Grab rolls out motorbike service in capital

Singapore-based ride hailing app Grab has added motorbike taxis to its inventory in Phnom Penh, becoming the first app of its kind to offer the popular motodop service.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hyKY_G_SITA/WoJrMohUhGI/AAAAAAAAA8A/u_UvsKz7HZ4sLUmZnMQEXRdYQnVpRzz7QCLcBGAs/s1600/business_a-girl-surfs-the-grab-app-on-her-smartphone_supplied_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hyKY_G_SITA/WoJrMohUhGI/AAAAAAAAA8A/u_UvsKz7HZ4sLUmZnMQEXRdYQnVpRzz7QCLcBGAs/s640/business_a-girl-surfs-the-grab-app-on-her-smartphone_supplied_0.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />"We've seen a lot of people in Phnom Penh using motodops, and we thought we could help the drivers by letting them use the app to find customers," said Wee Tang Yee, Grab's country head for Cambodia and Thailand. "With traffic here, too, motorbikes seem a lot more useful [than tuk-tuks or cars] if you want to get somewhere quickly."<br /><br />For now, GrabBike is only in beta and the service was launched exclusively in some central parts of the capital. Yee said the company had signed up about 100 motorbike drivers, all of whom had attended a safety and training session in addition to providing ownership documents and a valid driver's licence.<br /><br />Hailed yesterday, Yoeun Ratana, one of Grab's new drivers, showed up on his personal motorbike, sporting a Captain America shield emblazoned across the front. Ratana has a full-time job as a technical assistant, but he signed up with Grab about a week ago to make extra cash.<br /><br />"It's really easy to use the [Grab] app, and it only took me a day to train to be a driver," he said. But while the second source of income was nice, Ratana said the money from driving was nowhere near enough to let him quit his day job.<br /><br />The base rate for GrabBike drivers in Phnom Penh is currently set at 2,500 riel, or $0.63, for the first kilometre, with customers charged an additional 1,000 riel, or $0.25, per kilometre after that. That rate was subject to change after the beta test, according to Yee, who also said he wasn't sure when the beta would end or when the full service would launch.<br /><br />Grab's motorbike rates are slightly lower than the rates for auto-rickshaws from local ride-hailing apps such as PassaApp and Exnet, though those services' vehicles are capable of seating at least two people.

Grab rolls out motorbike service in capital

Singapore-based ride hailing app Grab has added motorbike taxis to its inventory in Phnom Penh, becoming the first app of its kind to offer ...

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Development plans for Koh Rong and nearby islands unchanged by marine park

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wyU6_GHm8ak/WoJqkqntwwI/AAAAAAAAA70/oLJ40vmAPcsm7tkKcL4Xy_-7UlNxw3xrgCLcBGAs/s1600/a_view_of_koh_rong_island._supplied.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wyU6_GHm8ak/WoJqkqntwwI/AAAAAAAAA70/oLJ40vmAPcsm7tkKcL4Xy_-7UlNxw3xrgCLcBGAs/s640/a_view_of_koh_rong_island._supplied.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Businesses expect the establishment of Cambodia's first marine national park covering seven coastal islands to boost tourism in the area, while government officials said yesterday it would not affect private development scheduled for the islands.</div><div><br /></div><div>A sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday designated 52,448 hectares of national park off Cambodia's southern coast, but only 5,311 hectares of that area was land. The two most popular and developed islands on the list, Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem, have land masses of about 7,800 hectares and 2,450 hectares, respectively, and thus are not entirely covered by the designation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Local conglomerate Royal Group, owned by Kith Meng, was granted a concession to develop Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem in 2008, and planned to spend $2 billion to turn large swaths of the island into a "luxury resort destination", according to Bloomberg's news service.</div><div><br /></div><div>Those plans are unlikely to be affected by the recent announcement, according to Preah Sihanouk province's Deputy Governor Kong Vitanak.</div><div><br /></div><div>"The national park will not impact to small business holders, investors, developers or villagers," he said yesterday.</div><div><br /></div><div>Vitanak said that the exact areas that would belong to the national park had not yet been finalised, as officials from the Ministry of Environment were still measuring the area. A spokesman for the ministry could not be reached yesterday.</div><div><br /></div><div>"This is the first national park in the coastal province, and it is a key to attract both international and national tourists" Vitanak said.</div><div><br /></div><div>Taing Socheat Kroesna, director of the province's Department of Tourism, welcomed the news of the national park and said it would promote tourism as well as protect the country's coast.</div><div><br /></div><div>"It opens the opportunity for investors who are looking for developing, in terms of protecting the natural resources," he said.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ty Sochea, an operations manager at Koh Rong's Long Set Resort, said that if the national park was truly enforced, it would provide benefits to the island's tourism industry.</div><div><br /></div><div>"If we have a national park on the island, I am sure our business would be better than it is now," he said yesterday. "It will give more options to tourists who will not only enjoy the beach and coral."</div><div><br /></div><div>Royal Group's massive development plans on the two islands, which at one point included an airport, hotels, polo and golf fields and a marina, have been slow to get off the ground. The company's first completed development, the luxury resort Royal Sands Koh Rong, opened in December, more than eight years after the firm received the development concession.</div><div><br /></div><div>The company's plans have occasionally put it at loggerheads with local authorities and villagers. In 2015, island residents held a sit-in to protest the construction of a road by the company, and the next year a Preah Sihanouk coastal working group halted Royal Group's construction of a port on the island, claiming that proper permission had not been granted.</div><div><br /></div><div>Later in 2016, Prime Minister Hun Sen warned on his Facebook page that, "Island development projects that are not active shall be examined and taken back."</div>

Development plans for Koh Rong and nearby islands unchanged by marine park

Businesses expect the establishment of Cambodia's first marine national park covering seven coastal islands to boost tourism in the area...

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Cambodia's economic freedom down slightly last year: report

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-93RLCIv4dbQ/WoJqSMxfmWI/AAAAAAAAA7o/Q-0h4NKa7d0l_lneIXhapA7A_WXOHk7ewCLcBGAs/s1600/a-row-of-shops-along-sothearos-boulevard-photographed-earlier-this-year-in-phnom-penh.-pha-lina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-93RLCIv4dbQ/WoJqSMxfmWI/AAAAAAAAA7o/Q-0h4NKa7d0l_lneIXhapA7A_WXOHk7ewCLcBGAs/s640/a-row-of-shops-along-sothearos-boulevard-photographed-earlier-this-year-in-phnom-penh.-pha-lina.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Cambodia's economic freedom score dropped seven ranks in the annual Economic Freedom Index released by the Heritage Foundation, a US-based, conservative-leaning think tank.<br /><br />The 0.8 point dip in the score from last year put Cambodia's economy in the "Mostly Unfree" category, ranking 101 out of a total of 180 countries – down from the 94 spot in 2017.<br /><br />The Kingdom's 58.7 score put it squarely in the middle of the Asia-Pacific region, ranking behind Malaysia (22) and neighbouring Thailand (53), but ahead of Vietnam (141) and Laos (138).<br /><br />Cambodia's score was hurt by a drop in the already-low "property rights" category, as well as decreases in its "fiscal health" and "labour freedom" scores. In general, the country performed well on overall indications of economic health, but poorly on regulatory efficiency and rule of law categories.<br /><br />The government did see a rise in its "judicial effectiveness" and "government integrity" scores over last year, but they still remained well below the global and regional averages.<br /><br />"Pervasive corruption remains a serious obstacle to economic development and social stability" in Cambodia, the report notes in its country summary.<br /><br />Mey Kalyan, a senior adviser to the government's Supreme National Economic Council, said yesterday that the ranking was not bad for Cambodia, and that it was a reasonable reflection of the strengths and weaknesses of Cambodia's economy.<br /><br />"The issue on institutionalisation needs some time for development, as it needs both human resources and some policies," he said, urging patience for further reforms to take place.<br /><br />Using the example of education reform, Kaylan noted that while "building a school is easy to do . . . strengthening the institutional quality of schools needs a long time. So I think that whatever point that they said we are not good yet, we can reconsider and improve it."<br /><br />Preap Kol, executive director of anti-corruption NGO Transparency International Cambodia, said yesterday that the study's findings showed that creating a truly independent judiciary was sorely needed in the country.<br /><br />"Corruption is still a constraint for the judicial system, affecting the fair business playing field," he said. "Though our country is an open economy, individual businesses are always backed up by a powerful person as a shareholder."<br /><br />To get a better ranking, Kol suggested the government establish a truly independent judiciary for businesses in the country.<br /><br />"We need to improve the judicial system, and ensure fair business competition by creating a commercial court that is independent and transparent," he said.

