News
Kampot Pepper Farmers to see Bumper Year
When the harvest season for Kampot pepper starts next month, farmers in Kampot province expect this year’s crop to yield more than 17 percent above last year, a representative of the farmers said. Nguon Lay, president of the Kampot Pepper Association, said last week that ...
Lifting maid ban proving a challenge
A lack of legal protections, insufficient commitment from the Malaysian government and an overworked, understaffed embassy are among the major obstacles to lifting the maid ban, according to an internal government report obtained yesterday. Penned by the Ministry of Interior, the 12-page brief details a ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010960701/National/lifting-maid-ban-proving-a-challenge.html
Okvau explorer raises $10m
Renaissance Minerals has raised $10 million for its gold-mining program at the Okvau deposit, in Mondulkiri province. The Australian company had estimated the area contained 729,000 ounces of gold. Renaissance’s biggest challenge would be to finance the project by equity investments world-wide, Tremain said. Renaissance is ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010960685/Business/okvau-explorer-raises-10m.html
Fired Phone Company Workers File Complaint
One of Cambodia’s most active unions has filed a complaint against a Thai mobile phone provider, claiming it laid off more than 50 staff members without warning and without compensation. The complaint was filed with the Ministry of Labor against Mfone, a company that belongs to ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/fired-phone-company-workers-file-complaint/1579895.html
Luxury Wood Seized in Ratanakiri Road Block
About 30 metres of luxury timber were seized in Ratanakirri province on Sunday after national and provincial military police set up a road block near the border with Vietnam, according to police officials. The high-end lumber was being smuggled over a dirt road in Lumphat ...
Siem Reap sees strong gains
Commercial property prices and rents in Siem Reap have increased by 10 to 20 per cent in the last year, according to the town’s newest real estate agency. Cambodia Properties Limited (CPL) opened its first Siem Reap branch three months ago, recognising a need for sound ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/Real-Estate/siem-reap-sees-strong-gains.html
Cambodia sees 2.65 bln USD trade deficit in 2012
Cambodia recorded a trade deficit of 2.65 billion U.S. dollars in 2012, according to the government’s statistics on Wednesday. The country’s total import and export volume had reached 13.63 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 19 percent from 11.48 billion U. S. dollars in a year ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-01/09/c_132091653.htm
IMF Says Cambodia to Reach 7.5% Growth in Medium Term
The International Monetary Fund said it expects economic growth in Cambodia to reach its potential of 7.5 percent in the medium term. The Washington-based IMF forecast growth of 6.7 percent this year, up from an estimated 6.5 percent in 2012, in its annual assessment of the ...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-08/imf-says-cambodia-to-reach-7-5-growth-in-medium-term.html
China's Guangxi donates 100 tons milled rice to Cambodia
China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Tuesday donated 100 tons of milled rice to Cambodia as humanitarian aid. Hun Sen expressed gratitude to China’s Guangxi, saying that Cambodia and China’s Guangxi have seen growing relations and cooperation in agriculture. He asked Zhang to encourage more ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-01/08/c_132089011.htm
Cambodia, China's Guangxi sign deal to cement agricultural cooperation
Cambodia and China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on strengthening bilateral communication and cooperation in agriculture. The deal was inked between Lord Reasmey, secretary-general of Cambodia’s Ministry of Agriculture, and Zhang Mingpei, director- general of Department of Agriculture of ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-01/08/c_132088306.htm
Xayaburi dam not on agenda
The Mekong River Commission (MRC) will forgo an opportunity to voice opposition to the Xayaburi dam project – which member state Laos began building in November – when it meets for its annual council meeting next week. Surasak Glahan, communications officer with the MRC secretariat, confirmed ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010860670/National/xayaburi-dam-not-on-agenda.html
Forestry Officials Investigate Vietnamese Firm
Amid mounting calls for government intervention to stop the destruction of indigenous land by a Vietnamese rubber company in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadaw district, the Forestry Administration has begun investigating claims that the firm is logging illegally and clearing land outside of its concession, officials said ...
