Economy and commerce
Season’s Bountiful Fish Catch Means Prahok Will Be Plentiful
Last week marked the end of the annual fishing season and many who had gathered on the riverbanks to buy and sell fish in the Russei Keo district of Phnom Penh called it the best season in years. An abundance of fish, there were bargain prices ...
Ben Sokhean and Malia Guyer-Stevens
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/seasons-bountiful-fish-catch-means-prahok-will-be-plentiful-50893/
Major Brands Confront Cambodian Leader Over Use of Force
A coalition of 30 brands and three global unions have sent a letter to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen calling for an investigation into the recent use of deadly force against striking garment-sector workers. The letter, dated Friday, urged the government to launch a new process ...
Kate O'keeffe and Sun Narin
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304027204579330201431431652?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304027204579330201431431652.html
Chinese investment in Cambodia up in 2013
Cambodia had attracted some $427 million of investment from China last year, up 62 percent compared with the $263 million in a year earlier, according to a report by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC). The cumulative Chinese investment in Cambodia has totaled $9.6 ...
Global Times News Staff
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/838148.shtml#.Utx56xD-LIU
Cambodian, Laotian FMs to meet next week on ties
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong would meet with his Laotian counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith next week to explore possibilities to further boost bilateral ties, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday. The two top diplomats would co-chair the 12th meeting of the ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-01/17/c_133052813.htm
Bulldozers bedevil busted businessman
A businessman was tried by Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday on charges of breach of trust in connection with losing six bulldozers worth an estimated $1.7 million he had hired to dig and clear land for his Por Sen Chey district business in 2008. According to ...
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/bulldozers-bedevil-busted-businessman
Retail associations urge talks
Six major retail, footwear and garment industry associations whose members account for over 90 per cent of garment imports in the US and Canada have called on the Cambodian government, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) and unions to resume wage negotiations. The open ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/retail-associations-urge-talks
Food Vendors Feel the Bite of Soaring Inflation
Two months ago, Sok Sathya spent less than a dollar for a kilogram of oranges to sell from his sidewalk stall across from a row of garment factories in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district. Now the same oranges cost Mr. Sathya, 39, more than 6,000 riel, or ...
Hul Reaksmey and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/food-vendors-feel-the-bite-of-soaring-inflation-50773/
One Garment Strike Ends, Two Begin, Over Missing Pay
Garment workers at a Kandal province factory ended their most recent strike Thursday after management agreed to pay out part of their wages for the days they were absent during a previous strike, while workers at a Phnom Penh factory went back on strike because ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/one-garment-strike-ends-two-begin-over-missing-pay-50787/
Cambodia's trade with foreign countries reaches nearly 16 bln USD last year
Cambodia’s trade volume with foreign countries amounted to 15.9 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 18 percent compared with 13.4 billion U.S. dollars in a year earlier, according to the report of the Commerce Ministry on Wednesday. The country had exported products in equivalent to 6.9 ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2014-01/15/c_133046741.htm
Cambodia sends 22,300 laborers abroad last year
Cambodia had dispatched some 22, 300 laborers overseas in 2013, down 36 percent from 34,800 a year earlier, figures from the Ministry of Labor showed Monday. The country sent 13,170 workers to Thailand last year, down 50 percent year-on-year; 8,820 to South Korea, up 8 ...
Asean-China-Center News Staff
http://www.asean-china-center.org/english/2014-01/15/c_133047425.htm
Political issues not affecting property sector, for now
Despite recent political turbulence, local investors in the Phnom Penh property sector are not deterred and are still bullish on the market’s future prospects. One good example of this local optimism is Ly Hour Group, which recently announced it would invest more than $100 million to ...
Siv Meng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/political-issues-not-affecting-property-sector-now
Office space demand up slightly in Q4 2013
Demand for office space in Phnom Penh in the fourth quarter of 2013 grew by five per cent over the previous quarter, according to research by local property services provider VTrust Property Company. VTrust deputy director Chrek Soknim said that growth in Q4 of last year ...
