Economy and commerce

Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP) will distribute a cash dividend of 1,059,039,488 riel ($261,148), or 256 riel per share, to its private shareholders for its 2016 operations, the port operator said in a filing to the Cambodian Securities Exchange (CSX). ...

HomePro, a leading home improvement retailer in Thailand, is mulling expansion to neighboring countries – including Cambodia next year – with an investment budget of between $170 million and nearly $200 million. ...

SVI Cambodia, the local subsidiary, signed a 50-year lease in July 2015 and says it hopes the​ construction work will be complete by October.   ...

Global credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Services has maintained Cambodia’s B2/stable sovereign rating, stating in its latest credit opinion on the Cambodian government that the rating was underpinned by the Kingdom’s credit strengths, specifically its healthy growth prospects and a stable external payments position. ...

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) has made slow progress in reining in unlicensed operations since issuing its first derivatives trading licence nearly a year ago. To date, only six licences have been issued, while at least as many unlicensed firms continue to ...

A Cambodian startup was selected to take part in Startupbootcamp’s three-month fintech accelerator program in Singapore, becoming the second firm from the Kingdom to join the international program in as many years. ...

In his office at the National Bank of Cambodia, Mr. Heng Bomakara recalls the early stages of the nation’s currency with fondness. He still remembers a time when coins were commonplace. First minted in aluminum and then later in steel, these coins are now a ...

Products from neighboring Thailand are still considered the best for many Cambodian consumers, and this is an incentive for Thai companies to set up branches in the country – taking advantage of the positive investment climate prevailing in the kingdom. ...

Micro-Credit Ratings International Ltd (M-CRIL), an Indian provider of rating and advisory services to the microfinance industry, has secured a $1.5 million equity investment agreement from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to push into emerging markets including Cambodia, the ADB said in an announcement last ...

Japan’s Hitachi Ltd has officially entered into a joint venture partnership with the local construction company CMED Group Co Ltd, aimed at expanding its sales, installation and maintenance services for elevators and escalators throughout the Kingdom, the company announced on Friday. ...

Bred Banque Populaire – part of the second-largest banking group in France – officially launched operations in Cambodia yesterday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its headquarters, marking the first venture of a European bank in the Kingdom since the late 1990s. ...

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry will reinstate sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) inspections on imported goods close to 10 years after having made the commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO). ...

Cambodians spent over $100 million on imported meat last year, further widening the gap of domestic supply as local producers failed to capture the lucrative protein market, a government official said yesterday. ...

US investments in Cambodia increased 15-fold last year, due mainly to the construction of a new Coca-Cola plant in the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, according to a statement from the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC). ...

Two more foreign banks—one French and one Vietnamese—announced plans earlier this week to open branches in Cambodia.   ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday pulled the country’s mobile operators into his aggressive campaign to clear up any confusion about the relationship between the government and microfinance institutions (MFIs), ordering them to send audio and text messages telling subscribers that MFIs were private entities. ...

A two-year income tax exemption is being offered to small and medium-sized enterprises that register with the Ministry of Economy and Finance before the end of 2018.   ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday ordered microfinance institute (MFI) Prasac, one of the largest in Cambodia, to change its logo immediately for fear that the public may confuse it as representing the government. ...

A new online trading platform is being developed to spur interest in Cambodia’s sleepy stock market by allowing traders to access the exchange remotely via software compatible with smartphones, a bourse spokesman said yesterday. ...

Kerry WorldBridge Logistics SEZ, which is developing a 63-hectare industrial park and free trade zone 17 kilometres south of the capital in Kandal province, has taken on a new partner to design and create an “industry and technology cluster” aimed at attracting non-garment manufacturing investment ...

Acleda Bank will issue new ATM, debit and credit cards to all its customers nationwide with the new bank logo, in compliance with an order issued by the Council of Ministers, said the bank’s CEO yesterday. ...

Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Lê Minh Hưng, and Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), Chea Chanto, have agreed to step up co-operation between the two banks. ...

ACLEDA Bank, Cambodia’s largest bank in terms of assets, will have to shell out millions in the next three weeks to comply with a Council of Ministers decision last Friday that the private financial institution must redesign and replace its logo on all company materials ...

With the Kingdom’s main rice harvesting season wrapping up, just a fraction of a government emergency loan package that aimed at giving millers the liquidity they needed to purchase rice paddy duringthe harvest cycle has been disbursed, leaving the government and private sector divided on ...