Infrastructure
Electricity infrastructure
France Ready for Talks on Gas Power Plant
Utilities giant Electricite de France (EdF) is preparing to enter negotiations with Cambodia over the construction of a power plant to use up natural gas locked up in disputed waters off the country’s coast, France’s ambassador-in-waiting to Cambodia said on Tuesday. Serge Mostura, who is still ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/france-ready-for-talks-on-gas-power-plant-9596/
Cambodia attracts 9.17 bln USD investment from China in last 18 years
Cambodia has attracted 9.17 billion U.S. dollar investment from China in the last 18 years ( 1994-2012), making China become the largest investor in this country, showed a government report on Wednesday. According to the report, China’s investment in Cambodia focused on the fields ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-02/06/c_132154931.htm
Russian Firm Steps Up Dam Deal
Laos has stepped up plans for three hydropower dams on Mekong River tributaries, updating an eight-year-old deal with a Russian investor to build the projects for U.S. $1.5 billion. Lao authorities signed a project development agreement with Russia’s Regional Oil for the Sekong 4, Sekong 5, ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/hydropower-02062013151208.html
Relocation site has villagers worried
Villagers facing relocation from the site of the planned Lower Sesan 2 dam in Stung Treng province were told last week that they would be moved 15 kilometres from the river they rely on for fishing, a commune chief said yesterday. Seak Mekong, commune chief in ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013020661210/National/relocation-site-has-villagers-worried.html
Draft Law for Lower Sesan Dam Details Plans for Compensation
A draft law on the financing of a controversial dam project in Stung Treng province obtained yesterday shows that about $38 million will be spent on the resettlement of almost 800 families. This marks a significant decrease from the more than 1,000 families the companies ...
Company Building Lower Sesan 2 Dam Gets OK to Clear Land
Representatives of a massive hydropower dam project in Stung Treng province’s Sesan district approached local authorities late last month informing them that the government had granted the company permission to clear 36,000 hectares of land for a reservoir, officials said on Sunday. The 400-megawatt Lower Sesan ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/company-building-lower-sesan-2-dam-gets-ok-to-clear-land-9252/
Cambodia's fuel needs increased in 2012
Cambodia spent more than $1.6 billion importing fuel oil and petrol last year, a figure 14.3 per cent higher than for 2011, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday. The money spent on importing 1.6 million tonnes of petrol and fuel oil – 100,000 tonnes more than ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013013161091/Business/cambodia-s-fuel-needs-increased-in-2012.html
Dam in Northeast Built on Earthquake Site, Study Finds
Experts are recommending that a proposed dam on the Sesan River in northeast Cambodia be equipped with earthquake protection measures, after discovering a quake occurred in the area some 30 years ago. The proposed Lower Sesan II dam would be situated on a site in Stung ...
Villagers Still in the Dark About Lower Sesan Hydropower Dam
Thousands of villagers who will lose their land to the construction of the Lower Sesan 2 dam in Stung Treng province later this year have not been told of the government’s plans for their resettlement and compensation, a new study released yesterday shows. Through interviews with ...
LED lights’ lure of lower electricity bills
The locally based Global Media Group is bringing the latest LED lighting technology to the Cambodian market in an effort to reduce people’s electricity bills. GMG assistant chief executive Bun Sim said the company would use all its know-how, as well as experts from South Korea, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012460969/Business/led-lights-lure-of-lower-electricity-bills.html
Interesting times for Phnom Penh office market
Worldwide, office demand stemmed from the automotive, high-tech and energy industries. The latter is evident in Cambodia, where drilling off the coast near Sihanoukville has helped to increase office demand. Thus, companies such as Total and Chevron are large office occupiers, and new Japanese oil ...
Chinese Mining Firm Plans Siem Reap Extraction
A Chinese conglomerate headed by an adviser to Senate President Chea Sim plans to begin extracting gold and copper in Siem Reap province in two months, the firm’s chairman said yesterday. Khmer Holding, a group of companies that claims vast mineral interests in Cambodia, opened an ...
