Rice exports to region rising
May 23rd, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Domestic Investment, Economics, Exports, News Source, Rice, Trade
Cambodian milled rice exports are gradually lessening their dependency on a single market by expanding their shipping destination in Asia, a sign insiders say is good news for the industry.
Kim Savuth, president of the Federation of Cambodian Rice Exporters, told the Post yesterday that milled rice exports to European countries, Cambodia’s traditional market, is still increasing, but its percentage share is gradually decreasing. He said the trend of exports to Asian market is on the rise. …
In the first four months of this year, Cambodia exports to Malaysia, Thailand and China, reached 40,500 tonnes, 34 per cent Cambodia’s total overseas exports, according to figures from the secretariat of the One Window Service for rice exports.
The data show that those three countries are among the top five importers that bring in rice from Cambodia, with France and Poland at numbers one and two. …
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052365791/Business/rice-exports-to-region-rising.html
H&M Says Garments Made in Cambodian Factory Without Approval
May 22nd, 2013, Bloomberg, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Economics, Exports, Garment Industry, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Labor, Production, Social Concerns, Trade
Hennes & Mauritz AB, Europe’s second-biggest clothing retailer, said some H&M garments were produced without its knowledge or approval at a factory in Cambodia where workers were injured in a partial building collapse this week.
A supplier of the Stockholm-based company placed two minor orders with an unapproved sub-supplier at the Hong Kong-owned Top World garment factory, H&M spokeswoman Anna Eriksson said today in an e-mailed response to questions. She said H&M has no business relations with the plant, where a shelter collapsed into a river injuring at least 23 people, according to Xinhua. …
H&M isn’t the first retailer to discover its products are made in factories that escape its scrutiny as suppliers hire subcontractors without their knowledge when rushing to fill orders. When clothing bound for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Sears Holdings Corp. was found in the ruins of a fatal factory blaze in Bangladesh last year, the companies said their goods were manufactured there without their permission. …
Katarina Gustafsson
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-22/h-m-says-garments-made-in-cambodian-factory-without-approval.html
Cambodia launches cassava development project under China, UNDP support
May 21st, 2013, Xinhuanet News, Agriculture & Agri-business, Agro-Industry, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Farming, Foreign Aid, Industry, International Relations, Technical Assistance, Trade
Cambodia launched Tuesday the second phase of cassava development project under the support of China and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). …
Cambodia and China signed a Protocol on the Exports of Cambodian Cassava to Chinese Market in December 2010, under which China allowed Cambodia to export its standardized cassava chips to China.
Teng Lao said cassava is the second agricultural crop in Cambodia and plays a very important role in Cambodia’s agriculture and economic development.
He said last year, the country grew cassava crop on an area of 337,440 hectares, producing about 8 million tons of fresh cassava. “About 50 percent of fresh cassava, 40 percent of dry cassava and 10 percent of cassava powder were sold to Vietnam and Thailand, “he said.”And Vietnam and Thailand re-sell those cassava products to international markets, particularly China.” …
Setsuko Yamazaki, country director of UNDP to Cambodia, said that currently, Cambodian cassava farmers, processors and exporters are facing enormous constraints such as price distortions in neighboring countries, lack of information on price and quality criteria of importing markets and lack of access to technology. “Though cassava has become the second largest agricultural crop in term of income, employment, hectares cultivated and exports, there is very little technical assistance support provided to the sector,”she said. …
Xinhuanet Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-05/21/c_132397799.htm
Packaged MSG imports plummet
May 21st, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Foreign Investment, Imports, Industry, News Source, Trade
Cambodian imports of packaged monosodium glutamate (MSG) totalled just 2,086 tonnes last year, the lowest amount since 2002, according to import figures from the customs department of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The import figures showed that from 2002 to 2010, Cambodia had imported a total of 137,908 tonnes of MSG, an average of about 15,323 tonnes annually.
