A number of real estate developments in Cambodia could face foreclosure

06 October 2009
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Seung Bunna, chairman of the Cambodian association of real estate valuators, warned that by the end of this year, foreclosures and auction sales could take place for a number of communities and row house developments under construction because of the collapse of the Cambodian real estate market.

Seung Bunna claimed that, up to now, all over Cambodia, there are many development projects that received the green light for construction, but these developments could not be sold, therefore this could lead to bank foreclosures because of the rising amount of debt and interest owed.

Seung Bunna did not reveal the names of these developments, nor how many there are. He indicated that his association cannot reveal such secret information belonging to the developers.

Fixing nails, fixing lives

THE Senhoa Nail Spa Centre, due to open in downtown Siem Reap early in September, is the front for a groovy all-female-run Washington-based NGO, Voice.

Voice’s cool New Age overtones are revealed in its full de-acronymised title, Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment, and its aim in Siem Reap is to give mostly Vietnamese sex industry workers a shot at a new life, with new skills and newly-raised consciousnesses.

Research shows that a significant portion of sex workers in Cambodia are Vietnamese, and this ethnic grouping is estimated to represent 30 percent of Cambodia’s total number of commercial sex providers.

The gals who run Voice, ethnic Vietnamese from California, Washington and Sydney, are hip, switched on operators who certainly establish an affinity with the girls they are hoping to empower.

Siem Reap’s a five-star role model

Sarah Moya is at home in the environment she has created at the five star hotel in Siem Reap which she manages. She’s dynamic, but the setting she has created at the hotel is serene. Tranquil music mingles with the splashes from an expansive water feature that encircles the main courtyard. Lustrous Indo-Chinese teak and floors of luxurious white Italian tiles enhance the “grand Khmer villa” feel.

But it is the discreet, subtle and elegant touches – the small rice seedlings growing in vases on each of the breakfast tables and a myriad of little feminine touches – that are the hallmarks of the 35-year-old Filipino expat Ms Moya’s style, at The Sothea Courtyard, Siem Reap’s newest five-star boutique hotel, where she is the resident general manager.

As a woman general manager, Sarah Moya is a rarity not only in Siem Reap, but in the entire Southeast Asian region. But being a woman in what has traditionally been perceived as a man’s job is not an aspect Moya is comfortable discussing.

“It’s just that I feel that to work as a general manager is not really gender related,” she said.

“You become a general manager, whether you’re male or female, because the things that you have done prior to becoming one that is what’s important. It’s all about the experience, it’s all about the skills that you acquire along the way.”

Tourism campaign for Cambodia suspended

Television advertising not ready to go on air, says Ministry of Tourism, as analysts warn travel industry remains sluggish

THE Ministry of Tourism has suspended plans to air television advertising spots in key Asian markets next month, saying it had not given itself enough time to produce the advertisements.

Tourism Minister Thong Khon said the campaign would instead be launched “some time next year”.

“We cannot run them on time this year because we need more time to be well-prepared for the campaign,” he said.

The spots were due to air in China, South Korea and Japan, three of Cambodia’s most important tourist source countries. Arrivals from all three countries have plummeted since late last year in the wake of the global economic slowdown.

The ministry was talking to television networks in all three countries to persuade them to run travel programmes focused on Cambodia in the interim, Thong Khon said.

ACLEDA Q3 lending up 9.6pc

Second-largest bank sees recovery in loan disbursements over previous three months, but signs of sluggish lending growth continue among rest of sector

CAMBODIA’S second-largest bank by loans reported a near 10 percent rise in new lending over the third quarter, but ACLEDA Bank President In Channy warned Friday the trend did not likely extend to the rest of the sector amid signs from other domestic banks that lending growth remained sluggish.

ACLEDA figures showing a 9.64 percent quarter-on-quarter increase in total disbursements to US$482.9 million at the end of September, up from $440.44 million at the end of June, followed a warning from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that profitability in the sector remained at risk unless banks could begin to reintroduce a rapidly growing deposit base back into the economy through new lending.

In Channy said the increase – which followed a 2.16 percent drop in outstanding loans in the second quarter – was due to the bank’s extensive reach into the provinces through regional branches and borrowing growth ahead of the upcoming harvest season.

Cambodia To Seek US Debt Forgiveness

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from New York
02 October 2009


Cambodia will ask the US to cancel hundreds of million dollar war-era debt the country owes, Cambodia’s foreign minister said Sunday, a day before meeting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Hor Namhong, in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly, told VOA Khmer in an interview that it was fair if the debt was cancelled.

"I will ask [Clinton] to ask the US government to relieve Cambodia's debt, because it was from the Lon Nol regime,” Hor Namhong said at a hotel near UN headquarters.

"The loan was for buying war weaponry to fight in Cambodia. I will tell her that Cambodia has never demanded reparations for the [US] bombing during the Vietnam War, which killed many Cambodians and caused damages...Therefore, the US should understand the debt Cambodia owes,” he added.

