The Phnom Penh Post
Disasters present big risks for small GDPs
Cambodia’s small economy leaves it especially vulnerable to devastation in the face of large-scale natural disasters, United Nations agencies and Cambodian officials warned last week. “The relative size of an economy adds to the vulnerability as seen particularly in the case of the Lao Peoples’ Democratic ...
By Khouth Sophak Chakrya, P. 4
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102959444/National-news/disasters-present-big-risks-for-small-gdps.html
H&M slammed over wages
Criticism has mounted against Swedish multinational clothing company H&M in its home country following a documentary released last week that sheds light on wages in its source factories in Cambodia. The episode of Swedish network TV4’s Kalla Fakta, or Cold Facts, focuses mainly on Cambodian garment ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102959442/National-news/ham-slammed-over-wages.html
PM pledges pay boost
The government on Friday pledged a 20 per cent increase to the base salary of civil servants year-on-year in a move one government official insisted was based on economics, not politics. The announcement was made in a statement released over the weekend outlining government spending for ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102959455/National-news/government-pledges-pay-boost.html
European body sends a message
The European Parliament, representing one of the country’s largest donors, on Friday called for a moratorium on forced evictions, an overhaul of elections and even went so far as to suggest to the European Union that it suspend tariff-free imports of agricultural goods linked to ...
Missing girl feared trafficked
Meas Bopha, 47, sits in an outdoor pagoda over a lotus-filled pond on her property in Kampong Speu, home to 10 of her 12 children, and wipes back tears as she talks about her missing teenage daughter, Bophea, who vanished one morning last week. Bophea ...
Too few businesses registered
A majority of small and medium enterprises in Cambodia were not registered, despite the advantages it offered to businesses, participants at a workshop on business registration procedure, intellectual property and business etiquette for women heard yesterday. Referring to 2011 statistics, Chan Sorey, vice-minister of the Ministry ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102659433/Business/too-few-businesses-registered.html
Factory boss tried for crumpling moon pic
The Kandal Provincial Court yesterday tried and convicted a Chinese factory supervisor for damaging a photograph of the moon in which the likeness of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk is believed to have been seen. Judge Lim Sokuntha said the court had sentenced Leav Kuyseang, ...
Politics 'behind journo deaths'
Twelve journalists have been killed in Cambodia since 1993, according to a report from the rights group Adhoc, which believes much of the bloodshed was politically motivated. The body count was included in a round-up of abuses against the media in a report the group released ...
PM urges migrant protection
Some 285 million workers will migrate for employment when ASEAN countries open their borders to each other in 2015, Prime Minister Hun Sen predicted yesterday, as he urged speedier regional legislative action to ensure they could travel safely. At an ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council meeting, the premier warned ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102659423/National-news/pm-urges-migrant-protection.html
Trade with Vietnam slows
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and neighboring Vietnam grew by 17 per cent in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period last year, a decrease from previous years, the Vietnam Trade Office in Cambodia said yesterday. The data showed a total trade volume ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102659432/Business/trade-with-vietnam-slows.html
Ratanakiri deaths 'avoidable'
Better communication from authorities in Cambodia and Vietnam might have prevented the deaths of villagers and the destruction of homes in Ratanakkiri at times when water has been released from Vietnam’s Yali Falls dam, researchers said yesterday. Speaking at a national workshop about the Yali Falls ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102559406/National-news/ratanakkiri-deaths-avoidable.html
ADB may back disputed dam
The Asian Development Bank is considering providing funds to a controversial 400 megawatt dam project in Laos that could have adverse impacts on the Mekong River in downstream Cambodia. Conservation group International Rivers wants the Lao government to pull the plug on the $1 billion Xe ...
Major boulevards increasing in price
The sale and purchase of land along the four major boulevards in Phnom Penh climbed up to 40 per cent in the third quarter of 2012, while the construction of offices is gradually on the rise, according to real estate experts. The growth of land prices ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/Real-Estate/land-price-along-boulevards-on-the-rise.html
Foreigners entering the condo market in Phnom Penh
The number of foreign owners of houses in Cambodia has soared in recent years after the government permitted foreigners to have rights over owning real estate in the Kingdom, according to officials of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. Speaking at the opening of ...
Dangerous chemicals still found in foodstuffs
Some Cambodian foodstuffs contained potentially harmful preservatives used to extend the shelf life of the products and ensure profits, an official said yesterday. Pork Sovannarith, secretary of state for the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, said some food producers continued to use preservatives that could ...
More visitors to hail Kingdom
Cambodia Airports estimates the number of passengers entering via Cambodia’s two international airports will increase by an average 8.8 per cent in 2013. That prediction is 1.2 per cent lower than the 2012 projection of a 10 per cent increase. The lower forecast is due to the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102559410/Business/more-visitors-to-hail-kingdom.html
Credit bureau makes doing business easier
A report released by the World Bank on Tuesday highlighted Cambodia as the most improved country in terms of businesses getting credit, due to the establishment of the country’s first credit bureau in March. Cambodia ranked 133 out of 185 in the World Bank’s report, up from 141 ...
Kratie meet pushes dolphin protection
Residents of Kratie province had an education in conservation yesterday as the government and outside partners reiterated a September sub-decree banning gill nets on a sizable stretch of the Mekong in a bid to protect the badly endangered Mekong River dolphin. Touch Seang Tana, head of the Commission ...
Deported home in disgrace
A Chinese woman found guilty of intentionally causing damage after tearing up photos of the late King Father was deported yesterday morning – a mere two days after the crime occurred. Wang Zia Chao, 43, who on Tuesday was given a suspended one-year prison sentence, left ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102559412/National-news/deported-home-in-disgrace.html
More Lao land deals inked
Laos has contracted firms to build and operate another significant hydro-power plant on the Mekong River system, adding to the existing furor over potential effects on downstream countries such as Cambodia from the controversial Xayaburi dam. The contracts, reportedly worth $1 billion, are for a series of three dams making ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102559403/National-news/more-lao-dam-deals-inked.html
Fish output likely to drop
Fishery resources could fall this year because of a lack of flooding along rivers and waterways impeding fish from travelling freely or finding food to encourage their growth, a fishery official says. Sam Nov, deputy general director of Fishery Administration at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery and ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102459389/Business/fish-output-likely-to-drop.html
Sentencing swift in pic ripping case
Less than 36 hours after Wang Zia Chao provoked a strike by destroying two photos of the late King Father in front of hundreds of Cambodian garment workers, the Chinese factory manager was booked, charged and convicted by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, which last ...
Export diversity induces growth
In order for Cambodia to maintain the same rate of growth it has enjoyed in the past few years, exports need to diversify from textiles and tourism to modern services, said the World Bank’s country manager yesterday in Phnom Penh. “Cambodian firms are already tentatively exporting ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102459390/Business/export-diversity-induces-growth.html
Residents not budging
About 40 families in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district are disputing local authorities’ demand that they abandon their homes without compensation so the government can increase a nearby canal’s capacity. The residents, who were asked on September 28 to vacate their homes within a week by Meanchey ...