Economy and commerce
Trade
National Census Identifies Half-Million Businesses
Cambodia has a total of 505,134 businesses supported by a workforce of 1,676,263, just 11.56 percent of the total population, according to a nationwide economic census released yesterday by the Ministry of Planning. Of the total number of people employed in the country, 1,026,084, or 61.2 ...
Hul Reaksmey and Philip Heijmans, P.1
Kingdom’s consumers told to save gas
Economy and Finance Minister Keat Chhon yesterday urged consumers to limit their gasoline consumption in the face of rising prices, saying the Cambodian government would not boost the hundreds of millions of dollars he claimed it already offered in fuel subsidies. Speaking at the Ministry of ...
Cambodia expects 7 pct GDP growth in 2012
Cambodia’s Finance Minister Keat Chhon said Monday that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is expected at 7 % this year. The forecast is higher than that of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank — all forecast at ...
http://en.ce.cn/World/Asia-Pacific/201203/12/t20120312_23150134.shtml
Financing Cambodia's Muslims
Islamic finance could help to boost trade between Cambodia and the Middle East, as well as attract investment from Muslim-majority countries, experts said on Saturday. Knowledge of Islamic finance and banking, which bars interest lending and discourages unfair trade advantages, is almost nonexistent among Cambodia’s Muslims, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012031254976/Business/financing-cambodias-muslims.html
Gov’t, Garment Sector Silent Over Letter Urging SEZ Probe
A senior official at the Commerce Ministry and the secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) were both silent yesterday regarding a letter sent to the ministry by garment buyers on Friday, urging the government to intensify its investigation of last month’s triple ...
Cambodia expects 7 pct GDP growth in 2012: Finance Minister
Cambodia’s Finance Minister Keat Chhon said Monday that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is expected at 7% this year. Cambodia’s forecast was based on the increases in garments exports, tourist arrivals, and agriculture as well as a gradually recovered real estate sector, the ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2012-03/12/c_131462003.htm
Brands Urge Gov't to Act on SEZ Shooting
Some of the world’s largest international clothing brands, along with foreign labor protection groups, have called on the Cambodian government to intensify its investigation of last month’s triple shooting of spectators at a Svay Rieng special economic zone. Signed by several of the biggest customers ...
Anco report flawed: auditor
The auditor who submitted a report used to convict a husband and wife of embezzling tens of millions of dollars from a company owned by the wife of a tycoon senator admitted yesterday that the quality of his audit was “poor”. The report was used ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012030954952/National-news/anco-report-flawed-auditor.html
Cashew Prices Down 40% as Demand sinks
New limitations on Vietnamese exports of processed cashews and slowing demand on the international markets is expected to decrease the price of raw cashews by roughly 40 percent this year, sparking concerns among Cambodian farmers, who are now midway through the harvest season, traders and ...
US-Asean Delegation to visit Cambodia this month
A US-Asean Business Council delegation will visit Phnom Penh on March 19 and 20 to meet with government officials about current or potential investments in the country, American Cambodian Business Council President Bretton Sciaroni said. The meeting comes after a delegation of 11 Fortune 500 ...
Japan Asks for Tax Breaks, Better Regulations
The Japanese Embassy in Phnom Penh appealed to the Cambodian government Tuesday to help encourage Japanese investment here by providing corporate tax holidays and reducing notoriously high customs tariffs by adopting more transparent and efficient practices. According to a set of requests prepared by the ...
Increasing prices drive Kingdom’s rubber
Rubber production in early 2012 increased 21 per cent when compared to the end of 2011, according to Mak Kim Hong, president of the Cambodian Rubber Association. He said yesterday that the price of one tonne of good-quality rubber rose to US$3,800 in early 2012, ...
ASEAN plans to adopt an 'ASEAN bank' system
Central banks in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plan to set up an “ASEAN bank” system that would make it easier for designated banks to set up subsidiaries and operate throughout the region, according to official sources. The plan to set up ASEAN banks is ...
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/business/news/20120307p2g00m0bu116000c.html
National products chase GI recognition
A lack of funds would prevent Cambodia registering some of the country’s specialty products as geographic indications (GI), a form of international recognition that has boosted the sales of other domestic products such as Kampong Speu palm sugar. The government would like to see Siem Reap ...
Cambodia’s trade with Hong Kong jumps 22%
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and Hong Kong rose more than 22 per cent year-on-year in 2011, according to data from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, whose regional base is in Hanoi. Total trade was US$741 million, compared with $607 million in 2010. Cambodia’s exports to Hong ...
Kingdom's first gem-testing lab opens
London-based checker of rare gems and jewellery Intertek has established a laboratory in Cambodia to help regulate and provide guidelines for the gem trade. Officially opening today, it is the Kingdom’s first gem laboratory. Intertek director in Cambodia Khut Sothy said the country had been ...
UN labour agency troubled by Cambodia's failure to arrest gunman
The United Nations‘ labour agency said Tuesday international buyers were “extremely concerned” at Cambodia‘s failure to arrest the suspect in last month‘s shootings of three garment workers at a subcontractor for German sportswear firm PUMA SE. Jill Tucker, technical advisor to the International Labour Organization, said ...
Whereabouts of Bavet governor still a mystery
Government and police officials were at a loss yesterday to pinpoint the whereabouts of the Bavet town governor, who has been identified as a suspect in the shooting of three women at a protest two weeks ago. An arrest warrant had still not been issued for ...
Kampot dredging escalates
Dredging in Kampot has escalated in the face of community concerns, with more boats now mining sand right in front of the provincial capital and dumping vast amounts of it directly outside the provincial land management authority. The Post counted a total of 17 boats ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012030554851/National-news/kampot-dredging-only-grows.html
Chea Mony sued over strike
Kampong Chhnang Provincial Court has summonsed Free Trade Union president Chea Mony and two of his officers to answer incitement charges at the court tomorrow relating to his alleged involvement in a mass strike at a garment factory last year, officials said yesterday. M&V garment factory ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012030554857/National-news/chea-mony-sued-over-strike.html
Police Confiscate Trucks Smuggling Thai Gasoline
Police in Siem Reap province said yesterday that they confiscated two trucks in Varin district Friday morning carrying 24,228 liters of gasoline believed to have been smuggled from Thailand. Soeun Sem, chief of the Siem Reap economic police, said that officers apprehended the two ...
Police Arrest TTY Manager Over Shooting
Kratie provincial police have arrested the general manager of TTY rubber company, and he is now facing charges for his role in a Jan. 18 shooting of four villagers by the company’s armed guards, police and court officials said yesterday. Authorities arrested two TTY guards ...
Corn sales fall, profits sought in cassava
Revenues from Cambodian corn exports fell by 52 per cent last year as farmers scrapped the crop for the more lucrative, but less stable, cassava plant. The Kingdom exported 35,381 tonnes of corn, worth US$2.2 million, in 2011, down from 86,533 tonnes worth $4.57 million the ...
Photo Said to Show SEZ Shooter With Police
A week and a half after a uniformed man opened fire on three female protesters at a special economic zone in Svay Rieng province, a photograph surfaced in a local newspaper on Friday showing the alleged gunman brandishing a pistol and surrounded by police and ...