News
Cambodian government focuses on fire safety
The Cambodian government is beginning to focus on fire security and intervention systems in skyscrapers, which are on the increase in Phnom Penh. Lieutenant Colonel Neth Vutha, chief of the Fire Station of the Phnom Penh Police Department, said the General Commissariat of the National Police ...
Cambodia secures $11bn funding to boost iron exports
Work will start this year on a 400km railway line and a new seaport in Cambodia, with most of the funding coming from Chinese sources. Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group (CISMIG) and China Railway Major Bridge Engineering have signed an agreement to jointly invest ...
$20m mill will lift rice exports
Cambodian company Soma Group has signed a joint-venture agreement with Thai-based CP Intertrade to build and operate a $20 million rice mill that will process fragrant rice for export. Industry insiders say the mill will increase Cambodia’s rice export capacity and boost the Kingdom’s ability to ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012460970/Business/20m-mill-will-lift-rice-exports.html
Nearly 1,000 workers fired from Winson International garment factory
Eight hundred and sixty-eight workers have been fired from the Winson International garment factory after they refused to obey a Kampong Speu Provincial Court injunction last week ordering them back to work within 48 hours. Free Trade Union official Ry Sithinet said yesterday that the workers, ...
Electronics market in Cambodia booms
The burgeoning demand for high-end electronic devices in Cambodia, driven by a more affluent and growing middle class, has doubled or even tripled sales revenues in the country, industry leaders say. “The market demand is shifting to the premium segment – from normal phones to smart ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012460963/Business/electronics-market-in-cambodia-booms.html
A road runs through them
UP AND down a 4km stretch of highway on the northern outskirts of Phnom Penh, about 3,000 of Cambodia’s Cham minority have built a life. Their distinctive Muslim culture thrives in conditions of close-knit community, a stark contrast to the shattering days the country endured ...
http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2013/01/cambodia%E2%80%99s-cham
Activists call on government to adopt forest law
Members of the Prey Lang Community Network yesterday called on the government to approve a forest preservation sub-decree that has been in draft form since 2011. Hoeun Sopheap, representative of the Kampong Thom provincial Prey Lang community, said the sub-decree would help protect the biodiversity of ...
Government Tells Unions to Agree on Minimum Wage Demands
The government on Monday requested that manufacturers look at raising the minimum wage for garment workers, but only after divided trade unions agree on what that wage should be. “After discussions, those present at the meeting agree in principle to discuss raising the minimum wage ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/government-tells-unions-to-agree-on-minimum-wage-demands-8193/
Ministry of Tourism to Target Chinese Visitors
Cambodia will construct a Chinese-language website and post Chinese-language signs at local hotels to cater to the growing numbers of Chinese nationals visiting the country, Minister of Tourism Thong Khon announced yesterday. “We will create a website in the Chinese language and also have additional signs ...
More Investment Needed To Process Crops
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday said more investment in agriculture was needed to ensure that Cambodia can process its crops and add value to agricultural produce being exported abroad. Speaking at the inauguration of a new cargo port in Kandal province, Mr. Hun Sen said there was an ...
PM urges action against unnamed firms
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday ordered officials to take action against unnamed companies he said were using the cover of night to illegally dredge sand from the Mekong River. Calling on Water Resources and Meteorology Minister Lim Kean Hor to lead the crackdown, Hun Sen also ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012360929/National/pm-urges-action-against-unnamed-firms.html
European FDI declines, China’s up
European companies contributed less to total foreign direct investment (FDI) in Cambodia in 2011 than in 2012 as Chinese investment rose, Eurocham chairman Dominique Catry said yesterday. According to data from the Council for Development of Cambodia (CDC), 1.9 per cent of the total registered FDIs ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012360933/Business/european-fdi-declines-china-s-up.html
Prosecutors tell court to drop charge in land dispute case
Prosecutors yesterday recommended that the Ratanakkiri Provincial Court drop charges against two human rights activists and a radio reporter accused in 2009 of inciting villagers involved in a land dispute against agro-business firm DM Group. Deputy prosecutor Ros Saram told the Post that because he ...
Should Minimum Wage Be Market Driven or Government-Dictated?
Manufacturers and unions aligned with the ruling CPP yesterday said the current labor shortage inside the garment industry would act as an incentive for employers to increase salaries, and that there was no need for the government to impose a new minimum wage. During a meeting ...
Two million tourists from China by 2020: official
Cambodia would host about two million Chinese tourists in 2020, a Cambodian official predicted yesterday. The forecast accompanied figures released by Chinese officials saying the number of Chinese tourists globally would reach 200 million by 2020. ASEAN countries had attracted nine million Chinese tourists last ...
New flights between Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh to be launched soon
New scheduled flights between Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh will probably be launched soon, and Sihanoukville-Siem Reap flights will operate daily instead of three times a week, an industry leader says. These changes by Cambodia Angkor Air had a “high chance” of taking off in April to ...
Group Wants Changes to Prey Long Forest Protected Plan
A local conservation group yesterday called for several changes to a draft sub-decree meant to turn Cambodia’s Prey Long Forest into a protected area, concerned it could end up harming, rather than conserving, the forest. ...
Khuon Narim and Saing Soenthrith, P.20
http://www.cambodiadaily.com
Government okays maize imports
The cabinet approved a plan for the Public Warehouse Organisation to import 450,000 tonnes of tariff-free maize from Laos and Cambodia. Another 250,000 tonnes of maize would be imported from Cambodia, with 100,000 tonnes in August and another 150,000 tonnes between November and January 2014 ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/331949/government-okays-maize-imports
Cambodia inaugurates China-financed new container terminal
Cambodia on Tuesday inaugurated a new container terminal of the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, turning the port as a large hub for logistics supply and goods collection and distribution. The inauguration ceremony was presided over by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-01/22/c_132119517.htm
Thai factory accused of abuses
Cambodian migrant workers at a tuna processing company in Thailand have had their passports confiscated by their employers and are effectively trapped in substandard work conditions, research released yesterday revealed. Non-profit research organisation Finnwatch said it had found a number of “problems” with working conditions at ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012260908/National/thai-factory-accused-of-abuses.html
Japan Marks 60 Years of Relations With Cambodia
This year marks the 60th anniversary since the start of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and Japan – the country’s largest bilateral donor – and to celebrate, the Japanese Embassy is planning an array of cultural events. Speaking at a ceremony to mark the anniversary, Japanese Ambassador ...
No foreign carriers for domestic air travel in Cambodia
The government will not allow international airlines to establish domestic services in Cambodia, and the country’s domestic air travel industry is not being monopolised, says an industry leader. These two points were made by Tek Reth Samrach, state secretary of the Council of Ministers, in response ...
Workers petition Korean government
More than 300 striking workers from the International Fashion Royal garment factory in Phnom Penh appealed for assistance from the South Korean Embassy yesterday afternoon after police blocked their march to Por Sen Chey District Hall, a union official said. Ten days of striking for a ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012260899/National/workers-petition-korean-government.html
Chinese Mining Firm Plans Siem Reap Extraction
A Chinese conglomerate headed by an adviser to Senate President Chea Sim plans to begin extracting gold and copper in Siem Reap province in two months, the firm’s chairman said yesterday. Khmer Holding, a group of companies that claims vast mineral interests in Cambodia, opened an ...