The Phnom Penh Post
Investment down by $1B
Local and foreign investment in the Kingdom declined by nearly $1 billion last year, with the bulk of losses coming from fewer infrastructure and agriculture projects, while the manufacturing and tourism sectors continued to post massive gains, according to the Council for the Development of ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/investment-down-1b
Ethnic villagers concerned over Areng Valley roadway
Ethnic Chorng villagers in Koh Kong province have raised concerns that a controversial 20-kilometre road under construction in the Areng Valley will threaten their traditional way of life. ...
Sen David and Martin de Bourmont
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ethnic-villagers-concerned-over-areng-valley-roadway
More education funds urged
A group of NGOs from the education sector yesterday urged the government to boost education spending to at least 20 percent of the country’s budget – a benchmark the Ministry of Education had hoped, and failed, to hit last year under its strategic plan. ...
Yesenia Amaro and Touch Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/more-education-funds-urged
Document suggests US aid cuts
A document purported to have come from the US State Department appears to show plans to slash US development assistance to the Kingdom down to zero, a move observers said yesterday would further weaken the US’s standing in the country, allowing for China to cement its ...
Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/document-suggests-us-aid-cuts
Border logging Man loses limbs in UXO explosion
A Cambodian attempting to cross into Thailand to log rosewood lost his right leg and arm after stepping on a landmine on Monday. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/border-logging-man-loses-limbs-uxo-explosion
Rice bank project awards contracts
Thaneakea Srov (Kampuchea) Plc, the recipient of a low-interest $15 million loan from the state-run Rural Development Bank, inked contracts yesterday with three companies to build and outfit its massive 200,000-tonne capacity silo and warehouse facility in Battambang province. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/rice-bank-project-awards-contracts
Startups discuss local challenges
Cambodian startups currently face several regulatory challenges in pursuing growth and profitability, according to three of the Kingdom’s most successful startup founders who shared their experiences over the weekend with the hope to inspire increased innovation and entrepreneurship. ...
Matthieu de Gaudemar
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/startups-discuss-local-challenges
MFIs seek ministry support
The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) is planning to form a joint committee chaired by government officials and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to promote small loan disbursements as the new 18 percent loan interest rate cap takes effect, according to an announcement released by the ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/mfis-seek-ministry-support
HKL gets $15 million to grow MFI operations
Cambodian microlender Hattha Kaksekar Ltd (HKL) has secured a $15 million cash injection to expand its business operations from its parent company, Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya, Hout Ieng Tong, president and CEO of HKL, confirmed yesterday. ...
The Phnom Penh Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/hkl-gets-15-million-grow-mfi-operations
Drought ‘unlikely’ in ’17
This year’s early rains and a swift response to drought-like conditions in two provinces will spare Cambodia the searing droughts that plagued it in 2015 and 2016, the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) said yesterday, though one development partner cautioned that lasting drought preparedness ...
Martin de Bourmont and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/drought-unlikely-17
Parties’ funding plans differ
The two main political parties contesting the upcoming commune elections revealed disparate campaign budget plans yesterday, with the opposition pledging to spend over $1 million and a spokesman for the ruling CPP saying his party will not be creating a central campaigning budget at all. ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/parties-funding-plans-differ
Police nab timber warehouse boss
The manager of an illegal timber warehouse owned by Lieutenant General Chheng Long was arrested in Kampong Speu on Wednesday, although Long and his son-in-law remain at large. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/police-nab-timber-warehouse-boss
Sihanoukville port announces bookbuild and IPO date
The state-owned enterprise that operates Cambodia’s only deep-sea port officially announced that it will launch its six-day bookbuild and public roadshow starting next Tuesday with an expected initial public offering (IPO) on the Kingdom’s stock market set for May 31, the company’s sole underwriter said ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/sihanoukville-port-announces-bookbuild-and-ipo-date
Over 35,000 kids still in care
A staggering 35,000 Cambodian children and young people continue to be housed in a range of residential care facilities, with many of them flying under the government’s radar, according to a new report released by the Ministry of Social Affairs yesterday. ...
Touch Sokha and Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/over-35000-kids-still-care
Tax Department collects $760M in first quarter
The Cambodian government collected more than $760 million dollars in tax revenue during the first quarter of this year, an increase of more than 90 percent compared to the same period last year, according to a report released yesterday by General Department of Taxation (GDT). ...
The Phnom Penh Post staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/tax-department-collects-760m-first-quarter
Ministry pledges rice support
After Cambodian rice exports declined dramatically in March, caused by what millers claimed was a stricter enforcement of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures by the Chinese government, the Ministry of Agriculture announced yesterday that it would lobby on the sector’s behalf to allow more millers ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/ministry-pledges-rice-support
Vietnam stops nine overloaded trucks with illegal lumber
Authorities in Vietnam’s Gia Lai province have recently stopped at least nine overloaded timber trucks crossing into the country from the Kingdom, despite the Cambodian government ostensibly banning wood exports to its eastern neighbour, according to a Vietnamese news report. ...
Shaun Turton and Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/vietnam-stops-nine-overloaded-trucks-illegal-lumber
Banking shows steady growth
Cambodia’s financial sector saw healthy growth last year with increased deposits and profits amid slower credit growth, reflecting sustainable development and increased public confidence in the sector, according to a recently released central bank report. ...
Hor Kimsay and Matthieu de Gaudemar
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/banking-shows-steady-growth
Vietnamese firm to invest in massive casino
A little-known Vietnamese investment firm plans to build a massive $200 million mixed-use development that includes a hotel, casino and water park in the dusty Cambodian border town of Bavet through its fully-owned Malaysian subsidiary, a government official confirmed yesterday. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/vietnamese-firm-invest-massive-casino
Hope grows for three cities to be inducted into UNESCO list
Via the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the Ministry of Tourism, the government is progressing with a set of relevant documents as a proposal to UNESCO to induct Battambang city, Kampot city and Kratie city on to the United Nations arm’s World Heritage ...
Siv Meng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-property/hope-grows-three-cities-be-inducted-unesco-list
Construction sector investment falls by 22 percent
Investment capital in Cambodia’s construction industry is off to a dwindling start this year, falling 22.1 percent at the end of the first quarter compared with the same period last year. ...
Siv Meng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-property/construction-sector-investment-falls-22-percent
Japanese firms sign power line agreement
T.T. Network Infrastructure Japan, a joint venture between global electronics manufacturer Toshiba and Tokyo Electric Power Co Holdings (TEPCO), will operate and maintain 130 kilometres of a 230-kilovolt power transmission line in Cambodia, according to Japanese media yesterday. ...
Matthieu de Gaudemar
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/japanese-firms-sign-power-line-agreement
Kingdom’s debt grows to nearly $6 billion
Cambodia’s national debt stood at $5.8 billion at the end of 2016, totalling nearly a third of GDP, according to the latest debt bulletin released by the Ministry and Economy and Finance earlier this month. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/kingdoms-debt-grows-nearly-6-billion
NGO to file report over clearing of forestland
The Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organization, a conservation organisation in Kampong Speu, pledged yesterday to file a letter of complaint to authorities after learning that 6 hectares of protected forestland were cleared illegally. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ngo-file-report-over-clearing-forestland