Infrastructure
Norwegian Energy Firm Eltek Demands Mfone Pay Up
Norwegian energy firm Eltek on Thursday demanded $5 million it is owed from bankrupt telecommunications company Mfone by the end of October and blamed the court and the government for stalling payment. During a meeting at Mfone’s headquarters in Phnom Penh’s Boeng Keng Kang III commune, ...
Simon Henderson and Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/norwegian-energy%E2%80%88firm-eltek-demands-mfone-pay-up-42823/
Slums in capital decried
Unicef during a discussion yesterday pressured the Phnom Penh Municipality to develop a plan to eradicate slums in the capital, but government officials offered no quick fixes. According to the municipality, there are 281 slum communities in the capital, which 2,033 families call home. Earlier this month, ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/slums-capital-decried
Philippine Airlines plans to add routes to Cambodia
Philippine Airlines plans to launch flights between the Philippines and Cambodia, according to an aviation official. The move would break the monopoly of domestic competitor Cebu Pacific Air, which started flying the route in April last year. Aviation authorities in the Philippines sent a letter to ...
Anne Renzenbrink
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/philippine-airlines-plans-add-routes-cambodia
Battambang Pepsi factory torn down to make facility
A long-abandoned Pepsi bottling factory that became a part of the tourist trail in Battambang province has been razed to make way for a water-treatment facility, according to officials. On June 19, JICA signed off on a $33.5 million water-supply-system project in Kampong Cham and ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/battambang-pepsi-factory-torn-down-make-facility
Tuk-tuks to be solar-powered
Australian green energy company Star 8 has designed a solar-powered tuk-tuk and is in the process of building a factory in Cambodia to make the vehicles, according to a report in Australian newspaper The Age. The vehicles’ makers said the tuk-tuks will cost between A$2,000 (US$1,865) ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/tuk-tuks-be-solar-powered
Protest gets injection of energy
What had been a relatively subdued gathering at Freedom Park yesterday became a jubilant celebration as opposition leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha delivered the news of fruitful discussions with the government to party faithful. Despite much-diminished crowds – and the sobering events of Sunday night ...
Stuart White and Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/protest-gets-injection-energy
Barriers block streets, customers
Security barricades and razor-wire installations set up around Phnom Penh yesterday were supposed to maintain order as the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party kicked off what it promised to be three days of mass protests. But the show of force and control had more of an ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/barriers-block-streets-customers
City Hall tells boats to keep it slow, safe
City Hall has ordered all tourist boats and ferries operating on the Mekong and Tonle Bassac rivers to stock up on life jackets and prevent overloading as water levels continue to rise. “All drivers must turn lights on at night and all ferries must prepare ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/city-hall-tells-boats-keep-it-slow-safe
Singapore Invests in New Cambodian Bank
An investment company owned by the Singaporean government is a minority partner in a fully licensed commercial bank set to open later this month in cooperation with Canadia Bank PLC and the country’s postal service, a source familiar with the deal confirmed Tuesday. Fullerton Financial Holdings, ...
Joshua Wilwohl and Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/singapore-invests-in-new-cambodian-bank-42137/
Rice plots blocked at dam site
In a first step toward clearing villagers from land intended for a planned Koh Kong provincial hydroelectric dam, a Chinese development firm has blocked a road leading to plots where villagers have continued to harvest rice. Officials from Tianjin Union Development Group, which was awarded a ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rice-plots-blocked-dam-site
Cham Prasidh’s wife anointed ‘oknha’
Tep Bopha Prasidh, a wealthy businesswoman and wife of Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh, has been anointed with the sought-after royal title of oknha. According to an August edition of the Royal Gazette, King Norodom Sihamoni signed off on the new title on July 11. Roughly translated as tycoon, oknha is a ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cham-prasidh%E2%80%99s-wife-anointed-%E2%80%98oknha%E2%80%99
Japanese Investor in Talks to Take Stake in TV3
Japan’s TriAsia Group is in talks to acquire a majority stake in local television station TV3 and plans to broadcast Japanese-language shows, the television channel’s owner confirmed Wednesday. According to TV3’s owner, Khampun Keomony, revenues at the channel have been dropping, which prompted him to look ...
