ODC English Site
Going black before going green
HIDDEN in the labyrinth of Stung Meanchey province’s factories, the Sustainable Green Fuel Enterprise (SGFE) found a cleaner way to produce charcoal: from coconut shells and industry leftovers. It is still one of the principal sources of energy for cooking in urban areas. Chief Executive Carlo ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030661774/Business/going-black-before-going-green.html
New palm oil plant for $16m
Mong Reththy Group (MRG) will begin construction on a US$16 million crude palm oil refinery next month in Preah Sihanouk province, where several thousand hectares of palm trees are grown, insiders said yesterday. Mong Reththy, president of the eponymous firm, told the Post that his company ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030661772/Business/new-palm-oil-plant-for-16m.html
Report shows lack of information on Chinese-Funded Railway
With locals demanding dialogue with the Chinese firms behind a proposed multibillion dollar rail line to Preah Vihear province, an NGO report released yesterday highlights the dearth of information that has been made available on the project. Chinese company Cambodia Iron Steel Mining Industry Group (CISMIG) ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/report-shows-lack-of-information-on-chinese-funded-railway-12723/
Room for compromise in wage debate: official
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia and unions both need to compromise further to secure a “proper wage” for garment workers whose lives are hampered by their current $61 minimum wage, a Ministry of Social Affairs official overseeing wage negotiations said yesterday. “The government needs the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030661779/National/room-for-compromise-in-wage-debate-official.html
Hun Sen Says CPP Largess Will End If Election is Lost
Less than five months from the national elections, Prime Minister Huns Sen yesterday warned the public that his ruling CPP party would stop making charitable donations towards infrastructure and national development if the party is not re-elected. Speaking at the inauguration of a Chinese-funded expansion of ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-says-cpp-largess-will-end-if-election-is-lost-12645/
Foreign activists detained
Police arrested five activists from labour-rights group Clean Clothes Campaign yesterday outside the E Garment factory in Kandal province. Neuv Sakhan, deputy director of the Kandal provincial immigration police, told the Post four women and one man, from Norway, Belgium, England and Austria, had been taken ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030661780/National/foreign-activists-detained.html
Protests Over Mondulkiri Electricity Prices Resume
About 100 residents of Mondulkirri province’s Sen Monorom City have protested yesterday for the third time in the past 2 weeks in front of the provincial office of state electricity provider Eletricite du Cambodge (Edc), demanding that their electricity be decreased. Vann Neang, who ...
Cambodia launches arbitration body to deal with commercial disputes
Cambodia officially launched the long-awaited National Arbitration Center (NAC) on Monday, aiming at enhancing business environment and attracting more local and foreign investors. Speaking at the launching ceremony, Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh said the government is committed to improving and enhancing Cambodia’s business environment and ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-03/04/c_132207640.htm
Houses bulldozed because of land
Sihanoukville authorities bulldozed homes in the Steung Hav district on Tuesday following a verdict made by Sihanoukville Provincial Court. In the demolition, authorities had used about 100 police officers and several machines to bulldoze around 18 houses. The land had been a topic of ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=YTI4Y2VjMzgyMmZ
Ethnic villagers fight lake fill-in
One hundred and thirteen Jarai families from Ratanakkiri’s Bakeo district are sending a letter of protest to the provincial fishery administration today, after a Vietnamese rubber company started filling in a lake that they had promised last month to preserve for villagers. Rochom Ven, chief of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030561737/National/ethnic-villagers-fight-lake-fill-in.html
Thailand, Vietnam Seek Controls on Rosewood Trade
Thailand and Vietnam have called for strict controls to be placed on the international trade of rosewood in an attempt to prevent the luxury wood species from being logged to extinction. Cambodia currently exports thousands of cubic meters of the wood to China each year, and ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/thailand-vietnam-seek-controls-on-rosewood-trade-12299/
Villagers fear eviction looms
Villagers who fear eviction from their homes of 30 years in Kratie province travelled to Phnom Penh yesterday to plead for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s intervention. Fifteen representatives of 88 families who live close to Kratie Airport, in Kratie town’s Srei Padav village, said provincial authorities ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030561741/National/villagers-fear-eviction-looms.html
Final Wage Offer for Garment Workers Is $75
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) informed the government yesterday that their final offer in minimum wage negotiations with the country’s unions is $75 per month, $25 less than the unions had wanted. The $75 dollar figure, however, includes a $5 state-mandated health bonus, paid ...
