The Phnom Penh Post
MFI loans used for illegal logging
A conservation NGO official yesterday said he planned to ask microfinance lenders to better scrutinise their loans after a spate of cases over the last month showed that such loans had been used by illegal loggers to purchase chainsaws and tractors for transporting timber. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mfi-loans-used-illegal-logging
Floating homes set sail after alleged fish die-off
According to the boats’ inhabitants, who raise fish underneath their floating homes in Russei Keo district’s Chraing Chamreh I commune, the move was prompted by a mass die-off of fish last weekend due to increasing water temperatures. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/floating-homes-set-sail-after-alleged-fish-die
Illicit trade costs millions
The US-based nonprofit Global Financial Integrity (GFI) measured illicit financial flows – the illegal movement of money or capital from one country to another – and found that as much as $45 billion in trade activity in Cambodia over the period was not accounted for. ...
Matthieu de Gaudemar
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/illicit-trade-costs-millions
Rice millers balk at export fees
Numerous members of the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), the body tasked with lobbying on the sectors behalf, have stopped paying membership dues and export fees, claiming that they cannot afford to as the industry continues to struggle with high production costs and regional export competition. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/rice-millers-balk-export-fees
Deaths from lightning triple compared to ’16
Lighting deaths nearly tripled in Cambodia during the first quarter of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016, an official at the National Committee for Disaster Management said yesterday. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/deaths-lightning-triple-compared-16
Trader sought truck with illegal wood impounded
More than a tonne of rosewood and the plateless car carrying it were seized in Oddar Meanchey province yesterday after authorities received a report about a Vietnamese woman and her workers trying to set the vehicle on fire. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/trader-sought-truck-illegal-wood-impounded
Labour minister praises robust garment sector growth
Cambodia’s minister of labour applauded the strong growth and employment levels for the garment and footwear sector yesterday, though industry representatives noted a slight slowdown due to increased competition from regional players. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/labour-minister-praises-robust-garment-sector-growth
Illegal logs set ablaze in wildlife sanctuary
Environment Ministry officials in Ratanakkiri province are hunting for timber traders who on Sunday set ablaze 300 logs of luxury wood in Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary, one of several protected areas raided by Vietnamese loggers in recent months. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/illegal-logs-set-ablaze-wildlife-sanctuary
Emerald’s gold prospects improve
The Australian-listed mining firm behind Cambodia’s Okvau gold project in Mondulkiri province released its definitive feasibility study (DFS) yesterday, confirming its predictions of 1.14 million ounces in gold reserves while reducing its projected investment costs for extraction. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/emeralds-gold-prospects-improve
Russia to pursue gas in Thai-Cambodian shelf
Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom is considering gas production on the continental shelf of Thailand and Cambodia, Russian media reported on Friday. ...
The Phnom Penh Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/russia-pursue-gas-thai-cambodian-shelf
Construction workers call for baseline wage
A day ahead of May Day, the Building and Wood Workers Trade Union Federation of Cambodia held a small rally outside the National Assembly demanding the inclusion of construction workers within the minimum wage framework and new guidelines for workplace safety. ...
Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/construction-workers-call-baseline-wage
Ministry loves company
About 130 villagers and more than 20 of their children demonstrated in front of the Ministry of Land Management from 8am to noon yesterday, demanding that the government exclude their villages from a proposed development plan and protect their homes by granting them land titles. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministry-loves-company
Forests cleared in Koh Kong protected areas
Around 600 hectares of the protected Southern Cardamom National Park in Koh Kong have been illegally cleared and sold off for cultivation since 2013, sometimes by local authorities, according to the conservation organisation Wildlife Alliance. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/forests-cleared-koh-kong-protected-areas
E-commerce slowed by government: report
The key ingredients for e-commerce adoption are in place in Cambodia but many specific measures need to be addressed by both the private and public sector before the Kingdom can tap into the huge opportunities offered by a digital economy, according to a new report ...
Matthieu de Gaudemar
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/e-commerce-slowed-government-report
Boeung Kak lake dispute ‘closed’
Phnom Penh City Hall yesterday washed its hands of the decadelong contentious Boeung Kak lake issue, saying it was closing its conflict resolution process, leaving seven families who had refused to accept the government’s offers in the lurch. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/boeung-kak-lake-dispute-closed
Pig farmers form taskforce to curb illicit smuggling
Cambodia’s pig farmers created a new taskforce yesterday to combat pig smuggling along Cambodia’s borders that is leading to falling prices for domestic producers. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/pig-farmers-form-taskforce-curb-illicit-smuggling
Renewables start to gain traction
Solar power is slowly gaining momentum in Cambodia as a viable source of electricity for the country’s growing energy needs, though stakeholders are anxious to see a real government commitment to establish a beneficial regulatory framework. ...
Matthieu de Gaudemar
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/renewables-start-gain-traction
PM calls on US to revise law
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday defended himself from critics who claim the massive flow of workers leaving the country is indicative of a lack of development at home, and sought to clarify any misunderstanding on Cambodia’s recent request to amend a repatriation agreement with the ...
Touch Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-calls-us-revise-law
ADB gives Kingdom $9.2M loan for solar farm
The Asia Development Bank (ADB) announced yesterday that it will provide a $9.2 million loan to Singapore-based energy provider Sunseap Group for the construction of Cambodia’s first large-scale solar farm. ...
Matthieu de Gaudemar
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/adb-gives-kingdom-92m-loan-solar-farm
General Electric signs sales agreement for 135Mw coal plant
Us-based energy giant General Electric (GE) signed a sales agreement yesterday to outfit the new 135-megawatt coal-fired plant in Preah Sihanouk province that is being constructed by a subsidiary of Japanese electronics manufacturer Toshiba. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/general-electric-signs-sales-agreement-135mw-coal-plant
Rubber prices soar by 132pct
Cambodian rubber exports increased 32 percent during the first three months of the year compared with the same period last year, while prices grew 132 percent during the first quarter, an agriculture official said yesterday. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/rubber-prices-soar-132pct
Wildlife meat trade rampant
To get a sense of the wildlife in the forests of northeastern Cambodia, visitors need only visit Stung Treng’s central market, where – despite repeated attempts by conservation groups to crack down – illegally poached meat is sold openly, as The Post witnessed earlier this ...
Phak Seangly and Cristina Maza
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/wildlife-meat-trade-rampant
Four killed, three hurt as a result of storms
Four were killed by lightning strikes and three were seriously injured when the roof of their house collapsed as storms battered five provinces – Svay Rieng, Kampong Chhnang, Kandal, Battambang and Oddar Meanchey – on Tuesday. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/four-killed-three-hurt-result-storms
Boeung Kak rally: Eight held in capital over WB protest
Daun Penh district security guards briefly arrested eight women outside World Bank headquarters yesterday morning during a peaceful demonstration for Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak community. ...
The Phnom Penh Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/boeung-kak-rally-eight-held-capital-over-wb-protest