Cambodia's economic freedom down slightly last year: report

Cambodia's economic freedom score dropped seven ranks in the annual Economic Freedom Index released by the Heritage Foundation, a US-bas...

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Business Insider: Luxury Rosewood hotel aims to keep it local

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d15BVoq1JYw/WoJoGTYriqI/AAAAAAAAA7U/YSMGC9EKCekeETbhrRtohVWmO83KCEjtwCLcBGAs/s1600/rosewood_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d15BVoq1JYw/WoJoGTYriqI/AAAAAAAAA7U/YSMGC9EKCekeETbhrRtohVWmO83KCEjtwCLcBGAs/s640/rosewood_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><i>Rosewood Hotel Group, a rapidly expanding luxury hotel chain, is celebrating the opening of its first hotel in the Kingdom today as it embraces an aggressive expansion strategy in Southeast Asia. Its Phnom Penh hotel is located in the country's tallest skyscraper, occupying the top 14 floors of Vattanac Tower. The Post's Robin Spiess sat down with Managing Director Daniel Grau last week to discuss his hotel's impact on the Cambodian luxury hotel market.</i><br /><br /><b>Why has the Rosewood chosen to enter the Cambodian market?</b><br />The Rosewood has been around since 1974, but it was acquired by New World Development, a Hong Kong-based company, in 2011. Being now a Hong Kong-owned company, the focus has really been to bring the Rosewood into the Asian market. We opened our first Rosewood in the east in Beijing about four years ago, and that hotel did tremendously well.<br /><br />When this location in Vattanac Tower became available, we decided it was a perfect opportunity to expand our footprint in Southeast Asia. We think it's the right time to be entering the Cambodian market; the market is developing rapidly here, and we think we have something new and exciting to bring to it. The approach we take isn't so traditional – we have a more relaxed service style, while still remaining professional and courteous.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XZXvLmfditU/WoJoM0MYYoI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/xu-4Wq9WO8cteRZTSi9Xh85uc_3fo_JVQCLcBGAs/s1600/daniel-grau-managing-director-of-the-newly-opened-rosewood-hotel-in-phnom-penh-pictured-at-the-rosewood-last-week.-robin-spiess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="546" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XZXvLmfditU/WoJoM0MYYoI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/xu-4Wq9WO8cteRZTSi9Xh85uc_3fo_JVQCLcBGAs/s640/daniel-grau-managing-director-of-the-newly-opened-rosewood-hotel-in-phnom-penh-pictured-at-the-rosewood-last-week.-robin-spiess.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><b>The Rosewood first announced its intention to open this branch in 2015. What took so long?</b><br />In any project, there are challenges which inevitably delay the opening. It almost doesn't matter where you are. There are many moving parts which cause delays, but I think this is the right time for us to be opening.<br /><br /><b>How do you view the market for luxury hotels in Cambodia?</b><br />Right now, there aren't many luxury five-star hotels here in Cambodia. There are many people interested in coming to visit Cambodia, and we think it is important not only to promote the Rosewood, but to promote Phnom Penh and Cambodia as a whole. We have a long list of people who follow the Rosewood who would be interested in visiting here.<br /><br />I know there are other luxury hotels interested in entering the market, as well. Siem Reap I think is more developed in terms of luxury hotels, and Phnom Penh has more room to grow. I think competition is a positive thing that keeps us on our toes and allows us to improve where we need to improve.<br /><br />We notice the number of tourists coming into the country on a yearly basis is increasing, and the new airport is going to make it even easier for people to come visit this country. I think the future is bright: levels of service and appreciation for luxury brands among locals are going up.<br /><br /><b>Does the Rosewood intend to expand its presence in Cambodia in the near future? </b><br />We have already signed with Vattanac Capital to open another Rosewood in Siem Reap. This was signed two years ago, and we are about to move forward on that project.<br /><br />We have been expanding elsewhere in the region as well: we just opened a branch in Phuket [Thailand], and plan to open another few locations in Bangkok, Laos and Hong Kong later this year. There are a lot of hotels in the pipeline, and many more that have already been signed and will begin being constructed soon. It's been an aggressive expansion for what we believe is a great brand.<br /><br /><b>How is the Rosewood going to stand out among other luxury hotels?</b><br />Ninety-five percent of our team here is local. Our focus has not been to hire people with experience, but rather to hire based on personality and attitude, and then focus on training. Our focus here, first and foremost, is on the team. If our team feels good and is happy, then ultimately the hotel will be more successful.<br /><br />Our aim right now is to get the service right. The profit will come on its own.<br /><br />This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Business Insider: Luxury Rosewood hotel aims to keep it local

Rosewood Hotel Group, a rapidly expanding luxury hotel chain, is celebrating the opening of its first hotel in the Kingdom today as it embra...

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New cement factory opens in Kampot

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NKuScXRAUEw/WoJnjxBRKTI/AAAAAAAAA7E/I3HFwtEkda0tVkN2PXjjH2-RQMDleS3LgCLcBGAs/s1600/chip-mong-insees-262-million-cement-factory-in-kampot-province-has-a-production-capacity-of-5000-tonnes-of-cement-a-day.-photo-byline-is-caps-din-light-6pt-kerning-25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NKuScXRAUEw/WoJnjxBRKTI/AAAAAAAAA7E/I3HFwtEkda0tVkN2PXjjH2-RQMDleS3LgCLcBGAs/s640/chip-mong-insees-262-million-cement-factory-in-kampot-province-has-a-production-capacity-of-5000-tonnes-of-cement-a-day.-photo-byline-is-caps-din-light-6pt-kerning-25.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Chip Mong Insee Cement Corporation (CMIC) launched a new factory in Kampot province yesterday, with a total production capacity of 5,000 tonnes of cement per day.<br /><br />The official opening of the $262-million factory was presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen in the Banteay Meas district of Kampot, where the factory will occupy about 110 hectares of land. The plant is a joint venture between local construction conglomerate Chip Mong Group, which owns 60 percent of the shares, and Thailand's Siam City Cement Corporation (SCCC).<br /><br />Aidan Lynam, CEO of CMIC, said yesterday that cement products from the new plant would help fulfill the rising demand for cement in Cambodia, which was estimated at more than 6 million tonnes last year. According to Lyman, CMIC products would be able to meet 25 percent of the market's total demand.<br /><br />"We understand that the demand for cement in Cambodia will continue to grow strongly thanks to the rapid growth of the economy and population, that leads to the increase of the construction sector," he said.<br /><br />CMIC's new factory is among five licensed cement factories in the country, which include plants operated by Kampot Cement, Cambodia Cement Chakrey Ting, Thai Boon Rong Cement and Battambang Conch Cement.

New cement factory opens in Kampot

Chip Mong Insee Cement Corporation (CMIC) launched a new factory in Kampot province yesterday, with a total production capacity of 5,000 ton...

