News
Border trade 'to double' under AEC
Thailand’s border trade with neighbouring countries is targeted to double to Bt2 trillion by 2015, thanks to the seamless market brought by the Asean Economic Community. “Cross-border trade continues to play a more important role for Thailand with closer economic cooperation ahead of the AEC,” Olarn ...
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Border-trade-to-double-under-AEC-30190599.html
A new push for tourism cooperation
With the aim of attracting 25 million international visitors from 2013 to 2015 to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CVLM) the respective ministers of tourism pushed for greater cooperation in developing the region’s tourism sector on Friday, according to the Vietnamese Communist Party official news ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012091758749/Business/new-push-for-tourism-cooperation.html
Cafta report card
China is encouraged by growing cooperation with Asean countries and hopes to see even more development in China-Asean trade to generate benefits for both sides. Under the China-Asean Free Trade Agreement (Cafta) that went into effect on Jan 1, 2010, more than 7,000 products are now ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/312738/cafta-report-card
20-year-old GMS plans new phase of investment
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 ...
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/20-year-old-GMS-plans-new-phase-of-investment-30190259.html
Vietnam Airlines builds Mekong hub
Vietnam Airlines outlined expansion at the 4-Code presentation seminar, Wednesday, just prior to the opening of 8th International Travel Expo 2012 in Ho Chi Minh City. The national airline reiterated its commitment at the trade fair to build Vietnam as a major gateway to the other ...
http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2012/09/vietnam-airlines-builds-mekong-hub/
Myanmar Airways Suspends Flights to Cambodia
Myanmar Airways has temporarily suspended direct flights from Rangoon to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh due to low passenger numbers, an official at the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) said yesterday. “We don’t know how long they will suspend operations, but when they get ...
Banking in CLMV: Things to know before making an investment
As business opportunities open wider ahead of the launch of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, the four less-developed economies, often referred to as CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) are among the most attractive for Thai investors The disparity between CLMV and the three ...
Integration a priority
When deciding what aspects of their economies to prioritise to grow their economies, ASEAN’s less developed countries, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV), should look to the organisation’s oldest members (the ASEAN-6) for guidance, according to a joint statement following the fourth CLMV Economics Ministers’ ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012082958333/Business/integration-a-priority-for-asean.html
ASEAN's newest look for cash
Younger Southeast Asian countries will look for a means of filling the financial gap between poorer mainland ASEAN members and more developed states this week during the 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting, which kicked off today. At the five-day meeting which Prime Minister Hun Sen was ...
Felda Global buying more land, aims to emerge world leader in palm oil industry
Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGVH), the world’s third largest palm oil company by hectarage, plans to buy 150,000 ha estate land over five years to realise its cherished vision to emerge as the world leader in the palm oil industry On FGVH’s cross-border expansion plans, ...
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/8/24/business/11904076&sec=business
Southeast Asian Rice Exporters Eye Cartel to Boost Prices
Southeast Asia’s rice-exporting nations are in talks to create a formal alliance aimed at boosting prices and increasing export revenues, a move that could cause tensions with rice-importing nations. An alliance of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar will aim to share information and cooperate ...
Rice Exporters Eye Cartel to Boost Prices
Southeast Asia’s rice-exporting nations are in talks to create a formal alliance aimed at boosting prices and increasing export revenues, a move that could cause tensions with rice-importing nations. But any bid by the five countries to drive up prices will be a challenge, given previous ...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB30000872396390444812704577606962232854218.html
Five ink deal to form rice cartel
Five Asean rice-producing countries are joining forces to form a regional alliance with the ambitious goal to boost rice prices by 10% annually. Trade ministers from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos are scheduled to sign the agreement later this year to establish the Asean Rice ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/308931/five-ink-deal-to-form-rice-cartel
India Funds Three-Nation Road
$500-million loan from New Delhi to help build 3,200km highway through Myanmar and linking to Thailand The trilateral highway project will allow freight and container trucks to move across the borders from India to Myanmar and Thailand via Chiang Rai and border towns. It will play ...
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/India-funds-three-nation-road-30188145.html
Business concept competition a success
A business concept competition between university students from Cambodia, Japan and Myanmar that provided the perfect opportunity for improving business plans and networking with business people yesterday was won by one of Cambodia’s own. Lay Huy Huoy, a second-year student at Cambodian Mekong University majoring in business and ...
Loans, deposits mirroring growth
Loans and deposits at Cambodia’s 32 commercial banks rose by more than 30 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, year-on-year in the first half of 2012, which the central bank governor and economists said reflected the growth in economic activities even as export growth ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012072457572/Business/loans-deposits-mirroring-growth.html
Ford takes 20 per cent of new car market
Before the big dinner with Hillary Clinton, Prime Minister Hun Sen and the leaders of Thailand and Myanmar on July 13 in Siem Reap, Tom Whitcraft of RMA Group, which owns the Ford dealership in Cambodia, sat down for an interview. Whitcraft said Ford has about ...
PM looks to counter OPEC, push rice-exporting power
Cambodia will push to finalise a rice-exporting bloc with four other regional countries by the end of the year in a bid to become the world’s “food basket”, according to the Ministry of Commerce. The group of countries including Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar – ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012071957506/Business/pm-looks-to-counter-opec.html
Illegal Fishing, Molotov Cocktails, A Daring Escape
The State Department on Tuesday cited abuses in Thailand’s huge fishing industry as part of an annual worldwide report on Trafficking in Persons. The report noted that men from Cambodia and Myanmar, also known as Burma, are trafficked aboard Thai ships and forced to work ...
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/20/155048186/illegal-fishing-molotov-cocktails-a-daring-escape
After brawl, workers can go
Cambodian workers seeking to leave a seafood factory in Thailand following a lethal brawl with counterparts from Myanmar were given their passports and salaries on Monday, a representative said. Phon Jam said 800 Cambodian workers at the Siam International Food Co Ltd factory in Songkhla province ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012061456796/National-news/after-brawl-workers-can-go.html
Firms relocating for cheaper labour costs
Industrialists have raised concerns that the higher minimum wage is a key factor driving many labour-intensive manufacturers to relocate to less developed neighbouring countries. At a seminar on investment strategy in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam held yesterday by the Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) ...
Cambodia garment sector fears competition from Myanmar
The lifting of EU sanctions against Myanmar is bound to have an impact on the Cambodian garment sector, Cambodia Sin Chew Daily reported on Thursday. The European Union announced earlier this week that it was lifting sanctions against the country. Japan and Canada have made similar announcements since the end of last week. ...
Strikers claim shots fired
Police threatened workers and fired shots into the air as a dispute involving about 800 Cambodian workers at Phatthana Seafood Co Ltd in Thailand’s Songkhla province escalated yesterday, a workers’ representative said. Sok Sorng said “many police” had threatened workers with guns as more than 1,000 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012041055531/National-news/strikers-claim-shots-fired.html
‘New deal’ eyed for migrant workers
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s call on Tuesday to strengthen cooperation among ASEAN members to protect the rights of migrant workers echoed recent comments by rights groups who say further protections are necessary as the 2015 deadline for an integrated economic community looms. As that deadline approaches, ...