Economy and commerce
Trade
China says low sanitary standards in Cambodia a barrier to more trade
With the countries aiming to achieve $6 billion in bilateral trade by 2020, China on Tuesday said Cambodia’s low sanitary and phytosanitary standards stand in the way of achieving their mutual trade goals, particularly when it comes to agricultural goods. ...
Fasmec brings in website for SMEs
Cambodian entrepreneurs who are members of the Federation of Association for Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia (Fasmec), can soon display and sell their products on a new shopping website, thanks to a partnership with London-based Sram & Mram Resources Ltd. ...
Hor Kimsay
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/fasmec-brings-website-smes
Amru bags rice deals worth almost $10M
Amru Rice Group, one of Cambodia’s largest rice exporters, on Thursday signed a contract purchase agreement with 4,000 organic rice farmers in Preah Vihear province. The agreement effectively means that the company will reserve nearly $10 million to purchase around 30,000 tonnes of organic paddy ...
Hor Kimsay
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/amru-bags-rice-deals-worth-almost-10m
Officials seize 400kg of wildlife in Kratie
Phnom Penh Forestry Administration (FA) on Tuesday morning stopped a passenger bus that was carrying snakes, water monitor lizards, turtles and tortoises, weighing a total of 400kg, said Kom Seyha, office chief at the Phnom Penh FA, who led the operation. ...
Niem Chheng
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/officials-seize-400kg-wildlife-kratie
Agriculture ministry halts imports of pesticides
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has temporarily halted the import, supply and distribution of all pesticides. The ban comes after at least 14 people died and around 300 were warded after poisonings in Sre Norn and Alorch villages in Chet Borey district’s Kantuot ...
Post Staff
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/agriculture-ministry-halts-imports-pesticides
Low salt yields leave industry scrambling to keep up reserves
Cambodia may need to import 30,000 tonnes of salt this year to meet local demand as producers face a shortage due to climate change, an industry group says. Bun Baraing, co-director of the Kep-Kampot Salt Producers Community (KKSPC), told The Post on Wednesday that this ...
Cheng Sokhorng
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/low-salt-yields-leave-industry-scrambling-keep-reserves
Rice deal with Papua New Guinea on the table
Cambodian could soon be exporting its world-renowned rice to the Oceanian nation of Papua New Guinea after trade representatives from both countries held negotiations last week. ...
Sok Chan
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50491622/rice-deal-with-papua-new-guinea-on-the-table/
Exports to US up 25 pct in Q1
Cambodian exports to the United States, the world’s largest economy, rose sharply during the first three months of the year following a marked increase in the shipments of travel goods after the US renewed its Generalized System of Preferences in March. ...
May Kunmakara
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50490954/exports-to-us-up-25-pct-in-q1/
Trilateral discussions in agricultural trade begin
Representatives of Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam gathered yesterday in Phnom Penh to discuss ways of improving trading procedures in Asean, particularly in agricultural goods, as part of a workshop organised by German development agency GIZ. ...
Chea Vannak
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50484131/trilateral-discussions-in-agricultural-trade-begin/
Kampong Speu authorities confiscate nearly 20 kilograms of wildlife
Kampong Speu Military Police, along with Wild-life Alliance experts, on Wednesday cracked down on a home in Chech village where they confiscated nearly 20 kilograms of live wild animals, officials said on Thursday. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kampong-speu-authorities-confiscate-nearly-20-kilograms-wildlife
New cassava factory to operate at full capacity next month
Ratanakkiri’s first cassava-processing plant will operate at full capacity starting next month, producing 300 tonnes of cassava products per day. The factory is now on a test run and is only producing 10 tonnes of cassava products a day, said Soy Sona, director of Ratanakkiri’s ...
Chea Vannak
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50483716/new-cassava-factory-to-operate-at-full-capacity-next-month/
Report shows China demand will fuel growth of rice exports
Cambodia’s rice production and exports will likely continue to grow this year and next year despite low milling rates, buoyed by strong demand from China, according to a report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In the report released last week, the USDA ...
