Economy and commerce
Investment
Recent Development and Economic Outlook
The UN’s assessment suggests that Cambodia is one of the top five countries that have made significant progress toward meeting its MDGs by 2015. The poverty rate has dropped dramatically from 47.50 percent in 1993 to 34.70 percent in 2004 and 23 percent in 2011, ...
Naga World Boss Acquires Billionaire Status
The Malaysian founder of Phnom Penh’s only licensed casino, Chen Lip Keong, is now a billionaire after seeing his fortune multiply in size in recent years, according to Forbes magazine. The magazine, which calculates the wealth of individuals using company data, published a list of the ...
Walmart and H&M Suppliers Pay Workers at Closed Cambodia Plant
Suppliers to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Hennes & Mauritz AB (HMB) agreed yesterday to pay about $145,000 in back wages and severance to about 160 workers at a Cambodian factory that closed in November, a labor activist involved in the deal said. The agreement, which ...
Cambodia, UK trade volume reaches $750 million in 2012
The United Kingdom embassy in Phnom Penh said today that bilateral trade volume between the two kingdom had reached to $750 million, an increase of 27 per cent if compared to 2011. British Ambassador Mark Gooding welcomed the increasing trade between the UK and Cambodia. “bilateral ...
Brit brands target local market
MORE UK-based brands were looking to set up shop in Cambodia, Britain’s ambassador to Cambodia, Mark Gooding, said yesterday. Gooding said at Costa Coffee’s official opening in Phnom Penh he was pleased by the arrival of the international chain, the largest coffee brand in the UK, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030161680/Business/brit-brands-target-local-market.html
Cambodia's garment workers confront multinationals
Since mid-January a group of illegally laid off Cambodian garment workers – mostly women – have been picketing the factory they worked in. Their objective was to stop the company, which closed down, owing the workers, collectively, about US$200,000 of unpaid wages, from removing the ...
Cambodian PM greets large group of Chinese businesspeople
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday met with a large group of Chinese business executives visiting Cambodia to explore investment opportunities. To date, he said, the Sino-Cambodian relationship has reached the level of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation. The premier said China has helped ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-02/28/c_132199209.htm
Finance Minister Lauds Boeng Kak's Tax Bill
The Finance Ministry has sent a letter to well-known businesswoman Choeung Sopheap thanking her for paying her taxes on the highly controversial filling in of Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak lake, and holding her firm up as an example of corporate professionalism. Though Shukaku Inc., which is ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/finance-minister-lauds-boeng-kaks-tax-bill-11863/
Thai Representative Meets With Koh Kong ‘Blood Sugar’ Families
Some 200 Koh Kong farmers locked in a long-running land dispute with two sugar plantations met Tuesday with a representative of the Thailand-based owners for the first time since the land dispute began in 2006. Khamrom Phochai, a Thai national and representative of Thailand’s Khon Kaen ...
Foreign investment in Cambodia’s property rises
Property experts say foreign companies are coming to invest in Cambodia’s property sector, as they see the growth and potential of the Kingdom. Sung Bonna, director of Bonna Realty Group, said that the number of foreign companies in the sector has grown, and most are from ...
Preah Vihear Families' Land Issues Go Unheard
About 50 families living on the site of the long-discussed Preah Vihear airport went to the provincial hall yesterday to request that local officials reconsider their earlier decision to refuse them land titles on the grounds that the airstrip would soon be rebuilt. Villagers attended ...
Cambodian Government Agrees In Principle to Risda Opening Rubber Estates
The Cambodian Government has agreed in principle with Rubber Industry Smallholders’ Development Authority (RISDA) to open 20,000 hectares of rubber estates in that country on a joint venture basis, its Chairman Tan Abdul Tamby said. The former Melka chief minister said the Federal Government through the ...
