News

Cambodia’s economic rise starkly contrasts the political chaos that reached a climax in November 2017 with the dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party — the country’s only major opposition party — and the detention of its leader, Kem Sokha. Prime Minister Hun Sen has ...

Cambodia’s economy is expected to grow by 6.9 per cent in 2015, driven by the construction sector, while traditional growth areas, such as garments and tourism, are expected to see a relative slowdown this year, according to a World Bank economic report.Yesterday’s update on the ...

Despite increased yields and the rising use of farming machinery in Cambodia’s agriculture sector, growth in the industry for 2013-14 was only between 1 and 2 per cent, with greater emphasis needed on the quality of seeds and fertilisers, as well as encouraging greater vegetable ...

Cambodia’s largest bank, Acleda Bank, announced yesterday that it was infusing $40 million to add to its current capital of $226 million, as it looks to expand domestic and foreign operations and keep up with the rising demand for credit in the Kingdom. ...

After admitting there were “major problems” with its resettlement projects earlier this month, the World Bank has come under fire from Boeung Kak lake residents in a new report from a human rights group. The report by the International Accountability Project (IAP), titled Back to Development, ...

Motorcycle fatalities are claiming the lives of a third of people in Asia–but governments don’t seem to notice. In Cambodia, HIV/AIDS-related deaths equate to 2,300 per year, and the government allocates $58 million to combat the disease—but 2,000 deaths are caused by highway fatalities, with ...

Rights groups have asked the World Bank to schedule a “special meeting” with evictees before deciding whether to lift a freeze on new loans to Cambodia, and to hold it in Thailand so that participants can speak their minds without fear of reprisal from the ...

Rights groups have asked the World Bank to schedule a “special meeting” with evictees before deciding whether to lift a freeze on new loans to Cambodia, and to hold it in Thailand so that participants can speak their minds without fear of reprisal from the ...

In the face of global economic fragility, the Cambodian government needs to review its fiscal policies and deepen its pockets – building a “buffer” for use in times of crisis, the World Bank has warned. The World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects 2015 report states that Cambodia ...

Oil-importing nations such as Cambodia should be first in line to benefit from the oil-price decline provided they swiftly enact reforms to reinvest savings into strengthening fiscal policy and human capital, according to the World Bank. ...

Officials at the World Bank, which in 2011 froze new loans to Cambodia amid a furore surrounding the Boeung Kak lake evictions, have approved preliminary proposals to issue funding for a project that could see families forcibly removed in Kampong Thom province. Under the World Bank’s ...

Cambodia’s taxation system fell five places on the World Bank’s 2015 Doing Business index (DBI). The index, which tallied up 230 business reforms from 189 economies, showed the ease of paying taxes in Cambodia has declined from position 85 in 2014 to 90 this year. Cambodia’s ...

Almost every aspect of starting or operating a business in Cambodia is becoming more difficult, according to a World Bank report released Wednesday. “Starting a business in Cambodia requires 11 procedures, takes 101.0 days, costs 139.5 percent of income per capita and requires paid-in minimum ...

The World Bank and Asian Development Bank issued a report on Tuesday, urging Cambodia to improve its electricity supply and workforce in order to be competitive. Intermittent electricity, informal payments and a low-skill labor force are all major constraints to doing business in Cambodia, the ...

The World Bank has not yet reached a decision on whether to lift a ban on loans to Cambodia, a Bank official has said, contradicting local media reports that the international financing institution would resume loans suspended three years ago over allegations of violent land ...

Despite ongoing protests over the minimum wage in the garment industry and the political deadlock that lasted well in to July, Cambodia registered over 3,000 new businesses from January to September this year. The latest data from the Ministry of Commerce reveal there were 3,025 newly ...

As the World Bank considers supplying fresh loans to Cambodia, a new study uses the country as exhibit A for how the financier effectively sponsors corporate land grabs at the expense of the rural poor it purportedly helps. Three years ago, the bank’s own inspectors found ...

Cambodia’s economic growth is forecasted to reach 7.2 percent in 2014, and 7.5 percent next year according to a report by World Bank on Monday. The report said Cambodia’s garments continue to be the key engine of growth, followed by construction. The poverty rate continued to ...

About 100 anti-eviction activists from the Boeng Kak, Borei Keila and Lor Peang communities held their latest joint protest outside the World Bank office on Thursday over a recent announcement that it is considering the resumption of loan to the government after a three-year freeze. ...

The World Bank is contemplating a $25-million project to build up 15 social land concessions (SLCs) across Cambodia and could approve the scheme as soon as December, according to a proposal posted to the Bank’s website late last month, a move that would end its ...

Recent events, triggered by Singapore-based KrisEnergy Ltd.’s acquisition of Chevron Corp.’s entire stake in Cambodia’s Block A in the Gulf of Thailand, may possibly end the stalemate to develop the country’s only oil discovery to date. The prospect has also rekindled hopes in Cambodia to ...

Weak logistics have stood in the way of Cambodia’s trade progress for years with its export costs at least 30 percent higher than those of Southeast Asian neighbours Thailand and Vietnam. Getting the goods from farmers to markets remains difficult, and exporters struggle to supply overseas ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday defended his government, saying its reputation for corruption is undeserved, laying blame on the private sector for initiating the bribe process and calling out international development partners for applying double standards. Speaking at the Eighth Regional Conference of Anti-Corruption Intiative for ...

Cambodia needs to develop a trade logistics plan to align the Kingdom with the regional production network and increase its competitiveness as an investment destination, a senior World Bank economist said yesterday. ...