Robin Spiess
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/report-shows-china-demand-will-fuel-growth-rice-exports
Hun Sen calls for caution amid China-US trade war
Prime Minister Hun Sen warned on Tuesday that a developing trade war between the US and China could affect Cambodia, and said the Kingdom must act to mitigate any potential fallout. In March, US President Donald Trump’s administration slapped tariffs on global imports of steel ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hun-sen-calls-caution-amid-china-us-trade-war
EU to probe exports of rice
The European Commission has found sufficient evidence to launch an investigation into whether Cambodian rice exported to the EU puts an unfair burden on European rice farmers, potentially imperiling the Kingdom’s tariff-free exports to the bloc. ...
Cheng Sokhorng and Brendan O’Byrne
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/eu-probe-exports-rice
UN data show nearly half of Kingdom’s rice exports undocumented
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is forecasting that 44 percent of Cambodia’s total rice exports will be smuggled out of the country through informal channels this year, a persistent problem that weighs down profits and threatens to cripple the industry. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/un-data-show-nearly-half-kingdoms-rice-exports-undocumented
Germany-led meet seeks to get produce to China
Germany’s international development agency (GIZ) held a workshop on Tuesday that promoted Cambodian agricultural exports to China, focusing on the necessary export guidelines and the sanitation standards that are often lacking in the Kingdom’s agricultural value chains. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/germany-led-meet-seeks-get-produce-china
Government timber figures belie ‘ban’ on Vietnam trade
A series of quarterly reports from the National Bank of Cambodia raises questions about the government’s ban on timber exports, as they show that last year, more than $5 million in sawn timber was exported from the Kingdom. The latest report, released earlier this month ...
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-timber-figures-belie-ban-exports
Program aimed at speeding up export launched
The Commerce Ministry officially launched a program yesterday giving the authority to issue certificate of origin licences to four provinces along the Thai border, potentially expediting the export process for agricultural businesses in the region. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/program-aimed-speeding-export-launched
Brands including H&M and Gap urge Cambodia garment industry reform, seek meeting with Hun Sen
A group representing some of the largest apparel brands in the US and Europe – including Gap, H&M and ASOS – expressed “growing concern” on Tuesday over several controversial labour laws and ongoing court cases against unionists described as restrictive and unjust. ...
Amru Rice’s SRP project bears fruit
Local rice miller and exporter Amru Rice has started reaping the benefits of its partnership with the International Financial Corporation (IFC), beginning to collect rice from farmers working under contract farming schemes in Kampong Cham province. ...
Sum Manet
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50114855/amru-rices-srp-project-bears-fruit/
Kampot pepper hit by climate change
Farmers of Kampot pepper have had a rough planting season due to climate change, but the decrease in production is unlikely to seriously affect the market, according to the head of the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association (KPPA). ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/kampot-pepper-hit-climate-change
Heavy rains washing out local salt industry in Kep, Kampot
Cambodia’s salt producers are suffering from a catastrophic harvest season that is likely to deplete their reserves and threaten the industry’s future prospects, according to leaders of the country’s largest salt federation. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/heavy-rains-washing-out-local-salt-industry-kep-kampot
US sends first soybean shipment to Cambodia
The US sent its first shipment of food-grade soybeans to Cambodia last week, exporting a total of 14 tonnes to both Cambodia and Myanmar to be processed in the receiving countries, according to US media reports. The shipments were sent to soy milk and tofu ...
Robin Spiess and Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/us-sends-first-soybean-shipment-cambodia-0
More crocodile farms given Cites recognition
Sixteen additional crocodile farms have been approved under an international conservation treaty to export Siamese crocodiles, bringing the total number of recognised farms in Cambodia to 21, according to a government official. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/more-crocodile-farms-given-cites-recognition