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Sponsored | Kampot's Le Bokor Palace renovated for re-opening

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5XNHzTQNIDk/WoJnJ_AtzeI/AAAAAAAAA7A/V6wXzk5RCXcvhsiIEK506XLhrP6_802pwCEwYBhgL/s1600/le-bokor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5XNHzTQNIDk/WoJnJ_AtzeI/AAAAAAAAA7A/V6wXzk5RCXcvhsiIEK506XLhrP6_802pwCEwYBhgL/s640/le-bokor.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Le Bokor Palace, located between the tropical forest and the “Opal Coast” in Preah Monivong Bokor National Park near Kampot, was inaugurated on 14 February 1925 to host royalty and elites. The hotel was revived in 1962 by Preah Karuna Preah Bat Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk and served high-ranking officials and wealthy business people, and used to be Preah Karuna Preah Bat Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk's favourite vacation retreat.<br /><br />Perched on a cliff at the top of Bokor Mountain, this historical hotel commands breathtaking views of what the French once called the Opal Coast.<br /><br />The weather on top of Bokor Mountain ranges between 17°C–24°C (62.6°F -75.2°F) for the whole year round.<br /><br />Bokor Mountain is not just a tourist destination, but also a health resort with natural health treatments that have positive effects on the lungs, breathe, nutrition and nervous system, and enable blood regeneration and restore strength. Le Bokor Palace is a four-storey building, toughly and neatly designed, and has a powerful presence, embellished with decks and Italian-style pergolas.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SVKgCgJ2cKU/WoJnJyCaK2I/AAAAAAAAA68/1kNshsEkzwctFSoAWxsaT8iJyt2Cw7kQQCEwYBhgL/s1600/mr.-philippe-f.-frugerge-general-manager-of-le-bokor-palace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="546" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SVKgCgJ2cKU/WoJnJyCaK2I/AAAAAAAAA68/1kNshsEkzwctFSoAWxsaT8iJyt2Cw7kQQCEwYBhgL/s640/mr.-philippe-f.-frugerge-general-manager-of-le-bokor-palace.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Today, Le Bokor Palace has been restored by Sokha Hotels & Resorts. "Le Bokor Palace is a historic hotel that is a national treasure, our company has fully refurbished the building, preserving the original features and recreating its colonial interior design, with bathroom fixtures imported from Italy and ornate floor tiles from Spain. After extensive renovation of this grand colonial building for opening, Le Bokor Palace includes 36 tastefully appointed luxurious rooms and suites.<br /><br />Its two restaurants capture the elegance of the hotel's historic past, with Swiss and Cambodian chefs preparing both its original menu and Royal Khmer cuisine using the freshest ingredients, including organic vegetables grown on a nearby organic farm. Le Bokor Palace has been restored to preserve the legacy of its French colonial past and Preah Karuna Preah Bat Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk," commented Mr. Philippe F. Frugere, General Manager of Le Bokor Palace.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l0x3o5fkduA/WoJnJggSjaI/AAAAAAAAA64/73WLK2al3Jgp4fjG53zPhqZPS5oMpxkVQCLcBGAs/s1600/inside_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="546" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l0x3o5fkduA/WoJnJggSjaI/AAAAAAAAA64/73WLK2al3Jgp4fjG53zPhqZPS5oMpxkVQCLcBGAs/s640/inside_0.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The remains of the colonial settlement – which included a Japanese house, Catholic Church, Wat Sampov Pram, Domnak Sla Kmao, Damnak Sdech, City Hall and other colonial buildings – can still be seen today, spread out across a plateau and often shrouded in mist.<br /><br />Visitors staying at Le Bokor Palace, which is renowned as a natural health resort, can also visit the spectacular Mountain Lake, beautiful Popokvil Waterfall, rock formations in various shapes at the 100 Rice Fields, and a uniquely shaped rock that symbolises a gate between heaven and earth. Meditation is recommended on Bokor Mountain, especially at the 500 Rice Fields. Bokor Mountain is the only place in Cambodia that has Nepenthes flowers; the locals use these flowers for medicine.<br /><br />For media enquiries, please contact:<br />Ms. Samrith Bunnich<br />Marketing Manager<br />Email: nickie.samrith@sokhahotels.com<br />Tel:+855 33 683 9999<br />Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/LeBokorPalaceKP/<br />Website: www.lebokorpalace.com

Sponsored | Kampot's Le Bokor Palace renovated for re-opening

Le Bokor Palace, located between the tropical forest and the “Opal Coast” in Preah Monivong Bokor National Park near Kampot, was inaugurated...

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NagaWorld's profits soar in 2017

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-014xzmzf4qE/WoJfWgfMd4I/AAAAAAAAA6g/sVs2xpQajRUUG2531lJ4iDAkQV0iusieACLcBGAs/s1600/people-travel-past-the-nagaworld-complex-in-2016.-athena-zelandonii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-014xzmzf4qE/WoJfWgfMd4I/AAAAAAAAA6g/sVs2xpQajRUUG2531lJ4iDAkQV0iusieACLcBGAs/s640/people-travel-past-the-nagaworld-complex-in-2016.-athena-zelandonii.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Phnom Penh's NagaWorld casino posted a massive increase in profits and revenue driven by strong growth in high-value guests last year, with the amount of money gambled by VIPs at the capital's only casino exceeding Cambodia's gross domestic product for 2016.<br /><br />NagaWorld's parent company, NagaCorp, is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange and released its annual financial report for last year, showing an 85 percent increase in gross gaming revenue (GGR) to $926 million, as well as a 39 percent increase in net profit to $255.2 million.<br /><br />The casino saw the largest growth in its VIP operations, where "rollings" – a term referring to the amount bet by gamblers – increased by 142 percent to $21.1 billion.<br /><br />That is more than the value Cambodia's 2016 GDP, which was $20.02 billion, according to the World Bank.<br /><br />NagaCorp reported paying $8.12 million in income tax last year, an effective tax rate of 0.87 percent based on the company's GGR.<br /><br />Cambodia has one of the lowest effective tax rates in the world for casinos. A 2015 report from accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers noted that Macau had a 35 percent tax on GGR, while Australia had a rate of between 10 and 45 percent, and Singapore had a rate of between 5 and 15 percent.<br /><br />Ros Phirun, deputy director-general of the Finance Industry Department at the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), said yesterday it would be difficult to explain how the ministry taxes NagaWorld.<br /><br />"There are a lot of criteria in the agreement," he said. "The agreement is written in a very thick book, so it is not easy to explain just [over the phone]."<br /><br />In 2016, NagaCorp had to pay the ministry more than $15 million in additional tax payments after a government audit of its 2015 finances found "discrepancies".<br /><br />Last year's $8.12 million in income tax consisted of monthly payments totalling $676,700 made to the MEF. The paid income tax was smaller than the $11.7 million performance bonus that NagaCorp CEO Chen Lip Keong was entitled to, according to the report, though it added that the company's head deferred his 2017 bonus.<br /><br />NagaCorp's performance was boosted by Cambodia's uptick in arrivals from China, which jumped more than 40 percent last year to 1.2 million visitors. VIP gaming revenue led the GGR growth, and totalled $625.3 million, more than double the revenue brought in from mass market gambling, which came out to $300.6 million.<br /><br />But gross profits from the VIP sector were only $153.9 million, about half of the $294.3 million in profits that came from mass market gambling. Costs associated with VIP customers and a lower win rate for the casino resulted in a profit margin of about 25 percent for VIP gaming, compared to a 98 percent profit margin for mass market gaming.<br /><br />That meant that while NagaCorp's profits rose, its overall gross profit margin decreased from 69 percent in 2016 to 49 percent last year.<br /><br />The company's report also touted the November soft launch of Naga2, a second complex featuring gaming and other amenities that would allow the company to expand its operation in Cambodia and handle additional visitors.<br /><br />Additional reporting by Hor Kimsay

NagaWorld's profits soar in 2017

Phnom Penh's NagaWorld casino posted a massive increase in profits and revenue driven by strong growth in high-value guests last year, w...