While domestic MSG consumption is said to be on the rise, industry insiders say the decline of imports is not because Cambodians are turning away from the popular taste enhancer, but because a local packaging factory is feeding domestic demand. …
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052165729/Business/packaged-msg-imports-plummet.html
Cambodia, Vietnam Trade Rises
May 20th, 2013, The Cambodia Herald, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Corn, Economics, Energy, Exports, Imports, Industry, International Relations, News Source, Oil, Trade
Two-way trade between Vietnam and Cambodia in the first four months of the year reached nearly US$1.3 billion, a 10 per cent rise over the same period last year.
According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Cambodia, Vietnam’s exports to Cambodia fetched over $1 billion while its imports were $253 million in the four-month period. …
The Cambodia Herald Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=YzA1YWUwMDU3OTh
Cambodia sells more, buys less
May 20th, 2013, Bangkok Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Garment Industry, Imports, Industry, International Relations, pharmaceuticals, Trade
Trade between Thailand and Cambodia went off in a wild divergence in the first quarter of this year.
Exports from Cambodia rose 19% to US$102 million (2.9 billion baht) year-on-year, while Thailand’s imports recorded a 4% decline to $1 billion, the Phnom Penh Post reported on Monday, citing figures from the Cambodian Commerce Ministry. …
“A lot of Cambodian agricultural products are being exported to Thailand as some barriers have been [adjusted] and that’s why we are seeing imports from Cambodia to Thailand increasing quite a lot,” Thai trade counselor Jiranun Wongmongkol told the newspaper. …
Rising exports from Cambodia to Thailand are following a similar trend overall. Cambodian exports to other countries jumped more than 20% in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, according to the ministry. …
Bangkok Post Staff
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/351002/strong-baht-sends-thai-exports-to-cambodia-down
Investments in Cambodia Up
May 20th, 2013, The Cambodia Herald, Agriculture & Agri-business, Banking & Finance, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Energy, Exports, Foreign Investment, Imports, Industry, International Relations, Labor, News Source, Telecommunications, Tourism, Trade
Vietnam’s investment in Cambodia has increased significantly in the last three years, but a mechanism to encourage and oversee investments in prioritized sectors is needed, according to diplomatic sources.
Tan Nguyen Tien, head of the economic section at the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh, said Vietnam’s investments in Cambodia quadrupled from $566 million in 41 projects in 2010 to $2.5 billion last year. …
Tien said Vietnam Airlines’ direct services between the two countries and Viettel’s telecom service in Cambodia have helped boost Vietnamese investment in that country. …
There are also four projects in the energy sector with a total investment of nearly $800 million, five in finance-banking with $250 million, one telecom project capitalized at $150 million, and a civil aviation project worth $100 million.
Vietnamese FDI in Cambodia is expected to top $4 billion by 2015, and trade between the countries to increase from $3 billion last year to $5 billion by 2015. …
The Cambodia Herald Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=NjA1NjRhYTIxOTd
Cambodia exports to Thailand rise as nations improve economic ties
May 20th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Imports, International Relations, News Source, Trade
Cambodia’s total exports to Thailand sharply increased in the first quarter of the year, according to official data from Ministry of Commerce received by the Post last week.
Officials said the rise is the result of efforts by both countries to improve trade facilitation and economic relations.
According to the data, total exports from Cambodia totalled $102 million in the first quarter of the year, compared with $85.43 million in the first quarter of last year, an increase of 19.4 per cent. However, total imports from Thailand declined more than 4 per cent, to $1.005 billion from $1.048 billion. …
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052065703/Business/cambodia-exports-to-thailand-rise-as-nations-improve-economic-ties.html
Trade Deal Threat Still On Table
May 20th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Agro-Industry, Business & Commercial Development, Disputed Land, Economic Land Concessions, Economics, Exports, International Relations, Land Tenure, News Source, Social Concerns, Trade
The European union’s executive arm has responded to its parliamentarians’ concerns over rights abuses stemming from Cambodia’s economic land concessions, maintaining that, should the need arise, it “will be ready” to withdraw from its preferential trade agreements with the Kingdom.
