News
NGOs Call for Asean Rights Document Delay
With less than two weeks until Asean leaders meet in Phnom Penh to consider approval of the region’s first human rights declaration, international NGOs yesterday urged them to postpone passing what they are calling a “deeply flawed” document. “In the current form, the [Asean Human Rights] ...
Last Tai Yang Strikers Hoping for Resolution
Workers who were left stranded after protests at three Tai Yang Enterprises garment factories dragged on for months earlier this year were waiting for a long awaited resolution when they attended the arbitration yesterday. The 53 employees of the Kandal provincial factory, which supplies Levi’s and ...
Phnom Penh Port Cargo Up 15 Percent on Last Year
The amount of cargo entering Cambodia through the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port increased 14.92 percent over the first 10 months of the year compared to the same period in 2011, a port official said yesterday. “We are seeing that the major imports are construction equipment ...
Protesters Want Obama’s Support Over Evictions
About 100 residents embroiled in land disputes in Phnom Penh submitted a petition to the U.S. Embassy yesterday requesting that President Barack Obama raise the issue of evictions and reform of the country’s land concession policy when he visits Cambodia later this month. The plea comes ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/protesters-want-obamas-support-in-evictions-5252/
Hedging China risks, Japan firms turn to booming SE Asia
Hiroshi Uematsu had a tough start in Cambodia, where he heads an economic zone that aims to attract business from his native Japan. He arrived just before the global financial crisis sent the Asian Economic Minnow’s exports into a tailspin and dried up investment interest. Now, ...
Paddy Rice Price Fluctuates
The price of paddy rice in Cambodia’s northwestern provinces jumped to 1,500 riel from 1,350 riel per kilogram in mid-October on a lack of supply, but quickly fell to 1,360 riel. Meanwhile, the prices in the Cambodia-Vietnam border provinces rose from 1,300 riel to 1,390 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012110659583/Business/paddy-rice-price-fluctuates.html
Microfinance deal applauded
The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and a microfinance industry insider applauded one of Cambodia’s top 10 MFIs Sathapana Limited, for changing the majority shareholder to a commercial bank. They said it proves a positive and strong funding source is essential for MFIs to peruse their ...
National Election Committee Dismisses Criticism of Reform
At the ceremony yesterday making the official start of the National Election Committee’s new mandate, NEC chairman Im Suosdey criticized the U.N. human rights envoy to Cambodia for taking an exceedingly harsh view of the country’s much derided electoral system. In a July report to the ...
Special report: Banking
With the recent announcement that two Taiwanese banks plan to open branches in Cambodia, the number of commercial banks in the country will swell to 34 and may even go higher as foreign businesses seriously consider Cambodia an alternative to more costly countries such as ...
Executive hopes to help open mattress plant in Cambodia
A mission trip to Cambodia earlier this year opened Roger Pickett’s eyes to the need to boost the Cambodian home furnishings industry. Now Pickett, president of MurMaid Mattress here, is hoping to help a nonprofit group open a mattress factory in that country and give Cambodians ...
Land protestors march on US embassy
Residents of two property development sites marched to the US embassy Monday, sources said . ...
Concerns mount over dam
Sketchy details that fail to specify when construction of the Lower Sesan 2 hydro dam will begin, or name the Chinese company involved, have villagers fearing for their future, representatives and environmental groups say. Since the Council of Ministers announced on Friday it had signed off ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012110559575/National-news/concerns-mount-over-dam.html
Cambodia: Mineral, Metal and Fuel Resources
Cambodia, with a total population of 14,952,665 as of July 2010, is located in Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. The country mostly has a tropical climate and covers a total area of 181,035 km2 Cambodia’s key natural resources include ...
Laos approves Xayaburi 'mega' dam on Mekong
Laos has given the go-ahead to build a massive dam on the lower Mekong river, despite opposition from neighbouring countries and environmentalists. A formal ceremony marking the start of full construction at Xayaburi would be held on Wednesday, the government said. ...
Cop nabbed in timber bust
The Anti-Corruption Unit has arrested a military police officer accused of involvement in an illegal luxury timber racket in Pursat province’s Krakor district – an area where government investigators conceded that complicity by the powerful was rife. On Saturday, the anti-graft agency arrested military police officer ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012110559576/National-news/cop-nabbed-in-timber-bust.html
CAMBODIA: INTERNATIONAL ARRIVALS INCREASED BY 24%
A report from the Tourism Ministry in Cambodia recently informed that the country witnessed a huge inflow of 2.57 million tourists in the period between January and September of this year. This is an increase of 24 percent in comparison to the same period in ...
http://www.tourism-review.com/cambodia-international-arrivals-increased-by-24--news3456
Cambodia, a potentially lucrative market for Vietnam
Exporting Vietnamese products to Cambodia is beneficial to both countries, however, in order to hold onto this market, Vietnamese firms must remain proactive and consistently advertise their brands and improve quality of their products and services. ...
Ministry on trail of the apple snail
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, along with Prey Veng provincial agriculture experts and villagers in Svay Ourntor district, are taking measures to eradicate golden apple snails, which feed on rice seedlings, agriculture officials said. According to Prey Veng agriculture chief Ouk Samnang, only a ...
Job fair attracts a big crowd
Officials confirmed there were more than 20,000 participants at the job fair on Saturday organised by the National Employment Agency of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, which was held in an effort to educate job seekers about current opportunities. Sokkhon David, acting director of information ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012110559560/Business/job-fair-attracts-a-big-crowd.html
Farming implicated in climate change
Food production accounts for almost one third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to a study published last week by the agricultural research organisation CGIAR. Food systems, from growing crops and raising livestock to storage and transportation, contribute 19 to 29 per cent of global ...
US criticizes Laos decision to build Mekong dam
The United States on Monday criticized a decision by the struggling Asian nation of Laos to build the first dam across the mainstream of the Mekong River, a project that environmentalists warn could affect tens of millions of livelihoods and trigger a dam-building spree along ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20121105/us-us-laos-dam/
Dam Firm Told to Build Homes for Affected Communities
Prime Minister Hun Sen has said that the company responsible for building the Lower Sesan 2 dam in Stung Treng province will be in charge of constructing homes for thousands of villagers that will be displaced according to a statement Friday by the Council of ...
A Dam Conundrum: Xayaburi Project Could Help Laos And Thailand, Hurt Cambodia And Vietnam
Officials in Laos announced that construction of the controversial Xayaburi dam will begin with a kickoff ceremony at the construction site Wednesday. Protests from human rights activists and environmental groups have delayed the project for 18 months, but the joint Laotian and Thai project is apparently ...
Cambodia's Mfone ordered to repay $3.7M debt
Norway-based Eltek Valere has won a court injunction against Mfone, the Cambodian mobile subsidiary of SET-listed satellite operator Thaicom, for its failure to pay outstanding service charges. According to The Bangkok Post on Monday, citing court documents, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court ruled in favor of ...
http://www.zdnet.com/cambodias-mfone-ordered-to-repay-3-7m-debt-7000006879/