Kingdom’s qualified investment project (QIP) scheme surged tenfold during the first half of the year, driven by Japan’s improved economy and a hefty capital injection by one of its biggest retail giants. ...