The Phnom Penh Post
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
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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
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
Kampot pepper yields to increase
Kampot pepper yields are expected to increase significantly in the first harvest since gaining Geographic Indicator status in April 2010, as increased demand from exporters drives up prices. Output this season is expected to surge by 17 per cent, from 23 tonnes in the last harvest ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012260898/Business/kampot-pepper-yields-to-increase.html
FDI to grow small businesses in Cambodia
The recent growth of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Kingdom will be a good opportunity to develop small- and medium- sized businesses, an official said yesterday. According to Hang Chuon Naron, deputy director of the National Economic Supreme Council and secretary of state at the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012260903/Business/fdi-to-grow-small-businesses-in-cambodia.html
Anti-competitive behaviour limits Cambodia’s domestic airline industry
Anti-competitive behaviour in Cambodia’s domestic airline industry is limiting its growth, with the relevant authorities “reluctant” to open the domestic market up to competition, an aviation report found. Monopolising this market currently is the country’s flagship carrier, Cambodia Angkor Air, according to a Centre for Aviation ...
Strikes in Cambodian factories may hit orders
Officials of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) are concerned that recent strikes could delay delivery to customers, and factories are looking for solutions to meet buyers’ demands. About 10,000 workers in seven or eight garment factories have gone on strike recently demanding higher wages ...
Disputed land to be returned to villagers
More than 8,000 hectares of land was cut from economic and forest land concessions owned by some of the country’s biggest tycoons and awarded to villagers last month, according to documents from the Council of Ministers. Four sub-decrees signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen order that ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012160890/National/disputed-land-to-be-returned.html
Tiffs over stalls dog border checkpoints
Cambodian and Thai officials are having trouble resolving tensions over border checkpoints in Oddar Meanchey, Cambodian authorities said yesterday. Following a verbal request from Thai border police that their Cambodian counterparts rejected last week, Thai officers submitted a letter last Friday asking Cambodian authorities to move ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012160885/National/tiffs-over-stalls-dog-border-checkpoints.html
Laos defends actions on Xayaburi at MRC meet
Laos yesterday defended its decision to begin building the Xayaburi dam amid criticism from Cambodia on a lively final day of the Mekong River Commission’s annual council meeting in Luang Prabang, Laos. According to separate sources who attended, Cambodia spoke out against Laos for “misinterpreting” the ...
Dozens sentenced in forest-clearing ring
Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday sentenced 28 people – including several government officials – to between two and five years in jail on charges of clearing state-protected flooded mangrove forest in Kampong Thom province in July of 2012. Presiding Judge Keo Mony said that Cheath Sivutha, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013011860868/National/dozens-sentenced-in-forest-clearing-ring.html
Ethnic groups becoming media-savvy
One hot day in June, 2009, Ven Samin, a member of the ethnic Suoy minority in Kampong Speu province, grabbed her digital camera and headed out of the house. The 44-year-old arrived at a collection of damaged rice paddies in Oral district and began taking photos. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013011860869/National/ethnic-groups-becoming-media-savvy.html
Mesco, Angkor to mine gold
Mesco Gold, an associated company of India-based Mesco Steel, will sign an agreement with Angkor Gold to mine the Phum Syrang prospect on one of its economic land concessions in Ratanakkiri province. “We’ve been exploring the area since 2006. We’ve been drilling holes and there’s ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013011860848/Business/mesco-angkor-to-mine-gold.html
Factory clash has familiar feel
Two protesters and three factory officials were injured in a clash at a garment factory in Kampong Speu province yesterday as a report revealed that more than 60 unionists and workers were injured in such incidents in 2012. Vann Bun, a Free Trade Union activist, said ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013011860862/National/factory-clash-has-familiar-feel.html
Japanese firms seek business options in Cambodia
Representatives of a dozen large Japanese companies arrived in Phnom Penh on Tuesday looking for business opportunities in the kingdom. Hidetoshi Nishimura, executive director of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, led the delegation, whose members represent firms in industries such as technology, ...
Acleda readies to open Myanmar’s first micro-finance firm
Cambodia’s largest bank is ready to launch its first micro-finance institution (MFI) in Myanmar, but one final barrier remains: an operating licence from Myanmar’s government. Acleda Bank’s chief executive, In Channy, expects the licence to be granted by the end of this month. Once that is done, ...