Trade
Exports
FAO Raises Paddy Production Outlook
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has raised its forecast of global paddy production in 2012 by about 1.5 million tonnes to 730 million tonnes (487 million tonnes, milled). The scaling up of production mainly concerned Asian countries, in particular Cambodia, ...
Development Could Mean Loss of EU Trade Preference, Ambassador Says
Cambodia could see less preferential economic treatment by Europe in coming years, as it graduates as a more developed country, the EU’s ambassador to Cambodia says. In an interview with VOA Khmer in Phnom Penh, Ambassador Jean-Francois Cautain said Cambodia currently enjoys tariff exemptions under a ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/development-could-mean-loss-of-eu-trade-preference/1631336.html
Local beer to be sold in France
Khmer Brewery, the maker of Cambodia Beer, plans to begin sales to France, the company’s third export market, this month, having tasted success in Japan and Malaysia. It is one of six breweries in the Kingdom, but the only one whose investor base is local. With ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040164803/Business/local-beer-to-be-sold-in-france.html
Kampot pepper in demand
Demand for Kampot pepper, the first Cambodian product to receive Geographical Indication (GI) status, is outpacing current supply even as areas of cultivation are expanding. Industry experts say the fast-growing demand is a result of the pepper’s newly earned GI label, which attests to its quality ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040164802/Business/kampot-pepper-in-demand.html
Thai-Cambodian trade in Surin reaches new record high
The border trade in Surin province has reportedly reached 1 billion baht for the first time. The figure is said to be the new record high as the situation on the border of Thailand and Cambodia remains calm. Surin’s trade official Sitthiporn Bangkeaw said these ...
http://www.pattayamail.com/business/thai-cambodian-trade-in-surin-reaches-new-record-high-24190
Illegal rosewood seized at border
Police have cracked down on illegal large-scale rosewood smuggling at the Cambodia-Thai border in the district of Malai. In the sting operation Tuesday night, led by Banteay Meanchey prosecutor, Phan Pirom, the authorities have seized around three tons of rosewood, hidden in the truck bed used ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=M2M4YzlhNzA2NmY
Thai Co-Op Seeks To Boost Cambodia’s Market Access
A delegation from a Thai agricultural co-operative yesterday discussed means of improving agricultural products and market access with representatives of the Ministry of Commerce in Phnom Penh. Kamit Likhitvidhayavuth of the Thai co-operative said his team aimed to strengthen market access for Cambodian goods. No agreement ...
Harta Packaging bets on Cambodian growth
Malaysia-based Harta Packaging Industries Sdn Bhd opened a new Cambodian factory to meet the demands of a growing exports sector and benefit from Sihanoukville port’s ambitious expansion plans, officials said. Harta Packaging, a wholly owned subsidiary of HPI Resources Berhad and part of the Oji Paper ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032664690/Business/harta-packaging-bets-on-cambodian-growth.html
Rice trade zone to be set up in East
The Department of Foreign Trade plans to set up a “rice trade zone” project in the East to process Cambodian rice for export to other countries. Tikhumporn Natvaratat, deputy director-general of the department, said his organisation plans to implement the project in Chanthaburi, Trat, Sa Kaeo ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/342199/rice-trade-zone-to-be-set-up-in-east
Cambodia’s total trade worth US$ 2.7-B in first 2 months, + 28%
Cambodia’s import and export trade volume had amounted to US$2.7-B in the 1st 2 months of this year, up 28% compared to the US$2.1-B in the same period last year, the statistics of the Commerce Ministry showed Friday. Main products Cambodia imported are garment and textile ...
