News

Special economic zones (SEZs), billed as a one-stop shop for potential investors, have had a slow start in the Kingdom – only 13 out of 30 registered zones are operational – with many failing to get off the ground given the difficulty in providing the ...

The European Union will continue to remain Cambodia’s biggest export recipient, mopping up $2.32 billion in shipments this year, with the US following a close second at $2.07 billion, according to Commerce Ministry estimates. ...

Cambodian officials and private sector representatives met a visiting Indian business delegation yesterday to pitch for more Indian investment in the country and to explore ways of increasing the relatively low level of bilateral trade and investment. ...

Local and foreign firms looking to register their business in Cambodia can now do it from any internet-connected device after the Ministry of Commerce yesterday launched its long-awaited online business registration portal.The new, paperless system enables prospective businesses to search for a company name, upload ...

More than 50,000 companies registered with the Ministry of Commerce will be required to re-register when the ministry rolls out its online registration system next month, a government official said yesterday. ...

While still relatively small, the number of trademark applications has grown in Cambodia and the country’s low volume means that the Kingdom boasts among the fastest times in Southeast Asia for registering a trademark, a government adviser told a business workshop yesterday. ...

Cambodia must focus on building a single recognisable brand for its premium fragrant rice to strengthen its international marketing efforts, Minister of Commerce Sun Chanthol said yesterday. Cambodia’s Phka Rumduol – a long-grain, aromatic variety of rice – has been awarded the World’s Best Rice ...

Cambodian exports saw a nearly 20 per cent increase for the first half of the year, as garment shipments to the European Union led the way in making up for a decrease in exports to the United States, according to a new Ministry of Commerce ...

The Ministry of Commerce has called for a meeting with fuel retailers to review prices at the pump after Prime Minister Hun Sen urged them to set prices that reflect falling global oil prices, a government official said.Ken Ratha, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, ...

Local petroleum retailers responded to a government deadline yesterday by agreeing to adopt a flexible pricing mechanism to reflect fluctuations in global oil prices, but there will not be any immediate price reductions, according to a Commerce Ministry spokesperson. ...

The government yesterday asked fuel retailers to lower petroleum prices, so as to reflect the drop in global prices in the last few months.At a meeting chaired by Chhoun Dara, a secretary of state at the Commerce Ministry, oil companies were given a week to ...

The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) has announced a program that will allow approved exporters to use their invoices to self-certify their products’ origin, removing the need to apply directly to the ministry each time a company needs to ship goods from Cambodia. ...

Local tech startups discussed a possible reduction in the Ministry of Commerce’s business registration fees at a meeting on Saturday, to ease the initial financial burden on their businesses, given the difficulty in raising funds in Cambodia’s nascent tech market. ...

Russia is looking to up its investment in agricultural products, mainly rice and seafood, and the tourism sector in the Kingdom, after Russian Minister for Communications and Mass Media Nikolay Nikiforov met with Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol last week.  ...

The Ministry of Commerce received more than 2,100 new business registrations in the first half of the year, surpassing the 2,020 registrations received at the halfway mark of 2014. ...

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the Ministry of Commerce held a workshop yesterday to garner feedback from NGOs and businesses on the draft National Food Law.The new law deals with the safety, labelling and advertising of food and agricultural products for local consumption ...

The Ministry of Commerce’s Camcontrol Department found yesterday that part of the more than 300 kilograms of “suspicious” dried squid, stingray and shrimp confiscated in Kampot on Sunday had extremely high levels of a chemical substance banned in Cambodia. ...

The recently established National Silk Board is looking to tighten regulations and boost investor confidence in Cambodia’s silk industry, as well as create a policy for silk promotion in the future. ...

The European Union is increasingly scrutinising abuse of its Everything But Arms treaty with Cambodia, underscoring both the importance of the zero-tariff agreement to the Kingdom’s economy and the potential for its misuse. In Cambodia’s rice sector, fears that cheap rice from neighbouring countries is ...

The first draft of a long-awaited food law that aims to regulate food safety and quality “from the farm to the table” could be completed as soon as July, UN and government officials said yesterday. ...

Lab results have revealed that an outbreak of food poisoning that left hundreds hospitalised in Siem Reap province last week was caused by bacteria likely passed on through unhygienic food preparation, an official said yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Commerce launched its long-awaited online system to generate certificates of origin (COs) yesterday. The new system, developed in partnership with Singapore-based Crimson Logic, is expected to speed up and simplify the process of getting a CO, a document which identifies where a product ...

Feasibility studies on achieving Geographical Indication status for Thma Koul rice, Kampot durian and Cambodian golden silk have been completed, officials said yesterday. Ouk Prachea, secretary of state at the Ministry of Commerce, said the ministry was waiting for the results of the studies done by ...

Business has been encouraged to have more input into the allocation of donor money spent on projects aiming to boost trade in the Kingdom. Speaking during a panel discussion yesterday at a conference on government-private sector partnership, representatives from both government and development agencies said the ...