Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered authorities to cancel the business licenses of private marriage agencies offering 'mail order' Cambodian brides for foreign men at a meeting of the Cambodia National Council for Women (CNCW) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday morning. The premier said the move is a bid to curb the trafficking of Cambodian women to foreign countries.
You Pasith, deputy secretary general of CNCW, said the Ministry of Commerce will annul the business licenses of the companies in question Feb 19.
The second conference on trade and investment promotion for the Triangle Development Area - comprised of 10 border provinces in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam - wrapped up in Sihanoukville Feb 17.
The two day conference, attended by about 100 businesspersons and delegations from the three countries, was chaired by Cambodian Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh.
Too much rain, rapid urbanization and old-fashioned production methods have created havoc in Vietnam's salt production and the country is facing a shortage. Cambodia has been taking up the slack with large volumes of salt being exported to Vietnam since the beginning of this year. Last month, however, production was also low in Cambodia, and officials have no idea if Cambodia's salt production will cope with their neighbor's voracious demands.
Cambodia's outward image as a war-scarred, lawless backwater has been all but transformed in recent years to that of a strategically placed, business-friendly Asian tiger waiting to roar. The transformation has been partly attributed to the work of the Government-Private Sector Forum (G-PSF) which started work in 1999 when the post-war government had little business expertise and the nation's private sector was still nascent. James Brew arrived in Cambodia in 2002 to work as the forum's program manager for the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Cambodia is expected to see a possible three fold increase in investment growth this year, largely due to the arrival of Japanese investors en masse, said Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh. "I believe that investment in 2008 will increase two times to three times because of Japanese investors," he said following a High Level Conference on Trade-Related Capacity Development in Selected East Asian Countries in Phnom Penh yesterday.
From the blast of air-conditioning as you open the doors and are greeted by the attentive receptionist, it is obvious South Korean-funded development, Gold Tower 42, is marketing itself as a development. Perfectly manicured hostesses help you out of your shoes and into slippers to make the carpeted walk upstairs to view the model of the glory that will be and, perhaps, make a purchase.
With rising world oil prices and restrictions on imports of pork and poultry, a nice port roast has become out of reach for many Cambodians, who have turned instead to the other white meat - rat - according to local media.
Local Khmer-language daily Kampuchea Thmey reported that the meat had become so sought after that rice farmers "in their hundreds" had set up sideline businesses catching table-ready rice fed rats for their meat.
Whereas a kilo of best quality rat meat went for around 50 cents two years ago, it now fetches up to 1.5 dollars, the paper reported.
The Secretary
So you've been working off your laptop in bars and hotel rooms for long enough now, and you've decided to take the plunge and open an office in Phnom Penh to help your business grow. Your company registration is coming along and all your paperwork is in order so it's off to the estate agent.
Companies based in Phnom Penh and the Chinese municipality of Chongqing have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will see the produce of Cambodian silk worms being exported to China in commercial quantities, local media reported this week.
The MoU was signed between Cambodia's Tanimex Company Ltd and Chongqing Wintus (New Star) Trade Development Ltd, which lists Liangping Wintus Silk & Textile Ltd as its subsidiary partner, Khmer-language daily Rasmei Kampuchea reported in a front page story. Both Chinese companies are recognized by the China Chamber of Commerce.
A tough crowd greeted special guest speaker at last week's British Business Association of Cambodia (BBAC), Aaron Bornstein. The Chief of Party for the Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption for Equity (MAE) Project, which is overseen by the anti-corruption non-government organization Pact Cambodia, was there to introduce the 'Clean Hands - Clean Business' project to BBAC members.