Vietnam runs out of land for rubber plantations and thus had to rent space in Cambodia and Laos -sic!-

High yield rubber needed to sustain growth: analysts

Saturday, October 3, 2009
Thanh Nien News (Hanoi)

Rubber companies are running out of land and need to plant a high yield breed if the industry is to maintain growth, said analysts with the local finance website Vietstock.

Despite the government efforts to increase rubber cultivation, rubber businesses are running out of land and have turned to renting space in Laos and Cambodia. Vietnamese rubber planters plan to open a total 200,000 hectares of rubber fields in the two countries, Vietstock analysts said last month.

However, the two governments are unsure as to whether the pros of gaining more rubber trees will outweigh the cons of losing forests to rubber cultivation, which also degrades the soil.

Cambodia to Export Organic Rice to Germany

2009-10-05
Xinhua

Cambodia will start exporting organic jasmine rice to Germany at the beginning of next year, following an agreement originally made in 2007, local media reported on Monday, citing the Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC).

Lang Seng Haung, CEDAC's enterprise manager, was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying that Cambodia would ship 100 tonnes of the rice to Germany in January as part of a three-year export agreement totaling 450 tonnes at the price of 1,400 U.S. dollars a tonne.

"We will increase our supply of this kind of rice to Germany in the coming years, which will afford Cambodian farmers an opportunity," he said, referring to the agreement, which will see 150 tonnes exported in 2011 and a further 200 tonnes during the following year to conclude the current deal.

Global slowdown tatters Cambodian garment industry

05 Oct 2009
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The global recession forced the closure of 77 garment factories in Cambodia in the first nine months of 2009, throwing more than 30,000 people out of work, the government said.

Another 53 factories suspended operations in the January to September period but roughly half have since reopened, according to a report from the Ministry of Labor obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

Cambodia's garment industry is the main foreign exchange earner for the poor Southeast Asian country. Garment exports from Cambodia in 2008 were worth about $2.8 billion, with 70 percent of shipments going to retailers in the United States. The European Union is the second-biggest market.

"The closing of garment factories in Cambodia is mainly due to declining purchase orders from countries affected by the global financial crisis," said Oum Mean, deputy labor minister.

Cambodia, South Korea to sign oil, energy agreement

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and South Korean governments will sign an agreement of oil and energy cooperation during the two-day official visiting by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak later this month, an official said here on Monday.

"Both sides will sign the agreement on seeking mines, oil, gas, and energy cooperation to push the economic development in the country," Eang Sophalleth, spokesman for Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told reporters after the meeting between Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and visiting Shin Jae Hyun, ambassador in charge of cooperation, natural resources and energy affairs to the South Korean President.

Shin's visit is to pave the way for President Lee Myung-bak's visit in Cambodia on October 22-23.

The bilateral cooperation will serve the mutual benefits, Eang said, adding that Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed his hope that it will help speed up the country's economic development.

Thai firms discuss jatropha plant plans

THAI investors met with officials from Banteay Meanchey province last week to discuss a plan to build a jatropha processing factory and plant 1,000 hectares in the crop, which is considered a key candidate for biodiesel production.

The director of the Banteay Meanchey Commerce Department, Kong Bunly, said he met with nine representatives of private firms from Thailand Friday to discuss their plans.

“We told them that we already have 500 hectares of farmland in Thma Puok district they could plant with the crop, and that we would help them find the rest, or they can cooperate with locals,” he said.

He said total investment figures were not discussed but assumed it would be less than US$1 million, meaning the project could be approved locally rather than having to be sent to central government.

Bank says govt should cap pawnshop lending

New draft law under consideration to regulate pawnbrokers must not allow them to compete unfairly on lending: lawyer.

ALAWYER for a mid-sized Cambodian bank has called for the government to put a cap on the amount pawnshops can lend and prevent them from taking property as collateral for loans.

Ros Monin, managing partner at Sewha-Cambodia Law Group, which represents Shinhan Khmer Bank, said that a draft prakas, or edict, on
regulating pawnshops could pave the way for them to compete with banks in the lending market if passed in its current form.

“Banks could lose their customers to these pawnbrokers because there are complicated procedures involved in borrowing money from banks,” he said.

Official preparations begin for three IPOs

THE government announced the start of preparations for three state-owned companies to list on the forthcoming stock exchange in a meeting Wednesday at the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA), Telecom Cambodia and Sihanoukville Autonomous Port held a meeting on initial public offerings with Minister Keat Chhon, who said the companies would act as an example to the rest of the private sector during the bourse’s initial stage. The main benefit from listing would be good corporate governance, he said.

“The listing is a method to mobilise financial resources for these enterprises,” he said, adding that all three had been the subject of takeover enquiries by foreign firms, the reason they had been selected to list.

