From the Great White North to Takhmao
December 24th, 2012, Economics Today, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Economics, Foreign Investment, Infrastructure, News Source
The town of Chilliwack in the Canadian province of British Columbia is indeed far, far away from the town of Takhmao in Kandal province. But, the cities have entered into a perhaps unlikely partnership to help Takhmao make the most of its location and resources to develop to its full potential. …
Now Chilliwack is engaged in a three-year, US$60,000 project that runs to 2013 to bring some of that prosperity to Takhmao. Experts from Chilliwack have been working with Takhmao officials to develop a plan to build up the same three sectors in the Cambodian city. …
Sann Sethvitou
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=362
Inner Development Gap
December 24th, 2012, Economics Today, Economics, News Source
When Sok Kheurn travels to the city of Siem Reap, some 32 kilometers from her home in Banteay Srei district, Siem Reap Province, the 58-year-old woman is always astounded by the differences she sees.
While in her village, everyone gets water from wells and light at night comes from oil lamps—or for the lucky few, battery-powered lamps— in Siem Reap City, the town is connected to a central water system, energy comes from the national electric grid and streetlamps light the city at night. …
“The city has a developed infrastructure and all sorts of modern conveniences, but they are things I will never have or use,” said Sok Kheurn, who owns a small grocery shop in her home village of Tbeng Khang Lech. “Many things are developing very fast in the city, but my village is standing still.”…
Hor Kimsay
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=363
The week at the CSX: Nov 26th – Dec 5th
December 13th, 2012, Economics Today, Banking & Finance, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Foreign Investment, International Relations, Stock Exchange
Stock trading at the Cambodia Securities Exchange of the only publicly listed company, Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, slightly fluctuated in terms of both trading volume and price in the last five trading days from Nov. 26 to Dec. 5.
On Nov. 26, one day before the official Water Festival break, the share’s price remained at KHR 6,200 (US$ 1.55), and kept the same level after the festival. But on Dec. 3, after the weekend, the price increased to KHR 6,300 (US$1.58) before it dropped to KHR 6,150 (US$1.54). On the last day, Dec. 5, price increased slightly to KHR 6,200, according to data available on the website of the Cambodia Securities Exchange. …
Sann Sethvitou
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=329
Slow is good: The real estate market’s slower current growth is better in the long run, experts say
December 13th, 2012, Economics Today, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Domestic Investment, Economics, Foreign Investment, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations
While the Cambodian real estate market has still not fully recovered from its steep decline during the 2008-2009 economic crisis, its slower but steady growth is more sustainable than the rapid ascent seen in the years leading up to the fall, experts say.
…
although growth rates have returned to double digit territory. The recovery is driven by a flow of foreign investment, according to Kuy Vat, CEO of VTrust Properties. …
A re-bound has been observed since late 2010 after the big dip in 2008-2009, when prices fell 30 to 40 percent. Slower growth rates prevailed in 2010 but then began climbing, reaching around 15 percent in 2011-2012 …
“But if the global economy slows down, it will definitely affect this country’s fragile construction market,” …
Tim Vutha
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=320
Weaving woes -Cambodia’s silk sector faces possible extinction as economic realities force artisans to abandon the craft
November 19th, 2012, Economics Today, Business & Commercial Development, Garment Industry, Imports, Industry, International Relations, Production, Social Concerns, Textiles
In the not-so-distant past, visitors to Koh Dach, an island in the Mekong River about 15 kilometers outside of Phnom Penh, were often struck by the sound as well as the sights that met them there. Among the many crafts on display by local artisans, a constant, almost rhythmic beat could be heard—the click-clack of weavers’ looms. The sound of shuttles passing back and forth among silk yarn made up an almost musical background that permeated daily life.
But now, it is a sound people rarely ear anymore. …
By Heng Socheat
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=304
The week at the CSX- Nov 8th-15th
November 19th, 2012, Economics Today, Banking & Finance, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Stock Exchange, Trade
The price of the exchange’s sole listed company, PPWSA, remained very stable from Nov. 8-15 at KHR 6,200 (US$1.55), the price it arrived at on Oct. 30. Trading volumes over the period fluctuated between 4,501 and 38,951 shares. …
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=309
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=cambodia+summit+-obama&oq=cambodia+summit+-obama&gs_l=news-cc.3..43j43i400.12237.37211.0.37628.24.5.1.18.19.0.122.405.4j1.5.0...0.0...1ac.1.v7z91TDca1g#hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=cambodia+summit+-obama&oq=cambodia+summit+-obama&gs_l=news-cc.3..43j43i400.12237.37211.0.37628.24.5.1.18.19.0.122.405.4j1.5.0...0.0...1ac.1.v7z91TDca1g&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=8323d12f03e41d53&bpcl=38897761&biw=1152&bih=773
Construction comeback- After an overheated rise and thundering crash, the building sector returns to stable growth
November 12th, 2012, Economics Today, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Domestic Investment, Foreign Investment, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations
Back in 2007 and 2008, Phnom Penh was positively abuzz with the sound of drills, hammers and cranes. Construction sites were found all over the city and it seemed that every day new projects were being announced in the media—a skyscraper here, a retail development there…
Khlem Chanreatrey
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=296
Decorative plants are more popular than ever, but most are imported
November 12th, 2012, Economics Today, Business & Commercial Development, Imports, Industry, International Relations, Production, Trade
Sar Botra has always liked gardening. The front yard of his house, an explosion of flowers and plants, makes it clear that he’s got a very green thumb. He used to spend a lot of time with his plants after work or on the weekends, and one of his favorite activities was visiting local garden shops for new plants.
