Economy and commerce

Bilateral trade between Cambodia and neighboring Vietnam grew by 17 per cent in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period last year, a decrease from previous years, the Vietnam Trade Office in Cambodia said yesterday. The data showed a total trade volume ...

The Asian Development Bank is considering providing funds to a controversial 400 megawatt dam project in Laos that could have adverse impacts on the Mekong River in downstream Cambodia. Conservation group International Rivers wants the Lao government to pull the plug on the $1 billion Xe ...

The sale and purchase of land along the four major boulevards in Phnom Penh climbed up to 40 per cent in the third quarter of 2012, while the construction of offices is gradually on the rise, according to real estate experts. The growth of land prices ...

The number of foreign owners of houses in Cambodia has soared in recent years after the government permitted foreigners to have rights over owning real estate in the Kingdom, according to officials of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. Speaking at the opening of ...

Some Cambodian foodstuffs contained potentially harmful preservatives used to extend the shelf life of the products and ensure profits, an official said yesterday. Pork Sovannarith, secretary of state for the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, said some food producers continued to use preservatives that could ...

Cambodia Airports estimates the number of passengers entering via Cambodia’s two international airports will increase by an average 8.8 per cent in 2013. That prediction is 1.2 per cent lower than the 2012 projection of a 10 per cent increase. The lower forecast is due to the ...

A report released by the World Bank on Tuesday highlighted Cambodia as the most improved country in terms of businesses getting credit, due to the establishment of the country’s first credit bureau in March. Cambodia ranked 133 out of 185 in the World Bank’s report, up from 141 ...

Profits at Cambodia’s largest banks continued to grow through the first nine months of the year as loan disbursals across the sector increased by about 30 percent compared to the same period in 2011, bankers said yesterday. Acleda Bank, the largest bank in the country, this week posted ...

The value of construction projects approved by the government during the first nine months of the year reached $1.83 billion, an 83.61 percent increase compared to the same period in 2011, according to data released yesterday by the Ministry of Land Management. Tith Khemra, director of ...

Cambodia has made almost no progress over the past six years when it comes to gender equality, and is still the lowest-ranked country in the region, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2012 Gender Gap Index. Ranked 103 out of 135 countries surveyed, Cambodia placed last ...

Cambodia had granted operating licenses to 2,606 new companies in the first nine months of this year, a 11 percent rise from 2,336 new firms at the same period a year ago, the report of the Commerce Ministry showed Wednesday. Those companies are dealing in the ...

Siam Cement PCL’s (SCC.TH) third-quarter net profit fell 13% as higher expenses and cost of sales weighed, but the fall in earnings at Thailand’s largest industrial conglomerate by revenue was in line with analysts’ expectations. Despite the profit decline, the conglomerate said before Wednesday’s earnings statement ...

H&M workers in Cambodia are only paid 3 kronor ($0.45) an hour, forcing many into debt to feed their families, according to a report on the TV4 documentary Kalla Fakta (The Cold Facts) Many textile workers therefore borrow money for food, leading to considerable debts with ...

A total of 2,606 new businesses were registered in Cambodia during the first nine months of the year, an increase of 11.6 percent compared to the same period last year, data released yesterday by the Ministry of Commerce shows. According to the figures, the ministry approved 306 new ...

In order for Cambodia to maintain the same rate of growth it has enjoyed in the past few years, exports need to diversify from textiles and tourism to modern services, said the World Bank’s country manager yesterday in Phnom Penh. “Cambodian firms are already tentatively exporting ...

Cambodia rose five places to rank 133rd out of 185 countries in the World Bank’s annual Doing Business report released yesterday, with the bank attributing the rise for the most part to the successful launch of the country’s credit bureau. Compared to other countries in the ...

Government-issued economic land concessions are making the country’s indigenous communities in the northeast provinces worse off, according to a study by the Mekong Institute of Cambodia. Presented yesterday at the 2012 Development Research Forum in Phnom Penh, the study comes on top of mounting criticism of ...

The South East Asian business elite and 16 Heads of States and Governments will meet in Phnom Penh when the 9. ASEAN Business & Investment Summit will be held as an official side event to the ASEN Leaders Summit and the ASEN Leaders Summit (EAS) “Interest ...

Onyx Hospitality Group is looking to expand its portfolio to the “CLMV” countries of Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, as well as to Malaysia, as it positions itself to reap the benefits of upcoming Asean economic integration The Thailand-based hotel group, whose goal is to become ...

Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand, Japan, Malaysia and Korea have sent home an average of US$360 million a year in remittances, according to Seng Sakada, general director of Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training. Overseas Cambodian migrants mainly work in the fields of housework, construction, factories ...

The private company HOdo Group Co Ltd, a textile and garment company in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, is looking to expand its presence in Sihanoukville, a province in southern Cambodia, in an attempt to diversify its business. Zhou Haijiang, president of the company, said it has made ...

A new banking settlements system called CHANCES, dealing exclusively in the Chinese currency renminbi (RMB), aims to make trade between China and the ASEAN countries easier and less expensive. Owned and operated by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the CHANCES system stands for ...

Seventy percent of all outbound parcels leaving Cambodia via the state-owned postal service contain local food products that are delivered to Cambodians living abroad, an official at Cambodia Post said yesterday. Ork Bora, general director of Cambodia Post, said that of the total 26,678 packages, not ...

Owners of local businesses along six streets near the Royal Palace that have been closed to prevent excessive noise during the three-month mourning period for late King father Norodom Sihanouk said yesterday that the road blocks are having a negative impact on their trade. Gated roadblocks ...