Kings of concessions
Vietnam and China lead the pack of foreign companies granted economic land concessions in Cambodia for agro-industrial development by a wide margin, new data released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries show.
According to the ministry’s annual report, released last month, since 1993 the government has offered concessions to 121 companies in total, 82 of which are foreign.
Foreign concessionaires were granted 620,987 hectares of land according to the ministry, just over half of the total 1.2 million hectares – a figure widely contested by rights groups – that the government says it has granted. Of the 82 foreign companies, 34 are Vietnamese, with 253,623 hectares granted, and 25 are Chinese, with 203,960 hectares granted, the report says.
Following well behind are seven Korean companies, four Thai companies, three Malaysian companies, three Indian companies, two Singaporean companies and one company each from the United States, Russia, Australia and Israel. …
Last year, the government terminated agreements with 11 companies granted 85,968 hectares of land after they were found to have failed to meet the development conditions of their leases, it adds. …
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kings-concessions