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v7/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=930464
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 27/2: Cambodia, Laos Rubber
The area under Viet Nam Rubber Group’s cultivation in Laos and Cambodia totals 100,000 ha, including 27,000 ha under the group’s seven rubber projects in Laos. By the end of 2012, VRG had 21 rubber projects in Cambodia, including 19 rubber tree plantations and ...
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/67334/business-in-brief-27-2.html
Operations commence at 18MW Kirirom III hydro power plant in Cambodia
The Cambodian government has commenced operations at the 18MW Kirirom III hydro power plant in the southwestern part of the country. The facility will produce 78 million KWh of electricity a year and help the country reduce its power shortage crisis and dependence on oil-fueled electricity. ...
KTH mall to be officially inaugurated
The KTH Premium Power Mall, opposite the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh, will be officially inaugurated on March 1 by K Thong Huot Telecom Co (KTH). The 1,200-square-metre mall will focus on international brands of electronic products. A mall representative told the Post the business would cater ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022661601/Business/kth-mall-to-be-officially-inaugurated.html
NagaWorld Workers on Strike After Firings
More than 500 workers from Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld Casino demonstrated on Monday, in what was their fourth straight day of strike action in front of the casino over wages and the firing of four staff members Sok Narith, deputy secretary general of the Cambodian Tourism and ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/nagaworld-workers-on-strike-after-firings-11761/
Middle class boosts local Samsung sales
Cambodia’s encouraging economic climate had paved the way for the K-four Electronic company to launch Samsung’s latest refrigerator in this country, company representatives said. Kith Bunnarong, of K-four Electronic, said the comp-any’s sales in this country had increased since 2010, when it began working with Thai ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022661596/Business/middle-class-boosts-local-samsung-sales.html
Qatar plans bank in Cambodia to enhance trade
Qatar’s ambassador to Cambodia says his country wants to open a bank here in an effort to enhance, and attract more, trade and investment from Middle East countries to the Kingdom. Bloomberg reported yesterday that Arqaam Capital, a Dubai-based investment bank, had said it was ...
PM Hun Sen ushers in new dam
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday inaugurated the third in a string of six Chinese-funded hydropower dam projects, offering lavish praise for the superpower as he officially opened the $47 million Kirirom 3 dam in Koh Kong. “I am really pleased for the new ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022561590/National/pm-hun-sen-ushers-in-new-dam.html
Manufacturing to diversify
While Cambodia seeks to diversify its manufacturing sector and encourage higher-value-added activities, experts say it must be supported by the right mix of government policies. The Asia Development Bank (ADB) says that the sharp increase of foreign direct investment (FDI) from $900 million in 2011 to ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022561577/Business/manufacturing-to-diversify.html
Hun Sen Says Chinese Companies Not Favored, Just Served
Prime Minister Hun Sen yeserday lauded his government’s strong ties with China but said Cambodia does not give Chinese any preferential treatment. Mr. Hun Sen was speaking at the inauguration of the $47.1 million Kirirom III hydropower dam in Koh Kong province’s Sre Ambel District- constructed ...
Singapore investment up
Total fixed assets of Singaporean investment in Cambodia last year reached $82.7 million, a 500 per cent increase from $13.8 million in 2011, data from the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) show. Singaporean entrepreneurs who have already entered the Cambodian market said they expect ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022561574/Business/singapore-investment-up.html
As Liquidation of Mfone Begins, Victims and Lawsuits Abound
As insolvency proceedings against bankrupt telecommunications firm Mfone begin, yet another company, Smart Mobile, has filed a court complaint to collect unpaid costs from the mobile operator, and the list of parties to have suffered from the firm’s collapse continue to grow. The Phnom Penh Municipal ...
Regional Bank, IMF Note Risks to Government's Dam Guarantee
The government’s guaranteed bailout of major infrastructure projects, such as the future 400-megawatt hydropower dam in Stung Treng province, requires a thorough assessment of forecasted risks – a capacity which the government currently does not possess, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) official said yesterday. Speaking on ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/regional-bank-imf-note-risks-to-governments-dam-guarantee-11269/