The Phnom Penh Post
Strike wounds slow to heal
More than 70 garment workers who claim they were sacked after a nationwide workers’ strike in September, 2010 are still waiting to be reinstated, Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), has told the Post. Thorn claimed on Tuesday about ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070557227/National-news/strike-wounds-slow-to-heal.html
Hun Sen shoots down free-visa plan
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday shot down calls for a free visa system for all ASEAN + 3 nations. The proposal would have included the ASEAN nations as well as China, Japan and South Korea. Minister of Tourism Thong Khon made the proposal during a Tourism Ministry ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070557223/Business/pm-shoots-down-free-visa-plan.html
More Cambodian maid abuse revelations
A Cambodian maid in Malaysia has committed suicide, another was allegedly raped by her employer and a third tortured, according to rights groups and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is investigating the cases. An 18-year-girl is being sheltered at the Cambodian embassy after she was ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070557237/National-news/more-maid-abuse-revelations.html
Two ‘secessionists’ to face press
Bun Chhorn and Sok Tong – fugitives accused of orchestrating a “secessionist plot” in Kratie province – are refusing to admit their guilt, and will hold a press conference Friday in Phnom Penh to say as much, despite Hun Sen’s recent promise to drop their ...
Borei Keila evictees plead case
Homeless Borei Keila evictees who have been living in tents surrounded by garbage since authorities bulldozed their homes in January pleaded outside Phnom Penh Municipal Hall for housing yesterday. Representative Chhay Kimhorn said the families could no longer stand living in tents and stairwells infested with ...
Road blocked as strike escalates
Thousands of workers from factories owned by Tai Yang Enterprise in Kandal province’s Ang Snuol district blocked National Road 4 for more than seven hours yesterday to push the company to meet their demands. May Sopheaktra said workers decided to block the road after the companytried ...
UK, US pledge ASEAN support
The United States has expressed its commitment to the success of next week’s 19th ASEAN Regional Forum, which will be held in Phnom Penh, while British Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne said on the same day that the United Kingdom plans to strengthen its relationship ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070557222/Business/uk-us-pledge-asean-support.html
North Korea talks trade pact with Cambodia
North Korea yesterday proposed to lower tax and trade barriers with Cambodia. The proposal, if made into a formal agreement, would join a long list of agreements between the two countries that have never been followed through. Hong Ki Chol said such an agreement could ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070457178/Business/north-korea-trade-pact.html
Government calls for more local products
Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An has called for the greater use of local products in the tourism sector, as products from overseas that continue to supply the industry result in a 25 per cent loss in revenue for Cambodia’s US$2 billion-a-year tourism industry. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070457177/Business/government-call-local-products.html
Tales of ‘blood-stained’ sugar
The European Union should immediately remove trade preferences it gives to Cambodian sugar companies accused of human-rights violations including land grabs, representatives of the affected communities told a press conference in Phnom Penh yesterday. Community representatives from Koh Kong, Kampong Speu and Oddar Meanchey provinces said ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070457189/National-news/tales-of-blood-stained-sugar.html
Court orders strikers back to work
The Kandal Provincial Court ordered thousands of striking garment employees back to work for the second time yesterday, but they will continue fighting until their demands are met, a union president said. Workers at Ang Snuol district’s Tai Nan I, Tai Nan II and Camwell factorieshave ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070457188/National-news/court-orders-strikers-back.html
Kok An case back in court
Heng Chheang, former deputy general director of the Anco Brothers Company, was brought by prison security guards yesterday for questioning to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over fresh allegations of defamation and fraud filed by Senator Kok An last year, officials said. “Although I have already ...
Wenzhou business grows in Phnom Penh
The number of incoming business people from Wenzhou, a Chinese coastal city of three million known for manufacturing, has grown markedly in recent years. So much, in fact, that Wezhou opened an official chamber of commerce in Phnom Penh last week. Labour and land costs on China’s ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070457175/Business/wenzhou-business-grows.html
Trade fair a chance to improve Thai relations
Thailand and Cambodia are making moves to repair trade relations as 30 of Thailand’s provincial commerce departments hold a three-day trade fair in Phnom Penh’s Diamond Island Convention Center this week, according to Jiranan Wongmongkol, director of the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (FTPO) at the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070457176/Business/trade-fair-thai-relations.html
Coal justified: ministry
The general director of the Energy Department at the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy has defended Cambodia’s energy needs and its use of coal power as the country attempts to use modern technology to reduce pollution ahead of the ASEAN Senior Energy Officials’ 30th ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070357154/Business/coal-justified-ministry.html
CCU threatens capital march
Cambodian Confederation of Unions president Rong Chhun threatened yesterday to lead a march of more than 3,000 striking garment workers from Kandal province to the capital on Thursday if their employer refuses to meet their demands. “[Workers] have already made commitments with me to march to ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070357166/National-news/ccu-threatens-march.html
Abused maid wins case
An abused Cambodian maid working in Malaysia has had her day in court – and won. Men Chan Veasna is the first Cambodian maid to successfully sue her employers in the Malaysian courts, rights groups said yesterday, calling the win a landmark victory for maids struggling ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070357171/National-news/abused-maid-wins.html
Small growth for Phnom Penh's water utility
Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority saw 8.2 per cent revenue growth during the first quarter of the year, a welcomed disclosure after the retirement of the state-owned firm’s general director was announced last week. The firm took in US$7,725,500 between January and March, up from $7,140,473 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070357153/Business/small-growth-for-ppwsa.html
‘Viable’ Boeung Kak option floated
More than enough vacant plots exist within Boeung Kak lake’s 12.44-hectare concession area to house those denied land permits, a new NGO report says. Sahmakum Teang Tnaut claims to have found “a viable and practical” solution for households excluded from the unmarked land the prime minister ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070357170/National-news/viable-boeung-kak-option.html
Mysterious excavators cleared protected area
Kampong Thom provincial authorities have confiscated more than two dozen dirt excavators in Stoung district over the past week after the machinery had been allegedly used to dig up land for development in a protected area used primarily for breeding fish. Hang Thol, a military police ...
Young chief vs the system
Tek Nim is well versed in dealing with adversity. In year nine, she dropped out of school, began working on the family farm and finally became resigned to the belief that her brightest prospect was to leave Omlaing commune, in Kampong Speu province’s Thpong district, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070357164/National-news/young-chief-vs-the-system.html
Sihanoukville port sees steady growth
Revenue at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port increased 13.6 per cent year on year between January and June, port officials confirmed yesterday. As the state-owned enterprise gears up for listing on the Cambodia Securities Exchange, the neighbouring Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone will play an increasingly important role in ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070357157/Business/sihanoukville-port-growth.html
Prudential granted approval by ministry
Prudential Corporation Asia yesterday received “in-principle” approval from the Ministry of Economy and Finance to establish a foreign-owned life insurance operation in the country, an official statement from the company said. The announcement comes after Canadian life insurance giant Manulife on Thursday made public plans for ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070357155/Business/prudential-granted-approval.html
Piaggio to return to Cambodia with legendary Vespa scooters
Europe’s largest manufacturer of two-wheeled vehicles, Italy’s Piaggio, will return to Cambodia in September, being absent since the Khmer Rouge takeover. Vespa Cambodia Co Ltd, part of Narith Long’s Narita group, signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Piaggio last month to distribute its Piaggio scooters, ...
Anthony Galliano, P. 9
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070357156/Business/piaggio-cambodia-vespa.html