The Phnom Penh Post
Rights groups wary of ban on internet cafés
Rights workers cautioned yesterday that a sweeping ban on internet cafés near schools was little more than a thinly veiled act of censorship. Issued last month by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, the circular says all internet cafés within 500 metres of a school must ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/National/rights-groups-wary-of-ban-on-internet-cafes.html
Phnom Penh court reopens investigation on land case
A verdict in the land encroachment case against a prominent businesswoman was not delivered as expected yesterday, after a judge ordered the case be re-investigated due to a lack of evidence. Phnom Penh Municipal Court tried Chhin Sokountheary, director of Layimex Holdings Group, in absentia on ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/National/phnom-penh-court-reopens-investigation-on-land-case.html
New services, branches in Cambodia woo bank customers
Maybank, one of the largest banks in Cambodia, has officially launched an internet banking service to provide a convenient service to its more than 10,000 customers and says it hopes to increase that number by around 10 per cent. The service, called M2U, will enable customers ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/Business/new-services-branches-woo-bank-customers.html
Ground broken on Koh Pich for Japan-Cambodia venture
Popular Japanese hotel chain Toyoko Inn has embarked on a joint-investment with Cambodian company OCIC to build a three-star hotel on Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich, to cater to the growth of foreign investors and visitors to Cambodia. The groundbreaking ceremony for the 22-storey, 304 unit Toyoko ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/Business/ground-broken-on-koh-pich-for-japan-cambodia-venture.html
PM urges factories to up wages
As the lure of Thailand grows increasingly attractive for cash-strapped and under-employed Cambodians, Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday made a public appeal for workers to stay in the country, simultaneously urging the Cambodian market to up its competitive edge. In a speech at the inauguration of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/National/pm-urges-factories-to-up-wages.html
Corridor towns to see $37 million in ADB loans
Battambang, Bavet, Neak Loeung and Poipet are among several towns that will benefit from a $37 million loan from the the first quarter of next year after funding was approved at the 18th Greater Mekong Sub Region (GMS) meeting in Nanning, China. The loan comes from ...
Prasac inaugurates new HQ in Phnom Penh
Officials expressed optimism that microfinance institution Prasac would be able to attract more deposit placing clients, after the inauguration of its new headquarters in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Tompun district yesterday. Representatives from the National Bank of Cambodia and Prasac expect the new 10-storey building to enhance ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/Business/prassacs-new-hq-inaugurated.html
Illegal-logging claims rejected
Provincial forestry administration officials in Ratanakkiri have dismissed allegations of illegal logging by community residents and chalked the deforestation up to legitimate clearing. A cursory examination of the land in question yesterday seemed to back the company’s claims, Ly Sophan, a team worker at the provincial ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/National/illegal-logging-claims-rejected.html
Export-Import expo at Koh Pich this week
The Ministry of Commerce will host the 7th Cambodian Export-Import and One Product One Province Exhibition at Diamond Island from December 15-18. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/Business/export-import-expo-at-koh-pich-this-week.html
Kep first province to wrap land-titling scheme
Seven months after Prime Minister Hun Sen unveiled an ambitious plan to demarcate 1.8 million hectares of state land and formally acknowledge those who live on it, the completion of the first – albeit the smallest – of eight affected provinces has wrapped up. Marking the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/National/kep-first-province-to-wrap-land-titling-scheme.html
Crane removed from Gold Tower 42
Last week, the crane on the top of Gold Tower 42 was removed, adding to the sense that the completion of the Korean-owned skyscraper is ultimately a distant hope. The owner of the unfinished skyscraper, sitting at the corner of Sihanouk and Monivong Boulevards entered into ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/Real-Estate/crane-removed-from-gold-tower-42.html
Siem Reap hotels oversupplied
Potential real estate investors in Siem Reap are being advised to look towards retail strips rather than hotels, according to Cambodian real estate professionals. Knight Frank’s Cambodia chief, Sunny Soo, said that while the hotel industry is well supplied, the town lacks an organised retail strip. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/Real-Estate/siem-reap-hotels-oversupplied.html
Siam City Cement to enter Cambodia with local partner
Siam City Cement and the Chip Mong Group will co-build a new cement plant in the Toukmeas district of Kampot by 2015 in order to take advantage of the “huge” demand in Cambodia. The plant will cater specifically to the Cambodian market, although they will also ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/Business/siam-city-cement-to-enter-kingdom-with-local-partner.html
Alliance to disburse $2 million to buy paddy rice, help exports
The Alliance of Rice Producers Exporters of Cambodia (ARPEC) will release US$2 million after December 15th to its members in nine provinces so they can buy paddy rice before the harvest season ends and stocks been depleted. He said the pay out is being drawn from ...
New solar powered lights for Cambodia
Cambodia’s energy sector acquired a new product yesterday with the introduction of solar powered lights from energy company Total, advancing it toward a longer term solution to meeting the population’s energy needs. An industry player described the products as a nice bridge toward seeing Cambodia supplied with ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/Business/new-solar-powered-product-launched.html
Cambodia's tax revenue totals $683 million
The Cambodian government collected $683 million in taxes over the first 11 months of this year, according to data from the General Department of Taxation released last week. An economist said the increase in domestic tax revenue emphasised that Cambodia still has room for improvement in ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012121160203/Business/tax-revenue-totals-683-million.html
Families make plea to PM Hun Sen over eviction
Despite a court-ordered land title in their favour, 163 families in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district last week watched excavators rip apart their homes at the behest of two district deputy governors. The forced eviction, denounced in a petition delivered on Friday to Prime Minister Hun ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/General/families-make-plea-to-pm-hun-sen-over-eviction.html
Ethnic group press for communal title
Economic land concessions granted to a pair of Vietnamese companies in Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district were endangering the traditional lifestyles of as many as 200 ethnic-minority families, villagerstold the Post yesterday. As the companies actively cleared forest to make room for the eventual rubber plantations, the government ...
Pension scheme ramps up
More than 700,000 workers at private companies and factories across 19 provinces have registered to join a nationwide pension scheme that goes into effect in 2015, Labour Ministry officials told the Post yesterday. A branch of the National Social Security Fund (NSFF), the pension scheme was ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012121160211/National-news/pension-scheme-ramps-up.html
Union representatives summoned
Union leaders representing workers on strike at the Tropicana Casino and Resort were served with a summons by the Banteay Meanchey provincial court yesterday after a complaint by the casino’s management. The court summons came around the time Sum Sam Ith, the Tropicana representative, sent ...
Rising tourism prompts ABA growth in Siem Reap
The Advanced Bank of Asia (ABA) is expanding its Siem Reap operations to take advantage of the growing tourism sector. The bank is moving out of its 160-square-metre Sivutha Street office into a 1,080-square-metre, three-level office across the road, and it is now one of the ...
Community forest woes
In the latest chapter of what is proving to be an arduous struggle to protect a government demarcated Community Forest in Battambang province, 36 hectares of the land have reportedly been given over to outsiders including a military official. ...
David Boyle
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012121060181/National-news/community-forest-woes.html
Cambodia's salt output may decrease
The Kep-Kamport Salt Producers Community expressed concern about the production of salt this year not reaching its forecast due to the late-starting season and the lack of labour to work in the fields. Um Chhun, director of the administration office in Kep-Kamport Salt Producers Community, said ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012121060176/Business/salt-output-may-decrease.html
Farmers biggest source of investment in agriculture
Despite attention from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and official development assistance, farmers are by far the largest source of investment in agriculture, the State of Food and Agriculture 2012 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization published last week said. Farmers in low and middle income ...