The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court yesterday charged two staffers of Vietnamese rubber concessionaire Hoang Anh Ratanakkiri (CRD) with causing intentional damage for allegedly setting fire to several homes belonging to a landowner with whom they were embroiled in a land dispute, deputy prosecutor Mom Vanda said. ...
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A U.S.-listed gaming company is set to open its second casino in Cambodia next month, the company said as it announced its revenues had grown to more than $20 million in 2012.
Entertainment Gaming Asia Inc. (EGA), which is backed by Macau-based Melco International Development Limited and is listed on New York’s NASDAQ stock market, announced its financial results for 2012 on Thursday. …
Preah Vihear province – The residents of this sleepy district, on the edge of the Boeng Per Wildlife Sanctuary, grow rice, cassava and cashew nuts. But in a few short years, Chinese investors envisage that Rovieng will be rapidly transformed into an industrial town. …
This landlocked province lacks major road and river links to transport minerals, leading some prospectors to conclude that the iron in the ground will remain a trapped resource. …
Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group, or CISMIG, has a government license to explore a large chunk, about 130,000 hectares, of Rovieng for iron ore. CISMIG has already signed agreements with two state-owned Chinese companies to construct the rail and port elements of the ambitious project. And the company’s chairman has told Chinese media that Rovieng will soon become a “steel town,” in which some 50,000 people will be employed in mining and processing iron ore. ..
Ben Davis, who has worked in Rovieng for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency since 2002, said … Chinese firms were also exploring in neighboring districts and throughout Preah Vihear, and would probably need a number of iron ore mines to justify the massive multi-billion-dollar railway and port project. …
In total, 20 companies hold mining licenses in the province, but only five are currently active, according to Kong Makara, director of the provincial mines and energy department. Five of the granted exploration licenses are located in Rovieng, including the two extraction licenses, he said.
One of the extraction licenses is held by Malaysian-Chinese gold miner Delcom. In 2010, the company, with support of local authorities, forcibly evicted more than 800 mostly Kuy villagers who had flocked to a mountain in Romony commune after gold was discovered. …
Mr. Sochea, the local Kuy representative, said that Delcom still operates under the protection of local armed forces, and villagers are prevented access to forests long considered part of their community land. An application to gain a community land title for the Kuy in the area is currently awaiting government approval, he said.
On a nearby economic land concession held by local firm Try Pheap, where the clearing of thousands of hectares of forest to set up a rubber plantation is underway, the employees were brought from elsewhere in the country. A whole new town is being constructed just over the border in Kompong Thom province to house the migrant workers for the plantation, many of whom are originally from southern provinces, Mr. Sochea said. …
Cambodia economic growth was 7.3 percent in 2012. …
Agriculture grew by 4.3 percent, crops by 4.9 percent, fisheries by 6.7 percent, industry by 9.2 percent, garment [sector] by 6.9 percent and the service industry by 8.1 percent, said Dr Hang Chuon Naron, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Finance of Cambodia. …
Moreover, gross domestic product per capita increased from 760 US dollars in 2008 to nearly 1,000 US dollars in 2012, with a projection of $1080 in 2013, he stresses [sic]. …
Cambodia’s rice export reached almost 180,000 tons in 2011 and 187,000 tons in 2012 of which more than 8 percent was exported to the EU. …
During the first 11 months of 2012, rubber exports increased by 23.9 percent … although value decreased by 19 percent down from a total of $181.1 million to $146.7 million.
In 2012, tourist arrivals increased by 24.4 percent to reach over 3.5 million from 2.88 million in 2011. …
Garment exports increased by 17.4 percent from $4.2 billion in 2011 to $5 billion in 2012. …
In 2012 … some 1980 construction projects worth $1.6 billion were approved. … The increase in the number of projects [displays] a steady recovery of the real estate sector, Mr Naron adds.
He also said [tax revenue] is estimated to increase by 27 percent to 2, 5 01 reil ($625 million) in 2012. …
Microfinance has experienced rapid growth over the last five years, reaching 1.3 million borrowers and 1.1 savers in 24 provinces. …
Cambodia’s trade volume reached $12.4 billion in 2012 while Cambodia’s export was worth 5.58 billion in 2012 [Dr. Hang Chuon Naron stated].
Shares in Renaissance Minerals jumped after the company announced a 1.2 million ounce gold resource at its Okvau deposit in Cambodia.
Emerging from the trading halt this morning, the company revealed an indicated and inferred resource of 15.6 million tonnes at 2.4 grams per tonne gold for 1.2 million ounces from recent drilling.