During those visits, he noticed that the owner was doing a very good business selling plants at good prices to an increasingly interested public. So he decided to turn his love of horticulture into a money-making endeavor by opening up his own garden shop in Phnom Penh. …
Hor Kimsay
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=297
“Once we enter a market, we are committed to it”
November 12th, 2012, Economics Today, Business & Commercial Development, Foreign Investment, Industry, International Relations
Philip Hampden-Smith, general manager of Southeast Asia operations at Manulife, talks about the company’s entry into the Cambodian market and what the new few years might bring.
Cambodia’s nascent life insurance industry may be just only a year old but the nation of nearly 15 million is already attracting serious attention from global players. Three companies—France’s Prévoir Kampuchea Micro-life Insurance (PKMI), public-private partnership Cambodia Life Insurance (Cambodian Life), and Canada’s Manulife (Cambodia)— have started operations in the past 13 months while the United Kingdom’s Prudential, another international life insurance heavyweight, is currently seeking staff for its Phnom Penh office. …
Kim Natacha
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=298
Benefits from ‘black gold’- Revenue from Cambodian oil fields could provide a big boost to development, if it’s done right
November 11th, 2012, Economics Today, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Energy, Extractive Industries, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Natural Gas, Oil
If Cambodia’s oil and gas sector is well managed, and transparent, it could provide the country a golden opportunity for investment, development and poverty reduction, said independent economist Chan Sophal, who spoke at a recent gathering looking at the economies of oil-producing countries.
Chan Sophal said crucial areas such as human resource development, agricultural production improvements and infrastructure construction, such as roads and irrigation systems, need large investments, which oil and gas could provide. …
Hor Kimsay
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=295
Special report: Banking
November 5th, 2012, Economics Today, Banking & Finance, Financial Services, International Relations
With the recent announcement that two Taiwanese banks plan to open branches in Cambodia, the number of commercial banks in the country will swell to 34 and may even go higher as foreign businesses seriously consider Cambodia an alternative to more costly countries such as China and Thailand. …
Heng Socheat and Sann Sethvitou
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=253#
Doing business gets easier in Cambodia: World Bank
November 1st, 2012, Economics Today, Banking & Finance, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Financial Services
Cambodia rose five places in the World Bank’s annual Doing Business study to 133I’d out of 185 countries, largely due to the establishment of a credit bureau, which makes acquiring loans easier. The report, which ranks countries in 10 categories on the ease of doing business, put Cambodia in spot 53 regarding access to credit, a jump of 45 places. …
Economics Today Staff
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=241
Cambodian migrant workers send home US$360 million a year
November 1st, 2012, Economics Today, Industry, International Relations, Labor
Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand, Japan, Malaysia and Korea send home around US$360 million a year in remittances, according to Seng Sakada, general director of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training. …
Economics Today Staff
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=241
Milled rice boost: Cambodia gets US$1 million grant for milled rice exports
October 29th, 2012, Economics Today, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Exports, Farming, Industry, International Relations, Rice, Trade
Cambodia has received a US$1 million grant in order to develop its milled rice industry and strengthen the country’s exporting capacity, according to the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce.
It is part of a larger, US$3-4 million grant from the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), a partnership among various international development programs including the UN and the World Trade Organization, which works to better integrate least-developed countries into the global trading system. …
Hor Kimsay
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=246
Laos makes moves on building Mekong dams
October 29th, 2012, Economics Today, Climate Change, Construction, Disasters & Disaster Management, Economics, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Hydroelectricity, Infrastructure, Lakes/Rivers, News Source, Water
Even as its controversial Xayaburi Dam project is still drawing protest from Mekong river downstream countries such as Cambodia, Laos has inked a deal with South Korean firms to build and operate another large hydropower plant on the Mekong River network.
According to the Phnom Penh Post, the contracts are reportedly worth US$1 billion and would build three dams on two tributaries of the Se Kong River, which flows into the Mekong River. …
Economics Today
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewarticles.php?articlesid=240
Cambodian migrant workers send US$360 million home a year
October 23rd, 2012, Economics Today, Economics, Labor, News Source
Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand, Japan, Malaysia and Korea have sent home an average of US$360 million a year in remittances, according to Seng Sakada, general director of Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training.