Petronas still eyeing Cambodia
After closing the last of its 19 petrol stations in Cambodia in April 2010, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is again eyeing the country’s oil and gas (O&G) sector. This will see Chevron and its partners developing the country’s first offshore oil field this year. According to ...
http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/highlights/229579-petronas-still-eyeing-cambodia.html
Vietnam and Cambodia hit back
Vietnam urged Laos to halt construction of a $3.5 billion hydropower dam pending further study, environmental activists said on Friday after a meeting of the Mekong River Commission. The activists said Cambodia, also downriver from the Xayaburi dam, accused Laos during heated discussions on Wednesday and ...
http://bdnews24.com/environment/2013/01/21/vietnam-and-cambodia-hit-back
Anti-Corruption Unit Arrests Staff at UK Biofuel Firm
The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has arrested two employees of a local company linked to a British biofuel firm currently under investigation by the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), an official said Friday. ACU President Om Yentieng said that International Green Energy (IGE) director Oum Samnang, and ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/anti-corruption-unit-arrests-staff-at-uk-biofuel-firm-7972/
Cambodian miner Khmer Resources plans to tap Hong Kong capital market
Khmer Resources Investment, which is backed by the Cambodian government, aims to list in Hong Kong within two years, chairman Cao Yunde said. “We intend to leverage the capital market of Hong Kong to finance our growth through a public listing so as to maximise the ...
Laos defends actions on Xayaburi at MRC meet
Laos yesterday defended its decision to begin building the Xayaburi dam amid criticism from Cambodia on a lively final day of the Mekong River Commission’s annual council meeting in Luang Prabang, Laos. According to separate sources who attended, Cambodia spoke out against Laos for “misinterpreting” the ...
Groups slam ministers' failure to discuss Xayaburi Dam
Regional conservationists criticised the Mekong River Commission (MRC) yesterday for leaving the controversial Xayaburi Dam off its agenda at this week’s annual ministerial meeting in Luang Prabang, Laos. Laotian authorities said they would confirm their decision to go ahead with the hydropower project in the mainstream ...
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/aec/Groups-slam-ministers-failure-to-discuss-Xayaburi--30198036.html
Investment Figures Show Billions of Dollars from China
China has become Cambodia’s biggest investor, putting some $8.8 billion into the country over nearly two decades, according to online data from the government’s lead investment agency. Those investment numbers, from the Council for the Development of Cambodia, from 1994 to 2011, do not take into ...
Xayaburi dam stirs debate on Mekong River Commission
When ministers from the four member countries of the Mekong River Commission and donors meet in Luang Prabang, Laos this week, the future role of the agency will be on the table. Questions about the effectiveness of the Mekong River Commission, set up in 1995 to ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/330603/xayaburi-dam-stirs-up-debate-on-mekong-river-commission
Firm to File Criminal Complaint Against Mfone
Norwegian energy firm Eltek Valere will file a criminal complaint today against mobile phone operator Mfone over an agreement that was signed last week to shift Mfone’s existing subscribers to MobiTel, according to a lawyer representing Eltek. The decision by the Thai-owned mobile operator Mfone to ...
Energy security linked to firm borders
Energy supplies will be more secure once territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia are resolved, Department of Mineral Fuels director-general Songpob Polchan said on Friday. Mr Songpob said that the sooner Thailand and Cambodia are able to work out their differences, the sooner they can exploit ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/330370/end-to-border-row-to-help-energy-sector
NGOs call for discussion of Xayaburi dam at meet
A coalition of NGOs has called on Cambodia’s National Mekong Committee (CNMC) to push for the Xayaburi dam to be added to the agenda of a regional Mekong River meeting next week. Chhith Sam Ath, executive director of NGO Forum on Cambodia, said it was disappointing ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/National/ngos-call-for-discussion-of-xayaburi-dam-at-meet.html
Xayaburi dam not on agenda
The Mekong River Commission (MRC) will forgo an opportunity to voice opposition to the Xayaburi dam project – which member state Laos began building in November – when it meets for its annual council meeting next week. Surasak Glahan, communications officer with the MRC secretariat, confirmed ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010860670/National/xayaburi-dam-not-on-agenda.html