News
Special Thai-Cambodian cassava-corn trade zone set to be established
April 29th, 2013, National News Bureau of Thailand, Agriculture & Agri-business, Agro-Industry, Business & Commercial Development, Corn, Economics, Industry, International Relations, TradeThailand and Cambodia are on a path towards the setting up of a special trade zone that will see the two neighbors actively trade cassava and corn. Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom revealed on Monday that the 4th Thailand-Cambodia Joint Trade Committee meeting, held last week, saw both countries content with the expansion of cross-border trade, which has been in line with... continue
National News Bureau of Thailand
http://thainews.prd.go.th/centerweb/newsen/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNFOR5604290010003
Draft of New Public Land Policy Is Released
April 29th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Agriculture & Agri-business, Agro-Industry, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Disputed Land, Economic Land Concessions, Environment & Natural Resources, Industry, Infrastructure, Land Tenure, News, Social Concerns, Timber/WoodThe government on Friday released a draft of a new public policy guide on the county’s contentious land sector, a move that was welcomed by NGOs, who also called for the government to hold further consultations on the draft. ... Local rights groups have singled out the abuse of the country’s land laws as one of Cambodia’s most pressing human rights... continue
Khy Sovuthy and Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/draft-of-new-public-land-policy-is-released-20672/
Maids to rally for rights
April 29th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Labor, News, News SourceHalf a year after the first Cambodian domestic workers network formed, Cambodian activists for maids’ rights are turning to workers in other sectors and international organisations for solidarity and support. Long lacking organised representation, Cambodian domestic workers this Wednesday will join workers in other industries in rallying in front of the National Assembly on International Labour Day, said Chum Chamm, program... continue
Justine Drennan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042965296/National/maids-to-rally-for-rights.html
World Bank Says Credit Growth Still a Risk
April 29th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Banking & Finance, Borrowing, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Economics, Exports, Financial Services, Foreign Investment, Imports, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Social Concerns, TradeThe World Bank has warned that the rapid growth of lending by Cambodia’s Banks is still a concern, despite a recent slow-down in credit disbursals. “Credit growth, which has been driven largely by wholesale and retail financing, and starting in 2011 agriculture financing, has eased to 29.2 percent (year on year) in January 2013,” the bank said in an economic update... continue
Simon Lewis, P.21
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/world-bank-says-credit-growth-still-a-risk-20690/
Arrivals of tourists up 20 per cent
April 29th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Industry, News Source, TourismArrivals at the Kingdom’s two main international airports rose more than 20 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2013, according to data from Cambodia Airports. Officials said the rise reflects the normalisation of the world economy and the country’s political stability. According to the data, 750,355 passengers arrived at the two airports over the first quarter, up... continue
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042965288/Business/arrivals-of-tourists-up-20-per-cent.html
World Bank revises 2013 growth figures
April 29th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, News, News SourceThe World Bank has revised its growth prediction for Cambodia upwards to 7 per cent for 2013, from its January prediction of 6.7 per cent, a revision it attributes to the performance of the Kingdom’s agriculture, tourism and garment sectors. Cambodia’s outlook is generally positive, according to the World Bank, which expects inflation to remain at 3 per cent in 2013.... continue
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042965287/Business/world-bank-revises-2013-growth-figures.html
New Kampot Salt Farm Has Big Ambitions
April 29th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Environment & Natural Resources, Exports, Farming, Industry, International Relations, Production, TradeTOEK CHHOU DISTRICT, Kampot province – A donor-backed project launched here on Saturday aims to produce Cambodia’s first export-quality sea salt and invigorate the struggling local salt industry. In a ceremony among Kampot’s vast fields of coastal saltpans and low levees, company representatives from Asia Salt (Cambodia) Co., Ltd. inaugurated a $2.9 million venture, which hopes to produce 20,000 tons of... continue
Simon Lewis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/new-kampot-salt-farm-has-big-ambitions-20505/
Hun Sen Demands Answers to Sihanoukville Water Shortage
April 29th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Disasters & Disaster Management, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Industry, Infrastructure, Lakes/Rivers, News, Social Concerns, Tourism, WaterPrime Minister Hun Sen chastised local authorities in Preah Sihanouk province on Friday for their inability to prevent a water shortage in early April that crippled businesses in the tourist hub of Sihanoukville and left locals without running water for almost a week. ... The incident underscored how Cambodia is battling during the hot season to supply a growing economy with... continue
Neou Vannarin, P.17
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-demands-answers-to-water-shortage-20480/
Hun Sen Seeks Garment Factory Vote
April 29th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Garment Industry, Industry, Labor, News, Social ConcernsPrime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday asked some 4,000 garment factory workers for their votes in July’s national elections at a rally in Phnom Penh attended by members of several CPP-aligned unions, according to those in attendance. ... Cambodian Union Federation president Choun Mom Thol said yesterday that he was among the 66 pro-CPP unions whose members attended the rally on... continue
Neou Vannarin, P.18
www.cambodiadaily.com
Mobile Firms Agree to Stop Price Dumping