In a joint letter to concerned members of parliament on Wednesday, European Commission member Karel De Gucht and vice president Katherine Ashton said they were monitoring the situation, and had stressed to the Cambodian government the importance of reforms, as well as the consequences of losing the no-tariff agreement, commonly known as “Everything But Arms” (EBA). …
One of the conditions of the EBA is that beneficiary countries adhere to rights declarations such as the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, both of which concessionaires – particularly in the Kingdom’s sugar industry – have been accused of violating. …
Stuart White
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052065716/National/trade-deal-threat-still-on-table.html
EU Won’t Investigate Land Concessions—for Now
May 20th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Agriculture & Agri-business, Agro-Industry, Business & Commercial Development, Disputed Land, Economic Land Concessions, Economics, Exports, Garment Industry, Industry, International Relations, Land Tenure, Social Concerns, Trade
The trade commissioner and foreign affairs representative of the European Union (E.U.) have turned down a request from 13 members of the European Parliament that they immediately investigate Cambodia’s much criticized economic land concessions, but said they were monitoring the issue closely.
In a March letter to Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht and the E.U.’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Catherine Ashton, the lawmakers asked for an immediate investigation into the concessions, which they accuse of a raft of human rights abuses. They also asked that if the investigation corroborated their claims that the E.U. suspend the duty free access Cambodian exports currently enjoy to Europe under the Everything But Arms trade scheme—part of the E.U.’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
Their request followed a resolution to the same effect passed by the entire European Parliament in October. …
The commission currently requires that human rights violations be “serious and systematic” before it launches an investigation that could strip a country of GSP benefits. In a report on Cambodia’s land concessions last year, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on human rights to the country, Surya Subedi, said that rights violations tied to the concessions were “serious and widespread.” …
While garments make up most of the trade, the E.U. has come under particular fire for giving duty free access to Cambodian sugar due to the rights abuses alleged at a pair of Koh Kong province plantations growing the commodity. Hundreds of local families accuse the plantations of stealing their farms, sometimes violently, and offering them little to no compensation. …
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/eu-wont-investigate-land-concessions-for-now-25194/
Hun Sen Hopes for Increased Rubber Exports
May 16th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Agriculture & Agri-business, Agro-Industry, Business & Commercial Development, Economic Land Concessions, Economics, Exports, Industry, Land Tenure, Social Concerns, Trade
Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday that he hoped land being registered to rural families as part of the government’s nationwide land-titling program would be used to cultivate rubber trees in order to help the country compete with Vietnam as the world’s third-largest rubber exporter. …
Speaking at the opening of a $26 million rubber plantation and processing factory in Stung Treng province, Mr. Hun Sen said that by utilizing some of the 2 million hectares of land that has been registered under his titling program, Cambodia could reach its target of 840,000 hectares of rubber plantations within five years. …
Presently, there are 280,000 hectares of land planted with rubber trees, 118,000 of which is inside ELCs, while another 107,600 is on small-scale farms, Mr. Hun Sen said, adding that about 1 million of the approximately 1.5 million hectares of land that has been leased to private companies as ELCs are registered as rubber plantations. …
Despite its growing rubber industry, much of Cambodia’s rubber is transported as liquid resin over the border to Vietnam to be processed, meaning Cambodia looses out on much of the value-added exports once the rubber has been processed.
Neou Vannarin
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-hopes-for-increased-rubber-exports-24502/
Bangladesh woes spare Kingdom
May 16th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Garment Industry, Industry, Trade
A recent string of disasters rocking Bangladesh’s garment industry has highlighted its factories’ shocking safety record, and stoked optimism that giant fashion brands will flock to move their orders to countries like Cambodia.
