The Phnom Penh Post
Cambodians shun banks: World Bank report
Cambodian people used banks less than any other country in the Asia-Pacific region last year in percentage terms of using financial services, recent data from the World Bank showed. The report, released this month, also pointed to high growth in the percentage of borrowers, which insiders ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012053056467/Business/cambodians-shun-banks.html
SMEs look to regional buyers
Cambodia’s ASEAN Economic Minister yesterday urged small and medium-size enterprises to focus on countries in Southeast Asia, rather than Europe and the United States, for export destinations. Cham Prasidh, also the minister of commerce, said yesterday that regional markets have traditionally held a second place to ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012053056469/Business/smes-look-to-regional-buyers.html
Violent crackdowns decried
Violent land evictions, unlawful prison sentences, shooting deaths and crackdowns on peaceful protests are all on a list of allegations a human rights group is voicing concerns about this week. The Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee condemned the incidents in a statement released on Tuesday, calling ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012053056473/National-news/violent-crackdowns-decried.html
Farmers fear deal has strings
Forty Kampong Chhnang villagers embroiled in a long-running land dispute with KDC International, a company owned by the wife of a senior CPP official, farmed contested land without interference on Monday, prompting some to wonder if they were being coaxed to vote for the ruling ...
City mum on displacement
A Phnom Penh municipal government plan to build a 2.5 kilometre public space that would displace hundreds of villagers was greeted with requests for compensation by residents yesterday, while city officials refused to comment. Kiet Chhe, deputy chief of city administration, confirmed that a committee ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012053056480/National-news/city-mum-on-displacement.html
SL employees back to work after resolution
A resolution reached on Monday in the wake of a violent strike at two SL Garment factories that supply Levi’s and Gap resulted in employees returning to work yesterday – for the second time in days. Ek Sopheakdey, a Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union ...
Boeung Kak women kept away from NGO, reporters
Imprisoned Boeung Kak lake villagers, some crying, motioned to human rights representatives and Post reporters through a chain-link fence at Prey Sar prison on Tuesday. Their efforts to talk to the visitors were futile, however, as two guards stopped anyone from approaching the 13 women sentenced ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012053056483/National-news/silent-treatment-at-prey-sar.html
Boeung Kak takes case to Assembly
About 200 people, including activist monk Loun Savath, rallied outside the National Assembly in Phnom Penh yesterday in support of the 13 Boeung Kak women sentenced to prison in a three-hour trial last Thursday. Supporters of the women, including villagers, unions and human rights groups, called ...
Advanced Bank of Asia loans MFI $2m
The Advanced Bank of Asia (ABA) last week loaned PRASAC Microfinance Institution US$2 million to support the rapid growth of the microfinance loan industry. The domestic loan was chosen to “diversify our funding sources” because of a large reliance on overseas capital which moves many of the jobs created ...
Eviction worry delays Phnom Penh mega project
The developer of Phnom Penh’s US$1.6 billion Chroy Chungva City project has said ground would not be broken this year, raising questions about the future of the satellite city. Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC) will delay the Chroy Chungva City project after what a local Chinese ...
Chut Wutty witness had eyes elsewhere
Another witness to the fatal shooting of prominent environmentalist Chut Wutty and military police officer In Rattana has said he did not see who shot the men after testifying in Koh Kong provincial court yesterday. Puom Ravin, a 37-year-old employee of the logging firm Timbergreen said ...
SL garment strike resumes after pact disavowed
Employees hurled stones at one of two SL garment factories in Phnom Penh yesterday as they returned to picket lines after management refused to recognise that a document signed on Friday that had enticed them back to work was a formal agreement. Female worker Rith Sineourn, ...
Kingdom’s logistics firms see diversity
Logistics firms saw a new level of diversity in Cambodian exports, a trend that would protect the economy from external shock, several shipping companies said. The Kingdom is on the right track to diversify and increase the export of agricultural products, while decreasing its reliance on ...
Cambodia wants Kuwait tourists
Tourism officials in the Kingdom have suggested that the Kuwaiti ambassador should push for direct flights between Cambodia and Kuwait, and invited Kuwaitis to invest in Cambodia’s soaring tourism sector. “We need more and more investment in the tourism sector,” said tourism minister Thong Khon. He ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012052956447/Business/cambodia-wants-kuwait-tourists.html
Factory fainting: Garment workers fall ill in Kampong Speu
About 60 workers at the Anful Garment factory in Kampong Speu’s Samrong Tong district reported feeling dizzy yesterday, while three fainted, officials said. The union president also said she did not think the incident was caused by the factory environment, but rather, by the health ...
Rice alliance formed
A new partnership looking to export Cambodian rice to world markets formed yesterday afternoon at Sunway Hotel The Alliance of Rice Producers and Exporters of Cambodia (ARPEC) elected their first executive committee, which includes office holders Phou Puy, Hann Khieng, Oknha Kong Sang, Sok Cheng, Seng ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012052856413/Business/rice-alliance-formed.html
Boeung Kak 13 to appeal
Thirteen Boeung Kak lake women who were sentenced to two and a half years in jail on Thursday following a lawyer-free trial that lasted just three hours will appeal their convictions, their distraught supporters said yesterday. As the reality of the trial, which rights groups have ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012052856427/National-news/boeung-kak-13-to-appeal.html
Trust govt, PM tells protesters
Prime Minister Hun Sen has told villagers they should not to protest in land disputes but rather seek help from authorities following a spate of violent crackdowns on demonstrations. The premier said protests affect public order and claimed they sometimes become violent in a statement signed ...
SL factory owners deny agreement
Just as a solution to a two-week-long dispute at two SL Garment factories seemed over on Saturday, the company’s owner issued a statement refusing to recognise an agreement that had lured more than 5,000 employees back to work. ...
Guinea interested in Cambodian rice
The Republic of Guinea plans to import 40,000 tonnes of milled rice from Cambodia, Alpha Condé, the president of the West African nation, said during a recent visit to the Kingdom. The two countries will also look to follow up on agricultural technology co-operation agreed on ...
Agreement forced, Loun Savath says
Activist monk Loun Savath yesterday decried an “agreement” he thumbprinted in the presence of Supreme Patriarch Nun Nget on Thursday, claiming he was forced to comply under duress. Speaking from a safe place yesterday, the “multimedia monk” said a group, including the municipal chief monk and ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012052856419/National-news/agreement-forced-monk-says.html
Last of Mondulkiri commune gone
Authorities in Mondulkiri province started tearing down the last of 195 houses claimed by villagers in Rayum commune at about 7am on Friday morning. Three hours later, not one was standing. Many villagers said they had no idea where they were going to live, and one man ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012052856422/National-news/last-of-mkiri-commune-gone.html
Natural sweetener coming
Stevia Nutra Corporation, a company focused on producing artificial sweetener from the plant stevia, has announced that it has incorporated Mighty Mekong Agro Industries Co Ltd, a Cambodian-based wholly owned subsidiary. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012052856410/Business/natural-sweetener-coming.html
New charge, same verdict for activist
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a conviction against a staffer from the rights group Licadho for allegedly distributing leaflets insulting government leaders and the king, but changed the charge against him from disinformation to incitement. Leang Sokchouen was convicted in August 2010 for allegedly distributing ...