ភ្នំពេញប៉ុស្តិ៍
Guesthouses rebut calls for fair prices
Hotel and guesthouse operators have pushed back against government calls to avoid price increases during holidays, claiming group booking, as well as supply and demand, dictated the price of accommodation. Government officials, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, have recently tried to dissuade operators from raising the ...
Laos postpones construction on Xayaburi Dam
Laos has postponed construction of the controversial Xayaburi dam project on the Lower Mekong River, a spokesman for its Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quoted saying on Wednesday. “No construction is going on. It’s discontinued, postponed,” Sithong Chitgnothin told Radio Free Asia in Laos. ...
Beeline manager exits
The general manager of Cambodian mobile operator Beeline has left the company, following brand-owner Vimpelcom’s selloff of Vietnamese assets and a more than US$500 million over-valuation of its Cambodia and Vietnam markets. General manager Gael Campan’s departure raised questions about Amsterdam-based Vimpelcom’s future in the Kingdom, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012051156103/Business/beeline-manager-exits.html
IRI survey finds Cambodian majority optimistic over future
The vast majority of Cambodians – 81 per cent – believe the Kingdom is headed in the right direction, according to an International Republican Institute survey on democratic governance released yesterday. Key reasons respondents gave for their upbeat assessment included the building of more roads, bridges, health clinics ...
Workers waiting for a bargain
Informal workers, a class that includes beer promoters, tuk tuk drivers and farmers, are among those who stand to benefit most from the upcoming trade-union law, observers say – and workers say it can’t come soon enough. Dave Welsh, country director of the American Center for ...
Cedac report to help farmers
As the rainy season approaches, Cedac, a Cambodian agricultural organisation, is appealing to farmers this week to increase their rice yields, according to a Cedac report directed toward growers. The report established a six-step order of operations that would ensure increased output during the most intense growing ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012051156101/Business/report-to-help-farmers.html
Insurance claims drop in Q1
Claims on Cambodia’s six biggest insurance companies declined year on year by more than 90 per cent in the first quarter of 2012, data from the General Insurance Association of Cambodia (GIAC) shows. The value of claims in 2011 was raised by fires that gutted two ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012051156100/Business/insurance-claims-drop-in-q1.html
Corporate social responsibility in Cambodia
Frontier and emerging economies such as Cambodia present companies with a specific set of challenges and risk, both real and perceived, beyond those found in more developed markets. A risk category getting ever- increasing attention is that of “social risk”, roughly defined as the risk of ...
Prison labour still a threat: rights group
Prisoners still face being exploited for labour, despite the government’s March prakas banning goods made behind bars from being exported, rights group Licadho has said. Although Licadho believes the prakas will help protect the image of Cambodia’s garment industry, it says inmates still face exploitation under ...
Passport fee latest wrinkle in factory workers’ Thai plight
A rights group has raised concerns that up to 100 Cambodian migrant workers at a Thai seafood processing factory will be stranded abroad in less than a week without any income because they cannot afford to pay a passport fee demanded by their employer. Of the ...
Exports to Korea jump 80pc
Cambodia’s first-quarter exports to South Korea soared nearly 80 per cent year-on-year, driven mostly by garments and agriculture products, but imports still accounted for most of the trade between the two countries. Total exports to South Korea jumped to US$30 million for the first three months of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012051056080/Business/exports-to-korea-jump-80pc.html
Oz aid cuts won’t touch Cambodia
Despite major foreign aid budget cuts at home, Australia had upped its assistance to Cambodia by about US$17.4 million for 2012-2013, the embassy here said yesterday. Australia would provide a total of $95.3 million in “official development assistance to Cambodia”, the embassy said in a statement. ...
Cambodia ‘ripe’ for money laundering
Cambodia is ripe for money-laundering and terrorist financing activities due to rampant corruption, banking-sector secrecy and an overall lack of financial transparency, a governance institute says in a report released this week. The Switzerland-based Basel Institute on Governance has ranked Cambodia the third “highest-risk” country out of 144 ...
Dragon building roars to life
Champagne greeted the movers and shakers at the highest level of Cambodia’s tallest building yesterday in a ceremony that marked substantial completion of the structure of Vattanac Capital Tower. Designed in the shape of a dragon with particular attention to the Chinese art of placement for ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012051056079/Business/dragon-building-roars-to-life.html
Regional health insider talks Cambodian medical care
A French doctor established International SOS between Jakarta and Singapore 27 years ago. The company conducted emergency airlifts for patients to Singapore due to the lack of quality health services available in Indonesia at the time. The French-owned company now has a presence in 74 countries ...
Thailand's allure is strong in Srei Snam
Dry, parched ground – evidence of severe dry season drought – stretches for miles in Siem Reap’s Srei Snam district. In a couple of months, the rains will flood these fields. Both conditions make it equally impossible to produce a good harvest. Srei Snam was a ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012051056096/National-news/looking-for-a-better-life.html
ACU takes aim at bribes
The Anti-Corruption Unit has set its sights on illegal fees paid at the commune level and intends to stamp out a decades-old culture of bribery within the next four months, ACU officials announced yesterday. At a press conference, acting ACU president Chhay Savuth said that 22 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050956060/National-news/acu-takes-aim-at-bribes.html
Timbergreen principal denies illegal logging
The majority shareholder of Timbergreen, a firm that has been the centre of illegal logging allegations, has denied the company is in any way involved in the illicit trade of timber. The company has gained significant attention since prominent environmental activist Chut Wutty, who had made ...
PPWSA closes higher after a week down
For the first time in weeks, Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority yesterday closed up 4.35 per cent, a sign the stock was stablising after a rough opening, insiders said. After an eight-day price decline, PPWSA – the sole listed company on the Cambodia Securities Exchange – ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050956046/Business/follow-up-ipos-still-on-track.html
Follow-up IPOs still on track
Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, one of two state-owned companies slated to list on the Cambodia Securities Exchange this year, yesterday called the price decline in the country’s first publicly traded company worrisome. The eight-day slide in price that neared Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority’s initial public offering ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050956046/Business/follow-up-ipos-still-on-track.html
Northeast new focus for tourism
The Ministry of Tourism will shift its focus to ecotourism development in the Kingdom’s northeast after efforts to promote travel to Cambodia’s coastline proved successful. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050956045/Business/northeast-new-focus-for-tourism.html
Borei Keila evictees look to UN’s Subedi
Borei Keila evictees who have spent months sleeping under staircases and near rubbish dumps delivered a petition to UN Special Rapporteur Suya Subedi yesterday as their quest to be housed again at Borei Keila continued. ...
Cambodian education investor explains his turn to real estate
Chea Sokheng, general director of Arizon Group Ltd, a potential investor in Cambodia’s education and real estate sectors, said that investment in education is a main contributor to developing human resources and growth of the national economy. Though he mentioned the opportunity to invest in the ...
Poipet project: Gaming firm starts build on slot hall
Entertainment Gaming Asia Inc, which today will launch its Dreamworld Casino in Pailin, also will break ground on a slot hall project in Poipet, near the Thai border, on Thursday, according to a company statement. ...