News
Construction sector investment soars
Investment in the Cambodian construction sector reached US$1.38 billion in the first seven months of 2012, an 85-percent rise over the same period last year, according to figures from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. During the January to July period this year, the ministry ...
Court to Summon Witnesses in Journalist's Killing
The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court will soon summon a number of people for questioning in its investigation into the brutal murder of journalist Hang Serei Odom earlier this month, a court official said yesterday. Former military police Captain An Bunheng and his wife, Sim Vy, were ...
Tobacco lost to smuggling, survey shows
Government data show that significant amounts of tobacco are being smuggled out of the country each year, health and economics experts said yesterday. A national tobacco survey from 2011, the exact numbers of which remain confidential, shows that more tobacco is produced in Cambodia than is ...
Activists see freedom of expression on wane
Threats, intimidation and, in extreme cases, even murder were endangering freedom of expression in Cambodia and leaving human rights at the crossroads, activists and NGO representatives said during a round-table meeting yesterday. The slaying of environmental activist Chut Wutty, the arrest of Beehive radio director Mam ...
Brown rice standards are being promoted
Cambodian officials have begun to raise awareness on the forthcoming government issued standards for Cambodian milled brown rice, in an effort to guage reactions ahead of the official approval by the National Standards Board, according to officials. The official approval, aimed at promoting brown rice in ...
Changing a culture of impunity
Despite the recent spate of high-profile arrests and deportations, analysts, attorneys and civil society groups are divided on whether the Kingdom is finally beginning to live down its reputation as a haven for the fugitives and criminals who have long been drawn to the country ...
Don't Envy the Chinese, Gov't Tells Europe
The commerce minister yesterday urged European businesspeople in Phnom Penh to invest more in Cambodia and not to envy the Chinese firms now dominating the foreign investment scene. Speaking at the gathering of the European Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia, Minister of Trade and Commerce Cham ...
Inflation rises 1.3 percent
Cambodia’s consumer price index rose by 1.3 percent in July compared to a year earlier on the back of higher food and fuel prices, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics. The increase was also due to non-alcohol beverages, clothing and footwear, housing, water, ...
Construction site mishap injures four
Four construction workers were injured, two seriously, when a wall dividing their building site from a school collapsed on them yesterday, police said, the latest in a string of mishaps in Cambodia’s burgeoning construction industry. The brick wall, between the site of an apartment complex being ...
Thais eye 2001 Gulf blueprint
Cambodia and Thailand yesterday reiterated their commitment to restart negotiations over an expansive and resource-rich section of the Gulf of Thailand known as the Overlapping Claims Area – but the two countries have yet to set a date for the talks. In 2001, officials from ...
Two factories hope to list on CSX
The next two stocks to be listed on the Cambodia Securities Exchange will probably be Taiwan-owned garment factories, according to market insiders. The news comes as the lone listed stock on the Cambodia Securities Exchange declined slightly in value during the past month, dropping from an ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012091958787/Business/two-factories-hope-to-list-on-csx.html
Cambodia's construction sector attracts 1.53 bln USD investment in 8 months
Cambodia’s construction sector has attracted the investment of 1.53 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of 2012, a 74 percent rise compared with 881 million U.S. dollars at the same period last year, a report from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2012-09/17/c_131855799.htm
Border trade 'to double' under AEC
Thailand’s border trade with neighbouring countries is targeted to double to Bt2 trillion by 2015, thanks to the seamless market brought by the Asean Economic Community. “Cross-border trade continues to play a more important role for Thailand with closer economic cooperation ahead of the AEC,” Olarn ...
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Border-trade-to-double-under-AEC-30190599.html
Cambodian government considers raising duty tax on local cigarettes
A packet of local Cambodian ARA cigarettes costs 1400Riel, around £0.22. Government tobacco tax on local products is currently 10%. Smoking and drinking is endemic in the poor youth of Cambodia and tax hike is proposed to cut the addiction. Ayda Yurekli, an academic from the ...
Officials urge maritime talks be resumed using 2001 MoU
Legal experts and officials agree that negotiations with Cambodia about overlapping maritime claims should resume under the 2001 memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Thailand. The MoU was revoked by the previous Abhisit Vejjajiva government. Vasin Teeravechyan, head of the Thai-Cambodian joint boundary sub-committee, said many related officials ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/312802/officials-urge-maritime-talks-be-resumed-using-2001-mou
Wildlife at odds with ELCs
Economic land concessions strewn over the remote Western Siem Pang forest, in Stung Treng province, are threatening the survival of Cambodia’s national bird, the giant ibis, a report reveals. The forest, flanking the Kingdom’s border with Laos, is home to five critically endangered bird species, yet ...
Payment demanded for journalist's death
A journalist murdered in Ratanakkiri last week took a call from his accused killer on the night of his disappearance, his family has claimed in a complaint to the rights group Adhoc. Ken Sovann, 63, the mother of slain journalist Hang Serei Oudom, whose body was found in his car in O’Chum district ...
As tourism grows, so do questions about sustainability
While tourism officials are pleased about the healthy growth of tourism in Cambodia, the influx of visitors might not be so healthy for the Kingdom’s main attraction-the temple complex of Angkor Wat near Siem Reap. New figures from the Siem Reap tourist office show that about ...
Investigation delays final Dara hearing
The Phnom Penh Court of Appeal yesterday postponed the final hearing of disgraced anti-drug czar Moek Dara, Chea Leng and Morn Doeun until next month, citing a need for more time in light of last-minute investigations by the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court, a court official ...
Villager efforts reveal illegal timber activities
Villagers have found more than 100 cubic metres of timber and three chainsaws in Prey Lang forest during a six-day patrol for illegal logging, community officials said yesterday. Scouring the forest on motorcycles and on foot, more than 300 villagers from four provinces found 100 cubic ...
WHO Urges Higher Taxes On Tobacco
The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday urged Cambodia to increase taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products-currently the lowest in the world-in order to raise revenue and deter smokers. Ayda Yurekli, coordinator of the WHO’s tobacco control economics unit, said during a workshop in Phnom Penh ...
Central Bank OKs SBC bid
The Taiwanese bank Cathay United, a subsidiary of Cathay Financial Holding and a listed company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, has purchased a 70 per cent stake in the Cambodia-based Singapore Banking Corporation Ltd (SBC), a central bank official said yesterday. The National Bank of Cambodia ...
Prey Long Forest Patrols Cut Short by Torrential Rain
Community groups have aborted their coordinated patrol of Prey Long forest in search of illegal logging because of heavy rain, a community member said yesterday. The Prey Long People’s Network had planned to continue its patrol-which began Friday and had already found at least 65 cubic ...
'Morality' clause still worries rights group
A coalition of women’s groups have lashed out at Malaysia for continuing to endorse a “public morality” clause in the draft ASEAN Declaration on Human Rights. They claim the clause is subjective and discriminates against women and sexual minorities and should be ditched. Currently being drafted by ...