The Phnom Penh Post
Socially-Responsible Factory to give better deals to workers
Construction is due to start shortly on a socially responsible sun-glass case and cleaning cloth factory in Siem Reap. Pactics produces 40 per cent of cases and cloths for the larget sun-glass factory in the world, Luxottica, which has brands including Ray Ban, Oakley and ...
Embattled villagers fight on
First, agricultural company DM group displaced them, now a recently arrived commercial farmer has threatened their lives and chased them off their new land, said representatives of 12 families engaged in a long-standing land dispute in Ratanakkiri province. On Wednesday, the 12 Tampuon ethnic minority families ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013011160746/National/embattled-villagers-fight-on.html
Anti-corruption bonus yet to be seen
Customs and Excise Department officials are complaining that a promised salary bonus meant to serve as an incentive to avoid corruption has yet to be doled out, even though the program began last June. The initiative, managed by the Ministry of Economics and Finance, was supposed ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013011160738/National/anti-corruption-bonus-yet-to-be-seen.html
Scrap short-term contracts: CCU
Fixed-duration contracts (FDCs) are in the sights of Cambodian Confederation of Unions president Rong Chhun, who yesterday urged Prime Minister Hun Sen to outlaw their use in the garment and footwear industries. Chhun said the cancellation of such contracts would provide better conditions and job security ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/National/scrap-short-term-contracts-ccu.html
NGOs call for discussion of Xayaburi dam at meet
A coalition of NGOs has called on Cambodia’s National Mekong Committee (CNMC) to push for the Xayaburi dam to be added to the agenda of a regional Mekong River meeting next week. Chhith Sam Ath, executive director of NGO Forum on Cambodia, said it was disappointing ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/National/ngos-call-for-discussion-of-xayaburi-dam-at-meet.html
Local ISP claims licence overlap is causing losses
At least one internet service provider in Cambodia still claims to have overlapping frequencies, which means losses for the affected company MekongNet. The company’s chief executive, Sok Channda, reported that the internet service provider can’t use the frequencies that were supposed to cover the WiMAX service, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/Business/local-isp-claims-licence-overlap-is-causing-losses.html
Sick of courts, villagers curse
In a sign that they no longer have faith in the court system, more than 100 villagers in Kampong Chhnang province placed their fates in the hands of a higher power yesterday, and prayed for misfortune to rain down on a company with whom they’ve ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/National/sick-of-courts-villagers-curse.html
Victory claimed in land dispute
More than a month after halting construction around a disputed land concession in Ratanakkiri province, a Vietnam-based company has reportedly gone a step further and agreed to return 30 hectares of razed forest, a village representative and commune chief maintained yesterday. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/victory-claimed-land-dispute
Cambodia has great potential for FDI
An assistant to former US president Bill Clinton said Cambodia has many potential areas for foreign direct investment (FDI) from many countries, including the US. Karen Tramontano, founder, along with Clinton, and president of the Global Fairness Initiative and CEO at Blue Star Strategies, met with ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010960687/Business/cambodia-has-great-potential-for-fdi.html
Broken rice from Cambodia affects export
Exports of milled rice had fallen dramatically last year because of the poor quality of paddy rice, insiders said yesterday. Milled-rice producers told the Post that a large amount of paddy rice broke. From every 100 kilograms of paddy rice, 20 to 23 kilograms of milled rice ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010960686/Business/broken-rice-from-cambodia-affects-export.html
Lifting maid ban proving a challenge
A lack of legal protections, insufficient commitment from the Malaysian government and an overworked, understaffed embassy are among the major obstacles to lifting the maid ban, according to an internal government report obtained yesterday. Penned by the Ministry of Interior, the 12-page brief details a ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010960701/National/lifting-maid-ban-proving-a-challenge.html
Okvau explorer raises $10m
Renaissance Minerals has raised $10 million for its gold-mining program at the Okvau deposit, in Mondulkiri province. The Australian company had estimated the area contained 729,000 ounces of gold. Renaissance’s biggest challenge would be to finance the project by equity investments world-wide, Tremain said. Renaissance is ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010960685/Business/okvau-explorer-raises-10m.html
