The Phnom Penh Post News in Brief

EU seminar on trade

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 15:00 Steve Finch

EUROPEAN Union officials held a seminar Tuesday in Phnom Penh aimed at helping Cambodian exporters reach European markets, according to a press release. Rafael Dochao Moreno, charge d’affaires of the delegation of the EU, said that giving Cambodian traders the right information on duties and procedures for export to the EU would help them increase and diversify exports. The EU offers duty- and quote-free access to least-developed countries, including Cambodia, under it’s “everything but arms” initiative.

PPM doubles exports

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 15:00 Nguon Sovan

CAMBODIA’S Pharma Product Manufacturing (PPM) doubled revenue from overseas sales last year to US$3 million, CEO Hay Ly Eang said Tuesday. “We expect overseas revenues from our products this year will increase 50 percent as we increase our export volume and expand the number of countries we export to,” he said. The company has recently added two new markets – Cameroon and Madagascar – and now ships its products to 15 countries in total. PPM announced in December it planned to reach 30 countries by the end of 2010. The firm exports a number of different pharmaceutical products including antibiotics, cough medicine and mouthwash which it began exporting for the first time in 1997.

Second sugar mill talks

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 15:00 Post Staff

THE Mong Reththy Group is in talks to build the Kingdom’s largest sugar mill, according to a report Tuesday. Tycoon Mong Reththy said his firm was negotiating with a French company to build a $100 million facility in Stung Treng province, Reuters reported. Clearance of a 10,000-hectare site would start on February 22 and planting would start in June, the company’s Deputy Director Mok Chansothea was quoted as saying. The news follows the opening of a sugar plant by Thailand’s Khon Kaen Plc in Koh Kong province, the first such factory to operate in Cambodia for about 40 years after civil war damaged the industry.

Mr Left considers move

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 15:00 Andy Brouwer and Ung Chamroeun

27-year-old Chan Rithy, the left footed wizard who has been one of the outstanding players for the national team and Cambodian Premier League side Phnom Penh Crown in recent seasons, has been offered a contract for Royal Thai Army club. The side were promoted to the Thai Premier League at the end of last season, and are currently playing in the Queen’s Cup as a precursor to their regular league competition. Prak Sovanny, newly appointed coach of Phnom Penh Crown, revealed that Chan Rithy is yet to decide on whether he will join the Army team in Thailand, but will continue to play for Crown during their current Samdech Hun Sen Cup campaign. “He will be one of our first choices for the upcoming match against Wat Phnom [this Saturday]” stated the coach.

TIES TO ISRAEL: Chamber of commerce opens


Wednesday, 10 February 2010 15:03 Susan Wilson

TIES TO ISRAEL

The new Cambodia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, an organisation designed to strengthen economic ties, opened in Phnom Penh last week, one of its organisers said Tuesday. Bradley Gordon, founder of the law firm Gordon and Associates, described the chamber as one piece of a broader effort on the part of Israeli businesses to invest more heavily in Cambodia, with a focus on telecommunications, medical supplies, agriculture and green technology. Gordon said there were only a handful of members on both sides, but that there was much interest among Israeli businesses. Israel was Cambodia’s fourth-largest foreign investor in 2008, providing 2.75 percent of total investment, according to the Cambodian Investment Board.

Apsara TV staff to strike

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 15:03 Chhay Channyda

AROUND 200 Apsara TV employees plan to strike on February 15 to demand salary payments for the past two months that have allegedly been withheld by Solaris International, the French company that owns the station, according to a letter sent to management last Friday.

Syluom Dar, director general of Solaris, said she had not received the letter, but noted that the payments had been late.

“The payment is coming late. It does not mean we do not want to pay them,” she said. “Going on strike is not good for either side. We do not want this to happen, and we are trying to resolve the issue