Sum Manet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/office-space-demand-slightly-q4-2013
Slow year for Japanese investment
The Japanese embassy is reporting a $280 million drop in Japanese investment last year, but officials were quick to say that the numbers don’t necessarily reflect slumping investor confidence in Cambodia. Japanese investment in the Kingdom reached about $47.5 million in 2013, compared to $328 million ...
Hor Kimsay and Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/slow-year-japanese-investment
SBC to Rebrand Following Taiwan Acquisition
Locally owned Singapore Banking Corp. (SBC) will rebrand itself Thursday as Cathay United Bank (Cambodia) Corp. Ltd., or CUBC, as part of a deal that finalizes the acquisition of SBC by Taiwanese financial corporation Cathay United Bank, according to a copy of a speech that ...
Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/sbc-to-rebrand-following-taiwan-acquisition-50684/
Cambodia, ILO jointly launch job services, labor market information project with Chinese aid
Cambodia and the International Labor Organization (ILO) on Thursday launched a new project to expand job services and improve labor market information with funding from China, according to an ILO media statement. The ILO/China South-South Cooperation Project to Expand Employment Services and Enhance Labor Market Information ...
Global Times News Staff
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/837853.shtml#.UtiSiRCSxqU
Housing loans up in 2013, growth expected to continue in ’14
Last year across Cambodia’s cities, more and more people decided to take the plunge and invest in housing. This should be obvious to anyone who lived in Cambodia last year. The sounds of construction or renovation were more noticeable than before in cities across the Kingdom. Data ...
Sum Manet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/housing-loans-2013-growth-expected-continue-%E2%80%9914
Cambodia, Belarus set to boost bilateral ties
Cambodia and Belarus set to promote bilateral relations in politics, diplomacy, economics, trade, and tourism for mutual benefits of the two countries and peoples, a Cambodian spokesman said Thursday. Cambodia and Belarus established diplomatic relations in 1995, he said, adding that economic and trade relations ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-01/16/c_133049868.htm
The Sihanoukville option
As property prices in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap continue to push upwards, many investors are quickly being priced out of these first-tier markets. Looking at second-tier cities around the Kingdom, Sihanoukville in particular stands out as an investment destination worth serious consideration. Named after the ...
Chris Horton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/sihanoukville-option
Hun Sen: Minimum wage of workers cannot be increased to USD160
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday said it would be impossible to double the garment workers from USD 80 to USD 160 even though he wish to see them to have better life. “Which leaders and Prime Ministers don’t want to see their peoples have good ...
Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=M2EzNmZiZGVkNjA#sthash.0G8ytVha.dpuf
SMBC To Reinforce Biz Cooperation In Cambodia, S.Africa
Megabank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. said Tuesday that it will boost business collaboration with Acleda Bank, Cambodia’s leading commercial bank, and Absa Bank in South Africa, Japan’s Jiji Press reported. The Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. unit said it has dispatched a staff member to a ...
Bernama News Staff
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v7/wn/newsworld.php?id=1007470
Economic freedom low: report
Economic freedom in Cambodia worsened over the past year, according to the latest report from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in the US. Cambodia is ranked 108 out of 178 countries surveyed, with an overall score of 57.4, a 1.1-point dip from ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/economic-freedom-low-report
Villagers allege illicit mining by Chinese, Vietnamese firms
More than 600 families of ethnic Tumpuon villagers from Taveng district on Monday filed complaints with Ratanakkiri authorities and rights group Adhoc seeking a halt to illegal mining of gold by two companies. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/villagers-allege-illicit-mining-chinese-vietnamese-firms
Vinamilk deal to go ahead
Vietnam Dairy Product Joint-Stock Co, better-known to milk lovers as Vinamilk, was granted a licence on Monday to open a $23 million processing facility in Phnom Penh’s Special Economic Zone. A statement to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange released by the dairy giant on Monday ...
Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/vinamilk-deal-go-ahead
Garment Workers Go Back on Strike Over Unpaid Wages
Thousands of garment workers from four factories have gone back on strike this week to protest a decision by their employers to withhold pay for the days they did not work during recent nationwide strikes. Between 8,500 and 12,500 workers at four factories—two in Phnom Penh, ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/garment-workers-go-back-on-strike-over-unpaid-wages-50580/