News
Cambodia's garment industry at crossroads
Nun Vanak is an excellent example of how Cambodia’s garment manufacturing industry has helped to change lives of hundreds of thousands of people in this country. The 23-year-old is part of Cambodia’s half-a-million-strong workforce – mostly young women – that keeps these garment factories running. Her income ...
Credit at Cambodia's banks grows by 5.4 pct in first half
Lending at Cambodia’s commercial banks increased by 5.4 percent in the first six months of this year thanks to a better economic situation, a central bank official said Monday. Nguon Sokha, director general of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), said that the kingdom’s 34 commercial ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-08/05/c_132603705.htm
Cambodian insurance industry sees 25 pct growth in first half
Cambodia’s insurance sector earned a total premium of 22 million U.S. dollars in the first six months of the year, up 25 percent from the 17.6 million U.S. dollars it made over the same period last year, the industry’s figures showed Tuesday. The premiums were from ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-08/06/c_132607310.htm
In Cambodia, Cyber Casinos Fall Into a Legal Gray Area
In 2010, the Ha Tien Vegas Entertainment Resort, a casino investment on Kampot province’s border with Vietnam that included luxury karaoke rooms and suites, launched with high hopes of attracting Vietnamese gamblers. At the end of December, Ha Tien Vegas closed down. To the north, in ...
Cambodia’s Hun Sen Slams U.S. Threats Over Aid
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday criticized U.S. threats to cut aid to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation if its election wasn’t free and fair, and dared American lawmakers to follow through on their warning. His comments came after U.S. lawmakers started processes in the ...
http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-293500/
Initiative Encourages Private Rural Investment
Representatives from more than 90 Cambodian businesses gathered yesterday at the Council of Ministers building in Phnom Penh to hear about a new initiative that aims to encourage private sector investment in agriculture. The $55.6 million project is an extension of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/initiative-encourages-private-rural-investment-37899/
UK Sugar Firm Investigating Child Labor Claims
U.K. sugar firm Tate & Lyle on Wednesday said it was looking into recent allegations of child labor on two plantations in Koh Kong province it has been buying sugar from since 2010, but rebuked NGOs for not bringing the claims to its attention sooner. The ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/uk-sugar-firm-investigating-child-labor-claims-36637/
New Cafe to Enter Growing Cambodian Market
Caffe Bene, South Korea’s second-largest coffee chain, on Tuesday announced plans to open in Cambodia, according to a Korean media report. But while its entrance adds one more competitor to the more than half-a-dozen coffee chains already in the country, local franchises said the market is ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/new-cafe-to-enter-growing-cambodian-market-36434/
Naza bikes hopes to win over 10 pct market share in Cambodia
NAZA World, which is setting up its NAZA Bikes 3S showroom in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, hopes to win an over 10 per cent market share in the country or 30,000 units, within the next three years. NAZA Group of Companies joint group executive chairman Datuk Wira ...
Astra Says Gold Exploration Project Still On
An Australia-based firm that announced a plan to explore for gold in Ratanakkiri province insisted Monday that its Cambodian venture is still on track, despite allegations made in an Australian newspaper that it has garnered investment based on false information. Astra Resources, which has companies incorporated ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/astra-says-gold-exploration-project-still-on-36194/
Ethical Sugar Group Suspends Tate & Lyle Over Plantations
An international group that promotes the ethical sourcing of sugar for the food and energy industries has suspended the membership of U.K. sugar giant Tate & Lyle for failing to answer complaints that it was buying from Cambodian plantations accused of stealing land from local ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ethical-sugar-group-suspends-tate-lyle-over-plantations-35438/
Textile Industry Gets Lessons From Korean Designers
Cambodian manufacturers on Wednesday received training from Korean designers on how to make apparel in line with current fashion trends in the hopes of assisting them in penetrating the lucrative but difficult Korean market. The event was organized by the ASEAN-Korea Center—an intergovernmental organization that aims ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/textile-industry-gets-lessons-from-korean-designers-35468/
Mystery Surrounds Ratanakkiri’s First Special Economic Zone
Construction of a special economic zone (SEZ) near the Vietnamese border in Ratanakkiri province’s eastern O’Yadaw district is on track, but who exactly will avail of the facility and its services remains a mystery—even for senior provincial officials. The latest announced venture of agro-industry land concession ...