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Thai firm to help bolster agarwood quality

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cSXFBjhDEjo/WoJfC5RJhAI/AAAAAAAAA6c/41C9BZ2FAQQv1CK0hfoCpcRJhXNqAGLTQCLcBGAs/s1600/article1a_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cSXFBjhDEjo/WoJfC5RJhAI/AAAAAAAAA6c/41C9BZ2FAQQv1CK0hfoCpcRJhXNqAGLTQCLcBGAs/s640/article1a_4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />A Cambodian company is teaming up with a Thai investment partner to spend $100 million improving the quality of Cambodia's agarwood trees, according to a memorandum of understanding signed by the two companies yesterday.<br /><br />Thoub Chankrassna Khmer Co (TCK), which owns agarwood plantations and an incense factory in Preah Sihanouk province, has partnered with Thai-based First Capital Group (FCG) in the hopes of improving the growth, processing and manufacturing of Cambodia's 1 million agarwood trees.<br /><br />Agarwood, a fragrant wood harvested for its aromatic, religious and medical applications, is a nontimber forest product that can fetch prices upwards of $4,000 per kilogram in Cambodia. But despite high prices, Cambodian farmers have struggled to profit from their plantations, according to TCK's director Keo Sokunthea.<br /><br />"Cambodian farmers have not had sufficient resources to process and extract agarwood oil," she said at the announcement of the MoU yesterday. "Most importantly, they have not been able to access the regional or international market to commercialise their agarwood trees and agarwood-related products, [which] has caused discouragement to a majority of agarwood growers, forcing them to abandon their agarwood plantations."<br /><br />She added that FCG was an ideal candidate for this joint business venture, as it has been involved in agarwood business activities across the region and has access to modern technologies for producing agarwood oil and related products.<br /><br />Sean Goh, CEO of FCG, said that the company planned to spend $100 million solely on improving the quality of Cambodia's agarwood trees. If Cambodia could produce top-grade agarwood resin, the country's 1 million trees could be a potential goldmine, he said.<br /><br />"We use the best technology, and of course we have to take good care of the tree," Goh said. "We need to invest this capital in the improvement of quality of the trees, because of course we will get a better return when we are producing top quality [agarwood] oil."<br /><br />Agarwood resin grows inside the trunks of wild Aquilaria trees. Through inoculation technology, it is possible to stimulate the growth of higher-quality agarwood resin inside the trunk of the tree, which in turn can be processed to create oil called "oud". Oud oil can fetch between $30,000 and $100,000 per kilogram, depending on the quality of the resin and the market, according to oud oil monitoring firm Sustainable Asset Management.<br /><br />According to Goh, the company plans to inoculate agarwood trees in several locations in Preah Sihanouk and monitor their progress six months after inoculation. The company also plans to establish a processing factory in Sihanoukville following that process.

Thai firm to help bolster agarwood quality

A Cambodian company is teaming up with a Thai investment partner to spend $100 million improving the quality of Cambodia's agarwood tree...

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Author of "The War for China's Wallet" on how to work with the regional powerhouse

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-axHwlB-MJrg/Wm63qyEjl1I/AAAAAAAAA3w/IqL48_Gxp6k_ZaBmlBUPiDXsTfKjOxyjgCLcBGAs/s1600/shaun-rein-author-of-the-war-for-china_s-wallet-dicusses-how-foreign-nations-are-reacting-to-the-asian-nation_s-growing-economic-influence.-supplied.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-axHwlB-MJrg/Wm63qyEjl1I/AAAAAAAAA3w/IqL48_Gxp6k_ZaBmlBUPiDXsTfKjOxyjgCLcBGAs/s640/shaun-rein-author-of-the-war-for-china_s-wallet-dicusses-how-foreign-nations-are-reacting-to-the-asian-nation_s-growing-economic-influence.-supplied.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><i><b>In Shaun Rein's The War for China's Wallet, the author offers a roadmap for navigating relationships with China, both for foreign countries and international companies. He recently spoke with The Post's Hor Kimsay to discuss the potential benefits and pitfalls of Cambodia's increasingly friendly relationship with the regional giant.</b></i><br /><b><br /></b><b>What is the main message in <i>The War for China's Wallet?</i></b><br />As China supplants America as the world's economic growth engine, countries and companies can benefit if they understand how to navigate China's political system and understand the wants of Chinese consumers. Companies that get it right can make billions of dollars – China, for example, has already eclipsed America as the largest market for fried chicken chain KFC. It has become the largest market outside of the US for Starbucks and Nike and is the main driver for those companies' growth.<br /><br />However, the ability to generate profits has some downside. Countries and companies alike cannot cross China politically and must do the Communist Party's bidding or else run into trouble. For example, the Chinese government punished the hotel chain Marriott by blocking its Chinese-language website and apps in China for a week, costing them millions of dollars, because Marriott had promulgated a survey that listed Taiwan as a separate country, enraging Chinese consumers and government mandarins alike.<br /><br /><b>In the book, you define three categories for a country's relationship with China: Hot Partner, Warm Partner and Cold Partner. What is the difference between these groupings?</b><br />Many American foreign policy analysts criticise China for not having true allies in the American-Canadian sense. One day China is taking photo-ops with leaders from neighbouring countries, the next day lashing out at them for crossing them politically and thus say that China is failing in its foreign policy aims.<br /><br />I view it differently – I don't think China is trying to forge alliances; instead, it is looking to use economic carrots and sticks to convince countries to either do its political bidding (a Hot Partner country like Hungary, Ethiopia or Cambodia) or to punish countries that cross it politically (a Cold Partner country like India or the Philippines and the Aquino administration). It knows it can never be truly close with any country in the long-term, so instead it tries to dole out low-interest loans and infrastructure investments to countries to make them open to China's political aims in the short term. Meanwhile, countries that cross China politically, as South Korea did by installing Thaad missiles, get punished. China blocked Chinese tour groups from visiting South Korea last April, causing a 40 percent drop in annual tourist visits and crippling the South Korean economy.<br /><br /><b>If Cambodia is a ‘hot partner' with China, what does this mean for Cambodia's economy and development? And what does China gain from the relationship? </b><br />Cambodia's [Prime Minister] Hun Sen has been quite savvy in his dealings with China over the past decade. He has supported China's views on the South China Sea during summits of Asean. Having a supportive country in Asean like Cambodia is to counter criticism of China's policies by countries like Vietnam or the Philippines, and causes China to look to invest more in infrastructure development in Cambodia and to give it low-interest loans.<br /><br />Moreover, the Chinese government uses its control of the state-owned media to tout the historical landmarks in Cambodia like Angkor Wat. Right now, Cambodia is one of the top destinations Chinese tourists want to visit. I am very bullish on Cambodia's ability to attract Chinese tourists to its landmarks and high rollers to its casinos. This is all gained by being a friend of China in the "hot partner" category.<br /><br />One of the problems of becoming a "hot partner" country is that these countries often become too dependent on China economically and start to lose political independence. China's economy is so large that if a country gets punished for crossing China politically, then it will have a real impact, as in the South Korean case.<br /><br />On the one hand, it is good to get close to China politically, as nations will reap economic benefits, but it comes at a cost of losing political independence so countries should try to be close to China but also distance itself at times, as the United Kingdom or France has done, so that they are not viewed as lackeys of the Chinese government.<br /><br /><i>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.</i>

Author of "The War for China's Wallet" on how to work with the regional powerhouse

In Shaun Rein's The War for China's Wallet, the author offers a roadmap for navigating relationships with China, both for foreign co...

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Kampong Speu fruit processing factory breaks ground

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wDbE-1JDOjU/Wm63D5UTP7I/AAAAAAAAA3o/evVFzaUg3XwpJAlx9TLuC9iXbfpm2FXGgCLcBGAs/s1600/a-farmer-collects-harvested-mangoes-in-kandal-province-in-2013.-heng-chivoan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wDbE-1JDOjU/Wm63D5UTP7I/AAAAAAAAA3o/evVFzaUg3XwpJAlx9TLuC9iXbfpm2FXGgCLcBGAs/s640/a-farmer-collects-harvested-mangoes-in-kandal-province-in-2013.-heng-chivoan.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Construction began yesterday on a $10 million factory in Kampong Speu province to process fresh fruit for international export, a first for Cambodia, though Agriculture Ministry officials could not confirm it would meet international standards yesterday.<br /><br />South Korea's Hyundai Corporation Group broke ground on the 3-hectare factory in Phnom Srouch district yesterday, in the hopes that it would enable Cambodian fruits to be shipped abroad without first being sent to Vietnam or Thailand, as is currently common practice.<br /><br />The factory is set to open in September and will process 1,700 tonnes of fruit in its first year of operation, according to Hyundai representative Lee Changhoon.<br /><br />"First of all, we will start from mangoes," Changhoon said, adding that the company hoped to eventually process 50,000 tonnes of fruit annually, including coconut, durian, and mangosteen.<br /><br />"Our market is not only Korea. Hyundai has 44 branches in worldwide, that is the strong network for export our high quality food of Cambodia," he wrote in an email yesterday.<br /><br />Hyundai Corporation inked a deal with local mango producer Mao Legacy Co Ltd in November 2016, and the two companies combined have about 2,400 hectares of mango farms in Kampong Speu, but there has never been a sanitary and phytosanitary processing plant to enable international exports.<br /><br />"It is not easy work, however we are getting support from Korean government and Cambodia government, [and] we are sure that we can comply to Sanitary and Phytosanitary [standards]" Changhoon said.<br /><br />Hean Vahan, director general of the general directorate of agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture, was less sure yesterday. He attended the factory's groundbreaking ceremony, but said that he could not comment on the SPS certifications because the company had not sent the ministry its master plan.<br /><br />"I was just invited to join for the opening of construction, but I haven't seen any details of the construction or its capacity," he said yesterday. "I have no idea whether it will comply with the SPS procedure or not."<br /><br />In Chayvan, president of the Kampong Speu Mango Association, was optimistic that the plant would be a boon for the province's fruit farmers.<br /><br />"We have been waiting for this for years," he said yesterday. "Our mangoes will have more value when we can reach the market directly."

