Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday inaugurated a rubber processing plant here, saying the factory would contribute to developing the country’s fast-growing rubber sector.
The 7 million U.S. dollar plant, invested by Cambodia’s Sopheak Nika Investment Agro-Industry Company, was built on the area of 9 hectares in Sesan district of Stung Treng province, about 455 kilometers from Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, according the company’s report. …
The report said the company received economic concessional land of 10,000 hectares from the government in March 2005 in order to grow rubber trees, and to date, the firm has invested 19 million U. S. dollars for rubber plantation. …
As of last year, the government had granted about 1.2 million hectares of economic concession land to companies for rubber plantation, the premier said, adding that so far, the country has planted rubber trees on the area of 280,350 hectares, and about 55, 000 hectares of them are old enough to be yielded.
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.
Koh Kong province’s mangrove forests have changed from being a source of charcoal to serving tourists who help to protect their biodiversity. The forests have now become a popular destination for Cambodian tourists. …
Yem Yan, Peam Krasorb commune chief in Koh Kong, said gradually visitors have been coming from different provinces in the country.
He said Peam Krasorb community earned about 140 million riel ($35,000) from selling tickets to 40,000 visitors – Cambodian visitors pay 3,000 riel and foreigners pay 5,000 riel per day – per year in the last few years. …
Yem Yan said mangrove forests were being destroyed in the 1990s because villagers made charcoal, but since the year 2000 there has been strict protection of mangrove forests. …
The new 100,000 riel banknote depicting the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk is not just a pretty historical token. It will also help inject much needed cash into the economy, according to the National Bank of Cambodia.
Although take-up will occur as older banknotes of other denominations deteriorate, the introduction of the new denomination will provide additional liquidity that is demanded by Cambodia’s rapid growth, NBC director-general Nguon Sokha said. …
Kang Chandararot, president of the Cambodian Institute for Development Study, is concerned that now is not the right time for increasing the liquidity volume in Cambodia. A strengthening dollar, “seasonal riel demand”, a lack of long-term growth and inflationary pressures from the Kingdom’s neighbours are all reasons increasing liquidity was “dangerous”, he said. …
Energy Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal has given the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) the green light to proceed with a plan to build coal-powered plants in Myanmar and Cambodia – providing Thailand with 10,000 megawatts of electricity. Egat has also been instructed to negotiate the purchase of nuclear power from China in order to bring down the cost of electricity. …
In addition, the Energy Ministry has also been discussing the possibility of investing in a coal-powered plant in Cambodia to produce 4,000MW of electricity. Thailand hopes that buying power from Cambodia will keep the domestic cost of electricity from exceeding Bt6 per unit. Egat also plans to go ahead with its coal-powered project in Krabi once it has reached an “understanding” with residents and businesses protesting against the deal. …
In addition to investing in coal-operated power plants from neighbouring countries, Egat is also looking at investing in hydro-electric power projects within the region. …
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. …
Two massive hydropower dams planned for the Mekong’s tributaries in Ratanakkiri province have been deemed economically viable by two feasibility studies conducted by a pair of giant Chinese conglomerates, a provincial industry, mines and energy official said yesterday. …
Despite the feasibility studies having been completed, local authorities yesterday said they have not received any clear information regarding the dams. Veun Sai district governor Chum Ngil said he had not been consulted about the dam’s feasibility despite a huge area being carved out of his district for a reservoir. …
Meach Mean, coordinator for the 3S Rivers Protection Network, an NGO advocating for villagers affected by the region’s planned dams, said the social and environmental impacts for the Srepok 3 and Sesan 3 dams would be huge. For example, about 40 villages will be affected by the Sean 3, he said. …
Mark Moorstein knew little about Cambodia before he got involved in a lawsuit on behalf of land owners there. But as it’s turning out, the suit could end up affecting most every country in Asia.