Aun Pheap and Ben Woods, P.19
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/forestry-officials-investigate-vietnamese-firm-7450/
‘Guards are more than farmers in uniform’
Located in a humble, barrack-like building with small offices that are still under construction, Global Security Solutions enjoys the proximity to its biggest customer: Toll Royal Railways. The company not only provides security for embassies, but for petrochemical companies, hotels and airlines as well. Since the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010860663/Business/guards-are-more-than-farmers-in-uniform.html
Union sues Mfone director for violating labor law
Free Trade Union of Workers of Cambodia said Tuesday it had sued the director of Thailand’s Mfone Co Ltd for not respecting local labor laws. In a letter issued Tuesday to the Department of Labor Disputes, the union’s deputy secretary general Sam Srey Mom accused Mfone ...
Cambodia’s low wages lure manufacturers away from China, other countries
Inside a gleaming white-and-blue garment factory in Cambodia stand rows of second-hand Singers — weathered sewing machines transported from a plant in China that closed last year. The Hong Kong-headquartered Top Form, which has 700 workers at the plant, is one of many businesses that have ...
Royal Group to Take Stake in Mining Project
A mining company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange has announced a plan to pay $14 million for a license to explore for copper in Preah Vihear province, in a deal involving local conglomerate Royal Group. In an announcement to the bourse last Thurday, Geopacific Resource ...
Cambodia unveils 1st home-made cars
Cambodia’s Heng Development Company on Monday unveiled the first-ever electric-powered cars manufactured by its factory in Kandal province. The show was made after the firm has completed the construction of a 20 million U.S. dollar car manufacturing plant branded ” Angkor” in Kandal province’s Takhmao district. Speaking ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-01/07/c_132085823.htm
Fixed-line internet providers see growth
Despite the spread of web-enabled smartphones and tablets in Cambodia, internet service providers expected the number of fixed-line applications to grow, two industry insiders said yesterday. “With the advent of tablets and faster smartphones, it’s inevitable that people will use their devices more and more for ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010760646/Business/fixed-line-internet-providers-see-growth.html
Detained Russian's Company Under Investigation for Fraud
The company of Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky, who is currently being detained by Cambodian authorities after a maritime incident off the coast of Preah Sihanouk province last week, is being investigated by the Russian Interior Ministry for fraud, according to a statement on the ministry’s ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/detained-russians-company-under-investigation-for-fraud-7333/
Adhoc Requests Cancellation of 2 Vietnamese Land Concessions
Rights group Adhoc has requested that the government cancel economic land concessions held by two Vietnamese companies in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadaw district, on the grounds that the firms are logging and exporting wood illegally. “Adhoc calls on the Royal Government of Cambodia to immediately cancel the ...
Kathmandu listed in Top10 places to visit in 2013
Worldwide renowned travel advisory website–the tripadvisor.com–has listed Nepali capital Kathmandu in its top 10 best places to visit in Asia. While Siem Reap of Cambodia topped the chart, China’s Beijing and Shanghai cities hold the respective second and third best places to travel in the ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/travel/2013-01/07/c_132085140.htm
Banks give students some tips
The first Banking Careers Forum, organised on Friday by CamEd Business School with the support of leading banks and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), attracted hundreds of students – the majority of them studying accounting and banking – to participate and find job opportunities in the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010760648/Business/banks-give-students-some-tips.html
Cambodia's national carrier adds new aircraft, targeting Singapore, China
The national flag carrier, Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA), added a new passenger plane on Sunday in order to expand new flight destinations to countries in the region, said a senior government official. “The new Airbus 321 plane is leased from an Airbus manufacturer in France,” Tek ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-01/06/c_132083762.htm
Wage hike forces Thai firms hire Cambodians
Thai factories have opted to hire Cambodian workers under a memorandum of understanding between Cambodia and Thailand after the Bt300 minimum wage policy came into effect for Thai workers across the country. A total of 154 Cambodians – 118 men and 36 women – with work ...
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Firms-hire-Cambodian-workers-under-MoU-30197348.html