The Phnom Penh Post
FAST payments to move riel quickly
Three months since the central bank soft-launched its FAST payment system it is taking the system public, making electronic riel-denominated transfers available to the customers of more than a dozen financial institutions. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/fast-payments-move-riel-quickly
CNRP to oppose lifting of members’ immunity
The opposition plans to attend the National Assembly’s Standing Committee meeting today to debate the lifting of immunity for two of its lawmakers. ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp-oppose-lifting-members-immunity
A boom year for building projects
A stunning rise in the value of construction projects approved by the government in the first half of the year could be a sign that developers have found a willing ally in the newly appointed minister of land management, who has pushed through hundreds of ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/boom-year-building-projects
SIM card ownership down by nearly 12%
The number of mobile phone subscribers nationwide decreased by 11.5 per cent over the last year in what regulators are describing as a rebalancing after the market reached a saturation point, pushing well beyond 100 per cent penetration. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/sim-card-ownership-down-nearly-12
Wildscan app to help fight animal trafficking
A Khmer version of a smartphone app to help law enforcement deal with the illegal wildlife trade was launched yesterday. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/wildscan-app-help-fight-animal-trafficking
UN rapporteur not ‘fulfilling mandate’, say rights veterans
Concerns are mounting among the human rights community, particularly in the wake of political analyst Kem Ley’s murder, that UN Special Rapporteur to Cambodia Rhona Smith is failing to fulfil her mandate in a time of what one observer termed “fear and confusion”. ...
Jack Davies
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/un-rapporteur-not-fulfilling-mandate-say-rights-veterans
Ministry looking to close pension gap for officials
The Ministry of Social Affairs is looking for ways to bring old pension plans into line with pensions offered to more recently retired government workers. ...
Sen David and Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministry-looking-close-pension-gap-officials
Mobile services often first step to banking
The rapid growth in the number of Cambodians using mobile money services to transfer remittances is a positive step towards greater financial inclusion, and is serving as a gateway to financial services for the largely unbanked rural population, experts said yesterday. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/mobile-services-often-first-step-banking
Tally reveals extent of tourism industry growth
The rapid growth of tourism has resulted in the parallel growth of tourist facilities, Tourism Minister Thong Khun said yesterday. ...
Warning issued after Ponzi scheme busted
The Ministry of Interior and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) issued a joint release yesterday announcing that investigations of Empire Big Capital Ltd (EBC) and related firms AIF and ICA showed the companies had engaged in investment fraud. ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/warning-issued-after-ponzi-scheme-busted
Profit-tax revenue leads first half surge
Cambodia’s tax department collected $829 million in tax revenue during the first half of the year, 18 per cent more than during the same period a year earlier, led by surge in profit-tax revenue, according to government data released late on Tuesday. ...
MFIs extend reach with branchless banking
Branchless banking, including mobile banking, is one of the hottest trends in Cambodia’s microfinance industry, helping financial institutions deliver their products conveniently and affordably to people living in rural areas, industry insiders said yesterday. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/mfis-extend-reach-branchless-banking
New tool for financial inclusion
The first comprehensive survey of the accessibility and usage of Cambodian financial services found that only 17 per cent of the Kingdom’s adult population is banked, with poor access to financial services among the key impediments to financial inclusion of those living in rural areas. ...
Cam McGrath
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/new-tool-financial-inclusion
Revenue from customs and excise up 20 per cent
Revenue collected by the customs and excise department jumped nearly 20 per cent during the first six months of the year, compared with the same period a year earlier, figures released yesterday show. ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/revenue-customs-and-excise-20-cent
NEC announces schedule for meetings with donors
The National Election Committee yesterday released a monthly meeting schedule with the European and Japanese embassies in a bid to ensure the voter-registration process, due to begin September 1, will go smoothly. ...
Bun Sengkong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/nec-announces-schedule-meetings-donors
Finish date announced for National Rd 1 work
Upgrades to National Road 1 are expected to be completed by March 2017, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/finish-date-announced-national-rd-1-work
Petrol prices trimmed as fuel caps are revised
The Ministry of Commerce yesterday announced it was lowering the price ceiling on gasoline sold at retail petrol stations across the Kingdom between July 12 and 21 after the latest scheduled recalculation of fuel caps. ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/petrol-prices-trimmed-fuel-caps-are-revised
More Cambodians struggling to repay MFI loans
Banking industry insiders expressed concern yesterday over a spike in the amount of delinquent debts reported by microfinance institutions (MFIs) across the Kingdom, which they attributed to farmers struggling to repay their loans after adverse weather conditions affected their crops. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/more-cambodians-struggling-repay-mfi-loans
New centre for mentally ill planned in wake of Prey Speu mass escape
After a mass escape of 70 inmates from the notorious Prey Speu centre on Sunday, the government said they would take mentally ill people rounded up off the streets and house them on the same site as a Kandal orphanage. ...
Kong Meta and Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/new-centre-mentally-ill-planned-wake-prey-speu-mass-escape
‘Sealing’ program fights rampant tooth decay in children
The teeth of some 60,000 Cambodian children have been “sealed” to help prevent tooth decay under an oral health project that recently concluded, but many more continue to be in need of such service, given the country’s significantly high tooth-decay rate. ...
Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sealing-program-fights-rampant-tooth-decay-children
Asia set for e-commerce boom
A new report by market research firm TNS identifies five triggers that acted together as catalysts for the dramatic changes in consumer behaviour that led to China’s “explosive” e-commerce growth, and suggests other Asian economies could be on the same trajectory. ...
Cam McGrath and Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/asia-set-e-commerce-boom
Endangered gibbon born at Angkor Wat
A second pair of endangered pileated gibbons released into the forest near Angkor Wat last year have had a baby. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Donna M Airoldi
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/endangered-gibbon-born-angkor-wat
Japanese investor acquires local MFI
A Japanese businessman has acquired a majority stake of microfinance company Farmer Union Development Fund (FUDF) and plans to expand its lending to the real estate sector as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises, he revealed yesterday. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/japanese-investor-acquires-local-mfi
Rice sector continues its struggle in first half
Cambodian rice exports decreased nearly 6 per cent year-on-year during the first semester, reinforcing concerns about the future of the rice industry, the Kingdom’s most important agricultural sector. ...
Sorn Sarath
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/rice-sector-continues-its-struggle-first-half