Economy and commerce

The foreign ministers of Thailand and Cambodia signed a memorandum of understanding in Phnom Penh yesterday reconfirming their commitment to developing their joint border with new economic zones, checkpoints and a 1,800-MW power plant. “We have agreed to create four international checkpoints to improve trade ...

Okhna Try Pheap’s ballooning empire of exclusive natural resource licences and concessions has been expanded even further with the granting of a special economic zone (SEZ) in Ratanakkiri province. The May 27 issue of the Royal Gazette reveals Pheap was granted a 136-hectare SEZ in O’Yadav ...

Motorbikes, vegetables, iPhones, artwork, or even land on which to build a house – a quick browse through website 7Makara.com gives the impression of a Cambodian eBay or Amazon. The difference, however, is that you can’t complete the transaction from the convenience of your bedroom. In ...

Thousands of Cambodians cross the border via illegal checkpoints into Thailand every year. Some end up working in slave-like conditions on illegal fishing trawlers. Others work in factories while getting paid under the table. It is often a last resort fraught with danger and uncertainty and ...

In a country where corruption is as rife as it is in Cambodia, global brands must work with governments to ensure garment factories are safe and working conditions legal, international NGO Transparency International (TI) said yesterday. In Cambodia, where two workers were killed when a ceiling ...

Oxley Holdings Ltd announced that the Group has incorporated Oxley Holdings (Cambodia) Co., Ltd. and Oxley-Worldbridge (Cambodia) Co., Ltd. in Cambodia. Oxley Holdings Cambodia has an issued capital of 20,000,000 Riel (approximately SGD6,309), divided into 1,000 shares of par value 20,000 Riel each. It is ...

Land Management Minister Im Chum Lim awarded a community of ethnic minority Banong in Mondolkiri province a communal land tile to their ancestral land last week, only the eighth communal land title to be handed out since the 2001 Land Law made them available. The title ...

Hundreds of workers were sacked at the Sabrina Garment factory on Saturday following several violent protests at the Kampong Speu province premises and the arrest of unionists involved. The firings came after workers continued to protest outside the provincial court on Friday and Saturday demanding ...

Prices in the global carbon market are too low to provide an incentive for Cambodian businesses to engage in carbon offset schemes, but there are other options for businesses to gain funds for emission reduction, industry experts say. Speaking on the sidelines of a two-day educational ...

Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong made another appeal to Australia for additional funds to complete a behind-schedule project to rehabilitate the country’s railway network, this time to newly appointed Australian Ambassador Alison Burrows, according to a ministry spokesman. While work on the Southern Line of the ...

Fifteen villagers representing 18 families from Kratie province involved in an ongoing dispute with the Sovan Vuthy Rubber Company yesterday submitted a petition to the Ministry of Land Management calling for intervention after the company allegedly cleared their farmland. The families say they have lived ...

Britain’s Minister of Trade and Investment Lord Green is starting his two week visit to Southeast Asia, to promote opportunities for British businesses, in Cambodia Monday, June 10, 2013. The promotion of British businesses is part of a larger effort to enhance the support available to ...

The wizened cyclo driver, cigarette in mouth, muscles taut from pedalling up and down French-style boulevards, is one of Indochina’s enduring romantic images. But cyclos on the streets of Phnom Penh are now outnumbered by another means of transport: the luxury car. But with the urban ...

About 200 farmers protested in front of the Ministry of Agriculture on Friday and submitted a petition requesting changes to a draft law on the management of agricultural land, which rights groups have said could effectively legalize land grabs from poor farmers. The government says the ...

Cambodia’s economy is on track to maintain its robust recovery thanks to a cocktail of private sector and government efforts. In 2012, the Asian Development Bank estimated that gross domestic product grew at a rate of 7.2 per cent, an increase from a 2011 International ...

About 250 laborers working at a newly opened $90-million sugar factory complex in Kratie province-hailed by the government as a boon to Cambodia’s economy-staged a protest last Saturday morning demanding to be reimbursed for two weeks worth of unpaid wages. District governor Heng Soha acted ...

Officials are predicting an increase in visitors and a glitzy showcase when the 5th Cambodia Gems and Jewelry Fair opens this Thursday in Phnom Penh. Set in the Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Centre, the four-day event is drawing buyers and traders to Phnom Penh amid ...

The Kampong Speu Provincial Court has denied bail for eight unionists accused of instigating violence at the Sabrina Garment factory last Monday. Kampong Speu Provincial Court judge, Cheum Rithy said yesterday that he had not approved the bail request because significant work remained in questioning ...

Cambodia’s General Department of Taxation unveiled on Friday that the country collected 395 million U.S. dollars of tax in the first five months of this year, up 24 percent year on year. In May alone, the department collected 73 million U.S. dollars, up 4 percent ...

Growing cyber attacks on government institutions and infrastructure could pose a threat to Cambodia’s vulnerable banking sector, officials with the National Cambodia Computer Emergency Response Team (CamCert) said yesterday. Speaking at the fifth annual Banking and Microfinance Conference at the Intercontinental Hotel in Phnom Penh yesterday, ...

Workers with heavy machinery began repairing Phnom Penh’s busy Street 63 on Thursday in order to get rid of the potholes and cracked concrete that has turned the street into a divot-ridden, water-logged throughway since new pipes were laid six months ago. The Japanese International Cooperation ...

Two rival workers unions continued to trade barbs Thursday, each blaming the other for a violent clash between striking garment workers and police at a factory in Kompong Speu province on Monday that saw eight people arrested. The Free Trade Union (FTU) has led strikes for ...

Private Chinese carrier Juneyao Airlines is planning to launch direct flights from Shanghai to Cambodia as soon as this month. The move – which has been labelled unrealistic – would also see the airline potentially break into the monopolised route from the Chinese city. The Shanghai-based ...

An information and communications technology (ICT) event will be held from July 5-7 this year, offering sales and networking opportunities amid a surge in ICT growth in the Kingdom. Expected to draw about 100 companies, the Mobile Social Commerce International Conference and Expo at Phnom Penh’s ...