News
Hun Sen dares EU to impose sanctions
A European Parliament resolution last week calling for the possible suspension of Cambodia’s preferential trade status prompted a strong reaction from Prime Minister Hun Sen, who yesterday sternly dared the bloc to “cut it!” Speaking to garment factory workers on Koh Pich yesterday, the premier said Cambodia would ...
Ben Sokhean and Leonie Kijewski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-politics/hun-sen-dares-eu-impose-sanctions
Rice exports already surpass last year’s total
- 5 August 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economy and commerce / Exports / Rice / Rice / Trade
- Agriculture & Agri-business / Amru Rice Cambodia / EU / European Union aid / Everything But Arms Agreement / Exports / Khmer Food Company / Kim Savuth / Ministry of Economy and Finance / rice / rice exports / Song Saran
Cambodia exported about 31,000 tonnes of rice in July, a 40 per cent seasonal increase from the average of 22,000 tonnes for first five months of this year. Official data show that Cambodia exported 207,000 tonnes from January through July, an amount surpassing the 205,000 tonnes ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/rice-exports-already-surpass-last-year%E2%80%99s-total
The canes of wrath
- 10 May 2013
- Southeast Asia Globe
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Exports / Human rights / Judiciary and courts / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Law and judiciary / Public land lease / Social development / Sugar / Trade
- Agro-Business / agro-business firms / American Sugar Refinery Company / assault / Boycott Blood Sugar campaign / child labor / child labour / compensation / CPP / CPP Senator Ly Yong Phat / criminal activity / Dr Nirun Pitakwatchara / Dr Pung Chhiv Kek / EBA / economic land concession / education / ELC / ELC scheme / EU / EU in Cambodia ambassador Jean-Francois Cautain / Europe / European Parliament / European Union aid / Everything But Arms / Everything But Arms Agreement / Everything But Arms scheme / Everything But Arms Treaty / Exports / farming / forced evictions / Human Rights / human rights violations / illegal possession of land / ILO / International Labor Organisation / International Labour Organisation / Jean-Francois Cautain / Jones Day / Jones Day law firm / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / Khon Kaen Sugar Industry Public Company Limited / KKP / KKS / KKS industry / Koh Kong / Koh Kong Province / Koh Kong Sugar Industry / Koh Kong Sugar Plantation / KSL / labor / labour / land / Land grabs / Land rights / Land titles / Lawsuits / LICADHO / Licadho president Pung Chhiv Kek / livestock / London / Ly Yong Phat / National Human Rights Commission of Thailand / NGO Equitable Cambodia / NHRC / NHRC commissioner Dr Nirun Pitakwatchara / Nirun Pitakwatchara / Oddar Meanchey / Oddar Meanchey Province / OECD / Omlaing / Omlaing commune / Omlaing sugar plantation / Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development / Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises / PC Law Firm / Phnom Penh Sugar Company / Phnom Penh Sugar director Seng Nhak / Phnom Penh Sugar’s Omlaing plantation / plantation workers / Plantations / preferential trade scheme / protests / Pung Chhiv Kek / razed crops / Rees Broome law firm / Seng Nhak / shootings / subsistence farming / sugar / sugar exports / sugar industry / sugarcane / sugarcane plantations / Taiwan / Tate & Lyle / Tate & Lyle Sugars / Thailand / Thpong district / UK / UK’s High Court of Justice / UN / United Nations / United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights / US / US National Contact Point / Ve Wong Corporation / wages
Satiating the demands of the global sugar industry is big business for Cambodia’s sugarcane plantations. Yet accusations of human rights abuses and land grabs in the Kingdom have left a bitter aftertaste for many on the ground as companies vie for a larger slice of ...
Milled Rice Exports Rise in the First Four Months
- 8 May 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economy and commerce / Exports / Rice / Trade
- Duty-free exports / E.U Everything But Arms Initiative / E.U. / EBA Agreement / Europe / Everything But Arms Agreement / Everything But Arms Treaty / Exports / FAO / Green Trade / Green Trade Director Thon Virak / Investment / irrigation / Milled Rice / paddy rice / rice / Rice Market / Rice Market Monitor report / rice mill investment / rice mills / rice yields / Thailand / Thon Virak / U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization / unprocessed paddy
Milled rice exports have seen dramatic growth this year as the sector begins to take advantage of duty-free exports to European countries, an official and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said. Thon Virak, director of state-owned rice exporter Green Trade, said Tuesday that in ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/milled-rice-exports-rise-in-first-four-months-22826/
Cambodian Exports to EU See Rapid Growth in 2012
- 11 April 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Public land lease
- autoparts industy / Chinese aid / Commerce Ministry / Commerce Ministry’s Cam-Control department / duty free goods / E.U ambassador to Camboia Jean- Francois Cautain / E.U. / E.U. trade commissioner Karel de Gucht / EBA / Employment / EU / European Commission / European Commission’s trade office / European Parliament / European Union aid / Everything But Arms / Everything But Arms Agreement / Everything but arms trade scheme / Exports / footwear exports / forced evictions / Garment exports / Japanese aid / Koh Kong / Koh Kong Province / South Korean aid / sugar plantations
Cambodia’s exports to the European Union (E.U.) grew to $2.32 billion in 2012, a 23 percent increase compared to the previous year, according to the E.U.’s latest trade figures. The figures, released this week by the European Commission’s trade office, testify to the region’s growing role ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cambodian-exports-to-eu-see-rapid-growth-in-2012-18329/
European Lawmakers Press for Probe of Land Concessions
- 28 March 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Environment and natural resources / Forest products / Forests and forestry / Human rights / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Law and judiciary / Logging and timber / Social development / Sugar / Trade
- deforestation / duty free trade / E.U lawmakers / E.U trade commissioner Karl de Gucht / E.U. / ELC / ELC moratorium / European Parliament / European Union aid / Everything But Arms Agreement / Everything But Arms Treaty / forced evictions / Hun Sen / illegal logging / Karl de Gucht / Koh Kong / Koh Kong Province / Land-grabbing / Mu Sochua / Prime Minister Hun Sen / Sam Rainsy / sugar imports / Sugar Plantation / Surya Subedi / U.N. / U.N. human rights envoy to Cambodia Surya Subedi / U.N. special rapporteur on human rights
Lawmakers from the European Union (E.U) are again urging the block’s trade commissioner to investigate Cambodia’s Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) over a raft of alleged rights abuses and consider revoking the duty free access their owners currently enjoy to member states. Going mostly to industrial ...