Overseas Cambodian migrants mainly work in the fields of housework, construction, factories and other industries. Sakada said the revenue is expected to increase when Cambodia will soon send new labor to work in Qatar, Kuwait, and Singapore.(Kohsontepheap October 23)
Economics Today
http://www.etmcambodia.com/viewlatestnews.php?newsid=97
The CSX at six months
October 16th, 2012, Economics Today, Banking & Finance, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Stock Exchange, Trade
Every day, thousands of people drive past a big electronic billboard showing market data from the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX), the first securities market in the Kingdom’s history. While waiting for the traffic light, those Cambodians who are interested can get a glimpse of the activity on the new bourse and whether the stock price of its one listed company, the state-owned Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA), is up or down.
Right now, interest in PPWSA shares seems to be decreasing daily and the sup- ply is outstripping demand, which has led to the price falling below the IPO level. …
In the near future, when activity picks up, securities firms will pro- vide software for online trading that should streamline the process further. Phnom Penh Securities is building and testing such software and will launch it in the not-too-distant future , Sok Chamroeun said.
If all goes to plan and more companies list and trading is made easier, the CSX should emerge from the doldrums of the last several months and volumes will rise again. This, in turn, could move new investors like Phan Chankun and others who have been holding onto their stocks to begin placing orders in the young market again. .. .
Economics Today Staff
http://etmcambodia.com
Rice mills need to show solidarity, minister says
October 15th, 2012, Economics Today, Agriculture & Agri-business, Agro-Industry, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Farming, Labor, News Source, Production, Rice
At the Cambodian Rice Forum 2012, Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said that if the Kingdom wants to reach the government’s goal of exporting 1 million tons of rice annually by 2015, rice mills need to join forces and work closely together. …
Such an association [of rice exporters] exists. The Federation of Cambodian Rice Exporters was launched in June 2012 with the staged goal of bringing rice millers closer together. …The rice association’s chairman, Kim Savuth, agreed with the benefits of more solidarity among millers, but said there were still hurdles. He said many millers do not yet see the big picture around competition. Some of them undercut other millers when selling to foreign buyers, but such a strategy ends up hurting their profits. …
But the quality and quantity of the Kingdom’s milled rice is expected to improve, given around US$200 million in modern rice mill investment since 2011. …
Khlem Chanreatrey, P. 13
http://etmcambodia.com
Aviation in the Kingdom soaring with new flights and airport plans
October 13th, 2012, Economics Today, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, News Source, Tourism
Cambodian aviation continues its ascent with the Oct. 1 launch of Singaporean low-cost carrier Tiger Airway’s daily direct service to Phnom Penh, ongoing airport expansions and the announcement of several new airport projects. …
Currently, there are more than 20 international airlines offering service to Cambodia for a total of 58 flights per day to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap international airports. …
But recently the government announced that Cambodia will go further and build an entirely new airport in Phnom Penh. Prime Minister Hun Sen said at the launch of the 2012-2020 Tourism Development Strategic Plan that the capital’s airport was simply too small and a new facility was needed. The location of the new airport was not announced although it’s thought it would be somewhat outside the city given the availability of land. Hun Sen also said [there was] progress on Siem Reap’s airport [construction]. …
In another development, the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) has submitted a plan to the Council of Ministers for four local airport projects, including facilities in Preah Vihear and Kratie and the renovation of existing airstrips in Ratanakkiri and Battambang provinces. …
Tim Vutha, P. 14
Conference looks at status of the Kingdom’s small but growing insurance sector
October 12th, 2012, Economics Today, Banking & Finance, Business & Commercial Development, Domestic Investment, Economics, Financial Services, Foreign Investment, News Source
While Cambodia’s insurance sector has made significant progress over the past few years, it is still relatively small compared to other countries in the region and faces several hurdles. That was the judgment of Bou Chanphirou, deputy director of the financial industry department in the Ministry of Economy and Finance, who spoke at a meeting last weekend which provided an overview of the Kingdom’s insurance industry. …
Based on Finance Ministry data, total gross premiums in the sector in 2011 reached US$32 million, a 23-percent increase from the US$26 million collected in 2010. At the same time, gross compensation claim amounts fell from US$11 million in 2010 to US$8 million in 2011, meaning profits for the industry rose. ..
Despite these positive development, the sector is still experiencing growing pains. Insurance products are mostly concentrated in urban areas, the processing of claims is not as effective as it might be, the sector lacks human resources, and general knowledge about and confidence in insurance products is still low among a large percentage of the population. …
To date, there are nine insurance companies, including both life and non-life, in Cambodia. …
Heng Socheat, P. 15
http://etmcambodia.com