Economy and commerce
Trade
Cambodia to levy economic land concessions tax
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday ordered investors in economic land concessions (ELC) to pay tax from the sixth year of their investment in a bid to speed up their agricultural production. The premier decided that investment companies receiving ELCs must pay the land tax ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-09/28/c_131880215.htm
Alliance an advocate for industry
The executive committee of the Alliance of Rice Producers and Exporters of Cambodia, ARPEC, decided earlier this month to set up a commercial arm to help members get financing for a variety of rice-related activities. According to ARPEC secretary-general Hun Lak and deputy secretary-general David Van, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/Special-Reports/alliance-an-advocate-for-industry.html
Piaggio's Vespa Scoots Back Into Phnom Penh
Vespa, the iconic Italian scooter, is now officially available for purchase in Cambodia-again. Italy-based automobile company Piaggio, in cooperation with the local Narita Group, opened the doors yesterday to the country’s first licensed Vespa dealership. The new Vespas range in price from $2,950 for the ...
Now available: certified chemical-free vegetables
In May, the first group of vegetable producers in Cambodia was certified on the basis of COrAA’s “Standards for Chemical-free Crop Production”. The 72 farmers, belonging to the Women Chemical-free vegetable-producing group of the Vegetable Supply Co-operative in Svay Rieng, have been producing healthy vegetables for ...
Rising world demand for Cambodian organic rice
Several ASEAN countries, including Cambodia, have witnessed a growing demand for organic rice that local producers cannot satisfy, according to Winfried Scheewe, adviser to the Cambodian Organic Agriculture Association (COrAA). Scheewe says demand for organic rice is on the rise, especially in the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, but also ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/Special-Reports/cambodian-organic-rice-on-demand.html
Kenya wants flights and rice imports
The Ambassador of African country Kenya, Richard Titus Ekai, told Deputy Prime Minister Sok An on Wednesday that he would like to see direct flights between Phnom Penh and Nairobi. Sok An met Kenyan Ambassador Ekai at his office to discuss the initiative regarding direct flights ...
Court Questions Unionist on Incitement Charges
The Kandal Provincial Court yesterday questioned labor leader Rong Chhun over allegations he incited garment factory workers to stage an illegal strike, a court official said. A director at the Tai Yang garment factory in Ang Snuol district- which supplies apparel to U.S. brands Levi Strauss, ...
Union boss grilled on incitement allegation
The president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions Rong Chhun appeared in Kandal Provincial Court for nearly three hours yesterday, fielding questions stemming from accusations of incitement and defamation, the union boss said. According to Chhun, his appearance was related to a complaint alleging that he had incited ...
Million-tonne goal still a challenge
It has been more than two years since the Cambodian government issued a rice export policy in June 2010, aiming to export a million tonnes of milled rice by 2015. However, a shortage of capital to buy unmilled rice, known as “paddy”, together with high ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/Special-Reports/million-tonne-goal-still-a-challenge.html
Mind the wage gap
Most mornings, garment worker Vicheka buys food from the street vendors outside her factory in Kampong Chhnang province. The beef and pork dishes, she says, have a tendency to give workers a stomach ache – a reputation forged long before Vicheka and her co-workers at ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012092858979/National-news/mind-the-wage-gap.html
Locals Pay Almost Double for iPhone Amid High Demand
Cambodian customers eager to buy Apple Inc.’s newest iPhone are paying almost double the company’s asking price in the U.S., phone vendors in Phnom Penh said yesterday. At about a dozen phone shops near Phnom Penh’s Central Market, vendors were doing a steady trade in the ...
Negotiations Planned to Improve Relations in Garment Sector
Negotiations between the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) and unions over a landmark agreement aimed at reducing strike action will be held on October 3, representatives said yesterday. The original agreement on improving industrial relations in the garment sector was signed in October 2010 by ...
Transport costs remain high
Cambodia’s transport costs remain high compared with those in neighbouring countries, according to a 10-container shipment comparison conducted between Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam by a Korean-owned company, Pan Continental Freight (PCF). The comparison found Cambodia’s free on board (FOB) costs were US$35 a tonne, whereas Thailand ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012092758948/Business/transport-costs-remain-high.html
Looking for a flood of investment
Cambodia’s Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said foreign investors with production bases in Thailand ought to consider Cambodia for future expansion because of the Kingdom’s greater resistance to floods. Speaking at Phnom Penh Honda’s 20th anniversary yesterday, the Commerce minister said that while Cambodia faces floods each ...
UN Says Cambodia 'Food Secure' Thanks to Gov't Policies
While the global economic crisis weakened the ability of Cambodian households to purchase food, the government’s focus on agricultural production and other policies have since helped alleviate food insecurity in the country, the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development said in a new report. Between June ...
Cambodia receives $3m grant
Cambodia will receive a grant of US$3.3 million from the World Trade Organisation to support rice milling, silk production and development of the Department of International Cooperation, according to Heng Sovannarith, communication officer for Trade Wide Sector Approach. Sovannarith said the Ministry of Commerce would receive the grant from ...
Locked-out toy makers left in lurch over wages
Employees at the First & Main cuddly-toy company arrived at work yesterday expecting to be paid outstanding wages – instead, a notice on the gates told them all equipment inside the Phnom Penh factory would be auctioned off, because the company was closing for good. The ...
China is promoting the yuan for settling trade deals with the Kingdom
Due to the expansion of economic and business activities between Cambodia and China, since early August the Bank of China has been negotiation with National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) on the promotion of business transactions in Chinese yuan. It is part of a larger but quiet ...
More R'kiri Journalists Threatened Amid Illegal Timber Trade
Just two weeks after a journalist’s bludgeoned corpse was discovered in Ratanakkiri province, a human rights group yesterday identified two more recent cases of violence or intimidation against reporters in the northeastern province. The report from Adhoc said the pressure from local journalists has occurred alongside an increase ...
LG looks to introduce Optimus G soon
One of the top three manufacturers of mobile phones for the Cambodian market, LG, is likely to roll out its new flagship product, the Optimus G, by the end of the year. Success in the smartphone market would signal a successful turnaround for LG. Prior ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012092758949/Business/lg-optimus-g-coming-soon.html
First certified organic rice heads for Europe
Five metric tonnes of certified organic rice — the first such shipment from Cambodia — will depart for the European Union this Friday. The shipment, exported from Cambodia by an entity called Green Trade, comprises three tonnes of brown rice and two tonnes of white jasmine ...
Protests call for workers to be rehired
Nearly 100 workers held a strike inside Phnom Penh’s Conpress Holdings jeans factory yesterday to demand the company allow four fired workers to return to work. The Seak Meanchey district factory, which employs more than 1,000 workers, fired the four in August because they attempted to ...
The Bottom Line
Clashes between garment workers and the local manufacturing industry came to a head in February when three women were shot while protesting for increased bonuses outside their workplace. It was almost five more months before manufacturers and governing bodies agreed to raise the earning potential ...
Global financial crisis threatens progress of least developed countries - UN report
The ongoing financial crisis and weak global economic growth have hampered development in the world’s poorest nations, a U.N. report has warned, adding that half of the world’s least developed countries now risked missing their development goals. The Enabling the Graduation of LDCs report, produced ...
http://app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=209427&Itemid=2