Footwear Sector To Have ‘Running Room’
- 13 March 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Economy and commerce / Exports / Investment / Trade
- Better Factories Cambodia / BFC / Chinese aid / EBA / European Union aid / Everything But Arms Agreement / Everything But Arms Treaty / footwear factories / footwear industry / Footwear Pilot Program report / Ho Chi Minh City / ILO / Indonesia / International Labour Organisation / Ministry of Commerce
Cambodia’s footwear industry has experienced significant growth over the past five years, with the number of factories doubling, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. Meanwhile, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has announced it will monitor and report on footwear factories. As of November, 45 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031361901/Business/footwear-sector-to-have-running-room.html
Land Is Life, and It’s Slipping Away
- 14 February 2013
- IPS News Agency
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Concessions / Crop products and commodities / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Environment and natural resources / Foreign investors / Forest products / Forests and forestry / Government / Industries / Investment / Land / Land policy and administration / Land tenure and land titling / Logging and timber / Public land lease / Rivers and lakes / Sugar / Tourism / Water resources
- ANGOC / ASEAN / Association of Southeast Asian Nations / Boeung Kak / Boeung Kak Lake / Cambodia Land Law 2001 / Cambodia’s 2001 Land Law / Cambodian League for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights / Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development / CPP / EBA / EBA Agreement / EBA Treaty / ELCs / Erdos Hong Jun Investment Co Ltd / EU / European Union aid / Everything But Arms Agreement / FDI / Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations / forced evictions / foreign direct investment / garments industry / Germany’s federal ministry for economic cooperation and development / Global Leadership Award / GTZ / infrastructure investments / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / Koh Kong / Koh Kong Province / Korea / Land grabs / land investments / Land rights / LDC / LICADHO / Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries / Oddar Meanchey / Oddar Meanchey Province / Parliament Member Mu Sochua / Phnom Penh / Shukaku / Shukaku Inc / Sugar Plantation / Tep Vanny / Thailand / The World Bank / tourism industry / US
Nean Narin, a humble man and father of three children, says his family is going hungry. Narin lives in the village of Boeung Kak, situated on the edge of Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. For years, he and other villagers relied on the Boeung Kak Lake ...
Better to Ride These Bikes Than Make Them
- 28 January 2013
- Independent European Daily Express
- Economy and commerce / Exports / Investment / Special economic zones / Trade
- “Tai Seng zone” / A &J / Atlantic Cycle Co / Best Way Industry / Better Factories / bicycles / Bike EU / Chinese aid / CLEC / Community Legal Education Centre / EBA / EBMA / EU / European Bicycle Manufacturers’ Association / European Union aid / Everything But Arms / Everything But Arms Agreement / export industry / Generalized Scheme of Preferences / GSP / ILO / International Labour Organisation program / IPS / labour shortage / LDCs / least developed countries / low wages / Manhattan zone / manufacturing industry / SEZ / Smart Tech / Special Economic Zone / Strongman and A & J / Svay Reing / Svay Reing province / Svay Rieng / Thailand / U.S. / worker strikes
Cambodia’s export business is in the process of changing due to shifts in manufacturing in Asia. A business publication in the country has reported unexpected growth in the “machinery and transport equipment” sector and speculated it was as [sic] “probably bicycles.” But when Cambodia jumped ...
http://www.iede.co.uk/news/2013_750/better-ride-these-bikes-make-them
Koh Kong king bowed out of 'blood sugar' firm
- 3 August 2012
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Economy and commerce / Human rights / Investment / Land / Social development / Sugar
- Boycott Blood Sugar campaign / Business & Human Rights Centre / Cambodian sugar / European Union aid / Everything But Arms Agreement / foreign-owned companies / Koh Kong Plantation Co Ltd / Mitr Pohl Group / Senator Ly Yong Phat / sugar / Sugar company / sugar producers / Taiwan / Thailand / Ve Wong Corp.
A sugar company originally part-owned by ruling party Senator Ly Yong Phat that has long fought villagers over a land dispute in Koh Kong province is now under the complete control of two foreign-owned companies, statements released by the firms last week reveal. The Mitr Pohl ...