The Phnom Penh Post
Fainting link to Canadian cold
Women who had fainted in a poorly ventilated garment factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh on Wednesday morning were making winter coats to be sold at Walmart stores in Canada, it was revealed yesterday. Executives with Taiwanese-owned Heart Enterprise (Cambodia) Ltd also confirmed reports ...
Major bank downgrade
Moody’s Investors Service announced yesterday it had downgraded the credit rating of ACLEDA Bank, citing the departure of two of the bank’s major investors in as many years. The loss of a second big sharehol-der in the first half of this year had led to ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011090251414/Business/major-bank-downgrade.html
Hands-on contest a hit in Cambodia
Long a popular fixture of US TV and radio competitions, “Hands on a Hardbody,” a marathon endurance contest where participants vie to hold their palms against a car the longest in order to win it, has expanded to Cambodia. More than 80 participants took part ...
Capital’s growth pushes housing demand
Phnom Penh’s growing population is driving demand for residential property, with approvals soaring in the first seven months of this year, according to Lao Tip Seiha, director of the construction department at the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. A total of 227 ...
Tourism stronger than predicted
The Kingdom’s tourism industry this year will perform much better than the government expects thanks in part to Cambodia’s growing popularity as a vacation destination, investment firm Cambodia Capital has said. Total tourist arrivals to Cambodia for 2011 will reach 2.85 million, while total revenues ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011090151407/Business/tourism-stronger-than-predicted.html
Exchange officials explain IT system
Stock exchange officials were conducting a five-day workshop on the IT system that will allow trading, Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia director-general Ming Bankosal said yesterday. The workshop, held in conjunction with the Cambodia Securities Exchange, would also seek feedback on the system’s functionality ...
Fainting factory told to act
Another garment factory within the International Labour Organisation’s Better Factories program was hit by a mass fainting incident yesterday. More than 50 employees of Heart Enterprise (Cambodia) Co Ltd began collapsing soon after starting their shift at the facility, in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district. An ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011090151398/National-news/fainting-factory-told-to-act.html
Tensions cause drop in ASEAN imports
Tensions with Thailand led to a 10-percent decline in imports from ASEAN members during the first six months of 2011, though Cambodia’s exports to the bloc nearly doubled, according to officials. Cambodia imported US$810.9 million during the six-month period compared to $904.9 million during the period ...
Sihanoukville flight claims
Two airlines plan to begin regular flights between the tourist towns of Siem Reap and Sihanoukville this year, officials said yesterday. Cambodia Angkor Air aims to begin its regular flights by December, though may delay into 2012 if necessary, said Office of the Council of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011083151357/Business/sihanoukville-flight-claims.html
Minister seeks funds for climate change
Finance minister Keat Chhon yesterday identified reforming the management of natural resources as a priority in the government’s efforts to reduce poverty. Keat Chhon also called on wealthier nations to help fund climate change-related projects in developing nations like Cambodia. Minister of Environment Mok Mareth said ...
Homes torched in wildlife sanctuary
Government officials and armed police burnt down 25 homes in Oddar Meanchey province’s Anlong Veng district yesterday claiming they were in the protected Kulen Prumtep Wildlife Sanctuary, villagers and a rights group investigator said yesterday. The houses, which are part of larger community of about ...
Huge swaths of flooded forest protected by decree
Almost 650,000 hectares of ecologically-rich flooded forest surrounding the Tonle Sap lake has been protected by a sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday. The 647,406 hectare area spans sections of Kampong Chhnang, Pursat, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap and Kampong Thom provinces. ...
Oil dispute flares up
Secret meetings between high-ranking Thai and Cambodian officials to solve the demarcation of disputed offshore petroleum resources took place during the administration of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority revealed yesterday. In a statement some commentators described as “coordinated attack” by ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011083151353/Business/oil-dispute-flares-up.html
Tourism numbers rise by 14 per cent
The number of foreign tourists visiting Cambodia through July climbed 14 per cent year-on-year, with the most arrivals coming from Vietnam, South Korea and China, according to the latest Ministry of Tourism figures. Improved transportation, greater promotion of the Kingdom to world markets and widely ...
Two more banks setting up shop
The National Bank of Cambodia has issued a commercial banking licence to a Taiwanese bank, while another banking licence is pending approval for a Chinese-Cambodian joint venture, central bank Director General and Spokeswoman Ngoun Sokha said yesterday. The central bank had licensed Taiwan’s Mega International ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011083051333/Business/two-more-banks-setting-up-shop.html
Malaysian firm eyes Kampong Thom land
Malaysain firm Lion Forest Industries Berhad plans to acquire 58,000 hectares of land in Kampong Thom province for US$26.1 million, the company announced yesterday. The company has also announced its intention to purchase 9,995 hectares of land in Preah Vihear province for $3.9 million, according ...
Cambrew to pay overtime to beer girls on Monday
Cambrew yesterday paid the beer promoters who went on strike in late July to demand that the company abide by an Arbitration Council ruling earlier that month that said it owed the women three years of overtime for working on Sundays. The company, which is ...
Garment factory back in business after last week’s mass fainting
Three workers at M&V International Manufacturing Ltd’s garment factory in Kampong Chhnang factory fainted yesterday and about 20 others were permitted to stop working for two more days due to poor health, a representative of their union said. Nearly 300 workers fainted at the factory last ...
Tep Nimol, Don Weinland, P. 5
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/garment-factory-back-business-after-last-week%E2%80%99s-mass-fainting
Union claims strikers threatened with gun
Free Trade Union members claimed that staff of the Cambodian Union Federation of Chuon Mom Thol threatened workers striking at a shoe factory in Kampong Speu province yesterday. FTU president Chea Mony told the Post that officials of the Cambodian Union Federation had used guns ...
Svay Rieng dredging destroying farmland
Dredging operations are causing whole sections of farmland along Svay Rieng’s Toek Vel River to collapse, villagers said in a petition thumb printed by more than 300 affected families. Ros Mov, a chief of Romeas Hek Samiky Land Community, said yesterday 389 families from four ...
Climate change to hit rural poor
Climate change posed a major threat to Cambodia because of its extreme poverty and predominantly rural population, development experts told a conference yesterday. “This is an agrarian economy that depends very much on weather. And we are among the poorest countries in the world,” Dr ...
Overflight fees set to increase
Cambodia may raise fees for planes moving through the Kingdom’s airspace after granting Cambodia Air Traffic Services Company permission to increase the fees by 5.5 percent. Cambodia’s overflight fees are low, and will remain low, compared to other countries in the region, Soy Sokhan, undersecretary ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011082951326/Business/overflight-fees-set-to-increase.html
Thai trade fair pushed back to 2012
The postponed 2nd Thailand Trade Exhibition 2011 will not be reorganised this year due to budget restrictions, according to Jiranan Wongmongkol, commercial counsellor based at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh. The trade fair was originally scheduled for May 19 to 22 at Phnom Penh’s ...
PM issues warning over ELCs
Prime Minister Hun Sen has warned again that economic land concessions granted to private companies will be withdrawn if the companies fail to resolve land disputes with villagers who have lived in their concession area for “a long time”. The premier ordered relevant ministries to ...