Economy and commerce

In the past month, ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded its outlook for two of Cambodia’s largest commercial banks. On September 2, Acleda Bank’s performance outlook went from “stable” to “negative” due to risks associated with rapid credit growth and a drain on local currency by depositors. ...

Sihanoukville Autonomous Port revenues increased more than 16 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of 2011, according to port officials. Cambodia’s largest port generated US$21 million in revenues between January and August, up from $18 million in the same period last year, SAP Director General ...

Thailand is reportedly preparing to re-enter negotiations with Cambodia on the Overlapping Claims Area after officials from the two countries talked this week at the ASEAN Energy Business Forum in Brunei. Thai Energy Minister Pichai Naripthaphan said yesterday that he met informally with Ministry of Industry ...

At least 22 families living in the capital’s Chamkarmon district say they are being forced to sell their land at below market value to Thailand’s Bun Roong Company in order to make way for a housing development. Village representative Chhim Veasna said on Wednesday that the ...

An opposition Sam Rainsy Party activist who was badly beaten on September 16 by riot police during a protest against the demolition of homes at Boeng Kak lake filed a complaint yesterday with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court against developer Shukaku Inc and the officers ...

The Asian Development Bank yesterday said it had never authenticated a June 17 letter from Finance Minister Keat Chhon that claimed an ADB consultant urged the government to target advocacy groups critical of an ADB-funded railway project. In a copy of the letter obtained earlier this ...

Camcontrol Directorate General revenue from goods inspections during the first half of the year increased by more than 32 percent compared to the same period last year, according to Ministry of Commerce data. Camcontrol, or the Cambodia Import-Export Inspection and Fraud Repression Directorate General, which regulates ...

Armed villagers from Kratie province’s Snoul district protested yesterday against district officials and a Vietnamese company they believe wants to cheat them out of their farmland. The rights to 300 hectares of land around Sre Cha commune’s Meanchey village have been highly disputed since 2008, when ...

The senior manager of Tomato Specialized Bank yesterday said the bank would continue to operate in Cambodia despite a decision by South Korea’s financial regulator to suspend one of its partners. Korea’s Financial Services Commission on Sunday announced that seven banks, including the Tomato Savings Bank, ...

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) will enter Cambodia’s banking sector in November to become the country’s 30th commercial bank to date, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. The report said that ICBC president Yang Kaisheng had met with Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday ...

Gliding through the water almost soundlessly, the MS AmaLotus docked for only its second time in Phnom Penh last week At 92 meters in length and capable of holding 124 passengers, the AmaLotus is the latest cruise ship to start transporting tourists between Siem Reap and ...

The Kingdom’s small and medium enterprises have called on commercial banks and micro-finance institutions to lower interest rates on loans, as insiders have said they hamper SMEs’ potential for growth. Many Cambodian SMEs are concerned that the high interest rates offered by banks reduce productivity, according ...

Moody’s Investment Services yesterday announced a change in outlook for Cambodian Public Bank to “negative” from “stable”, citing increasing risks in the Kingdom’s banking system and exposure to slow-downs in Western markets. While CamPu Bank country head Phan Ying Tong said yesterday the company’s financial position ...

Japanese financial group SBI Holdings Inc announced yesterday that it would launch a $50 million investment fund with The Royal Group to invest in local companies in a wide range of industries. In a statement, SBI Holdings also said that its securities company in Cambodia, SBI ...

Mining concession buy-outs will make Brighton Mining Limited one of the Kingdom’s largest miners by concession size in Cambodia’s Mondulkiri province, according to a company statement released yesterday. Brighton, an ASX-listed company, has completed negotiations with Summer Gold Investment Pty Limited for mining concessions in Mondulkiri ...

Cambodia and Vietnam yesterday pledged to strengthen cooperation on a range of issues involving trade and investment, in order to boost increasing trade between the neighbouring countries. Bilateral trade between the nations is currently in its most significant period, with trans-border business continuing to grow, Cambodia ...

Shanghai Construction Group has announced it will complete US$700 million in projects in Cambodia over the next five years, highlighting China’s dominant and still-growing presence in the Kingdom. The company presently oversees nine bridge and road construction projects in the Kingdom, according to government relations officer ...

Fueled by a rise in food prices, inflation reached 7.1 percent in July compared to the same month last year, according to data released by the National Institute of Statistics According to the data, the price of meat increased by 16.4 percent in July compared to ...

Phnom Penh Autonomous Port plans to join three other state-owned enterprises in listing on the recently launched Cambodian Securities Exchange, an official said yesterday Hei Bavy, the port’s director general, said that Finance Minister Keat Chhon has spoken to officials at the port, expressing his interest ...

TNT Express linked its Chinese day-definite domestic road services into its Asia Road Network. This has created the only scheduled day-definite road network covering China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, said the operator. CEO Marie-Christine Lombard said: “With the integration of TNT’s two ...

HCM CITY — The HCM City government will offer interest-free loans to local companies doing business in the city, Laos and Cambodia. With a stimulus package of VND8 trillion (US$381 million), the city has approved interest-fee loans of up to VND100 billion ($4.7 million) over ...

Brighton Mining Group (ASX: BTN) has completed negotiations for the acquisition of a major interest in gold mining assets held directly or indirectly by Brighton Mining Limited (BML), boosting its concession holdings in Cambodia. These include the interest of BML in the Cambodian concessions held by ...

Singapore’s decades-long effort to reclaim land from the ocean has expanded the nation’s coastline and fueled its building boom. But it has also depleted its supply of sand.  In recent years, the massive sand shortage has been worsened by export bans by neighboring countries, driving ...

The Kingdom’s total trade with Singapore soared 148 percent in the first half of the year, while exports to Hong Kong increased 80 percent in the same period, according to Ministry of Commerce figures. The data showed that Cambodia’s exports to Hong Kong totalled in excess ...