Moorstein is a land-use lawyer in Northern Virginia who, like many lawyers, was looking for some pro-bono, charitable work to do on the side. …
Across Asia, almost every country is guilty of baldly seizing its citizens’ land without significant compensation and then selling it to corporations or developers, leaving the owners homeless and often destitute. …
Finally in 2001, Cambodia enacted a Land Law intended to curb these seizures. But like so many measures passed to mollify the Western donors who keep the government afloat, the government immediately began ignoring its own law. Now, as one major Cambodian human rights organization put it: “In Phnom Penh and the 12 provinces” around it “land-grabbing has affected an estimated 400,000 Cambodians since 2003, helping to create a sizable underclass of landless villagers with no means for self-sustenance.” …
It turned out that the land he [Mark Moorstein] focused on — two plots of about 25,000 acres each — is used to grow sugar cane, primarily. A wealthy and powerful Cambodian senator took possession of it after evicting residents from about 200 individual plots. Many of the evictees held identification cards the United Nations had given them when it set up a protectorate in Cambodia 20 years ago. Under the Land Law, that meant they held legal title to the property. …
Once the suit was filed, Tate & Lyle seemed to panic. Very quickly, it sold its entire sugar unit to American Sugar Refining, better known here in the United States for its name-brand product: Domino Sugar. That company is now the defendant, and when contacted for comment, the company declined.
But last Thursday, the company did file its response to the suit. It said Tate & Lyle had no knowledge of any prior ownership of the land in question. The villagers had no claim to the sugar cane grown on the land, even if they did previously own it, because they had not paid for the seeds or production costs. And finally, the defendants claimed, “The English court cannot adjudicate or call into question” matters of Cambodian law dealing with land concessions.
Nonetheless, the British court had already accepted the suit. The case is moving forward, and that all by itself is already encouraging many people. …
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will visit Macau in September to participate in the Second Global Tourism Economy Forum. Prime Minister Hun Sen called for more investment in the country by Chinese and Macau entrepreneurs, and direct flights between Cambodia and Macau.
According to Xinhua, the Prime Minister met with Edmund Ho Monday in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, to discuss further expansion of bilateral ties in economics, trade and tourism. Ho is the former Macau Chief Executive and also a vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference,
Speaking at the meeting at the Peace Palace, Edmund Ho, who is also chairman of the Global Tourism Economy Forum, said his visit to Cambodia was to further promote China-Cambodia relations and cooperation, particularly between Cambodia and Macau …
[Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance] Keat Chhon noted that from 1992 to present, China has provided USD2.7 billion in soft loans and grants to Cambodia for rehabilitating and building infrastructure. Keat Chhon and Edmund Ho also discussed ways to promote tourism.
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and neighbouring Vietnam rose more than 10 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, data from the Vietnam Embassy in Phnom Penh showed.
Officials said cross-border trade facilitation by both countries significantly contributed to the growth. But they said the growth rate slowed down a little, as more competition developed from other importing countries.
The data showed total two-way-trade was worth $1.013 billion in the first quarter of the year, a 10.26 per cent increase from $918.694 million in the same period last year. …
The breakdown figure showed that in the first quarter of 2013, Cambodia’s total exports to Vietnam were valued at $221,153,942, a 9.9 per cent increase from $201,198,500 in the same period of 2012. The value of Vietnam’s exports to Cambodia reached $791,857,900, up 10.36 per cent from $717,495,323 in the same period last year. …
Cambodia mainly exported aquatic products and seafood, corn, dried tobacco, rubber latex, paddy rice and cashew nuts to Vietnam. The main products from Vietnam were all kinds of steel and made-from-steel products, confectionery, cereal products, garments, rubber products, vegetables and fruits, paper, metal products, machinery products, transportation vehicles and spare parts. …
I am really optimistic about the rise in bilateral trade volume which will certainly pave the way for the target of $5 billion set by the two governments by 2015.” [per Ministry of Industry Mines and Energy director general Meng Saktheara]
The data showed that total bilateral trade between both countries was worth $3.316 billion last year compared to $2.836 billion in the same period of 2011 – an increase of 17 per cent. …
Local charter carrier Tonle Sap Airlines has suspended flights until June, in what appears to be the latest of a series of disruptions affecting the airline, which has also recently encountered financial turbulence.