Thais to set up maize plant
THAI agribusiness giant Charoen Pokphand (CP) Foods is setting up a new silo and drying plant for maize in Pailin province. The exact investment cost is not known. According to a newspaper report in The Nation, the plant, together with a planned feed-meal plant in Laos, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030561742/Business/thais-to-set-up-maize-plant.html
‘Historic’ deal for workers
Labour-rights groups are lauding a “historic” deal that will result in about $200,000 in wages and benefits being paid to workers who were stranded when the Kingsland Garment factory in Phnom Penh closed unannounced in December. In a meeting on Friday that took place as more ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030461726/National/historic-deal-for-workers.html
Japan to strengthen local SME’s capacities
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced yesterday that it will provide technical support for Cambodian small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), strengthening their capacities through the establishment of a national policy, officials said. Meng Saktheara, director-general of the General Department of Industry at the Ministry of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030561745/Business/japan-to-strengthen-local-sme-s-capacities.html
Cambodia To Become Lower-Middle-Income Nation By End of 2013: PM
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday that the country would move from the status of a low-income to a lower-middle-income nation by the end of this year. “We acknowledge that we are in the status of a low-income country with GDP per capita of less ...
The Snap Look at Software Business
IT businesspeople see the potential demand in business software. Ms. Sok Channda, CEO and President of ANANA Group, tells Business Circle Magazine that because most businesses need to be controlled and managed systematically, demand for software development is experiencing an upward trend, including Point of Sale (POS) systems, inventory management systems, and software ...
http://www.bcmagz.com/the-snap-look-at-software-business.html
Demand for wage increases rejected
Cambodia, with over 400 garment and footwear factories, has become an Asian clothes manufacturing center, and hugely profitable for the factory owners They have rejected a demand by the Cambodian Confederation of Unions to double the minimum monthly wage of factory workers from $61. The ...
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Demand+wage+increases+rejected/8044435/story.html#ixzz2MYys4mpC
Recent Development and Economic Outlook
The UN’s assessment suggests that Cambodia is one of the top five countries that have made significant progress toward meeting its MDGs by 2015. The poverty rate has dropped dramatically from 47.50 percent in 1993 to 34.70 percent in 2004 and 23 percent in 2011, ...
Siem Reap Power Cut Hurts Tourism Industry
Three days after it went out, power had yet to be restored to large parts of Siem Reap province yesterday, badly impacting local businesses in the popular tourist hub of Siem Reap City and seeing a rush of people to buy generators. The power failure followed ...
Cambodia launches green growth plan 2013-2030
Cambodia on Friday adopted the national policy and strategic plan for green growth 2013-2030, aiming at developing the economy with consideration for environmental and natural resources sustainability. It said the country has already adopted several legal instruments for the green growth implementation. Those included ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-03/01/c_132201617.htm
Walmart and H&M Suppliers Pay Workers at Closed Cambodia Plant
Suppliers to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Hennes & Mauritz AB (HMB) agreed yesterday to pay about $145,000 in back wages and severance to about 160 workers at a Cambodian factory that closed in November, a labor activist involved in the deal said. The agreement, which ...
Land Dispute Body Blames Concession Troubles on Ministries
The head of the country’s National Authority for Land Dispute Resolution on Wednesday said his authority was unable to resolve land disputes and that the responsibility for settling such disputes rested with the ministries responsible for handing out economic land concessions (ELCs) in the first ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/land-dispute-body-blames-concession-troubles-on-ministries-12099/