News
Forte set to insure travellers on the net
Forte Insurance, a leading general insurance company in Cambodia, officially launched the region’s first online travel insurance product. Officials and insiders said the product is to serve the growing number of Cambodian outbound tourists. Youk Chamroeunrith, Forte Insurance general manager, told the Post yesterday that ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030761798/Business/forte-set-to-insure-travellers-on-the-net.html
Bavet prices flat
Land prices in Bavet town in Svay Rieng province have been “stable” despite a great deal of purchasing seen in early 2013, property experts said. Nuon Rithy, general manager at the Bonna Realty Group, said there have been lots of land trading in Bavet so ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030761788/Real-Estate/bavet-prices-flat.html
Construction costs low, but could rise
Construction costs in the Kingdom have increased only 1.36 per cent year-on-year, compared to Cambodia’s inflation rate, which is projected at 3.5 per cent for 2012, according to a new report from global estate agents CBRE. The company says the minimal increase is due to the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030761790/Real-Estate/construction-costs-low-but-could-rise.html
French government injects $74 million loan to support social and economic development projects in Cambodia
French government through French development agency will give $74million loan to Cambodia to support social and economic development in the kingdom, according to a senior official said today. Director General of French Agency for Development (Agence Française de Développement -AFD) Mr Dov Zera will travel to ...
Mobile Operator Beeline Reports Large Drop in Subscribers
The number of subscribers to the mobile operator Beeline plummeted by more than 400,000 in the fourth quarter of last year—the single-largest drop for the carrier since it entered the Cambodian market in mid-2009—while the average revenue per user (ARPU) increased slightly, the company’s quarterly ...
Cambodia Post to tie up with Thailand
Cambodia Post, a state-owned enterprise with plans to list on Cambodia’s bourse, will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) today with the Thai Post intended to provide electronic money transfer services between the two ASEAN neighbours. The initiative hopes to tap the growing remittance via ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030661775/Business/cambodia-post-to-tie-up-with-thailand.html
Thailand, Vietnam Seek Controls on Rosewood Trade
Thailand and Vietnam have called for strict controls to be placed on the international trade of rosewood in an attempt to prevent the luxury wood species from being logged to extinction. Cambodia currently exports thousands of cubic meters of the wood to China each year, and ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/thailand-vietnam-seek-controls-on-rosewood-trade-12299/
Final Wage Offer for Garment Workers Is $75
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) informed the government yesterday that their final offer in minimum wage negotiations with the country’s unions is $75 per month, $25 less than the unions had wanted. The $75 dollar figure, however, includes a $5 state-mandated health bonus, paid ...
Cambodia, UK trade volume reaches $750 million in 2012
The United Kingdom embassy in Phnom Penh said today that bilateral trade volume between the two kingdom had reached to $750 million, an increase of 27 per cent if compared to 2011. British Ambassador Mark Gooding welcomed the increasing trade between the UK and Cambodia. “bilateral ...
Mekong nations urged to protect migrant workers
The Mekong Migration Network yesterday ended a three-day symposium by urging countries in the Mekong basin to provide migrant workers with sufficient legal protections and to improve their working and living conditions. The network brought together 72 representatives of governments, academic institutions, INGOs, NGOs and migrant ...
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/aec/Mekong-nations-urged-to-protect-migrant-workers-30200972.html
Mega-bank joins forces with Canadia
CANADIA Bank and Japan-based Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Wednesday agreeing to work together to tap the flow of Japanese investors into the Kingdom. The MoU was signed by Canadia Bank chief executive officer Michael Lor and Masato Miyachi, the general manager ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030161679/Business/mega-bank-joins-forces-with-canadia.html
Cambodia's garment workers confront multinationals
Since mid-January a group of illegally laid off Cambodian garment workers – mostly women – have been picketing the factory they worked in. Their objective was to stop the company, which closed down, owing the workers, collectively, about US$200,000 of unpaid wages, from removing the ...
