News

Cambodia is ramping up efforts to attract US investment, especially because it benefits from trade preferences due to its status as a least-developed country, Cambodian Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh says. Cambodian products can be imported duty free to a number of markets, including Europe and ...

Cambodia’s vital southern mangrove systems are choking as rising sea levels, agitated by climate change, inundate them with sand, while sand dredging sucks them dry of sediment, a study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has found. Stressed by a host of ...

The number of customers subscribing to the mobile operator Beeline has dropped by more than 100,000 in the last quarter, and its average revenue per user has sunk to its lowest in more than a year, the company announced in its third-quarter financial report. ...

With political and cultural ties between India and Southeast Asia already strong, economic issues were the focus of the 10th Asean-India Summit at the Peace Palace yesterday in Phnom Penh, the India ambassador to Cambodia said. ...

U.S. President Barack Obama pressed Prime Minister Hun Sen on the government’s human rights record during a closed-door meeting between the two leaders in Phnom Penh yesterday, calling for fair elections and the release of all political prisoners. In the first visit to Cambodia by a ...

The US “pivot to Asia,” which will be punctuated next week with the Cambodian visit of US President Barack Obama, will likely put Cambodia in a tough spot in the region, caught between the renewed focus of the United States and the increased influence of ...

The printing industry, especially for packaging, is growing in Cambodia and the region, participants at a trade event in Phnom Penh said on Monday. “It has certainly developed, the demand is slowly rising,” Karen Prager, business unit manager at Rieckermann Cambodia, told the Post. The Drupa ...

Cambodia has decided to go ahead with the construction of a dam on a Mekong tributary, but conservation groups are concerned that not enough study has been done on the hydropower project’s environmental consequences. Construction on the 400 megawatt Lower Sesan 2 dam in northwestern Cambodia’s ...

A glance around Battambang’s dilapidated train station reveals the monumental task it will be to complete the Cambodian segment of the ‘iron silk road’, which will connect Southeast Asia to Europe by rail for the first time. Cows graze between missing rails in front of ...

Newly re-elected US President Barack Obama will attend a series of top-level Asian meetings next week, with Cambodia hosting an Asean summit, and China in attendance with new leadership. The high-profile meetings will present challenges for the US president, whose administration has become more deeply ...

Kratie province – Cambodia’s transformation from war-torn basket-case to one of Asia’s most promising emerging economies is being overshadowed by a backwards lurch in human rights and land policies that critics say are entrenching poverty. Next week’s visit by Barack Obama, the fist by a U.S. ...

Laos held a “groundbreaking” ceremony on Wednesday for a $3.5 billion hydropower dam on the Mekong River that is opposed by environmentalists and some neighbouring countries because of the possible impact on livelihoods, fisheries and agriculture. But it was unclear when actual construction of the contentious ...

FedEx has officially opened its new South Pacific Regional Hub in Singapore, the largest consolidated facility in the Asia-Pacific region. The $97 million hub is the first and only express transportation facility in Singapore. The 282,700-square-foot integrated facility houses air, ground and clearance operations under one roof ...

China’s rising wages and shrinking export demand are forcing manufacturers to relocate to neighbouring Southeast Asian nations and many that remain are seriously considering moving, a foreign trade official from the Ministry of Commerce said Buyers have “turned their eyes to manufacturers from Southeast Asian countries”, ...

Trading company Galuh Prabu Trijaya is closing in on a deal with Cambodia that could boost sales of Indonesian fertilizer and agricultural machinery by $1.5 billion over five years. The deal would double Indonesia’s annual exports to the Mekong country, as the largest economy in Southeast ...

For political economist Sophal Ear, this view is more nuanced. In his book ‘Aid Dependence in Cambodia: How Foreign Assistance Undermined Democracy‘, published by the Columbia University Press (2012), years of dependency are not showing positive results in the rehabilitation of Cambodia, its democracy and war ...

Thailand’s rice intervention scheme is distorting trade around Southeast Asia, attracting rice smuggled from neighbouring countries into Thai government stockpiles, but genuine business remains slack and Thai prices have fallen this week. Cheap rice from Cambodia and Myanmar is finding its way into Thai government warehouses ...

Southeast Asia is a growth market for the mobile industry, with Indonesia and the Philippines being key markets for growth, particularly in smartphones, reports GfK Asia. The Southeast Asian mobile phone market is on the rise, having grown by 24% in volume in the past 12 ...

The Greater Mekong Sub-region development scheme, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is moving forward with a new generation of investment aimed at strengthening connectivity, competitiveness and community over the next decade. The GMS will play a strategic role in connecting Southeast Asia with South ...

China has done a lot to support Cambodia over the years, with millions of dollars in aid, loans and investment. But after reports last week that China has pledged another $500 million in soft loans and grants-and publicly thanked Cambodia for its support in Southeast ...

The largest hydropower station on Lancang River in southwest China’s Yunnan Province — known as the Mekong River in southeast Asia — went into operation Thursday with its first power generating unit up and running. The Nuozhadu hydroelectric station, located in the city of Pu’er, is ...

Canadian insurance and financial services company Manulife Financial officially launched its Cambodian country office on June 28, one of several new players seeking to enter one of Southeast Asia’s still-untapped markets. Britain’s No.1 insurer Prudential said last week it had approval from the Cambodian government to open a wholly foreign-owned life insurance operation. Manulife, the world’s ...

As much of the world struggles with post growth, Cambodia’s tourism and hospitality sector continued to expand and diversify, attracting more intraregional activity and especially from major emerging markets in Asia, MICE segments, as well as traditional leisure clientele. Like neighboring countries Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Laos, Cambodia has quickly emerged into a well sought-after tourist ...

Two global life insurers are opening offices in Cambodia, one of Southeast Asia’s few untapped insurance markets, as they strengthen their foothold in a region that could eventually be a key driver of revenue growth. Britain’s No. 1 insurer Prudential said on Monday it won in-principle ...