News

Japanese Investment in Cambodia is steadily increasing as a result of sharply rising wages in China and other Southeast Asian nations. But experts warned this week that for sustained investment growth and to avoid driving Japanese companies to other attractive investment destinations such as Burma ...

Asean leaders Tuesday discussed the importance of expanding economic opportunity for the region, vowing to increase efforts for better trade and investment amid members states and with the US. Surin Pitsuwan, secretary-general of Asean, said “more and more” was expected of Asean today. “So it is ...

The Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court delayed the destruction of the homes and subsequent eviction of 14 families embroiled in a land dispute with a company owned by tycoon Kong Treav in Village 4 of Sihanoukville’s Commune 4, local authorities said yesterday. Though many of the families ...

Prime Minister John Key has joined a launch of Asian free trade talks – but made it clear he favours a US-backed deal. The East Asian Summit wrapped up in Phnom Penh yesterday with Asian leaders formally announcing a start to negotiations towards a Regional Comprehensive ...

Two polarizing narratives emerged after the Monday night discussion between U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Hun Sen, with the U.S. claiming it had been “tense,” while Cambodia insisted the talks were cordial. When it came to agenda, Mr. Obama put human rights, electoral and ...

Cambodian officials have refused to establish a specialised bank for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) despite experts saying the sector needs aid in order to compete efficiently with ASEAN economic integration in 2015. Hang Chounnaron, secretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Cambodia would ...

At the U.S.-Asean meeting at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh yesterday, the U.S. and the 10 Asean member nations agreed to further their cooperation in all areas, including security to ensure peace in the region. ...

The secretary-general of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) called on Asean member states to work collectively towards achieving the Asean Economic Community by 2015. Sok Chenda Sophea, who chaired the 2nd Asean Investment Forum (AIF) held in Phnom Penh, said Asean members must ...

Acleda Bank announced on Sunday that it will expand its banking services into Burma by opening a microfinance institute there in January. ...

Criticism continued yesterday of the Asean Human Rights Declaration, which was signed in Phnom Penh on Saturday after regional leaders decided to make last-minute revisions that were widely deemed as inadequate. U.N. experts ans civil society groups criticized the lack of consultation in drawing up the ...

Asean leaders yesterday failed again to form a common front towards geo-political disputes with China over the South China Sea as the Philippines vowed to continue shouting while Cambodia tried to contain discussions to the two immediate sides. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations hoped ...

Economic ministers from Asean’s 10 member states signed an agreement yesterday to loosen restrictions around the movement of skilled labor in the region, part of preparation for the integration of the Asean Economic Community in 2015. The Asean Movement of Natural Persons Agreement is supposed to ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and visiting U.S. President Barack Obama met here on Monday to discuss a number of issues including old debt, human rights, democracy and forced evictions in Cambodia, a senior Cambodian official said. Hun Sen also raised the issue of old ...

With political and cultural ties between India and Southeast Asia already strong, economic issues were the focus of the 10th Asean-India Summit at the Peace Palace yesterday in Phnom Penh, the India ambassador to Cambodia said. ...

Seven representatives of 415 families entangled in an unresolved land dispute with a deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces have received a second summons to appear in Battambang Provincial Court to clarify accusations that they had vandalized the commander’s property, “They not only ...

U.S. President Barack Obama pressed Prime Minister Hun Sen on the government’s human rights record during a closed-door meeting between the two leaders in Phnom Penh yesterday, calling for fair elections and the release of all political prisoners. In the first visit to Cambodia by a ...

Premier Wen Jiabao said on Monday China supports pushing forward an Asian free-trade area, which will cover 28 percent of world’s total export volume. Previous reports said China is expected to make announcements on Tuesday in Phnom Penh that it will join the talks for the ...

A migrant worker Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is back in the spotlight after Malaysia yesterday agreed to send a delegation of senior government officials to meet with their Cambodian counterparts tomorrow and Thursday. MoU talks are of mounting importance in the face of escalating evidence of ...

Coca-cola and Smart Mobile have teamed up in a joint promotion to give away $1 million worth of prizes, including top-up minutes and 25 Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphones using numbers printed under bottle caps of Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite. The promotion started on November 1 ...

A woman fired from the Conpress Holding garment factory last week said she terminated her pregnancy of three months on Sunday in a desperate bid to gain reinstatement for herself and three other workers fired last week for unionising. Huk Pov, Free Trade Union president ...

The Philippine ambassador in Cambodia is confident there will be more direct flights between the two Asian countries, apart from the current Manila-Siem Reap route, which is six hours away by land from this capital. Ambassador Noe Wong expressed optimism there will be another memorandum of ...

In the not-so-distant past, visitors to Koh Dach, an island in the Mekong River about 15 kilometers outside of Phnom Penh, were often struck by the sound as well as the sights that met them there. Among the many crafts on display by local artisans, ...

The bilateral C volume between Cambodia and the United States reached 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of this year, a 2 percent rise compared with 2.15 billion U.S. dollars at the same period last year, according to the statistics of the ...

The price of the exchange’s sole listed company, PPWSA, remained very stable from Nov. 8-15 at KHR 6,200 (US$1.55), the price it arrived at on Oct. 30. Trading volumes over the period fluctuated between 4,501 and 38,951 shares. ...