News
Bids called on Cambodia rail link
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) will call an e-auction on April 10 on work to renovate damaged tracks connecting Thailand with Cambodia at the Aranyaprathet-Poipet crossing, Transport Minister Chadchat Suttipan said on Tuesday. The railway agency estimated the project will cost 2.8 billion baht. ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/343563/thailand-to-open-bid-to-rebuild-tracks-with-cambodia
Trees being cleared for Sesan dam
As many as 40 workers are cutting down trees, marking other trees they plan to fell in protected forest areas and piling up luxury timber in a flood-safety zone in Stung Treng’s Srekor commune, a local official said yesterday. Commune chief Seak Mekong said the workers ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040264835/National/trees-being-cleared-for-sesan-dam.html
Mondolkiri, Kompong Thom Face Climate Threat
Mondolkiri and Kompong Thom provinces could suffer some of the most extreme effects of climate change in the Lower Mekong Basin region, such as a high incidence of flash floods and droughts by 2050, according to a new study. Analyzing temperature and rainfall from 84 provinces ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/mondolkiri-kompong-thom-face-climate-threat-17224/
No Power Leads to No Water In Sihanoukville
The water shortage that has led to tens of thousands of households in Sihanoukville without running water for the past week occurred after provincial officials decided to limit power to a water pumping facility operated by the tourist town’s privately-owned distributor, a manager at the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/no-power-leads-to-no-water-in-sihanoukville-16858/
Malaysian firm plans 10-mw biomass plant
A Malaysian-base[d] energy service group has plans to spend roughly $10 million to build a biomass power plant in Cambodia. Wah Seong Corporation Berhad’s plant would have a production capacity of up to 10 megawatts, said the group’s chief executive, Chan Cheu Leong, in an article ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040264825/Business/malaysian-firm-plans-10-mw-biomass-plant.html
Mfone value is revised
Althought the initial book value – purchase cost minus depreciation – of the assets of bankrupt Cambodian telecommunications firm Mfone was estimated at $105 million, employee representatives claim the estimated market value is closer to $30 million to $40 million. Bou Kunthea, an Mfone employee representative, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040264827/Business/mfone-value-is-revised.html
Hotels told to use own power
State-owned energy supplier Electricite du Cambodge (EDC) has sent letters to some of Phnom Penh’s four- and five-star hotels, asking that they switch to generators between 8am and 9pm this month — a move hotel-industry experts say would have a significant economic impact. In a letter ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040264826/Business/hotels-told-to-use-own-power.html
Growing Tourism – A Positive Sign: Asia and Pacific Continue as Travel Hot Spots
Asia and the Pacific continued as a hot spot for international tourism in 2012, attracting what is expected to be in excess of 350 million international visitor arrivals, expanding its collective inbound count by more than 5% and generating more than 18 million additional foreign visits, year-on-year. Within this ...
Better Recovery for Construction and Real Estate Sector
2012 has been an impressive year for Cambodia’s economic resilience. Among the many sectors that had positively grown are the construction and property development [sic] and they are expected to be among the highest growth achievers in the current year as well. In 2012, the ...
Can Tho links with Cambodian province
The Can Tho city and Cambodian province of Battambang have signed a memorandum of understanding on economic co-operation that covers commerce, investment, and tourism. The two sides will create favourable conditions for businesses from the two localities to co-operate in areas like processing of farm produce, ...
http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/237556/can-tho-links-with-cambodian-province.html
FAO Raises Paddy Production Outlook
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has raised its forecast of global paddy production in 2012 by about 1.5 million tonnes to 730 million tonnes (487 million tonnes, milled). The scaling up of production mainly concerned Asian countries, in particular Cambodia, ...
When Is Credit Growth Too Fast and How To Deal With It?
Cambodia’s financial system appears to be shifting to excessive credit growth. The credit-to-GDP ratio has reached 37 percent, well above the low-income economies (LTCs). If credit growth were to continue at the current pace, by mid-2013 the ratio would exceed even the median for more ...
