Economy and commerce

North Korea aims to import rice from Cambodia, as well as explore for mineral resources, officials said yesterday. High-ranking officials from Pyongyang met with their Cambodian counterparts in Phnom Penh yesterday, signing agreements on economic and trade cooperation.The two countries had signed seven cooperation agreements beginning ...

A return to work on larger construction projects in Cambodia is leading to an increase in the impartation of construction materials, experts said yesterday. Cambodia’s construction materials are generally imported from China, Vietnam and Thailand, and also as far afield as Europe, said Khuon Savuth, Statistics ...

Several securities firms are opening accounts, even as the first listing on the Cambodia Securities Exchange are not expected until later this year, company officials said yesterday. The CSX was launched on July 11 without any listed firms, though state-owned Telecom Cambodia, Phnom Penh Water Supply ...

Construction approvals granted by government authorities have increased 93 percent in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period last year, figures show. Some 1,079 potential projects worth US$637.7 million were given the go-ahead in the January to June period, compared with ...

Vattanac Properties’ construction equipment has been seized by the police after the firm ignored an order to cease work as it has damaged adjacent historic buildings while digging. The work began in mid-April and Vattanac was in the process of removing soil in order to ...

A Vietnam Electrical Equipment Corporation subsidiary has broken ground on a new factory to be built in the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (PPSEZ). THIBIDI is building a $1.5 million factory in order to manufacture transformers and will employ approximately 150 people. The plant is ...

Running down the middle of Mak Sitha’s newly renovated fashion boutique in Phnom Penh is a crack that is splitting her floor tiles in two. Yesterday, part of the floor at Lady Penh Designs began to cave into the ground. Like several other business and ...

Cigarette promoters will have to stop work when a tobacco advertisement ban takes effect in late August, a health official said yesterday. A February sub-decree, which also bans advertising tobacco in the media and on billboards, states that the “promotion of tobacco products to customers ...

Construction on Sisowath Quay by Vattanac Company has damaged an entire block of buildings after soil was removed from the site in order to shore up the sides with concrete. 11 families have been asked to move temporarily while the situation is remedied. The Foreign ...

Puma, the sportswear company, has said that it is taking the outbreak of fainting spells at its suppliers “very seriously.” The company is taking measures after a report by the Fair Labour Association found that breaches in labour laws had contributed to some 300 workers ...

Residents and business owners are seeking compensation from Vattanac after its construction project alongside Phnom Penh’s riverside Sisowath Quay damaged buildings. Pop Café, Edelweiss, the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC), and others are having insurance claims adjusters in to inspect the buildings in order to determine ...

Angkor Beer drivers forced their way through a blockade formed by beer promoters protesting the company’s failure to respect them and follow an Arbitration Council ruling that they should be paid $2 more on the weekends. 200 protestors had planned to attend but only 30 ...

In Svay Rieng province villagers are in their fourth day of protests after authorities refused to meet with them to discuss a land concession that Metapheap Company has received in order to open a rubber plantation. The company was granted a 1,230 hectare land concession ...

Cambodia’s property sector is said to be recovering from the global financial crisis according to experts. There has been a 10 percent increase in the number of transactions since 2009 with foreign investment a key aspect of the growth. The formation of anti-corruption laws has ...

Canadia Bank Plc has begun construction on a rice processing facility worth $8 million as Prime Minister Hun Sen aims to export 1 million tonnes of milled by rice a year by 2015. The new mill is being built in Takeo province and the rice ...

Cambodia has seen an increase in the number of tourist during the first six months of the year of 13 percent according to the Ministry of Tourism. Increased direct flights to Cambodia are cited as the explanation for the increase. Tourists have been coming from ...

THIBIDI has begun construction on Cambodia’s first transformer factory. The $2.5 million plant is being built in the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone. The plant is the first investment by THIBIDI overseas, as the company is from Vietnam. ...

An expected 4,500 Cambodians are expected to be working in South Korea by the end of the year, up from the estimated 2,915 according to the Ministry of Labour. The strong economy in Korea combined with a Buddhist background is a big draw for the ...

June Textiles Factory has agreed to compensate more than 4,000 workers who have lost their jobs when the factory burned down after months of protests and arbitration hearings. The announcement came from the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia that the workers would be receiving the ...

60 some Angkor beer promoters are going to hold a strike outside of the company’s Phnom Penh offices in order to draw attention to the labor violations and discrimination they’ve suffered. The strike is planned to be loud and colorful according to Cham Rong, the ...

June Textile Factory will compensation the more than 4,000 workers in accordance with an Arbitration Council ruling, granting the workers severance pay after the Phnom Penh factory burned down. According to Albert Teoh, administration director of June Textile Factory, all workers would receive the full ...

Villagers in Svay Rieng province from 10 villages have taken part in an armed protest against the granting of a land concession in the forest that will turn it into a rubber plantation. The villagers claim to have been on the land since 1979 and ...

Garment exports for the first half of 2011 have increased as demand from Europe and Asia grows. The relaxation of duty-free exports to Europe has sped the growth according to the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia. Exports are said to have increased by 32 percent ...

Chevron partner KrisEnergy Holding Company has secured $115 million for its projects in the offshore petroleum area known as Block A . Block A is leased by Chevron Overseas Petroleum Cambodia Limited with 30 percent interest, KrisEnergy Holding Company with 25 percent, Mitsui Oil Exploration ...