The Phnom Penh Post
France set to grant Kingdom $47.7m for infrastructure
The French Development Agency yesterday agreed to grant Cambodia a total of $47.7 million, $8.7 million of which is a loan. The sum is to support the Kingdom’s irrigation infrastructure investment, to improve the country’s access to drinkable water and to fund the fight against emerging ...
Animal feed lucrative but demand not being met
The production of animal feed may be lucrative for family-run businesses, but production is failing to meet the local market’s demand, said industry experts. Ros Limhy, National Agriculture adviser for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ Tonle Sap Poverty Reduction and Smallholder Development project, and ...
Vehicle registration grows despite flaws in the system
An absence of public transport, improved roads and the economic development of Cambodia’s rural areas was reflected in an increase in vehicle registrations by 7.7 per cent from 2011 to 2012, official data shows. However, as an insider said yesterday, many cars and motorcycles will ...
Farmers of cassava afraid of losing out to a lack of rainfall
The price for cassava plants is increasing in the Kingdom’s north-western provinces, where the new season started. Due to the lack of rain many were damaged, according to farmers and officials. Sreng Sreang, deputy director of the Pailin longan collective, which planted about five hectares of ...
Project to reduce flooding
The government has announced plans for a landmark project to create a system for diverting and then stocking waste water, in a bid to prevent run-off into the streets of Phnom Penh and the Tonle Sap river. Moeung Sophan, a consultant to the Phnom Penh Department ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031161854/National/project-to-reduce-flooding.html
Sides dig in over minimum wage
Unions and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) are unlikely to walk out of their final minimum wage meeting today with an agreed-upon increase for workers, industry insiders said yesterday. Both parties have reaffirmed their respective positions: GMAC secretary-general Ken Loo said yesterday that “nothing’s ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031161866/National/sides-dig-in-over-minimum-wage.html
Millers need greater access to credit: Govt
The Ministry of Commerce and bank officials announced yesterday that they will hold a meeting next month aimed at better facilitating rice millers’ access to credit. The move is part of the Asian Development Bank’s Climate Resilient Rice Commercialization Sector Development program to address food security ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031161863/Business/millers-need-greater-access-to-credit-govt.html
Policy to expand sector
The government plans to implement an industrial policy designed to promote development of the manufacturing sector. Speaking at a business networking dinner prepared by the Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Associations on Wednesday, Sok Chenda Sophea, secretary general of the Council for the Development of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031161862/Business/policy-to-expand-sector.html
Investment law to be revised
The government is planning to revise the Kingdom’s investment laws this year to draw more foreign direct investment as the country adjusts to the fast-changing regional and global landscapes, according to Secretary General of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) Sok Chenda Sophea. Speaking ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030861826/Business/investment-law-to-be-revised.html
Bonna Reality inks deal with Malaysian real estate developer
Bonna Realty Group yesterday signed an agreement with the National 6A Investment, a Malaysian real estate developer, to be an authorised sales agent for a 10-storey condominium that is currently being constructed and is expected to be finished by the end of 2014. The National 6A ...
Evictees to reject offer
Twenty-one families whose houses were demolished during an eviction on Tuesday said yesterday that they planned to refuse an offer of houses, land and cash from the tycoon who now possesses their land. Villagers, however, will continue to discuss the offer in another meeting scheduled ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030861830/National/evictees-to-reject-offer.html
Extraction ahead of schedule
Mesco Gold has established drilling and exploration resources at the Phum Syrang prospect in Ratanakkiri province, targeting extraction by late 2014, three to six months ahead of schedule, according to a statement released by Angkor Gold, which holds the land concession. The statement said Mesco had ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030861824/Business/extraction-ahead-of-schedule.html
Clean water for city outskirts
The inclusion of 20 communes to the central Phnom Penh water supply in the past year has resulted in a dramatic increase in demand and subsequent shortages, Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority officials said yesterday. “Water demand in Phnom Penh is growing fast day to-day, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030861829/National/clean-water-for-city-outskirts.html
Forte set to insure travellers on the net
Forte Insurance, a leading general insurance company in Cambodia, officially launched the region’s first online travel insurance product. Officials and insiders said the product is to serve the growing number of Cambodian outbound tourists. Youk Chamroeunrith, Forte Insurance general manager, told the Post yesterday that ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030761798/Business/forte-set-to-insure-travellers-on-the-net.html
Farmers of crocodile say no to skin exports
Cambodian crocodile farmers prefer selling young live crocodiles directly rather than raising crocodiles and selling their skins for export as they believe there is no market, despite officials encouraging crocodile farming for skin exports. Heng Chheng, a crocodile farmer from Battambang, has raised crocodiles since 1984. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030761796/Business/farmers-of-crocodile-say-no-to-skin-exports.html
Bavet prices flat
Land prices in Bavet town in Svay Rieng province have been “stable” despite a great deal of purchasing seen in early 2013, property experts said. Nuon Rithy, general manager at the Bonna Realty Group, said there have been lots of land trading in Bavet so ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030761788/Real-Estate/bavet-prices-flat.html
Rosewood gambit fails
A disguised shipment of nearly eight cubic metres of illegal rosewood worth an estimated $50,000 was snagged yesterday in a Forestry Administration dragnet in Siem Reap province after agents in Banteay Meanchey alerted authorities the shipment was headed their way, Forestry officials said. Siem Reap Provincial ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030761814/National/rosewood-gambit-fails.html
Construction costs low, but could rise
Construction costs in the Kingdom have increased only 1.36 per cent year-on-year, compared to Cambodia’s inflation rate, which is projected at 3.5 per cent for 2012, according to a new report from global estate agents CBRE. The company says the minimal increase is due to the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030761790/Real-Estate/construction-costs-low-but-could-rise.html
Shots fired as families evicted
Police, military police and forestry officials evicted 100 families in Koh Kong province’s Smach Meanchey district yesterday, shooting into the air during the forcible removal to disperse villagers with the threat of violence. It was the second day of evictions in an area authorities say ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030761809/National/shots-fired-as-families-evicted.html
Volkswagen to be sold in Kingdom
Cambodia’s authorised distributor for Mercedes-Benz will also be selling Volkswagen vehicles in May, as it hopes to cash in on higher growth in the mass-market car sector. Though the sole distributorship deal was signed in 2009, Hung Hiep Group received approval last week from VW to ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030761799/Business/volkswagen-to-be-sold-in-kingdom.html
Blackouts leading to reduced production
Frequent power outages in Phnom Penh, a result of a shortage of supply and overuse by consumers, is harming the competitiveness of Cambodian products, industry insiders said yesterday. In addition to the challenges of expensive electricity prices, an ongoing issue for production costs, unreliable supply during ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030761800/Business/blackouts-leading-to-reduced-production.html
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
Angkor Air forecasts first loss
AFTER finishing in the black every year since its launch in 2009, Cambodia’s flagship airline is forecasting a loss for the first time, in a situation that an industry analyst has described as “not necessarily typical”. Cambodia Angkor Air’s (CAA) loss is projected to span two ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030661776/Business/angkor-air-forecasts-first-loss.html