Cambodia lost nearly 100 factories and 40,000 jobs last year in the wake of the global financial crisis, a government official said Monday, though some other factories have since opened and put more people to work.
“The ministry noticed that from January through November 2009, garment and shoe factories, in total 93, have been closed,” Om [...]
Annual Conference Addresses Garment Woes
Property Tax Confusion Stalls Market
Confusion and hesitation over a new law on property taxes have shocked the country’s real estate market, which has yet to recover from the global economic downturn, financial analysts say.
According to the law, passed by the National Assembly earlier this month, taxes will be levied on land, houses and buildings worth more than 100 million [...]
New Taxes a Burden on Poor: Opposition
Government officials are increasing tax policies but continuing with irregular expenditures at a time when they should focus on dampening the effects of the global economic downturn, an opposition official said Monday.
The passage of the 2010 national budget earlier this month includes taxes that will make difficulties for people already struggling in the depressed economy, [...]
2010 Budget Sees Increases in Key Sectors
The National Assembly on Tuesday passed the draft law for the 2010 budget, with overall spending reaching nearly $2 billion.
Defense and security spending increased by more than $50 million, while health and education spending rose nearly 20 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
The overall budget of $1.99 billion was an increase of more than $100 million [...]
Trade Officials Fight Allegations of Label Swaps
Commerce officials are working in the US to counter accusations that garments claiming to be made in Cambodia are actually produced in neighboring Vietnam.
Members of the opposition “told America that our shirts were not made in Cambodia, but were made in Vietnam,” Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh told VOA Khmer in an interview on a recent [...]
Cambodia Wants Tax-Free Exports to US: Minister
[Editor’s note: Last month, the International Finance Corporation invited Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh to its offices in Washington, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of preferential trade agreements between Cambodia and the US. On his visit, Cham Prasidh testified before the Trade Subcommittee for the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways and Means. He also [...]
Once-Growing Insurance Market Faces Challenges
Post-war Cambodia only saw its first insurance agency in 1990, when the state-owned Caminco opened. Nearly 20 years later, a number of private companies have established themselves, but experts say they still face challenges in a market where few understand the benefits and many can’t afford premiums.
“Compared with other countries, our market is very small, [...]
Cambodia’s Garment Workers Hit by Recession
Over the last decade economic growth has helped lift Cambodia out of its poverty. The signs were everywhere; bustling construction sites around Phnom Penh ; young workers filing into factories, filling orders for eager clients abroad.
More than 400,000 jobs in the textile industry fuelled the hopes of many young women whose earnings in the city [...]
Private Companies Prepare To Enter Stock Exchange
At least eight private companies are prepared to enter Cambodia’s nascent stock exchange, some as soon as it opens and others a few years down the road.
Thy Khemara, a research analyst for Tong Yang Security, which is preparing private companies and state enterprises for the bourse, said at least two or three companies will be [...]
National Budget Risks High Deficits: World Bank
Cambodia’s recently drafted 2010 budget could put pressure on the economy by running high deficits that exceed external financing, the World Bank said Wednesday.
The Council of Ministers this week green-lighted a $2 billion budget for next year, increasing money allotted for health services and decreasing that for security, in an overall increase of more than [...]