The airline, which operates chartered flights from Siem Reap to China, Taipei, and Hong Kong, has suspended its services since April 29, and plans to resume them after June 3, the Taipei Times wrote last month. Chartered flights are typically hired via private arrangements with large tour groups or companies, while scheduled flights operate on fixed schedules. …
Since this period is not Cambodia’s peak tourism season, [Air Explore Airlines CEO Martin Stulajter] speculated that Tonle Sap chose to suspend flights instead of “having its planes sitting there doing nothing”.
But finance issues appear to have fueled Tonle Sap’s decision too. Tonle Sap ceased operations “with the intention of refinancing” itself, aviation website Ch-aviation said, without giving further details. …
In February 2012, a plane leased by Tonle Sap was grounded after its lessor, a Taiwanese airline, said Tonle Sap still owed it about $105,000, leaving more than 200 tourists stranded for ten hours. In September 2011, a flight suspension by the airline left over 800 tourists stuck in China.
Cambodia’s tourist arrivals registered a 19.9% growth in February according to the country’s statistics and tourist Information Department.
The country welcomed 385,760 visits compared to 321,870 during the same month in 2012.
Released by the Ministry of Tourism, Monday, data showed neighbouring Vietnam was the top supplier with 58,750 visits, an increase of 4.4% over 56,297 visits in February last year. …
In February, 52.8% (203,453) of all international visitors arrived by air. Siem Reap airport received the major share, 34.9% (134,465), while Phnom Penh Airport received just 17.9% (68,988) mainly business travellers who needed to contact government departments or budget travellers who starting or finishing their overland trips. …
Data hints of the massive imbalance between tourist arrivals to Siem Reap and the rest of the country. The tourism authority has urged travel enterprises to provide more information and tour programmes on other destinations to encourage visitors to Angkor Wat to explore the country in more detail. …
A new air route may connect Macau and Cambodia this year, a move industry experts say would reduce travel costs in the region and reflects tourist interests in both destinations’ gambling industries.
Several airlines are in contact with CAM, Macau International Airport Co, “seeking to launch [a] route to Cambodia later this year,” a press release on Macau International Airport’s website said on May 4. …
Businesspeople would be able to connect to Hong Kong or Guangzhou via Macau, he said. From Cambodia, flights to both Hong Kong and Guangzhou “are always overbooked, and then the price is very high,” he [VLK Royal Tourism Co Ltd general manager Lav Heng], said, adding that a Macau route would make the journey more affordable.
He agreed there was an interest from Macau tourists to visit local casinos. “That’s a market you have,” he said.
China’s assistance to Cambodia is very important for the country’s economic and social development, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Keat Chhon said Tuesday. …
He said from 1992 to present, China has provided 2.7 billion U. S. dollars in soft loans and grants to Cambodia for rehabilitating and building infrastructures. …
Booyoung Co., a mid-sized South Korean conglomerate, said Tuesday that it broke ground for one of the largest housing projects in Cambodia, a project Cambodia hopes to spur foreign investments.
Booyoung said it will build 40 apartments and seven residential and commercial complexes on 2.7 square kilometers of land in downtown Phnom Penh.
The planned buildings could accommodate 17,760 households in a landmark project, called “Booyoung town,” the company said, without giving any further details on financial costs and a completion date of the project. …
In terms of the cumulative foreign direct investments approved in the period of around 18 years ending at September 2011, the largest amount of US$8.9 billion came from China. The second biggest foreign direct investment provider is South Korea with $4 billion, according to data posted on the Web site of the Council for the Development of Cambodia.
Cambodia and Bangladesh on Friday signed a visa-free agreement for diplomatic and service passport holders in a bid to strengthen bilateral ties in politics, trade, investment and tourism, officials said.
The deal was inked here between Long Visalo, secretary of state at Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Kazi Imtiaz Hossain, Bangkok-based Ambassador of Bangladesh to Cambodia. …
Trade and investment ties between the two nations are relatively small. On tourism side, only 1,367 Bangladeshis visited Cambodia last year, up 4 percent year on year, said a tourism report.
