News
Cambodia economy remains robust in 2013 amidst challenging global economic atmosphere: WB
Cambodia’s GDP growth was projected to reach 7 percent in equivalent to 15.65 billion U.S. dollars in 2013 despite a challenging global economic environment, the World Bank said Monday. Overall macroeconomic outlook remains positive, having sustained agricultural growth, continued strong performance of the tourism sector, a ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-10/07/c_132776793.htm
Cambodia to feel an energy crunch, but growth to remain stable: report
Energy demand in Southeast Asia is expected to increase by more than 80 per cent by 2035, fuelling some $240 billion in oil spending, a new report from the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) shows. In its “Southeast Asia Energy Outlook” published yesterday, the Paris-based IAEA ...
Anne Renzenbrink
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cambodia-feel-energy-crunch-growth-remain-stable-report
Cambodian economy expected to remain buoyant: ADB
Cambodia’s economic growth rate is expected to exceed 7 percent both this year and next, the Asian Development Bank said Wednesday. The ADB maintained its forecast for this year’s economic growth at 7.2 percent, supported by strong exports and robust construction and service sectors. The ...
Global Post News Staff
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/131002/cambodian-economy-expected-remain-buoyant-adb
Government, ADB Differ on Rail Project
The government claims to have finished nearly a third of the work needed to rehabilitate the long-dilapidated railway line from Phnom Penh to the Thai border at Poipet, twice the figure reported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the main financier of the over-budget and ...
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-adb-differ-on-rail-project-41263/
Cambodia expects double growth in rice exports this year: minister
Cambodia was expected to export as much as 400,000 tons of milled rice in 2013 thanks to rising demand on international markets and the country’s efforts in developing rice industry, Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said Tuesday. “We project that Cambodia can export up to 400,000 tons ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-08/27/c_132667860.htm
Initiative Encourages Private Rural Investment
Representatives from more than 90 Cambodian businesses gathered yesterday at the Council of Ministers building in Phnom Penh to hear about a new initiative that aims to encourage private sector investment in agriculture. The $55.6 million project is an extension of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/initiative-encourages-private-rural-investment-37899/
Cambodia predicts 7.6 percent GDP growth in 2013
Cambodia’s economy would grow by 7.6 percent this year, driven by garment exports, agriculture, tourism and construction, according to a preliminary prediction by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Wednesday. The ministry said that the GDP volume would be around 15.19 billion U.S. dollars and ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-07/24/c_132570724.htm
Timing of stats questioned
For the first time in recent memory, the Ministry of Economy and Finance has released growth projections for the first half of the year, and the numbers are good. The ministry’s preliminary data claims that from January through June, economic growth stood at 7.6 per ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/timing-stats-questioned
Tax revenues rise, but aren’t reflective of overall GDP growth
While the country’s tax revenue grew about 20 per cent in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2012, experts say the amount still isn’t high enough to accurately reflect the country’s GDP growth. Stephen Higgins, former CEO of ANZ ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/tax-revenues-rise-aren%E2%80%99t-reflective-overall-gdp-growth
Food prices up 1.6 pct in April
Cambodia saw a one per cent rise in inflation in April compared with the same month last year, according to the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics (NIS). Sim Ly, an official at the NIS said there was a slight increase in food and ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070566683/Business/food-prices-up-1-6-pct-in-april.html
U.S. seeks to cut aid to Cambodia
Lawmakers in the U.S. and human rights activists are pushing for cuts of more than $70 million in aid to Cambodia if Prime Minister Hun Sen wins the July 28 elections. Many factors have pushed the U.S. to this point be it unfair and unjust, such ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=15&token=YTQ1OTEyZDAxMTd
Foreign investment rises 73 pct
A mid [sic] global economic fragility, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Cambodia grew a whopping 73 per cent in 2012 from the year before, a huge increase helping to fuel a record-setting amount of money pouring into least developed countries, according to the United Nations ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070166579/Business/foreign-investment-rises-73-pct.html