Hul Reaksmey and Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/japanese-investor-in-talks-to-take-stake-in-tv3-41707/
Forest Cleared for Stung Treng Dam Construction
Logging has officially begun in Stung Treng province in preparation for the construction of a massive hydropower dam, but local authorities and villagers said Wednesday that the clearing of forest is going unchecked outside the official dam concession area. The Lower Sesan 2 dam was approved ...
Kuch Naren and Dene-Hern Chen
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/forest-cleared-for-stung-treng-dam-construction-41693/
Evictees sick as rubbish piles up
Evictees of Phnom Penh’s Borei Keila community appealed yet again to municipal authorities for alternative housing yesterday, saying garbage and waste has inundated their current settlement and is making it increasingly difficult to enter and exit the area. Borei Keila residents were evicted from their land ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/evictees-sick-rubbish-piles
Planned Mekong dams need environmental assessment
The Cambodian government’s plan to build 20 dams along the Mekong River, with a view to boosting energy security, could harm food security and biodiversity in the region, as well as ignite a regional conflict over sharing of the river’s water, a conference has heard. ...
SciDev.Net News Staff
http://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/water/news/planned-mekong-dams-need-environmental-assessment.html
New Project Aims to Help Small Businesses in Cambodia
A new project by the government and Japan’s aid agency seeks to assist small companies in Cambodia that are in need of specialist advice in order to develop and keep up with competitors in neighboring Asean countries. The aim of the two-year program, called “Strategic Strengthening ...
Simon Henderson and Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/new-project-aims-to-help-small-businesses-in-cambodia-41534/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-project-aims-to-help-small-businesses-in-cambodia
Project to fix capital’s drains kicks into gear
The third phase of a project designed to revamp Phnom Penh’s drainage system, currently inundated by seasonal rains, began yesterday. Four areas of the city spanning a total of 369,445 metres will be witness to the next stage of the project’s implementation, part of an ongoing ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/project-fix-capital%E2%80%99s-drains-kicks-gear
Resurgent mobile deals could hurt margins, analysts say
‘Top up $2 and get 30 free minutes daily for 20 days. Top up $5 and expand the same offer for a month. And, for a $10 recharge, that half-an-hour freebie lasts 50 days.” Mobile operator Beeline, which announced the promotion in August, called it “another ...
Anne Renzenbrink
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/resurgent-mobile-deals-could-hurt-margins-analysts-say
A lesson in caution
After nearly 50 garment workers were killed last year while travelling to or from their respective factories, the Ministry of Labour has urged truck drivers who cram dozens into the back of vehicles each day to take more care on the roads. In an information session ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/lesson-caution
Phnom Penh Fares Poorly in Livability Index
Phnom Penh is one of the least-livable cities in the world, but has also seen relatively strong improvement in quality of life over the past five years, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual Global Livability Ranking released this month has found. The analysis of 140 cities, which ...
David Kaner
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/phnom%E2%80%88penh-fares-poorly-in-livability-index-41445/
Drop-off in beverage imports questioned
Despite the fact that beverage consumption in Cambodia is on the rise, government statistics show that imports of alcohol and non-alcoholic products in the first half of 2013 have declined by 51 per cent year-on-year. The seemingly conflicting figures left some scratching their heads. Meng Saktheara, ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/drop-beverage-imports-questioned
Businessmen Charged Over Mining Deal Fraud
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has charged the Cambodian chairman of a local conglomerate and a Chinese business associate with fraud and using forged public documents, officials said Wednesday. Al Romny, 41, and Chinese national Chin Mongxin, 45, were arrested Saturday after an unknown complainant said ...
Eang Mengleng and Simon Lewis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/businessmen-charged-over-mining-deal-fraud-41261/
Government, ADB Differ on Rail Project
The government claims to have finished nearly a third of the work needed to rehabilitate the long-dilapidated railway line from Phnom Penh to the Thai border at Poipet, twice the figure reported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the main financier of the over-budget and ...
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-adb-differ-on-rail-project-41263/
City poised for shopping mall boom
After spending $30 on clothes, Chan Pheavy sat down for lunch in the food court of Sorya Mall, plunking her shopping bags on the floor beside her. “It is very comfortable to do shopping here,” Pheavy, 25, who works for a commercial bank in Phnom ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/city-poised-shopping-mall-boom