Concerns about arbitration centre

THE director of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) has raised concerns about the independence of the country’s first commercial arbitration centre.

Nguon Meng Tech said the chamber would try to establish its own arbitration centre to ensure fairness in the resolution of disputes.

“I am happy [it is being set up], but it is really hard for me to say that the arbitration centre will be independent because it is under the supervision of the public sector, and there will be conflicts of interest,” he said.

“It should be under the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, which is independent because it is an institution for the private sector.”

The chamber was looking for the funds to set up the arbitration centre, he said.

France Telecom, Royal talk Mobitel

CAMBODIA’S Royal Group met Wednesday with representatives of France Telecom in Phnom Penh in what sources say are advanced negotiations on terms for a joint purchase of Millicom International’s 58 percent stake in mobile-phone operator Mobitel.

A source with knowledge of the situation said France Telecom, which operates under the Orange brand, was meeting with the Cambodian holding group to do “due diligence” on the deal.

The Royal Group holds the remaining stake in Cambodia’s leading domestic operator by users, which operates under the Cellcard brand.

Millicom International Cellular SA announced in August it had reached an agreement to sell its Cambodian partner its stake for US$346 million in cash.

The money was to be payable on completion of the deal, which was expected to take place before the end of the year, subject to financing and regulatory approvals.

Marketing campaign for GI produce to start

But those working on the initiative say that Kampot pepper and Kampong Speu sugar won’t get GI status until later this month.

KAMPOT pepper and Kampong Speu palm sugar are unlikely to have received geographic indicator (GI) status by the time they launch their promotional campaigns next week. However, Kampot Pepper Farmer Association President Nguon Lay and Cambodian Sugar Association President Sam Saroeun said Thursday that both are expected to be officially registered with the Ministry of Commerce this month.

“We will submit the proposal to the commerce ministry on October 5 and hope that it will be registered this month,” Nguon Lay said at the end of an association meeting Thursday.

Sam Saroeun said: “Now we have met all requirements for GI status, as scheduled, and will submit the proposal for Kampong Speu palm sugar to the Commerce Ministry on October 12 and hope it will be approved soon after submission.”

Energy remains in short supply

CAMBODIA remains years away from realising its energy reserves and is still one of the least-connected in terms of energy supplies in the region, government officials and energy company executives said Tuesday.

During the first day of a conference on energy in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) organised by the US embassy in Phnom Penh, participants said that the Kingdom continues to suffer from inadequate energy resources and emphasised the need to improve supplies in order to boost economic growth.

“Energy prices here are among the highest in the region, and connectivity among the lowest,” US Ambassador Carol Rodley said in an opening address.

The sub-region as a whole – which includes Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and the Chinese provinces Guangxi and Yunnan – would require “billions of dollars of investment” in energy to meet demand in the near future, she added.

MH Bio-Energy agrees new cassava deal

BANTEAY Meanchey-based Te Haing Development Co agreed last month to provide South Korea’s MH Bio-Energy Group with dried cassava for conversion into ethanol, managers at the two companies said Wednesday.

Ros Sopharith, senior manager of MH Bio-Energy Group, which was closed temporarily in September over water-contamination concerns, said his company had spent US$1 million to build a 5-hectare drying court as well as a warehouse for Te Haing.

“My company built these facilities to help Te Haing process cassava. I’m not worried about Te Haing supplying us with enough dried cassava because they will be growing part of the volume themselves,” he said.

The plant currently produces 10,000 tonnes of ethanol per year for export to Europe.

Gain in building approvals belies enduring downturn

Despite a small rise in construction approvals during the first eight months of this year, analysts say the sector is still suffering from the economic crisis.

A7 percent gain in construction approvals over the first eight months of the year suggests a recovery may be imminent in the property sector, but other data showed the construction industry is still feeling the impact of the economic downturn.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction this week, 1,499 construction projects worth a combined US$1.61 billion got the green light from government officials through to the end of August 2009, up from 1,396 projects worth $1.51 billion in the same period last year. The number included 357 projects worth $470 million approved in July and August.

“This is a good sign that our construction sector is still growing, despite the global economic crisis,” said Lao Tip Seiha, director of the ministry’s Construction Department.

Rice export to HK fails to ship on schedule

THE Cambodian Rice Millers Association missed its deadline for delivery of a shipment of jasmine rice to Hong Kong that had been billed as a milestone for the sector’s export hopes, the organisation’s president said Thursday.

Phou Puy said the plan to export 400 tonnes of the rice variety to the Chinese territory in September and October failed, as the milling equipment necessary to process it was not delivered in time.

Phou Puy announced the contract in July this year, saying the association would receive US$790 per tonne for the rice.

Phou Puy said Thursday he expected to be able to renegotiate the supply agreement and begin exporting rice as soon as the equipment was in place.