ADB to loan $55 million to Cambodia's rice sector
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $55 million to help transform the rice sector of Cambodia into a viable commercial industry as well as taking care of the land and water resources. ADB’s Climate-Resilient Rice Commercialization Sector Development Program―which will run ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=15&token=ZjI4NDZjMzFlMmE
New Coal Plant to Tackle Blackouts
National energy supplier Electricite du Cambodge (EdC) on Monday announced that a 50-MW coal-fired power plant in Preah Sihanouk province is ready to come online this week and will solve Phnom Penh’s chronic blackouts. The statement does not mention which power plant had been completed, ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/new-coal-plant-to-tackle-blackouts-31220/
Hor Namhong Asks for More Cash for Rail Project
Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong made another appeal to Australia for additional funds to complete a behind-schedule project to rehabilitate the country’s railway network, this time to newly appointed Australian Ambassador Alison Burrows, according to a ministry spokesman. While work on the Southern Line of the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hor-namhong-asks-for-more-cash-for-rail-project-30272/
Robust Recovery Continues
Cambodia’s economy is on track to maintain its robust recovery thanks to a cocktail of private sector and government efforts. In 2012, the Asian Development Bank estimated that gross domestic product grew at a rate of 7.2 per cent, an increase from a 2011 International ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013061066160/Business/robust-recovery-continues.html
Families Left Worse off After Railway Project
Phnom Penh families being pushed to the city’s outskirts to make way for a $142.6 million railway renovation project funded by Australia and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are falling into debt and finding it harder to earn money and access healthcare according to a ...
Hun Sen Says Water, Power Shortages to Stay
Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that the rapid growth of Phnom Penh’s population coupled with the rampant construction of new property projects means that there would always be a shortage of water and electricity in the capital. Speaking to a crowd of thousands who had ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-says-water-power-shortages-to-stay-29063/
ADB Says Hydropower Growth Won’t Match Need for Oil, Coal
Cambodia’s reliance on imported fossil fuels to meet its energy needs is set to increase in the coming years, despite the raft of hydropower projects planned by the government, according to new data from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Using baseline figures from the Institute ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/adb-says-hydropower-growth-wont-match-need-for-oil-coal-28794/
ADB advises region to combine grids
Cambodia is expected to be able to produce about half the energy it needs by 2035, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), but the Kingdom – along with its neighbours – should also consider integrating their energy grids, which would bring about more competitive ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013053165966/Business/adb-advises-region-to-combine-grids.html
As Foreign Aid Increases, Questions About Conditions
Cambodia has seen huge growth of foreign aid and loans over the past two decades, but experts are beginning to question its worth—and what conditions might be attached. Total aid from 1993 to 2012 amounts to around $10 billion, with the percentage of aid coming as ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/as-foreign-aid-increases-questions-about-conditions/1664821.html
Homeowners petition ADB
The occupants of 90 Phnom Penh households whose homes were partially or completely dismantled to make way for the Railway Rehabilitation Project partly funded by the ADB have demanded the bank offer them fair compensation. In a letter submitted to the Inter-Ministerial Resettlement Committee, the ADB, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052165738/National/homeowners-petition-adb.html
Scepticism over government statistics
Getting reliable statistical data remains a challenge for Cambodia’s government, as a lack of cooporation among the ministries and corruption still distort what is reality. Industry insiders say this is a problem, especially as reliable data are the base of reference when the Association of Southeast ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052165728/Business/scepticism-over-government-statistics.html
Government Mulls Issuing Sovereign Bonds
Cambodia is considering offering sovereign bonds to raise more revenue for the national budget and move away from its dependence on overseas aid, a senior central bank official said Sunday. National Bank of Cambodia director-general Nguon Sokha said the Ministry of Economy and Finance was currently ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/government-mulls-issuing-sovereign-bonds-21989/