Siem Reap sees strong gains
Commercial property prices and rents in Siem Reap have increased by 10 to 20 per cent in the last year, according to the town’s newest real estate agency. Cambodia Properties Limited (CPL) opened its first Siem Reap branch three months ago, recognising a need for sound ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/Real-Estate/siem-reap-sees-strong-gains.html
Xayaburi dam not on agenda
The Mekong River Commission (MRC) will forgo an opportunity to voice opposition to the Xayaburi dam project – which member state Laos began building in November – when it meets for its annual council meeting next week. Surasak Glahan, communications officer with the MRC secretariat, confirmed ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010860670/National/xayaburi-dam-not-on-agenda.html
‘Guards are more than farmers in uniform’
Located in a humble, barrack-like building with small offices that are still under construction, Global Security Solutions enjoys the proximity to its biggest customer: Toll Royal Railways. The company not only provides security for embassies, but for petrochemical companies, hotels and airlines as well. Since the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010860663/Business/guards-are-more-than-farmers-in-uniform.html
Fixed-line internet providers see growth
Despite the spread of web-enabled smartphones and tablets in Cambodia, internet service providers expected the number of fixed-line applications to grow, two industry insiders said yesterday. “With the advent of tablets and faster smartphones, it’s inevitable that people will use their devices more and more for ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010760646/Business/fixed-line-internet-providers-see-growth.html
Banks give students some tips
The first Banking Careers Forum, organised on Friday by CamEd Business School with the support of leading banks and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), attracted hundreds of students – the majority of them studying accounting and banking – to participate and find job opportunities in the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010760648/Business/banks-give-students-some-tips.html
Miner buys into Cambodian copper
Geopacific Resources, an Australian mineral exploration company focused on gold and copper projects in Fiji, wants to take over Worldwide Mining Projects Limited, a mineral assets searcher in Southeast Asia. Worldwide Mining Projects Limited has signed a sales agreement with Golden Resources Development, a South Korean ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010460638/Business/miner-buys-into-cambodian-copper.html
Starbucks to open its first outlet in Vietnam
Global coffee-chain giant Starbucks will enter its 12th Asian market next month when it opens an outlet in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City. RMA Cambodia CEO Rami Sharaf said the expansion into Vietnam did not automatically mean Starbucks would enter Cambodia. “I don’t think there is ...
Cambodia's Free Trade Union offers minimum wage plan
In the latest bid for an increase in garment-industry wages, Free Trade Union (FTU) president Chea Mony yesterday called on the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) to come to the table and discuss a $120-per-month minimum wage. A few days after Cambodian Confederation of Unions ...
Cambodian milled rice exports rise slightly
Cambodian milled rice exports to international markets grew only 2 per cent year-on-year, leading rice trading experts to express concern that the goal of exporting a million tonnes in 2015 cannot be accomplished. Hean Vanhorn, deputy director general of the Ministry of Agriculture and director of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010360602/Business/cambodian-milled-rice-exports-rise-slightly.html
Cambodia wins awards
The real estate and construction industry in Cambodia has been boosted recently after two companies won prestigious awards for their work in the Kingdom. Vattanac Capital walked away with the prize for Best Commercial Development (South East Asia) for the Vattanac Capital Tower at the second ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010360594/Real-Estate/cambodia-wins-awards.html
Cheng Keng becomes president of estate agents association
Cheng Kheng, director of the CPL real estate company, has been elected to be president of the Cambodian Valuers and Estate Agents Association in 2013, after Sung Bonna, director of the Bonna Realty Group, ended his 2012 term. ...
Garment strikers ask ministry for resolution
Some 200 garment workers who have been striking for two weeks traveled from their Kandal factory to the Ministry of Social Affairs yesterday to demand a resolution. Representatives met with officials to broker a sitdown for workers from the Master and Frank factory in Ang Snuol. “We ...