Kampong Speu fruit processing factory breaks ground

Construction began yesterday on a $10 million factory in Kampong Speu province to process fresh fruit for international export, a first for ...

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Creators of GoSoccer to pitch idea to tech giants in Singapore

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XaZ1TKfJOXw/Wm62jfHzlwI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/uYNTks79Y24LxxAddErczTtKcVTUBLUKgCLcBGAs/s1600/founders-of-the-gosoccer-application-present-to-a-panel-of-judges-at-the-smartstart-competition-in-phnom-penh-yesterday.-supplied.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XaZ1TKfJOXw/Wm62jfHzlwI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/uYNTks79Y24LxxAddErczTtKcVTUBLUKgCLcBGAs/s640/founders-of-the-gosoccer-application-present-to-a-panel-of-judges-at-the-smartstart-competition-in-phnom-penh-yesterday.-supplied.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />What started as an idea to better coordinate pick-up soccer games has become an award-winning application, and now the five Cambodian university students who developed it are set to fly to Singapore and meet with high-powered tech executives.<br /><br />The GoSoccer application was declared the winner of the SmartStart competition in Phnom Penh yesterday morning, earning the app's creators the contest's top prize: an all-expenses-paid trip to meet with representatives of technology giants Facebook, Google and Microsoft in their Singapore offices.<br /><br />According to Sengkhun Lim, one of GoSoccer's founders, he and his friends created the app to help users find like-minded soccer players and reserve spaces to play in Phnom Penh.<br /><br />"We came up with the idea for finding matches to play, and then decided to include bookings for fields, too," Lim said, adding that GoSoccer's profits would hopefully come from the field-booking aspect of the application. While they have not yet officially launched the app, the five co-developers plan to charge a 5 percent commission on each field booking and sell membership packages to field operators.<br /><br />The SmartStart contest was sponsored by mobile operator Smart Axiata, which gave five teams of young developers $4,000 each six months ago to further develop their ideas. The five teams pitched their products to a panel of five judges in Phnom Penh yesterday morning, with GoSoccer coming out on top.<br /><br />Smart has kept open the possibility of additional funding for the app in the future, though GoSoccer's developers seemed more interested in the trip to Singapore than in any additional financing.<br /><br />"Right now, we're not thinking about money, we're just excited to learn from these companies [in Singapore] and use the knowledge to help us scale our platform," said team member Ratanak Hang.<br /><br />"Singapore is a high-tech country, and we can learn a lot from them," added Sovann Lyhour, another GoSoccer developer and a computer science major at Zaman University in Phnom Penh. "We look forward to visiting these big companies and allowing them to inspire us to work even harder on our own projects."<br /><br />Other ideas pitched at the final round of the contest included Ligo, a mobile platform for learning basic Khmer language and etiquette; Prestige Gift, a gift-wrapping and delivery service; Spare, a digital platform for renting available office and conference space; and Propey, a digital wedding planning service.

Creators of GoSoccer to pitch idea to tech giants in Singapore

What started as an idea to better coordinate pick-up soccer games has become an award-winning application, and now the five Cambodian univer...

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Tax revenue exceeds expectations following reforms

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r7ApjBW7MTk/Wm62PAkB0eI/AAAAAAAAA3U/OV17sssyoao8MDb2wHdHl7MlE4v-rQT4gCLcBGAs/s1600/dept-taxation_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r7ApjBW7MTk/Wm62PAkB0eI/AAAAAAAAA3U/OV17sssyoao8MDb2wHdHl7MlE4v-rQT4gCLcBGAs/s640/dept-taxation_0.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The General Department of Taxation (GDT) collected $1.93 billion in tax revenue last year, a 30 percent increase over 2016 and well above the government's own projections, according to the department's director, Kong Vibol.<br /><br />Following the GDT's annual meeting in Phnom Penh yesterday, Vibol told reporters that the government expected to collect $1.71 billion, but reforms to the tax collection agency had resulted in the higher haul.<br /><br />"It is a good result for the GDT and for the government, which reflects the efficiency of the reformat of the tax system," he said, referring to the GDT's tax overhaul in 2015.<br /><br />According to Vibol, income-tax revenue and VAT collections increased by 31 percent, while real estate tax and salary tax increased by 12 percent and 10 percent, respectively.<br /><br />Anthony Galliano, CEO of Cambodian Investment Management, said yesterday that the increase in revenue could lead to a decrease in the Kingdom's reliance on foreign donors.<br /><br />"If this performance continues, I expect the Kingdom can substantially fund its annual budget within 3 years with the combination of GDT and customs revenues," he said.<br /><br />Galliano added that some taxpayers remained concerned regarding the "assertiveness of audits", and said it would be helpful if the GDT would continue to improve its application of tax laws and registration processes.<br /><br />Clint O'Connell, head of Cambodia Tax Practice for foreign investment advisory and tax firm DFDL Cambodia, called the revenue number "truly remarkable" and credited GDT officials for their reforms to the department.<br /><br />He also cautioned against predicting self-sufficiency in the annual budget, noting spending increases could accompany gains in tax revenue.<br /><br />"There are a number of variables that need to be taken into account, such as the growing expectations of Cambodian citizens to see some return on the State revenue that is being collected," O'Connell said.<br /><br />Customs tax collection also increased last year, up 10.4 percent to $1.9 billion, according to a document dated January 23 from the General Department of Customs and Taxation.

Tax revenue exceeds expectations following reforms

The General Department of Taxation (GDT) collected $1.93 billion in tax revenue last year, a 30 percent increase over 2016 and well above th...

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Spike in Chinese visitors drives tourism boom