Export plans on hold
Local instant noodle company Men Sarun failed in its plan to export canned noodles to US markets this year, and an official confirmed that failures stemmed from both the unstable market price and increasing costs of transportation. Choun Kol, deputy general director of Men Sarun Investment, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032264621/Business/export-plans-on-hold.html
Million-dollar machine sweetens outlook
Local food producer Ly Ly Food Industry had invested about $1 million for a Chinese-made machine to improve production and food quality as it prepared for the coming regional economic community, the company’s owner said yesterday. Keo Mom said a tremendous amount of goods from neighbouring ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032164553/Business/million-dollar-machine-sweetens-outlook.html
Diversify crop exports: official
CAMBODIA needs greater diversification of its exports – especially in the agricultural sector – in order to achieve sustainable economic growth, a senior official said yesterday. Economy and Finance Minister Keat Chhon raised the issue during the annual meeting of the Ministry of Commerce. Commerce Minister ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032062041/Business/diversify-crop-exports-official.html
Myanmar’s siren song
Unions and labour rights groups have spent recent months unashamedly drilling home a stark reminder: Cambodia’s minimum garment wage, at $61 per month, compares poorly with those in Thailand – where workers earn more than $200 a month – and Vietnam, which has a base ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031861998/National/myanmar-s-siren-song.html
Sugar Playing Catch-Up With Spice
Dotted with rice fields flanked by palm trees, Cambodia’s southeastern province of Kampong Speu is nothing short of picturesque. But behind the idyllic exterior is an on-going struggle to turn this region’s natural beauty into a global attraction and improve the lot of poor local farmers, ...
http://www.iede.co.uk/news/2013_1290/sugar-playing-catch-spice
Footwear Sector To Have ‘Running Room’
Cambodia’s footwear industry has experienced significant growth over the past five years, with the number of factories doubling, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. Meanwhile, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has announced it will monitor and report on footwear factories. As of November, 45 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031361901/Business/footwear-sector-to-have-running-room.html
More trade finance needed
A lack of trade financing – the loans and guarantees needed to support import and export transactions – for international deals within developing Asian countries such as Cambodia is restricting opportunities for growth, a survey by the Asia Development Bank (ADB) has found. Of 106 banks ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031361906/Business/more-trade-finance-needed.html
Rubber price falls from 2012
Thanks to seasonal demand, the price of rubber has increased from 2012’s year-end prices. But it was still slightly lower than at this time last year, a rubber-plantation owner said yesterday. Mak Kimhong, president of the Cambodia Rubber Association and owner of the Chhop Rubber Plantation ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031361907/Business/rubber-price-falls-from-2012.html
Siamese Rosewood Elevated to Protected Status
Siamese Rosewood, which is illegally logged and exported from Cambodia in large quantities, will be protected internally as a threatened species following a decision taken in Bangkok yesterday. A meeting of the 177 countries party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild ...
USDA Hikes 2013 Export Projections for Cambodia, India, U.S.
The USDA increased its rice export forecasts for India, Cambodia and the U.S. mainly due to higher production estimates in these countries. Cambodia’s 2013 rice export estimates was increased 150,000 tons to a record 975,000 tons, up about 21% from last year, said the USDA in ...
http://oryza.com/content/usda-hikes-2013-export-projections-cambodia-india-us
Waterways may reduce export costs
Cambodia’s waterways are significantly under-used for the transport of commodities such as rice, and enhanced infrastructure and a review of government fees is needed at the Kingdom’s ports to make exports more competitive, industry experts say. According to figures from the Alliance of Rice Producers and ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031261877/Business/waterways-may-reduce-export-costs.html
Animal feed lucrative but demand not being met
The production of animal feed may be lucrative for family-run businesses, but production is failing to meet the local market’s demand, said industry experts. Ros Limhy, National Agriculture adviser for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ Tonle Sap Poverty Reduction and Smallholder Development project, and ...
Millers need greater access to credit: Govt
The Ministry of Commerce and bank officials announced yesterday that they will hold a meeting next month aimed at better facilitating rice millers’ access to credit. The move is part of the Asian Development Bank’s Climate Resilient Rice Commercialization Sector Development program to address food security ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031161863/Business/millers-need-greater-access-to-credit-govt.html
Cambodia’s Economic Growth Will Help Poverty Reduction
Cambodia economic growth was 7.3 percent in 2012. Agriculture grew by 4.3 percent, crops by 4.9 percent, fisheries by 6.7 percent, industry by 9.2 percent, garment [sector] by 6.9 percent and the service industry by 8.1 percent, said Dr Hang Chuon Naron, Secretary of State ...