China’s dam building spree on the upper Mekong River raises new tensions over water resources Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang obviously had China in mind when he warned recently that tensions over water resources are not only threatening economic growth but presenting a source of conflict Cambodia, ...

Philip Hampden-Smith, general manager of Southeast Asia operations at Manulife, talks about the company’s entry into the Cambodian market and what the new few years might bring. Cambodia’s nascent life insurance industry may be just only a year old but the nation of nearly 15 million ...

Pharmaceutical giant Thai Nakorn Patana plans to invest $30 million over the next two years in a three- to four-star hotel in Phnom Penh, as it hopes to cash in on the lack of big names in the capital’s mid-tier hotels market. For the new 200-room ...

Total fixed assets of Singaporean investment in Cambodia last year reached $82.7 million, a 500 per cent increase from $13.8 million in 2011, data from the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) show. Singaporean entrepreneurs who have already entered the Cambodian market said they expect ...

The supply of second-tier office space has increased during the first half of 2012 as the number of new firms in Phnom Penh city continues to grow, according to real estate experts. A study by Asia Real Estate Cambodia (ARC) found that office space in the “grade B” category now stands at ...

Police in Battambang arrested six villagers embroiled in a land dispute with a local businessman on Wednesday after 10 other villagers accused them of defrauding families in the area, deputy provincial governor Uy Ry said yesterday. However, villagers and rights workers in Kors Kralor district said ...

The long-running Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) monitoring programme is in urgent need of reform, according to a new report, which suggests the country’s reputation as a standard-bearer for apparel workers’ rights is “wearing thin”. The report, “Monitoring in the Dark – an evaluation of the International Labour ...

A local police official in Ratanakkiri province has been suspended for demanding money from villagers before adding their names to a list of people eligible for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s new land-titling program, police and villagers said yesterday. A total of 1,100 student volunteers are being ...

A new banking settlements system called CHANCES, dealing exclusively in the Chinese currency renminbi (RMB), aims to make trade between China and the ASEAN countries easier and less expensive. Owned and operated by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the CHANCES system stands for ...

Though the mood was congratulatory yesterday at the inauguration of ruling party Senator Ly Yong Phat’s sugar company – a gleaming, new facility nestled in between two hills in Kampong Speu province’s Omlaing commune – the mood just a few kilometres away bordered on desperation. Sitting ...

Acleda Bank has raised its bank capital—the amount of money it has available for expenditure—by 28 percent to $113.16 million, the bank announced in a statement on Friday. In Channy, CEO of Acleda, said yesterday the extra capital would be used to increase its loan portfolio ...

Vespa, the iconic Italian scooter, is now officially available for purchase in Cambodia-again. Italy-based automobile company Piaggio, in cooperation with the local Narita Group, opened the doors yesterday to the country’s first licensed Vespa dealership. The new Vespas range in price from $2,950 for the ...

Markets like Olympic and O’Russey in Phnom Penh and the traditional fresh food markets in cities and towns across Cambodia are where the overwhelming majority of Cambodians get not only the food they eat, but also the basic household products they use. The shopping behavior data, provided by ...

A new made-service company that claims to be the only one of its kind in Cambodia is offering an alternative employment option for the country’s many domestic workers who face insecure, and often abusive, workplace conditions overseas. Ming Hour Home Service, which opened in July, employs ...

E-commerce in the Kingdom would boom during the coming years as a result of technological developments and young Cambodians being eager to gain skills in new technology, a gathering of business people heard during “E-biz Tuesday”, a monthly meeting for discussion on Cambodia’s e-commerce industry. According ...

Sar Botra has always liked gardening. The front yard of his house, an explosion of flowers and plants, makes it clear that he’s got a very green thumb. He used to spend a lot of time with his plants after work or on the weekends, ...

Until the arrival of large-scale development around her home in the northeastern province of Ratanakkiri, Sav Samourn, a member of the ethnic Jarai minority, was frightened of wild animals and ghosts. But as trees disappeared and industrial machinery razed the forestland, the old fears fell away. ...

Cambodian garment exports are expected to grow in 2013 with the increasing foreign investments along with focus on new market including Japan and China, according to the Garment Manufactures Association of Cambodia (GMAC). In 2012, apparel exports of Cambodia grew nine percent to US$ 4.61 ...

Malaysia-based Harta Packaging Industries Sdn Bhd opened a new Cambodian factory to meet the demands of a growing exports sector and benefit from Sihanoukville port’s ambitious expansion plans, officials said. Harta Packaging, a wholly owned subsidiary of HPI Resources Berhad and part of the Oji Paper ...

Cambodia is making plans to open passport offices along its border with Thailand in a bid to cut down on illegal migration, Interior Minister Sar Kheng announced yesterday. Speaking at the close of a migration workshop, Kheng said that officials are already preparing to open a ...