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ep-DRXzvuQw/Wm611suZkDI/AAAAAAAAA3M/ukZyrWdkEhg0jNszlmRGDu-qHEn49bB3QCLcBGAs/s1600/business_sihanoukville_tourism_sahiba_chawdhary_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ep-DRXzvuQw/Wm611suZkDI/AAAAAAAAA3M/ukZyrWdkEhg0jNszlmRGDu-qHEn49bB3QCLcBGAs/s640/business_sihanoukville_tourism_sahiba_chawdhary_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The number of Chinese tourists visiting Cambodia grew by 46 percent last year as China leapfrogged Vietnam to become the top country of origin of visitors to the Kingdom, according the Ministry of Tourism's annual report.<br /><br />China sent 1.2 million visitors to Cambodia last year, accounting for more than 21 percent of the total 5.6 million international visitors. That put China well ahead of second-place Vietnam's 835,335 visitors, Laos' 502,219 and Thailand's 394,934.<br /><br />Content image - Phnom Penh Post<br />Click to enlarge. Jenni Reid<br />The total number of tourists visiting Cambodia grew by 11.8 percent, an increase over the 6.1 percent and 7 percent growth rates from 2016 and 2015, respectively. That was largely driven by the boom in Chinese tourists, as the number of Vietnamese tourists – historically the largest group of visitors to Cambodia -- fell by 13 percent compared to 2016.<br /><br />Ho Vandy, Secretary General of the Cambodia National Tourism Alliance, praised the fact that Chinese tourists were helping grow Cambodia's tourism sector, but also said that the benefits of Chinese visitors were often concentrated in the hands of Chinese companies and business owners.<br /><br />"The growth of Chinese tourists doesn't mean it will bring [Cambodians] good business and increase profits, because most of the investments are done by Chinese people," he said yesterday. "The government should look at this case to protect the benefits for local businessmen."<br /><br />Similar concerns were raised by construction agencies earlier this month after the Land Management Ministry announced an increase in the number of new construction projects. Several company representatives said at the time that the money was largely staying with Chinese companies and not trickling down to Cambodian workers.<br /><br />Last year also saw a big boost in Cambodia's tourist traffic coming from Laos, which increased by more than 36 percent, while then number of tourists from neighboring Thailand decreased by about one percent.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aoCZu4YDdhw/Wm61vR0r6zI/AAAAAAAAA3I/I0pUuxa6upYtOK-B1wkiq_uz0MzQoaM7ACLcBGAs/s1600/visitorsstatsfinal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aoCZu4YDdhw/Wm61vR0r6zI/AAAAAAAAA3I/I0pUuxa6upYtOK-B1wkiq_uz0MzQoaM7ACLcBGAs/s1600/visitorsstatsfinal.jpg" /></a></div><br />The total share of tourists in Cambodia hailing from Europe and the Americas was similar to 2016, with European visitors accounting for 15.3 percent and the Americas holding steady at 7 percent.<br /><br />Outbound tourists from Cambodia also increased by 22 percent to 1.75 million, which is a slight increase from the 20 percent growth rate in outgoing visitors in 2016.<br /><br />Men Phearom, director of the planning department at the Ministry of Tourism, said the government expected to host more than 6 million tourists in 2018.<br /><br />China, which is the number one source of foreign direct investment in the Kingdom, has cultivated an increasingly cozy relationship with Cambodia in recent years. Following the September arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha, China expressed support for Cambodia's decision to "protect national security and stability", while the US, EU and Japan all condemned the crackdown.<br /><br />More recently, a January 11 visit to Phnom Penh by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang resulted in the signing of 19 agreements between the two countries, most of which involved cooperation agreements or Chinese financing for infrastructure projects.

Spike in Chinese visitors drives tourism boom

The number of Chinese tourists visiting Cambodia grew by 46 percent last year as China leapfrogged Vietnam to become the top country of orig...

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New business software launches in the Kingdom

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zvuwUky6q_4/Wm61SbkSxKI/AAAAAAAAA3A/MWMKHI8gaOcf3rqHT-YX98QeL5gTGd1oQCLcBGAs/s1600/a-screenshot-from-sustainability-maps-website-shows-the-standards-tool-for-supply-chain-mapping.-supplied.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zvuwUky6q_4/Wm61SbkSxKI/AAAAAAAAA3A/MWMKHI8gaOcf3rqHT-YX98QeL5gTGd1oQCLcBGAs/s640/a-screenshot-from-sustainability-maps-website-shows-the-standards-tool-for-supply-chain-mapping.-supplied.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The two-month pilot program for Sustainability Map, a new software tool intended to help business owners monitor their suppliers and track sustainability, has proved successful, according to panelists at the program's launch event yesterday.<br /><br />The Sustainability Map is a highly detailed interactive site that can be used by private companies to tailor their sustainability analytics, monitor and track the sustainability of their suppliers, connect with partners to share sustainability profiles or monitor up-to-date market trends.<br /><br />When asked what "sustainability" meant in these contexts, Kif Nguyen, a consultant with the program's co-developer the International Trade Centre (ITC), said that the word meant different things for different companies.<br /><br />Among yesterday's panelists was Helene Obry, a quality manager at Cambodian specialty food producer Confirel. Obry said that during her company's two-month trial run with the program, they trained nine staff members to administer the program's Farmer Sustainability Assessment – a survey intended to highlight potential areas of improvement within individual farm operations – at three farms across the country.<br /><br />"The assessment was really comprehensive," she said. "We feel it will help us to choose what standards and certifications are right for us," and it also improved the company's audit management, training needs assessment and market access, she said.<br /><br />The program became available yesterday for private companies to use free of charge after they register with ITC, according to Kif.<br /><br />"If [the Sustainability Map] doesn't translate into useful business practices, it's not a good tool," he said. "In the end, it boils down to making sure that private companies find it helpful, and so far, they have."<br /><br />The program was co-developed by ITC, the UN's technical trade assistance body, and the United States Agency for International Development. The Cambodian version of the Sustainability Map was created after consultations with local companies and NGOs.

New business software launches in the Kingdom

The two-month pilot program for Sustainability Map, a new software tool intended to help business owners monitor their suppliers and track s...

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Government seeks to lower electricity prices ahead of election

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKpMG32I-EM/Wm608D3JQ2I/AAAAAAAAA28/pPc3c0OeqgEnkUFAbOB8VwRTi2ageYZ2gCLcBGAs/s1600/power-lines-in-koh-kong-province-in-2013.-heng-chivoan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKpMG32I-EM/Wm608D3JQ2I/AAAAAAAAA28/pPc3c0OeqgEnkUFAbOB8VwRTi2ageYZ2gCLcBGAs/s640/power-lines-in-koh-kong-province-in-2013.-heng-chivoan.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The Electricity Authority of Cambodia (EAC) is preparing a proposal to further subsidise electricity prices ahead of July's national elections, according to two senior energy officials – a move that, if approved, would be in line with numerous populist promises made by ruling party officials in recent months.<br /><br />The remarks came from EAC President Ty Norin during the regulatory authority's annual meeting yesterday in Phnom Penh, which was also attended by Mines and Energy Minister Suy Sem. The government has undertaken an annual evaluation and reduction of electricity prices at the end of March for the past two years, but this year's cut would likely be larger than previous ones, according to Norin.<br /><br />"We will see the change [in electricity price] before the national election, as we are studying the fruitful result that we may gain from the price reduction," Norin said yesterday, without specifying what that "fruitful result" might be.<br /><br />The minister, too, encouraged a reduction in energy prices and urged officials to create a proposal he could then pass to Prime Minister Hun Sen for approval, also pointedly noting the step be taken ahead of the vote.<br /><br />"I want the authority and EDC to do an internal study, or consider if the electricity price for factories and enterprises can be lowered a little bit more before this upcoming election," Sem said.<br /><br />In addition to lowering prices, Sem encouraged officials to be extra diligent and avoid blackouts in the run-up to the July contest, suggesting that unspecified saboteurs may cause blackouts "to make people get angry at the government to lower the popularity of the ruling [Cambodian People's] Party".<br /><br />The CPP appears set to compete in the upcoming election unchallenged by its main competitor, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was dissolved by the CPP-stacked Supreme Court in a widely condemned decision in November. Even so, officials up to and including Prime Minister Hun Sen himself have been doling out populist favours to voters in recent months, including free public transportation for garment workers, and cash bonuses to certain mothers upon giving birth.<br /><br />According to Norin, the government's state-run electricity provider, Électricité du Cambodge (EDC), already subsidised electricity prices in 2017 to the tune of $51 million, about half of the company's total revenue. The remaining revenue goes to the statue budget to fund other infrastructure projects or government services, he said.<br /><br />"I am preparing a few scenario proposals for the government for approval. One is [more] beneficial to residents, compared to businesses and enterprise, while another one is [more] beneficial to businesses and industries," he said. "Then the government can decide which option to choose, or choose both of them."<br /><br />High electricity prices have long maligned Cambodia's industrial sector. In February, National Bank of Cambodia Director-General Chea Serey called high energy prices Cambodia's "biggest challenge on a macroeconomic level", and evaluations of Cambodia's investment potential regularly ding the Kingdom's competitiveness score due to the relatively high cost of power compared to regional neighbours.<br /><br />Chan Sophal, an economist and director of the Centre for Policy Studies, welcomed any reduction in electricity prices as a smart move that would boost the country's economy.<br /><br />"Even though the government will lose some revenue, it benefits the private sector more," he said. "The advantages could be bigger than the government's losses."<br /><br />San Chey, head of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability Cambodia, said yesterday that while any subsidy might be motivated by politics, it would still benefit the average Cambodian citizen.<br /><br />"Any decision or any gift for people before the election is unavoidable, from the view that the government wants to gain political benefits," Chey said. "I cannot predict how much the government can gain from this decision . . . but I think there are many things that the government needs to do, such as solving corruption, combating smuggling, improving the health sector and other infrastructure improvements."

