Economy and commerce

Kith Meng, chairman of the Royal Group, was reelected president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce yesterday in a landslide vote at its Phnom Penh office. The tycoon, whose interests span television, banking, telecoms and property, was also reelected president of the Phnom Penh Chamber ...

As the global economy faces a challenging growth environment, developed and least developed countries are increasingly competing for export markets to spur growth, with many – like Cambodia – aiming to diversify markets as well as products. Cambodia has relied primarily on exports of ...

Cambodian businesses are joining forces in an attempt to increase production and reduce the country’s dependence on imports. The Federation of Association for Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia, the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft, and the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce plan to encourage small ...

Kith Meng, chairman of the Royal Group, was reelected president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce yesterday in a landslide vote at its Phnom Penh office. The tycoon, whose interests span television, banking, telecoms and property, was also reelected president of the Phnom Penh Chamber ...

SET-listed Major Cineplex Group Plc has earmarked 1.2 billion baht to open 100 new cinemas nationwide next year in a bid to boost revenue by 10-15%.The investment budget will not cover further expansion in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, which will be made through partnerships ...

Concerns are that, while the middle class is growing, Cambodia’s consumer base is not yet able to support premium retailersThe throngs of Cambodian families streaming into Aeon Mall over the Water Festival holiday made it clear that Phnom Penh’s poshest mall has successfully positioned itself ...

Foreign direct investment flows continued to see strong growth across the 10-member ASEAN bloc in 2014, with most countries in the Lower Mekong region reporting higher levels of inflows given their rising infrastructure needs and manufacturing activities, according to a new report jointly produced by ...

Some rice businesses in the southern province of Tien Giang have begun sourcing rice from Cambodia to distribute to Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring localities, instead of that grown in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, known as the country’s granary.Trung, who runs a major rice firm ...

Hong Kong-based developer Eastland Development (HK) Ltd has expressed interest in listing on Cambodia’s stock exchange within a year.Sam Yang, the company’s chief executive, said during a recent company promotional event that Eastland is working with a local underwriter to prepare to float shares on ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen urged policymakers in Washington to expand its preferential treatment of goods imported from least-developed countries (LDCs) including Cambodia by increasing the amount of goods permitted duty- and quota-free access to the US market.“Cambodia would like to request that the US provide ...

Prince Microfinance Plc held its official opening yesterday, becoming the 49th registered microlender to operate in Cambodia’s rapidly expanding microfinance market.Hon Sorachana, CEO of Prince Microfinance Plc, said the new financial institution will focus on providing a range of credit options to Cambodians and foreigners, ...

The Securities Exchange Commision of Cambodia (SECC) held a consultation meeting with financial firms and investors yesterday to review a draft prakas on the licensing and supervision of derivatives trading. ...

Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP), the state enterprise that operates Cambodia’s second-largest port, successfully raised $5.2 million in an initial public offering that was more than 1.4 times oversubscribed, its underwriter said yesterday.Subscription for 4.1 million shares, a 20 per cent stake, of the port ...

Cambodia and Russia will sign a package of six agreements between the two countries, including on investment, and money laundering cooperation among political parties. ...

Sathapana Ltd, the third-largest microfinance institution (MFI) in Cambodia, has submitted a formal application to the central bank to merge with a local Japanese-owned bank and operate the consolidated entity as a commercial bank, a company executive said yesterday. ...

The United Kingdom sees Cambodia as a strategic location at the heart of a transportation network through Thailand, Vietnam and Laos to reach China and other countries in the region and the world, a senior UK trade official said yesterday. ...

The growth of new enterprises across many different sectors in Cambodia is driving the rapid growth of insurance premiums and policy holders, the head of the Kingdom’s insurance industry body said yesterday. ...

Cambodia’s external public debt is well within acceptable limits, but remains vulnerable to financial shocks such as export slowdowns or exchange rate fluctuations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest assessment of the Kingdom’s economy. ...

The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) and the Association for SMEs of Cambodia will jointly hold the fifth Cambodia Rice Forum to discuss the future of the country’s rice industry with major stakeholders. ...

Several trade unions representing some of the garment sector’s 700,000 workers petitioned lawmakers on Monday to make important changes to a controversial draft union law before passing it and warned of mass protests if they were ignored. ...

Hundreds gathered yesterday in Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park for the fifth Cambodian Grassroots People’s Assembly, where they called for issues ranging from deforestation to democracy to be addressed ahead of ASEAN integration. ...

A US government finance institution plans to inject more capital into Cambodia’s businesses, forecasting rapid growth in small business and microfinance institutions around the country. The development finance institution Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is looking to invest in Cambodia’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) ...

Cambodia’s total exports to Japan increased sharply over the first nine months of the year compared to last year due to flows of investment from Japan to Cambodia over the last few years, analysts said. ...

Rapid credit growth – increasingly financed by bank flows from abroad – poses significant risk to Cambodia’s economy and requires prudential policies to cool lending and reduce exposure, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in a report released yesterday. It said while Cambodia’s short-term economic ...