Japanese Companies Host Employment Fair in Phnom Penh
Cambodian students, graduates and jobseekers filled the main hall of the Cambodia-Japan Cooperation Center on Tuesday looking for employment opportunities with some of Japan’s largest corporations. Organizers said the event aimed to bridge the gap between skilled Cambodian job seekers and companies from the world’s third ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/japanese-companies-host-employment-fair-in-phnom-penh-35242/
U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia returns from reverse trade mission in U.S.
U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, William E. Todd returned from a reverse trade mission in the United States to promote trade and investment opportunities in Cambodia. Around 50 Cambodian business representatives accompanied Mr. Todd in meetings with several U.S. businesses, investors, and trade associations in Long Beach, ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=MTZjMjQxMDAzOGI
Asian garment industry to undergo further segmentation
The Asian garment manufacturing industry will undergo further segmentation in the next three to four years as competition becomes more intense, experts said. China, Thailand and Vietnam will mainly produce high-end clothing, while Bangladesh, Laos, Burma and Cambodia will mainly produce low-end clothing. Lu Qijian, ...
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2013-07/15/content_16778408.htm
Some 1,368 new firms registered in Cambodia in H1, down 19%
The Ministry of Commerce said Monday that it has granted operating licenses to 1,368 new companies in the first half of this year, down 19 percent compared with the 1,694 firms over the same period last year. ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-07/15/c_132543010.htm
Despite Land Loss, Minorities Back Status Quo
Romam Gvin could be described as a counterintuitive voter. Intuition might lead you to believe that Mr. Gvin blames the government for the loss of his land to the Vietnamese rubber company that now owns everything for as far as the eye can see here in ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/despite-land-loss-minorities-back-status-quo-34786/
Rice husk to power agriculture
Cambodia-based SOMA Energy will construct two bio-mass power-generating plants that convert rice husks into electricity to supply Cambodian farmers working in the provinces. SOMA energy, a subsidiary of SOMA group, has invested nearly $3 million in the construction of the plants, one of which is located ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/rice-husk-power-agriculture
Cambodia, next powerhouse for Asean investors
The success Qatar’s Ooredoo had with being issued a mobile phone licence in Myanmar is an encouraging development for Middle East investors who are looking into the possibility of entering a venture or opening a business in Southeast Asia. Let’s take a look at Cambodia. ...
http://www.gulf-times.com/business/191/details/359376/cambodia,-next-powerhouse-for-asean-investors
Government’s Limits on Information Leaving Voters in the Dark
Reporters in Cambodia seeking statistics from government ministries and departments are used to being given the brush-off from time to time, but in the run-up to the July 28 national election, things appear to have worsened. The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) has for ...
Congressional Hearing in US Pushes Cut to Cambodian Aid
At a congressional hearing in Washington on Tuesday that scathingly rebuked Prime Minister Hun Sen and his ruling CPP, a U.S. lawmaker called for legislation to cut American aid to Cambodia following the national election on July 28. Representative Steve Chabot, who chaired the House Subcommittee ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/congressional-hearing-in-us-pushes-cut-to-cambodian-aid-34389/
Korea trade nears $1 billion
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and South Korea nearly reached the $1 billion dollar realm in 2012, a hike of nearly 100 per cent from the year before, senior officials said yesterday. According to official data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, total bilateral trade between ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/korea-trade-nears-1-billion
Cambodia's rice exports up 125 pct in first half of 2013
Cambodia has seen a sharp rise in the exports of milled rice in the first six months of this year thanks to increasing demand on international markets, an official said Wednesday. The figures, from the single window secretariat for facilitating milled rice exports, showed that the ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-07/10/c_132529640.htm