Managing director Justin Tremain said the company had already increased the resource at Okvau by 65 per cent and the grade by 33 per cent since acquiring the project less than a year ago. …
Hana Microelectronics Plc is investing 1.5 billion baht to build a new factory in Lamphun and another in Koh Kong, the latter marking a plunge into the Cambodian market.
Chief executive Richard Han also hinted yesterday that the SET-listed electronic-parts maker could relocate some production from Thailand to Cambodia if it cannot cope with rising wages here over the next 3-5 years.
Wages in Cambodia are one-third those in Thailand but will certainly rise as well, he said.
“But the wages will grow faster in Thailand and China,” said Mr Han.
“Shoes and textiles are now the major industries in Cambodia. We are the pioneer in electronics.”
Some 120 million baht has been allocated for buying a 60-rai plot of land in the Koh Kong special economic zone, while 360 million is slated for the factory. …
The company achieved flat revenue last year, rising by 4% in US-dollar terms to $555 million and 6% in baht terms to 17.2 billion amid a weak global electronics industry. Net earnings edged up 3% to 1.66 billion baht on a continued combination of flood issues. …
It’s not a claim every country can make, but Cambodia builds its own cars. A country known for its low-skilled workforce, the Kingdom exceeded expectations with its January release of the Angkor Car, a mini-electric vehicle able to get up to 300 kilometres per charge. …
The tendency to buy high-end automobiles is also on the rise, growing 27% in 2011 compared to the year before, according to the World Bank.
Reputable brands are lining up to enter the market: the first authorised BMW showroom broke ground in Phnom Penh in December, while banners plastered around the capital are teasers for the arrival of Mazda vehicles later this year.
In good news for distributors, 2012 was a record-breaking year for a number of car brands. Toyota Cambodia reportedly sold 800 units, up from 500 in 2011, while Ford recorded 15% growth in sales. …
President Truong Tan Sang has urged the planning ministries of Vietnam and Cambodia to effectively implement the agreements reached during recent talks. He made the comments at a meeting with Cambodian Minister of Planning Chhay Than in Ha Noi yesterday. …
Vietnam had contributed to Cambodia’s achievements over the past years, [Chhay Than] said, expressing his belief that with mutual effort, two-way trade between the neighbouring countries would reach US $5 billion by 2015. …
The government is planning to revise the Kingdom’s investment laws this year to draw more foreign direct investment as the country adjusts to the fast-changing regional and global landscapes, according to Secretary General of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) Sok Chenda Sophea.
Speaking at a business networking dinner prepared by the Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Associations on Wednesday, Sok Chenda told more than 100 private-sector attendees that the investment law revision requires their participation and input in order to boost economic activities. …
Bonna Realty Group yesterday signed an agreement with the National 6A Investment, a Malaysian real estate developer, to be an authorised sales agent for a 10-storey condominium that is currently being constructed and is expected to be finished by the end of 2014.
The National 6A Investment Co, Ltd had invested millions of dollars in building the 10-storey condo in the capital’s Chroy Changva district. Construction began about two years ago and is now 60 per cent complete. And Bonna Realty will begin finding tenants this month or next, said General Manager Nuon Ritty. …
Mesco Gold has established drilling and exploration resources at the Phum Syrang prospect in Ratanakkiri province, targeting extraction by late 2014, three to six months ahead of schedule, according to a statement released by Angkor Gold, which holds the land concession.
The statement said Mesco had completed a resource estimate at the prospect and confirmed its economic viability. …
The number of subscribers to the mobile operator Beeline plummeted by more than 400,000 in the fourth quarter of last year—the single-largest drop for the carrier since it entered the Cambodian market in mid-2009—while the average revenue per user (ARPU) increased slightly, the company’s quarterly financials released Wednesday show.
The report, by VimpelCom Ltd., Beeline’s Amsterdam-based parent company, states that the number of customers sank from 1.02 million to 598,000 between October and December.
VimpelCom spokesman Bobby Leach said the drop is because the company decided to rid itself of “inactive” users. …
In April, VimpelCom sold its Vietnamese operations a month after it devalued it and its Cambodian assets by $527 million. …
The 2013 China’s Zhejiang and Cambodia matchmaking symposium was held here on Tuesday to seek opportunities to expand business ties between China and Cambodia. …
Gong Zheng said the Chinese firms are doing businesses in the fields of agriculture, infrastructure development, construction and real estate, mineral resources, food and beverage, manufacturing industries and the visit to Cambodia was to explore opportunities to promote trade and investment ties between the two countries.
He said the two-way trade between Zhejiang province and Cambodia was worth 460 million U.S. dollars last year, up 10 percent year-on-year. …
According to a report of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, China is Cambodia’s largest investor. From 1994 to 2012, Cambodia had received 9.17 billion U.S. dollar investment from China.
Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Pan Guangxue said that the bilateral trade volume between China and Cambodia valued at 2.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2012, up 16 percent year-on-year. …
With locals demanding dialogue with the Chinese firms behind a proposed multibillion dollar rail line to Preah Vihear province, an NGO report released yesterday highlights the dearth of information that has been made available on the project.
Chinese company Cambodia Iron Steel Mining Industry Group (CISMIG) has said it will build a 404 km railway connecting a new steel mill in Preah Vihear province and a new port in Koh Kong province, in a project estimated to be worth a total of $11.2 billion that is supposed to get underway in July.
CISMIG holds a licence to explore for, though not extract, iron ore on a massive 130,000 hectares of land in Preah Vihear’s Rovieng district. …
Kheang Sochea, a Rovieng local and Kuy ethnic minority representative, said the community held a meeting with local NGO Development and Partnership in Action last month to raise their concerns about the project impacts and likely impact on their lives. …
“What the community wants is a discussion with the company, so we can try to avoid the negative effects mining has had in other counties,” he said. …
“In a 2009 Chinese language article, CISNIG’s chairman stated that during exploration for iron ore, extensive coal deposits were discovered, which would be used to fuel an onsite power plant, and to use in the steel plants furnaces,” the report states …
“Although this is the biggest infrastructure project in Cambodia’s history, only a limited amount of information is currently publically available,” [the report] adds. …
Nagacorp will build an underground road and retail space linking its casino complex in Phnom Penh to nearby Koh Pich, according to the announcement released by City Hall yesterday.
The underground road, which will be 23 meters wide and 447 meters long, will connect to National Assembly Street east of NagaWorld casino to the area in front of the north bridge crossing to Koh Pitch, according to the announcement, which was dated Monday and signed by Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema. …
City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche said that all of the cost would be paid for by Malaysian-owned NagaCorp, which owns the casino, but he said he did not know how much the construction would cost or when it would be completed.
The underground development is part of larger plans, expected to cost about $369 million, to expand NagaWorld, Phnom Penh’s only licensed casino. …
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia and unions both need to compromise further to secure a “proper wage” for garment workers whose lives are hampered by their current $61 minimum wage, a Ministry of Social Affairs official overseeing wage negotiations said yesterday.
“The government needs the two sides to understand each other and agree,” Vong Sovann, deputy secretary-general of the ministry’s strike resolution committee, said. “Maybe the unions can drop to $90 and GMAC can increase its offer to more than $70. [GMAC] needs to – but, equally, if the unions don’t do this, negotiations will not be completed.”
Talks ended in deadlock last week after GMAC offered an increase of $6, to $67 per month, and unions lowered their demands from $120 to $100. …
Cambodia officially launched the long-awaited National Arbitration Center (NAC) on Monday, aiming at enhancing business environment and attracting more local and foreign investors.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh said the government is committed to improving and enhancing Cambodia’s business environment and investment climate for both domestic and foreign investors. …
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday broke ground for the construction and enlargement of a 248-kilometer stretch of national road No. 6A, saying that the road is vital for the development of the economy and tourism.
The road will be widened from the current 7 meters to 12 meters with some places up to 25 meters, and work on the project will begin from Bathey district in Kampong Cham province in the east to Siem Reap province in the northwest. …
China’s Shanghai Construction (Group) General Company is responsible for the road construction that is expected to be completed in 42 months, Minister of Transport Tram Iv Tek said, adding that the project costs 248 million U.S. dollars, which will be covered by a concessional loan from the government of China.
One hundred and thirteen Jarai families from Ratanakkiri’s Bakeo district are sending a letter of protest to the provincial fishery administration today, after a Vietnamese rubber company started filling in a lake that they had promised last month to preserve for villagers.
Rochom Ven, chief of the Yasom village in the Soeung commune, said the company, Kao Su Ea Lev BM Yoy Stock, resumed filling in the 50-metre-by-300-metre lake with plants and bamboo late last month.
Earlier that month, the Jarai villagers had complained to rights group Adhoc when the rubber company first started clearing land near the lake. …
More than 100 former employees of the bankrupt mobile telephone company Mfone protested outside the firm’s shuttered offices in Phnom Penh yesterday, demanding that they receive salaries for working the month of February despite the company having already gone out of business. …
Mar Samoeun, 64, an administrative worker for Mfone who took part in the protest, said he had been at the company for 19 years and that he and nearly 1,200 staff working in Phnom Penh and in the provinces were asking that Mfone pay them for the month of February.
“I am old now and can not really find another job, so I need my last payment to feed my family,” he said. …
