News

Connectivity is crucial to the process of building the Asean Community, and ties in with the effort to market the region as a single tourist destination, the grouping’s chief said. “Asean is in the process of building the Asean Community, and in the process of building ...

The southwestern areas along the Vietnam – Cambodia border are now in their usual busy time of the year, with smuggled goods entering the country with near impunity. Most of the markets in the Mekong Delta are flooded with various contraband products, mostly brought from China ...

Cambodia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are in talks to promote bilateral cooperation in trade, investment and tourism on Wednesday. In the meeting, both sides discussed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on aviation in order to enable UAE airlines to operate direct flights from ...

Government officials yesterday met with representatives from the Republic of Ecuador to discuss ways to improve economic and political ties between the two countries, Foreign Ministry Secretary of State Ouch Borith said. The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding to protect Cambodian artifacts ...

The amount of money spent on construction in Cambodia soared by 72 per cent in 2012 compared to 2011, according to data from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. The ministry said it had issued 1,694 construction patents covering 6.5 million square metres ...

Worldwide, office demand stemmed from the automotive, high-tech and energy industries. The latter is evident in Cambodia, where drilling off the coast near Sihanoukville has helped to increase office demand. Thus, companies such as Total and Chevron are large office occupiers, and new Japanese oil ...

Cambodian company Soma Group has signed a joint-venture agreement with Thai-based CP Intertrade to build and operate a $20 million rice mill that will process fragrant rice for export. Industry insiders say the mill will increase Cambodia’s rice export capacity and boost the Kingdom’s ability to ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday said more investment in agriculture was needed to ensure that Cambodia can process its crops and add value to agricultural produce being exported abroad. Speaking at the inauguration of a new cargo port in Kandal province, Mr. Hun Sen said there was an ...

Cambodia on Tuesday inaugurated a new container terminal of the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, turning the port as a large hub for logistics supply and goods collection and distribution. The inauguration ceremony was presided over by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia ...

This year marks the 60th anniversary since the start of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and Japan – the country’s largest bilateral donor – and to celebrate, the Japanese Embassy is planning an array of cultural events. Speaking at a ceremony to mark the anniversary, Japanese Ambassador ...

Vietnam urged Laos to halt construction of a $3.5 billion hydropower dam pending further study, environmental activists said on Friday after a meeting of the Mekong River Commission. The activists said Cambodia, also downriver from the Xayaburi dam, accused Laos during heated discussions on Wednesday and ...

Representatives of the ten ASEAN nations met on Sunday in Laos’ capital of Vientiane to launch the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF), where they pledged to expand tourism cooperation and discussed creating a pan-ASEAN tourist visa. The ATF, which was first held in 1981, is designed to ...

Transport Ministers of Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to accelerate road transport cooperation. It will facilitate the transportation of goods and passengers among the three countries, including via sea ports, and boost socio-economic development in each country, especially the ...

Looking to compete with Chinese influence in the region, the U.S. government is making plans to help American companies win large-scale infrastructure projects in Cambodia, U.S. officials said yesterday in Phnom Penh. The plans, which come as part of a strategic and economic embracing of Asia ...

Laos yesterday defended its decision to begin building the Xayaburi dam amid criticism from Cambodia on a lively final day of the Mekong River Commission’s annual council meeting in Luang Prabang, Laos. According to separate sources who attended, Cambodia spoke out against Laos for “misinterpreting” the ...

Regional conservationists criticised the Mekong River Commission (MRC) yesterday for leaving the controversial Xayaburi Dam off its agenda at this week’s annual ministerial meeting in Luang Prabang, Laos. Laotian authorities said they would confirm their decision to go ahead with the hydropower project in the mainstream ...

Cambodia exported more than 200,000 tons of milled rice in 2012, the greatest yield on record, though well short of the government target to export 1 million tons by 2015. Speaking at the Ministry of Agriculture’s annual meeting in Phnom Penh, Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said ...

Police in Phnom Penh yesterday raided nine DVD shops at Tuol Tom Poung market in Chamkar Mon district, confiscating hundreds of illegally reproduced movies at the joint request of the Ministry of Culture and local movie distributor Westec Media Limited. Sao Bunthoeurn, deputy director of ...

Cambodia’s largest bank is ready to launch its first micro-finance institution (MFI) in Myanmar, but one final barrier remains: an operating licence from Myanmar’s government. Acleda Bank’s chief executive, In Channy, expects the licence to be granted by the end of this month. Once that is done, ...

China has become Cambodia’s biggest investor, putting some $8.8 billion into the country over nearly two decades, according to online data from the government’s lead investment agency. Those investment numbers, from the Council for the Development of Cambodia, from 1994 to 2011, do not take into ...

Cambodia’s Angkor Wat Temple, one of the World Heritage Sites, received 2.06 million foreign visitors last year, up 28 percent compared to 1.61 million in a year earlier, a tourism report said Tuesday. The temple greeted 339,530 South Koreans last year, up 23 percent year-on-year; ...

When ministers from the four member countries of the Mekong River Commission and donors meet in Luang Prabang, Laos this week, the future role of the agency will be on the table. Questions about the effectiveness of the Mekong River Commission, set up in 1995 to ...

Maybank Bhd is looking to increase its presence in Cambodia, by raising the number of its branches to 20 from 12 currently. Speaking at a public panel dialogue organised by The Wharton School about the economic prospects of the ASEAN region, Maybank’s CEO Datuk Sri Abdul ...

Cambodia in 2012 received 3.5 million foreign visitors, an increase of 25 per cent if comparing to 2011 and earned 2 billion US dollars for national income this year, tourism minister said on January 10. He also said:  for 2011, there were 8 million of ...