But Cambodia’s garment industry has not experienced any major deluge of business so far, industry insiders said, and some even believe this may remain so for the long term, as Bangladesh tries to refurbish it image.
“So far, there have been no positive effects on Cambodia,” said the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia’s (GMAC) chairman, Van Sou Ieng. “There is just an increase in short-term orders to replace the non-delivery from Bangladesh [due to the recent disasters], but our factories have no capacity to take these up.” …
Low Wei Xiang and Anne Renzenbrink
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051665643/Business/bangladesh-woes-spare-kingdom.html
Cambodia’s Beauty Industry Blossoming
May 16th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Imports, Industry, International Relations, News Source, pharmaceuticals, Trade
The beauty business in the Kingdom is growing rapidly as incomes are rising and the middle-class is growing, industry insiders told the Post yesterday.
In the first three months of this year, the Kingdom imported cosmetic products worth $9.9 million, an increase of 130 per cent compared with the same period last year, import data from the Ministry of Commerce showed. …
According to industry insiders, young Cambodians open to Korean culture and lifestyle are a main driver for the development of the industry. …
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051665644/Business/cambodia-s-beauty-industry-blossoming.html
Cambodia’s Small Businesses Serve as Backbone of Sustainable Economy
May 15th, 2013, The Asia Foundation, Banking & Finance, Business & Commercial Development, Debt Servicing, Economics, Exports, Financial Services, Labor, News Source, Trade
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced in late March that the nation was on target to move from the status of a low-income to a lower-middle-income nation by the end of 2013, ranking it the 15th country that obtained high economic growth in the world in the last 10 years. …
Historically, however, Cambodia has relied on the role of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as the backbone of a sustainable economy. Generally in Cambodia when we talk about SME economic activities, we are in fact talking about micro-small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), as out of the more than 500,000 economic establishments or enterprises counted in the 2011 Cambodia Economic Census, some 493,000 of them employ only one to 10 employees. …
Growth in the number of MSMEs could help expand the economy, create more jobs, facilitate Foreign Direct Investment, and enlarge the tax collection base. The 2011 census shows that more than 500,000 economic establishments were engaged in economic activities, employing more than 1.6 million laborers or approximately 20 percent of the total Cambodian labor force. …
According to the National Institute of Statistics (NIS), around 72 percent of Cambodian enterprises are family-run businesses with one to three employees (2009). Out of 505,134 enterprises, only 3.5 percent were registered at the Ministry of Commerce in 2011. This means that the majority of enterprises are in the informal sector, effectively preventing them from accessing finance because banks and monetary financial institutions require SMEs to have legal status to be eligible to apply for a loan. …
Khut Inserey
http://asiafoundation.org/in-asia/2013/05/15/cambodias-small-businesses-serve-as-backbone-of-sustainable-economy/
Thai restrictions cap cassava exports
May 15th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Agro-Industry, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Industry, International Relations, Trade
Cambodia’s cassava exports reached 245,438 tonnes in the first quarter this year, a 47 per cent decline quarter-on-quarter, from 465,640 tonnes in the final quarter of last year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce released early this month.
While most exports went to Thailand, Vietnam and China, where processing takes place, Thailand also is a major market for Cambodian cassava. Officials in border provinces and traders said Thailand’s restriction on cassava imports early this year and informal exports that have not been recorded are the reasons for the decline.
In Sovanmony, director of the agronomy, soil and improvement of agricultural department in Battambang province, a major cassava plantation area in Cambodia, told the Post yesterday that it is estimated that 30 to 35 per cent of the total exports go to Thailand without being officially recorded. …
During the first three months, the total value of Cambodia’s cassava exports reached $11.7 million, about 30 per cent of the total export value last year. However, the figure from the Ministry of Commerce shows that the export volume is only high during the first few months of the year.