April 29th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Industry, Telecommunications, TradeCambodia’s nine mobile phone operators on Friday agreed to refrain from engaging in unfair competition by offering generous top-up bonuses aimed at increasing their market share, officials said. Mao Chakrya, director of the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC), said that all of the country’s operators agreed to abide by rules stipulating that 4.5 cents is the minimum price per minute for... continue
Chin Chan
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/mobile-firms-agree-to-stop-price-dumping-20689/
Forest Allegedly Cleared By Company
April 29th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Agro-Industry, Business & Commercial Development, Disputed Land, Economic Land Concessions, Environment & Natural Resources, Forests, International Relations, Land Tenure, News, News Source, Protected Areas, Social Concerns, Timber/WoodLocal authorities and Ratanakkiri provincial forestry officials yesterday visited an area in O’Yadav district where community leaders say a Vietnamese company known as “Company 72” has razed an estimated 1,000 hectares of protected forest since 2011. ... “The villagers complained to the authorities many times, but nothing happens and Company 72 never stops,” said Chhay Thy, provincial co-ordinator for rights group... continue
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042965293/National/forest-allegedly-cleared-by-company.html
Arbitration Court Backs Government in Power Deal with US Firm
April 29th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Energy, Infrastructure, International Relations, NewsThe government has won an arbitration case in a World Bank court, successfully countering a $300 million claim made by a U.S based company over a failed power plant project dating back to 1996. According to a statement from the Council of Ministers’ Press and Quick Reaction Unit released on Saturday, the claims made by the Cambodian Power Company (CPC) “have... continue
Simon Lewis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/arbitration-court-backs-government-in-power-deal-with-us-firm-20675/
Kingdom spending $3m to boost rubber quality
April 29th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Agro-Industry, Business & Commercial Development, Domestic Investment, Exports, Imports, News, News Source, TradeA $3 million initiative to purify the quality of rubber trees planted across the country is intended to spur farmers to plant more rubber, a government official said. Ly Phalla, director general of the General Directorate of Rubber at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said last week that the project would examine different varieties of rubber and determine the... continue
Rann Reuy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042965285/Business/kingdom-spending-3m-to-boost-rubber-quality.html
Cambodia’s Crude Oil Imports Fall 12 pct in Q-1
April 28th, 2013, Live Trading News, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Energy, Extractive Industries, Imports, Industry, International Relations, Oil, TradeCambodia imported 412,190 tons of Crude Oil in Q-1 of Y 2013, a 12% fall compared with the 471,000 tons it imported at the same period last year, the Commerce ministry’s report showed Saturday. During the January-March period this year, the country spent US$ 397-M to buy its Crude Oil down 15% from US$469-M at the same period last year, it... continue
Paul A Ebeling Jr
http://www.livetradingnews.com/cambodias-crude-oil-imports-fall-12-pct-in-q-1-112338.htm#.UX3J3aKj2xA
Credit growth in Cambodia’s banking sector slightly up in 1st two months
April 27th, 2013, Asean - China Centre, Banking & Finance, Borrowing, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Financial Services, International RelationsCambodia's banking industry recorded a slight increase in lending in the first two months of this year after a sharp rise last year, according to a consolidated data provided by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) on Saturday. The data showed that the kingdom's 33 commercial banks had lent a total of 5.99 billion U.S. dollars to customers by the end... continue
Xinhua News Staff
http://www.asean-china-center.org/english/2013-04/28/c_132347546.htm
Workers not allowed to march on Labor Day
April 27th, 2013, The Cambodia Herald, Garment Industry, Industry, Labor, News, Social ConcernsAround 20,000 workers from the garment, construction, tourism, banking, service and agriculture sectors want to march to present a petition to the National Assembly on International Labor Day, May 1, but Phnom Penh City Hall did not approve the rally. City hall asked them to wait for the approval from Ministry of Interior before they do anything further. ... He [Rong Chhun... continue
The Cambodia Herald Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=YWNjNWUyNzMwYmE
Adhoc defends Staffer in Incitement Claim
April 26th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Disputed Land, Land Tenure, NewsHuman rights group Adhoc yesterday criticized a commune official in Pursat province’s Veal Veng district for accusing one of its staff of incitement and spreading disinformation after villagers traveled to Phnom Penh in March to protest over a land dispute with well known businessman Try Pheap. ... As part of his work Mr. [Phuong] Sothea had provided the families with information... continue
Khy Sovuthy, P.18
www.cambodiadaily.com
Cambodia’s garment exports up 17 pct in Q1
April 26th, 2013, Xinhua News, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Exports, Garment Industry, Industry, International Relations, Textiles, TradeCambodia exported garment and textile products in equivalent to 1.34 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2013, up 17 percent from 1.14 billion U.S. dollars at the same period last year, the Commerce Ministry's report showed Friday. ... Garment industry is the country's largest income earner, representing more than 80 percent of the country's exports. The sector consists of... continue
Xinhua News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-04/26/c_132342123.htm
ADB supports integration of regional energy systems
April 26th, 2013, The Cambodia Herald, Construction, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Hydroelectricity, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, News, WaterCountries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region can save US$14 billion over the next 20 years if they integrate their power transmission systems, according to a senior official from the Asian Development Bank. A regional power grid connection would enable countries with hydro-power plants to export energy to other countries, saving up to US$700 million a year by reducing fossil fuel imports,... continue
The Cambodia Herald Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=ZGE3NWI5YWNjYTV