Development Could Mean Loss of EU Trade Preference, Ambassador Says
Cambodia could see less preferential economic treatment by Europe in coming years, as it graduates as a more developed country, the EU’s ambassador to Cambodia says. In an interview with VOA Khmer in Phnom Penh, Ambassador Jean-Francois Cautain said Cambodia currently enjoys tariff exemptions under a ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/development-could-mean-loss-of-eu-trade-preference/1631336.html
Workers begin Clearing Land for Lower Sesan 2
Workers in Stung Treng province have begun clearing forested land with chainsaws in order to make way for the reservoir of a massive hydropower dam that has drawn ire from local villagers who say they have not been informed about the dam’s construction plans. The National ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/workers-begin-clearing-land-for-lower-sesan-2-16743/
Local beer to be sold in France
Khmer Brewery, the maker of Cambodia Beer, plans to begin sales to France, the company’s third export market, this month, having tasted success in Japan and Malaysia. It is one of six breweries in the Kingdom, but the only one whose investor base is local. With ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040164803/Business/local-beer-to-be-sold-in-france.html
Sihanoukville Runs Dry During Water Crisis
A water shortage in the tourist town of Sihanoukville has led authorities to advise scores of businesses to dig their own wells as only 50 percent of local demand is currently being met after high temperatures dried up the water supplier’s only reservoir. On March ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sihanoukville-runs-dry-during-water-crisis-16609/
Climate change to affect Mekong production
Climate change will have a significant effect on major industrial and food crops in the Lower Mekong basin countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, says a new study. The study, conducted by the Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change Project for the U.S. Agency ...
Kampot pepper in demand
Demand for Kampot pepper, the first Cambodian product to receive Geographical Indication (GI) status, is outpacing current supply even as areas of cultivation are expanding. Industry experts say the fast-growing demand is a result of the pepper’s newly earned GI label, which attests to its quality ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040164802/Business/kampot-pepper-in-demand.html
Pursat Police Official Charged Over Illegal Fishing
The Pursat Provincial court on Friday charged Krakor district’s judicial police bureau chief for taking bribes in order to allow illegal fishing in the Tonle Sap Lake, officials said yesterday. [Hong Bunthoeun] stands accused of accepting bribes to allow illicit fishing in parts of the Tonle ...
PM to end missing link to Cambodia
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra promised on Saturday to complete a missing rail link with Cambodia to foster closer ties with the neighbouring country. Ms Yingluck inspected the damaged tracks from Aranyaprathet district in Sa Kaeo to the border with Poipet in Cambodia and directed officials ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/343138/yingluck-to-end-missing-link-to-cambodia
Thai-Cambodian trade in Surin reaches new record high
The border trade in Surin province has reportedly reached 1 billion baht for the first time. The figure is said to be the new record high as the situation on the border of Thailand and Cambodia remains calm. Surin’s trade official Sitthiporn Bangkeaw said these ...
http://www.pattayamail.com/business/thai-cambodian-trade-in-surin-reaches-new-record-high-24190
Government Denies Reports on Mining Corruption and Hun Sen
The Cambodian government on Thursday dismissed media reports in Australia linking Prime Minister Hun Sen to a mining company under investigation there for corruption. Earlier this week, The Age newspaper reported on Australian documents that described officials from BHP Billiton seeking a special meeting with Hun ...
Labor committee announces minimum wage
The Labor Advisory Committee issued a joint statement on the decision to raise wages from $61 to $80 per month for garment and footwear workers. The statement was announced Friday, after a meeting between factory employers, union leaders and Labor Minister, Vong Soth. The wage provision ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=MTc2MjI0Y2JlMjV
In Washington, ‘Mekong Days’ Puts River in Focus
Advocacy groups, environmentalists and policy-makers have wrapped up five days of events surrounding Mekong River issues in Washington. “Mekong Days,” a series of talks, films and other forums that ended Tuesday, highlighted issues in the region, where some 60 million people live. The Mekong River, a major ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/in-washington-mekong-days-puts-river-in-focus/1630640.html