Government seeks to lower electricity prices ahead of election

The Electricity Authority of Cambodia (EAC) is preparing a proposal to further subsidise electricity prices ahead of July's national ele...

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Hun Sen seeks to bolster trade at India-Asean meet

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UrCTSKBh1BE/Wm6nSHDsJEI/AAAAAAAAA2s/Kzx880XROpgN2dsLSFlLRAi2ynS4bebWQCLcBGAs/s1600/sihanouk-vill-port_0_0_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UrCTSKBh1BE/Wm6nSHDsJEI/AAAAAAAAA2s/Kzx880XROpgN2dsLSFlLRAi2ynS4bebWQCLcBGAs/s640/sihanouk-vill-port_0_0_0.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Prime Minister Hun Sen departs today for the India-Asean Summit hosted in New Delhi, aiming to boost cooperation and expand a historically minor trade relationship with the world's seventh largest economy.<br /><br />The two-day summit begins on Thursday and comes on the heels of a draft agreement passed by Cambodia's National Assembly on January 15, which seeks to facilitate further economic cooperation between the two nations, particularly in the communication, construction and tourism sectors. During his visit, Hun Sen is scheduled to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as deliver a keynote address to an India-Cambodia business group.<br /><br />Indian government data show that annual trade between the Cambodia and India has lagged of late, decreasing by nearly 30 percent to $141 million during the last Indian fiscal year, which ran from April 2016 to May 2017. That's the lowest level since the 2012-2013 fiscal year.<br /><br />"Merchandise trade between India and Asean is not very important at present, partly because of geography and partly because of India's traditionally protectionist policies," said Miguel Chanco, lead Asean analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).<br /><br />The slump in bilateral trade is likely a result of India's slowing economic growth, according to Chanco, and was unlikely to improve in the near future.<br /><br />"The EIU's current growth estimate for India for the 2017-2018 fiscal year is for a further slowdown, so I wouldn't be surprised if the country's trade with Cambodia remained weak," he said, adding that another reason for relatively weak trade was that both India and Cambodia largely export the same products, such as rice and textiles.<br /><br />Seang Thay, a spokesman at Cambodia's Ministry of Commerce, said that there had been little Indian investment in the Kingdom and limited overall trade between the two countries, in part because India is geographically farther – and therefore more expensive to trade with – than Cambodia's Asean neighbours.<br /><br />"We hope that having these talks will enable us to address any obstacles that could potentially disrupt trade relations, and to find appropriate solutions to further strengthen two-way trade and investment," he said.<br /><br />Thay added that the majority of Indian products to Cambodia are medical or health-related, and World Bank data show India's main exports to Cambodia largely fall in the chemical and textile categories.

Hun Sen seeks to bolster trade at India-Asean meet

Prime Minister Hun Sen departs today for the India-Asean Summit hosted in New Delhi, aiming to boost cooperation and expand a historically m...

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Cambodia may be pressed by new EU palm oil regulations

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bWTDlpkJGWk/Wm6gaC-L3FI/AAAAAAAAA2c/eAqJQXNWenIIqTy5DQj4eENz6zwjaQzUQCLcBGAs/s1600/business_a_worker_rests_near_palm_oil_fruits_at_a_factory_in_sepang_outside_kuala_lumpur_in_2014_mohd_rasfan_afp_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bWTDlpkJGWk/Wm6gaC-L3FI/AAAAAAAAA2c/eAqJQXNWenIIqTy5DQj4eENz6zwjaQzUQCLcBGAs/s640/business_a_worker_rests_near_palm_oil_fruits_at_a_factory_in_sepang_outside_kuala_lumpur_in_2014_mohd_rasfan_afp_0.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />New proposed rules from the European Union restricting the import of palm oil would likely affect Cambodia's nascent palm oil sector, but the country's main exporter is hoping that demand from India and China will cushion the blow.<br /><br />Cambodia's palm oil exports rose by a whopping 143 percent last year, according to Ker Monthivuth, a sanitation expert at the Ministry of Agriculture. The country exported more than 44,000 tonnes of crude palm oil in 2017, up from nearly 19,000 tonnes the year before, he said.<br /><br />But the booming industry could slow down due to a decision from European lawmakers last Wednesday to reform the bloc's regulations surrounding palm oil imports, and specifically ban the use of palm oil in biofuels by 2020.<br /><br />Environmental groups have long been critical of the deforestation and ecological consequences caused by many palm oil plantations globally.<br /><br />The EU's new rules could have a devastating effect on the global demand for palm oil if they are ratified by European governments, and the move has elicited protests in major palm oil exporting nations such as Malaysia.<br /><br />Cambodia's largest exporter of palm oil, a joint venture between the Mong Reththy group and Thailand's TCC Group, exported around 37,000 tonnes of crude palm oil last year, mainly to Asian nations but with 15 percent of the exports headed to the EU as well, according to Prachak Kongtanomtham, vice president of sales and marketing at the Mong Reththy Investment Cambodia Oil Palm Co Ltd.<br /><br />While the company's exports grew by 73 percent last year, Prachak cautioned yesterday that the EU ban would likely decrease the price for palm oil and could present challenges for the industry.<br /><br />"We will look to what happen in India and China, if they increase [consumption] volume," he said. "We should find how can reduce our production cost, especially logistic cost and utility," he added, noting that costs were "very high" in Cambodia.

Cambodia may be pressed by new EU palm oil regulations

New proposed rules from the European Union restricting the import of palm oil would likely affect Cambodia's nascent palm oil sector, bu...

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Agriculture Ministry to request lower electricity costs for farmers

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6LsE8LaWCcw/Wk2j2jPW5QI/AAAAAAAAA0U/SWSmWW9uuXENMSbOYw3sOhMSIfpgQv1wQCLcBGAs/s1600/agriculture-minister-veng-sokhon-centre-presides-over-a-forum-yesterday-at-the-phnom-penh-hotel.-facebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6LsE8LaWCcw/Wk2j2jPW5QI/AAAAAAAAA0U/SWSmWW9uuXENMSbOYw3sOhMSIfpgQv1wQCLcBGAs/s640/agriculture-minister-veng-sokhon-centre-presides-over-a-forum-yesterday-at-the-phnom-penh-hotel.-facebook.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Agriculture Minister Veng Sokhon said he would ask Prime Minister Hun Sen to take action to help farmers compete against neighbouring countries, including further measures to address high electricity costs, as the sector mapped out its challenges for the year at a ministry-led forum in Phnom Penh yesterday.<br /><br />The annual forum, held at the Phnom Penh Hotel, brought together businesses, farmers and government officials to discuss the sector’s ongoing challenges.<br /><br />Addressing the forum, Sokhon said Cambodia had the potential to increase its agricultural production, but poor irrigation, infrastructure, technology and access to finance was compounding productivity woes. High electricity costs also remained an impediment to the sector’s competitiveness, he added.<br /><br />“The main issues are costs and access to markets,” Sokhon said. “We need to seek investors who will work with the potential of our agricultural sector.”<br /><br />The government was working to reduce the costs of electricity and transport, and had plans for developing a new seaport, expanding airports and capping electricity prices for SMEs and industrial users. However, electricity prices would still remain higher than in neighbouring countries, he said.<br /><br />“We will prepare and send a report on the challenges to the prime minister to take action soon,” he said. “Even if we can’t solve everything immediately, we have to try our best to solve it step by step.”<br /><br />Cambodia Chamber of Commerce Vice President Lim Heng, who attended the forum, reiterated that the main issue for the sector was the cost of production, which prevented enterprises from being able to compete with imports.<br /><br />“The Ministry of Agriculture and the private sector have to work closely with each other in order to speed up [the development of] higher production,” he said after the forum. It was necessary to “reduce the cost of electricity or [be granted] tax exemptions in order to compete with imported products”, Heng added.<br /><br />Among the forum’s participants was Chet Phirum, deputy director of the Cambodia Livestock Raisers Association, who said afterward that it was important to keep highlighting the challenges that hindered the sector’s development.<br /><br />“The meetings have not yet led to satisfying results – the issues are still the same,” he said. “But at least we can raise our issues and hope they find a solution soon.”<br /><br />In his niche, illegal pig imports were hurting local pig farmers, he said.<br /><br />“We hope the government will take action,” Phirum said.

