Economy and commerce

Public and private sector representatives have urged the Cambodian government to fast-track policies to foster a more “formalised”, compliant and productive small- to medium-size enterprise (SME) sector. Chea Serey, director general at the National Bank of Cambodia said the high cost of regulatory compliance, a ...

The Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone has 77 tenants from nine countries and 80 per cent occupancy, but high electricity costs and corruption remain a drag on profits. The main issue is electricity costs, says PPSEZ chief executive Hiroshi Umaetsu. “If [electricity] goes from 19 ...

Two Southeast Asian countries not particularly known for large agricultural exports, Myanmar and Cambodia, have both declared that they want to participate in the global rice business by intensifying rice farming and milling across their respective countries with the help of foreign investors, including from ...

Vietnamese businesses invested more than US$1.78 billion abroad last year, according to the Planning and Investment Ministry’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA). Among them, Tanzania was the leading investment destination for Vietnamese investors, in terms of registered capital and accounted for 34 per cent of Viet ...

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Thursday that further integration in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will result in the emergence of a new economic power in the region. ...

Both deposits and loans in Cambodia’s banking sector increased about 30 per cent last year, a rise that industry insiders say is a productivity boost for the Kingdom’s economy. By the end of December, deposits at all Cambodian banks reached $10 billion, a 32 per cent ...

Food and beverage imports to Cambodia have fallen over the past 12 months, marking a notable shift in domestic production and the public’s recognition of the “Made in Cambodia” brand, officials say. Cambodia spent around $223 million on food and beverage imports to supply the domestic ...

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) lacks the resources to enforce regulatory standards and bail out underperforming banks during times of need, credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s says. Cambodia’s banking sector was labelled high-risk, with a score of nine out of 10 on S&P’s2014 Banking ...

Quarry machinery supplier SCH Group Bhd (SCH) is in negotiations to form a US$50,000 (RM178,000) joint venture (JV) with a local company in Cambodia to expand its distribution and supply of industrial products business there. ...

High returns on investment and healthy interest rates are helping Cambodia’s microfinance sector continue its rapid expansion, according to Cambodia-based investment firm Mekong Strategic Partners. With an average of 22 per cent return on equity and 48 per cent increase in loans across Cambodia’s 27 microfinance ...

Cambodia recorded a 33 percent rise in dry rubber exports volume in 2014, but the revenue decreased by 8 percent due to a plunge in global rubber price, according to figures from the Ministry of Commerce on Saturday. ...

Bilateral trade between Cambodia and the United States was valued at 3.17 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, a 5 percent rise from 3.01 billion U.S. dollars in 2013, the figures of the U.S. Department of Commerce showed Friday. ...

Cambodian Minister of Commerce Sun Chanthol said Friday that the country is unlikely to achieve its self-imposed target of exporting one million tons of milled rice by 2015 due to lack of milling capacity and funding. ...

A return to political stability means business confidence in the Cambodian economy remains buoyant, but ongoing government reforms are now needed to give companies greater assurance of future growth prospects, according to the latest business confidence survey from ANZ Royal Bank. The ANZ Royal Business Confidence ...

Trade volume between Cambodia and its neighboring Thailand topped 5 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, an 11 percent increase from last year’s 4.5 billion U.S. dollars, a Cambodian commerce official said Thursday. ...

Exports of crude palm oil from the Mong Reththy company – the Kingdom’s sole producer of the product – increased 16 per cent last year, although prices were down about $200 per tonne from 2013. ...

Cambodia’s economy grew by 7.2 percent in 2014, driven by garment exports, agriculture, tourism and construction, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday. ...

New and existing companies listed on the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) will have their taxes halved by the Cambodian government, a move that is being labelled as a generous attempt to boost activity on the bourse. The sub-decree, which was signed off by Prime Minister Hun ...

Officials have released a public statement warning against a rise in unlicensed lenders they say are dangerously operating outside of Cambodian regulations and threatening financial stability. In a joint declaration from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the National Bank of Cambodia on Monday, authorities ...

The total amount of savings at Cambodia’s deposit-taking microfinance institutions (MFIs) reached $897 million by the end of 2014, more than doubling from its 2013 base of $445 million, according to figures from the Cambodian Microfinance Association (CMA). Prasac is the largest MFI with deposits ...

Australian-listed firm Donaco International, which currently has operations in Vietnam, has confirmed it is entering Cambodia’s already-crowded casino and gaming industry. The company announced on Friday that it had entered into an acquisition agreement to purchase the Star Vegas Resort and Club casino in Cambodia’s Poipet ...

KPMG Cambodia has bought out one of its local competitors in an effort to position itself as a leader in accounting, taxation and advisory services before ASEAN integration later this year. A statement issued Friday by KPMG states that the firm acquired Premier Consulting (Cambodia) Limited, ...

The United Nation’s human rights envoy Surya Subedi met yesterday with the president of Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, Kith Meng, to discuss human rights and economic growth in the Kingdom. At the top of the agenda was the management of economic land concessions and the role ...

Two Cambodian university students won $8,000 on Monday by placing second in a regional stock trading competition, after making it to the final round of the contest ahead of nearly 2,000 other teams from across Southeast Asia. ...