Cambodia has so far signed mutual visa exemption agreements for diplomatic and official passport holders with all ASEAN member countries as well as India, China, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Pakistan, Cuba and Uruguay.
Cambodia is considering offering sovereign bonds to raise more revenue for the national budget and move away from its dependence on overseas aid, a senior central bank official said Sunday.
National Bank of Cambodia director-general Nguon Sokha said the Ministry of Economy and Finance was currently looking at other countries’ experiences with bond markets and was seeking outside help to issue the government’s first bonds.
By issuing sovereign bonds governments can raise money from international investors that are usually paid back with interest at the end of a fixed term. …
Ms. Sokha said there was no set date for when the bonds might be issued, but officials were working on the plan with help from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and members of the Asean+3 group, which includes China, Japan and South Korea. …
Cambodia is set to graduate this year or next to a lower middle-income country but still qualifies for overseas development assistance and concessional loans from international institutions.
“For long term financing, we cannot really survive on development assistance,” Ms. Sokha said. …
Although Cambodia does not currently issue sovereign bonds, it has been assessed recently by credit rating agencies. The most recent assessment by Moody’s gave the country a stable but high-risk “B2” rating, which means Cambodia is deemed to have “very low economic resiliency.”
The Ministry of Commerce has released figures showing Cambodia’s export of fishery goods including fresh and dried fish products have decreased drastically in the first quarter of the year, though several government officials viewed the figures with scepticism.
Cambodia exported 49.9 tonnes of fish products in the first quarter of the year a sizable drop from the 620.14 tonnes exported over the same period in 2012, the ministry’s data showed. …
Om Savath, executive director of Cambodia’s Fish Action Coalition Team, said that in general fishery production had declined this year, as the government had reduced the number of fishing lots throughout the country. …
Cambodia Angkor Air is planning rapid fleet and network expansion as competition intensifies in the Cambodian market. The Cambodian flag carrier is expected to more than double its fleet by the end of 2015 and launch services to several new markets, including mainland China, Hong Kong, India and South Korea. Cambodia Angkor Air was established in 2009 as a joint venture with Vietnam Airlines but remains one of the smallest flag carriers in Southeast Asia, only operating domestically and to two neighbouring countries.
Cambodia Angkor Air has already seen its most dramatic expansion in its four-year history, launching three international routes over the last six months. Further rapid expansion of Cambodia Angkor Air and the planned launch of a second Cambodian scheduled carrier that will be affiliated with Philippine Airlines (PAL) should lead to more rapid growth in the Cambodian market. The Cambodian passenger market grew by 18% in 2012 and by 21% in 1Q2013, based on figures from Cambodia Airports. …
Cambodia Angkor Air currently accounts for only 15% of international capacity in Cambodia, lower than the home market penetration of any Southeast Asian flag carrier. It is also the smallest of Southeast Asia’s flag carriers based on fleet size and the second smallest based on seat capacity. …
Cambodia Angkor Air currently operates a fleet of three A321s and two ATR 72s to only three domestic and three international destinations. It has a smaller share of capacity in Cambodia’s international market than close partner and shareholder Vietnam Airlines. Its 15% share is also only slightly larger than the 11% share from Bangkok Airways and AirAsia. …
Cambodia has lost almost a quarter of its forests in the past 40 years due to rapid development and China’s demand for timber, according to a new report released yesterday by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on the Greater Mekong Region.
Looking at five countries in the Mekong Region- Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam- WWF has calculated, using data from both satellite analysis and U.N. country reports, that almost a third of the region’s forests have been destroyed. Titled Ecosystems in the Greater Mekong Region, the report says that the presence of primary forest is “extremely low” in Cambodia, and only approximately 10 million hectares of forest cover remain in the county.
According to Agence Kampuchea Presse, Prime Minister Hun Sen said this week that 1.5 million hectares of forest cover has been used for economic land concessions, while there remains 9.5 million hectares of forest cover left in the country. However since 1.2 million hectares of these concessions have been allocated for rubber plantations, Mr. Hun Sen said that these land grants, in fact constitute forest cover …