Agriculture Ministry to request lower electricity costs for farmers

Agriculture Minister Veng Sokhon said he would ask Prime Minister Hun Sen to take action to help farmers compete against neighbouring countr...

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NCAC seeking aid to continue operations

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tEIDe5tuSpw/Wk2jjgKB_AI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/RDtzCBv2ni0AwSA96Vr9LlsyEjFACNFPwCLcBGAs/s1600/moc-biz_vireak-mai_0_0_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tEIDe5tuSpw/Wk2jjgKB_AI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/RDtzCBv2ni0AwSA96Vr9LlsyEjFACNFPwCLcBGAs/s640/moc-biz_vireak-mai_0_0_0.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The National Commercial Arbitration Centre (NCAC) is seeking further support from the Commerce Ministry to continue operating, saying that fees collected from dispute claims are too small to cover the centre’s costs.<br /><br />The NCAC, an independent body that works to resolve commercial disputes, was officially launched in 2013, but due to a lack of resources – including office space – it was relatively inactive until 2015 when it reached a deal with the commerce minister to receive assistance through 2017.<br /><br />With that deal – which mostly involved free office space – having just ended, Ros Mornin, the NCAC’s president, said yesterday that he was sending a proposal to the ministry to extend the deal.<br /><br />The centre needed the assistance to make ends meet, he said.<br /><br />“The revenue we get from administration fees from dispute claims is very little, and it is not able to cover the cost of rent,” he said, adding that he was hopeful the ministry would support the NCAC’s operation. “When the centre is more active in the future, we hope that we’ll able to cover all costs on our own.”<br /><br />The NCAC has now received five cases in total, Mornin said, with the first two now settled. For each case, parties are required to pay administration costs based on the size of the disputed claim and a $250 registration fee.<br /><br />Lim Heng, vice president of Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, said the NCAC offered crucial dispute-resolution options for businesses.<br /><br />Businesses had now begun to put clauses in contracts stipulating that if a dispute arose, they would agree to bring the case to the NCAC rather than the courts, Heng said.<br /><br />“Many business owners think that the legal system is time consuming and expensive,” he said. “I hope and believe that the ministry will provide further support to keep the centre operating.”<br /><br />Seang Thai, a Commerce Ministry spokesman, said the ministry had not yet received the NCAC’s proposal, but noted that the ministry recognised the advantages of having the centre.<br /><br />“Having the NCAC operate sustainably is our goal as it is important to build trust for investors,” Thai said.

NCAC seeking aid to continue operations

The National Commercial Arbitration Centre (NCAC) is seeking further support from the Commerce Ministry to continue operating, saying that f...

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NBC disavows Cambodia-based digital currency

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TZTAENrDHvU/Wk2jV7w_2uI/AAAAAAAAA0I/aZwfIRuK0mwe1AC-2PyaAdSY1URV26jNgCLcBGAs/s1600/blockchain_mini_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TZTAENrDHvU/Wk2jV7w_2uI/AAAAAAAAA0I/aZwfIRuK0mwe1AC-2PyaAdSY1URV26jNgCLcBGAs/s640/blockchain_mini_0.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The central bank has threatened legal action after a Japanese tech firm announced the development of a Cambodia-based cryptocurrency with the claim that the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) was backing the new digital tender.<br /><br />The NBC, which has previously warned of fraud related to the peddling of cryptocurrencies, said in a statement that it had never allowed the purchase, sale or circulation of any form of cryptocurrency in the country.<br /><br />“We condemn to the highest exten[t] any person who used [the] NBC’s name to disseminate such false information, and we are taking legal actions against this,” the bank’s statement said.<br /><br />The warning came on Friday as Japan-based Chaintope and Hong Kong-linked Digital Agriculture Exchange held a “cooperation signing ceremony” the day after a Khmer-language press release from Chaintope was disseminated to local reporters.<br /><br />An English version of the press release, dated December 19, announces the development of K-coin “together with Cambodian corporations and the Cambodian Central Bank”. It names Digital Agriculture Exchange as the local partner.<br /><br />The press statement says that K-coin is being developed for use in the import, export and processing of farm produce in Cambodia, with an ambitious initial goal of being adopted by 200,000 companies and later expanding to have a total issuable value of $200 billion.<br /><br />The NBC’s involvement in the digital currency would purportedly have been foundational: “Digital Agriculture Exchange will be able to conduct the issuing and management of K-coin with authorization from a central bank, and with the central bank providing a constant guarantee of trust,” the release says.<br /><br />It claims that the NBC’s backing would allow K-coin to overcome the fundamental flaws inherent in incumbent cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, which have exploded in value in recent years but have become all but useless for actually performing transactions.<br /><br />Asked by reporters at Friday’s ceremony how the company could claim collaboration with the NBC, Hideki Shoda, Chaintope’s CEO, suggested that reporters should raise the issue with its partner as Digital Agriculture Exchange was in charge of working with the NBC.<br /><br />Responding to reporters on the same issue, Bridget Lau, Digital Agriculture Exchange’s director, would not directly say whether she had received official recognition from the central bank, only stating that she had met with NBC officials three times to discuss the situation.<br /><br />Yesterday, a woman who answered a Digital Agriculture Exchange phone number listed with the Commerce Ministry hesitantly gave her name as Ly Leng, but said she did not know how to spell it. She identified herself as the company’s director of administration.<br /><br />Leng said Chaintope’s announcement was negatively affecting her company’s reputation and the management team was considering taking legal action against its partner.<br /><br />Leng acknowledged that her company had signed an agreement with Chaintope on Friday, but said it was only related to an agricultural development project and the construction of a golf club in Phnom Penh, and had nothing to do with K-coin.<br /><br />She said her company had a plan to study the market for cryptocurrencies in Cambodia and had only met with NBC officials to seek information.<br /><br />“It is just a plan to study the market, but it does not mean we have done the research,” Leng said. “We did not receive any approval from NBC.”<br /><br />Chaintope’s office phone went unanswered yesterday, while emailed queries to several addresses at the firm, including CEO Shoda’s, received no response.<br /><br />However, during the afternoon, the company’s press release on K-coin was removed from its website.<br /><br />Among Chaintope’s previously reported projects have been plans for the adoption of a cryptocurrency in a tiny southwestern Japanese town.<br /><br />Digital Agriculture Exchange, meanwhile, has had extensive dealings with the Agriculture Ministry. Even as the NBC was chastising the K-coin scheme, the Agriculture Ministry over the weekend publicised a visit by Minister Veng Sakhon to the company’s $10 million Phnom Penh facility involved in food processing and exports.<br /><br />Digital Agriculture Exchange’s CEO is Hong Kong-based Long Yunhai, who also heads Weihai Dragon Union Agriculture, with which the Agriculture Ministry last week announced an imminent $50 million deal involving mango processing for export to China and Japan.<br /><br />Chea Serey, the NBC’s director general, last month warned at an economic conference that cryptocurrencies remained “very risky”.<br /><br />“You should all be cautious if you are lobbied to accept the coins as a form of payment instead of regulated cash currency. This is a new form of fraud,” she said at the time.<br /><br />Nevertheless, the NBC has explored using blockchains – the mechanism that prevents cryptocurrency users from being able to forge transactions – internally to facilitate and monitor interbank lending.<br /><br />There has been a proliferation of cryptocurrency-based enterprises worldwide in recent years, and “initial coin offerings” have attracted billions of dollars in investment even as the underlying technology – particularly in the case of bitcoin – has come under criticism for its massive environmental footprint and lack of immediate practicality except as speculative investment.

NBC disavows Cambodia-based digital currency

The central bank has threatened legal action after a Japanese tech firm announced the development of a Cambodia-based cryptocurrency with th...

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