Economy and commerce

Cambodian entrepreneurs and business leaders on Saturday stressed the challenges for firms in the hospitality and retail sectors that adopt an aggressive pricing policy, suggesting a more value-added approach instead.   ...

A local firm has seen revenues grow by adding online operations to its casino, allowing it to take bets from offshore players. Now it is designing the software that allows other casinos to get a piece of the action. ...

Food and beverage company Park Café has sold a 30 percent stake in its company to Cambodia-Laos Development Fund (CLDF) for $3 million, and the investment will be used to expand its operations in the capital and the provinces, a senior executive of the company ...

Bank of Ayudhya Pcl (Krungsri), Thailand’s fifth largest financial group and a subsidiary of Japan’s leading financial group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, has acquired a 100-per-cent stake of Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL), one of the leading microfinance institutions in Cambodia, for an undisclosed amount. ...

Revenue for the state-owed Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) surged more than 40 percent last year from 2014, according to a preliminary report released last week. ...

A visiting delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong met with relevant ministries and stakeholders yesterday to discuss the progress of Cambodia’s trade union law and the issues surrounding industrial relations in the Kingdom. ...

The flow of Korean investment into Cambodia has been in the spotlight for more than a decade, primarily foreign direct investment in the construction and property sectors. Investment from the East Asian nation continues its rise, and in 2014 South Korean investment in Cambodia ranked ...

The bipartisan committee tasked with examining the Kingdom’s controversial draft trade union law wrapped up its activities yesterday, ultimately making few of the substantive changes that unions demanded. ...

Though it’s extremely early days, experts this week welcomed Cambodia’s membership to the nascent China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), saying it would provide much-needed diversity of funding for the nation’s infrastructure and connectivity needs. ...

Rising incomes are driving the growth of new and used car sales in the Kingdom, putting pressure on the Kingdom’s limited road infrastructure, an industry specialist said yesterday. ...

Some of the country’s top business leaders laid out their main concerns with a controversial draft union law during a meeting with CPP lawmakers on Monday, including a stipulation that would let only 10 people form a union at a workplace. ...

Commercial arbitration is a swifter, less expensive and more confidential way to settle business disputes than going through the courts, and the expansion of the service here will make the investment environment more attractive, Van Sou Ieng, president of the Cambodian Federation of Employers and ...

France’s BRED Bank, one of the largest lenders in Europe, plans to open its first branch in Cambodia by the end of the year as it expands its network in ASEAN, its CEO said, adding that it aims to assist  small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) ...

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) is requiring financial institutions to gradually phase in a higher liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) to ensure sustainable growth in the industry and avoid crises.  ...

Cambodian cassava farmers are facing dropping prices in the agro commodity this season, as the lack of a domestic market and dependence on exports, which faces competition from neighbouring countries, has led them to call for government intervention. ...

Five years after setting out an ambitious 1 million-tonne milled rice export target, the rice sector fell well short of the mark last year, exporting close to 550,000 tonnes, with industry experts cautiously optimistic over export increases in 2016. ...

A $300 million sugarcane processing factory will begin producing sugar in Preah Vihear province next month and it is being described as the world’s largest such factory, according to reports in local media. ...

Cambodia’s two international ports – the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP) and Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (SAP) – yesterday reported increases in container traffic last year, with the latter looking to go public this year in a bid to fund an expansion plan. ...

Russian authorities have temporarily detained a cargo ship flying the Cambodian flag near Crimea in the Black Sea on January 3, a spokesman for Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said yesterday. ...

True Money, a new entrant to Cambodia’s growing mobile money-transfer market, said yesterday it will start operations across the Kingdom from January 1, with the first phase focusing only on local transfers, according to a company official.The money-transfer service, which comes under the Thailand-based Charoen ...

With the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) expected to intensify business competition across the region, Thailand’s biggest industrial conglomerate expects to rise to the challenge under a new leader.Kan Trakulhoon is retiring as president and chief executive of Siam Cement Group (SCG) after a decade at ...

Several new trade pacts will help Vietnam attract more foreign investors next year as the country will become more open and better connected to some of the world’s largest markets, economists say. ...

The European Union will continue to remain Cambodia’s biggest export recipient, mopping up $2.32 billion in shipments this year, with the US following a close second at $2.07 billion, according to Commerce Ministry estimates. ...

Listed hire-purchase company Thitikorn plans to open two branches in Cambodia next year, after being in the market for one year and finding huge opportunity and high demand for motorcycle lending there, managing director Prathama Phornprapha said yesterday. ...