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051565618/Business/thai-restrictions-cap-cassava-exports.html
Cambodia’s petroleum imports decrease
May 15th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Energy, Imports, Industry, International Relations, Oil, Trade
The Kingdom imported 412,190 tonnes of petroleum in the first quarter of 2013, compared with 471,000 tonnes in the same period the previous year, a decline of 12 per cent, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
A private sector representative said the drop does not mean a slowdown in production but came as a result of more stock being kept over from 2012 because of price fluctuations.
The data showed that between January and March of this year the country spent $397 million on petroleum, down 15 per cent from $469 million during the same period last year. …
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051565620/Business/cambodia-s-petroleum-imports-decrease.html
Cambodia-Japan trade volume up 14% in 3 months
May 14th, 2013, Xinhuanet News, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Foreign Investment, Garment Industry, Imports, Industry, International Relations, pharmaceuticals, Trade
Bilateral trade volume between Cambodia and Japan had amounted to 180 million U.S. dollars in the first three months of this year, up 14 percent compared with the 158 million U.S. dollars at the same period last year, a report of the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) showed Tuesday. …
During the January-March period this year, Cambodia’s exports to Japan was worth about 128 million U.S. dollars, up 24 percent from 103 million U.S. dollars at the same period last year, while Japan’s exports to Cambodia valued at 52 million U.S. dollars, down 5 percent from 55 million U.S. dollars, the report said. …
Japan is one of the largest aid providers to Cambodia, but trade and investment ties between the two nations remain low. …
On the investment side, Japanese investors had invested about 300 million U.S. dollars in Cambodia in the last 3 years, according to a record released by Japanese Embassy to Cambodia in January.
Xinhuanet Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-05/14/c_132381154.htm
Investment and Trade Fair Opens In Koh Kong
May 13th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Domestic Investment, Economics, Exports, Foreign Investment, Imports, International Relations, News Source, Trade
The first three-day Koh Kong Investment and Trade Fair 2013 kicked off on Saturday, promoting trade and investment in the southern provinces of Cambodia with neighbours Thailand and Vietnam. …
“The [fair] is aimed at promoting trade and development in Koh Kong province and other border provinces in the southern region of the country, which is to further enlarge trade and the economy between Cambodian provinces, and with the provinces of Thailand and Vietnam that are boardering Cambodia in this southern region,” said Cham Prasidh, Cambodia’s Minister of Commerce. …
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051365565/Business/investment-and-trade-fair-opens-in-koh-kong.html
Boost For Animal Healthcare
May 13th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Imports, Labor, Livestock, News Source, pharmaceuticals, Trade
Cambodia’s promising animal feed sector will soon see support from a big pharmaceutical manufacturer which is now studying local demand for animal healthcare – a nearly untapped market.
“We intend to introduce animal health business in Cambodia for our farm products and feed mills,” Khalid Baig, Bayer’s country group head Southeast Asia, told the Post. …
According to animal welfare and production expert Ros Limhy, several thousand veterinarians are working in the Kingdom, mostly at the village or commune level. However, the key players in improving animal health in Cambodia would be the Village Animal Health Workers, who have been trained by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the public sector.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is one of those NGOs. According to IFAD’s Country Operations Officer Meng Sakphouseth, 80 per cent of the villages in the Kingdom have at least one animal health worker. …
Sarah Thust
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051365566/Business/boost-for-animal-healthcare.html
Cambodian Parliament Ratifies ASEAN-China Maritime Transport Agreement
May 10th, 2013, Xinhuanet News, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Imports, Industry, International Relations, News Source, Tourism, Trade
The National Assembly of Cambodia on Friday ratified the agreement on maritime transport between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, saying the agreement is essential to develop trade and economic ties between ASEAN and China. …
“The agreement aims to facilitate and foster cooperation in passenger and cargo transport by sea among the signatories,” Nin Saphon, Chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Commission on Public Work, Industry, Mines, Energy, Commerce, and Land Management, said during the session. …
Xinhua News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-05/10/c_132372924.htm