Cambodia factory monitoring “needs urgent reform”
The long-running Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) monitoring programme is in urgent need of reform, according to a new report, which suggests the country’s reputation as a standard-bearer for apparel workers’ rights is “wearing thin”. The report, “Monitoring in the Dark – an evaluation of the International Labour ...
http://www.just-style.com/analysis/cambodia-factory-monitoring-needs-urgent-reform_id117121.aspx
Foreign investment in Cambodia’s property rises
Property experts say foreign companies are coming to invest in Cambodia’s property sector, as they see the growth and potential of the Kingdom. Sung Bonna, director of Bonna Realty Group, said that the number of foreign companies in the sector has grown, and most are from ...
Wide Gap Hampers Cambodian Wage Talks
A higher minimum salary for Cambodia’s garment and footwear worker is still not within sight after talks broke down Tuesday between unions representing the workers and their employers, officials said. The garment and footwear workers unions proposed to nearly double the current minimum monthly wage of ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/wages-02262013140215.html
Charcoal prices rise in urban areas
Deforestation and Cambodia’s strong economic growth have resulted in an increase in the price of charcoal, an energy source the poor are dependent on, charcoal vendors say. The price of charcoal in Phnom Penh had increased at least 200 riel ($0.05) a kilogram compared to 2012, charcoal ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022661597/Business/charcoal-prices-rise-in-urban-areas.html
Middle class boosts local Samsung sales
Cambodia’s encouraging economic climate had paved the way for the K-four Electronic company to launch Samsung’s latest refrigerator in this country, company representatives said. Kith Bunnarong, of K-four Electronic, said the comp-any’s sales in this country had increased since 2010, when it began working with Thai ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022661596/Business/middle-class-boosts-local-samsung-sales.html
Logger Reported Dead as Rosewood Trade Directive Announced
Amid reports that a second Cambodian has been killed this year by Thai armed forces while illegally logging in Thai border territory, officials had little detail yesterday on a government directive that is aimed at ending the international demand for rosewood from Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun ...
Phnom Penh Port Shifts Focus to Cruise Boats
With a new Chinese-built container port on the Mekong River in Kandal province now operational, the existing port in Phnom Penh is undergoing renovations to shift its focus to the growing number of cruise ships docking in the capital, an official said yesterday. Eang Veng ...
Fracking a problem for SE Asia
Impoverished countries hoping to strike it rich by developing their limited oil and gas reserves are being urged to move quickly or risk having their expectations clipped by fracking, which is depressing market prices while adding life to fields once thought exhausted. The ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022561573/Business/fracking-a-problem-for-se-asia.html
Better Factories Cambodia Slammed by Stanford Researchers
The International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Better Factories Cambodia program (BFC) must employ more transparency in their monitoring of Cambodia’s factories in order to effectively bring change to the country’s working and wage conditions, a report launched yesterday says. According to “Monitoring in the Dark” a ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/better-factories-cambodia-slammed-by-stanford-researchers-11011/
Huawei to Build 4G Phone Network for Chinese Firm
Chinese Telecommunications giant Huawei has signed a deal to install thousands of transmitters across Cambodia to create a new high-speed mobile telephone and Internet network, according to a statement received yesterday. Huawei Technologies (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. and Xinwei (Cambodia) Telecom Co. Ltd. – a local subsidiary ...
Qatar Airways touches down in Cambodia
With the launch of daily scheduled services, Qatar Airways becomes the only Middle Eastern airline flying to the South East Asian nation – and destination number 125 served worldwide. Guests gathered at Phonm Penh International Airport in celebration of the new air link, connecting Cambodia ...
Porsche Joins Cambodia's Luxury Car Race
Though still one of the poorest countries in the region, Cambodia’s recent economic growth has birthed a new class of consumer. And waiting in the wings is German automaker Porsche, which intends to sell its distinctive sports cars directly to Phnom Penh’s wealthy within a ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/porsche-joins-cambodias-luxury-car-race-10927/