Economy and commerce

Japanese construction investment approvals are ranked third this year, behind China and Korea, accounting for $108 million in approved projects, according to Im Chhun Lim, minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. ...

Five rural credit operators signed an agreement to join the Credit Bureau Cambodia on Thursday as the watchdog and the National Bank of Cambodia ramp up efforts to better monitor the country’s expansive, but largely informal, rural lending industry. ...

Cambodia’s microfinance sector is continuing to grow at a rapid pace, with loan disbursements in the first six months of this year increasing almost 50 percent on last year, according to an industry association. ...

Cambodia is expected to reach a GDP per capita of $1,220 this year, putting it on course to being a lower-middle income economy, said Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol, who was attending a meeting with Macau entrepreneurs in Phnom Penh yesterday. ...

New shipping agreements will soon be signed between companies in Cambodia and China that will see the Kingdom’s largest port continue its transformation into a regional hub, port officials say. ...

Cambodia’s Commerce Ministry has agreed to invest $450,000 as a one time seed capital in the country’s rice sector to help boost exports, local sources quoted an official from the Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF). ...

China’s tumbling stock market may impact tourism to Cambodia, but it is not likely to reduce Chinese investment in the Kingdom, analysts and executives say. ...

A group of Cambodia’s businessmen will attend the upcoming trade exhibition in Macau this year, said ministry of commerce. ...

Cambodian rice exporters are worried of losing market share in the European Union (EU) market if the EU-Vietnam Bilateral Free Trade Agreement (EU-V BFTA) is finalized, according to local sources. ...

Chinese-owned Southeast Asia Telecommunications, Seatel, has officially launched its 4G network in Cambodia after entering the country’s oversubscribed telco sector last year, a local newspaper reported Monday. ...

The government has set aside some $33 million to finish rebuilding Cambodia’s northern rail line by late next year, according to the Transportation Ministry, reanimating a long-delayed and over-budget project that had been one of the Asian Development Bank’s priorities in the country. ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday encouraged the China Road and Bridge Corporation to continue investing in Cambodia in order to help the country develop infrastructures. ...

The governor of the National Bank of Cambodia hit out at unlicensed microfinance institutions or lenders, who he said were the reason why interest rates in the sector were high, despite interest rates falling among registered lenders. ...

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has given Cambodian microfinance institute Hattha Kaksekar Ltd (HKL) a loan of up $10 million, aiming to boost access to finance to small- and medium-sized enterprises in Cambodia’s rural areas.​ ...

Russia is looking to up its investment in agricultural products, mainly rice and seafood, and the tourism sector in the Kingdom, after Russian Minister for Communications and Mass Media Nikolay Nikiforov met with Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol last week.  ...

The Ministry of Commerce received more than 2,100 new business registrations in the first half of the year, surpassing the 2,020 registrations received at the halfway mark of 2014. ...

The formalisation of Cambodia’s derivatives sector will provide budding investors with more choices for their portfolio – although at a risk, insiders say.After years of deliberation, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) on July 2 passed a prakas, or regulation, which allows individuals ...

Vietnam and China are gaining new impetus in economic relations, as evidenced by the continuous growth in bilateral trade revenue in the first half of 2015.Statistics from Vietnam’s General Statistics Office (GSO) released on Monday showed that China remained the largest trade partner of Vietnam ...

Riverorchid Group, a Thai marketing and communication agency specialising in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV), has said advertising spending in the region will continue to grow and play an increasingly important role in brand communication, particularly for Thai companies. ...

Cambodia has moved to formalise its ill-regulated derivatives sector by launching a key regulation earlier this month.On July 2, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) approved the prakas on the “Licensing and Supervision of Derivative Trading”. ...

The Cabinet approved a Law on Accounting and Audits at a meeting Friday morning. ...

China is the Kingdom’s top rice importer, and is also bringing in Cambodian cassava, rubber, cashews, peppers and a small amount of corn. But experts say efforts to increase export shipments and open Asia’s biggest market to new products will fall short unless Cambodia addresses ...

Thailand wants more Japanese businesses to expand their investment in Thailand, especially in government-promoted special economic zones (SEZs) that could be used as production bases once the Asean Economic. ​ The prime minister said Thai border trade of 900 billion baht a year could potentially grow ...

High electricity prices, low wages, limited irrigation and modest rice and crop prices were among the top concerns raised by government officials at a workshop in Phnom Penh on Monday to help the World Bank decide how to spend its money on the country over ...