Global economic growth uncertainty has sapped considerable momentum from the Phnom Penh condominium market, which is well-known for its heavy dependency on foreign customers, with no developments in the capital completed or ready for move-ins in the third quarter (Q3) ended September 30. In its “Phnom Penh Market Insights Q3” research report released last week, real estate firm CBRE Cambodia underlined that global headwinds continue to hamper the capital’s condo market, in terms of construction processes, transactions and rentals, leaving the condo supply at 36,000 units as of September 30, unchanged from three months earlier. The company, the local affiliate…
Author: Hin Pisei
The merchandise trade between Cambodia and Australia reached $404.467 million in the first nine months of 2022, doubling against the same period last year, an upswing that has been largely attributed to a mega trade pact between them and 13 other nations that entered effect on January 1, on top of improved relations as well as post-Covid-19 recovery initiatives and results thereof. In the January-September period, bilateral commodity trade was up 100.35 per cent from the $201.882 million recorded in the same time last year, according to the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE). Cambodian exports to…
The ongoing Mekong Tourism Forum (MTF) 2022 in Vietnam is likely to materially increase the number of travellers to Cambodia – which is set to hold next year’s edition, consolidating the recovery momentum in the Kingdom’s embattled tourism sector, following more than two years of Covid-19 disruptions, according to insiders. After a hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the MTF returned in in-person format to Hoi An city, Quang Nam province for October 9-14, under the theme “Rebuild Tourism, Rebound with Resilience” this year. The forum aims to contribute to post-Covid tourism recovery in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) by…
The newly-launched Cambodia Cashew Federation (CCF), combined with the upcoming National Policy on Cashew Nuts for 2022-2027, is expected to boost exports of the popular kidney-shaped nuts, keeping annual totals above $1 billion each year, observers have said. The CCF was formally inaugurated on October 10 as the Kingdom’s apex cashew nut industry body, at its “foundation assembly” held in the capital. Key objectives of the policy include reinforcing Cambodia’s capacity to grow, store, process, package, market, distribute and export cashew nuts and derived products, and establishing the Kingdom as a major producer and supplier regionally and beyond. Speaking while…
The government is set to begin deepening of the Kampot International Tourism Port’s waterway and additional improvements “soon” to enable safer access for larger vessels, after the main construction work on the 4.25ha site was completed on June 30, according to Kampot provincial deputy governor Ung Chhay. The port is located in Chum Kriel village, Chum Kriel commune, Teuk Chhou district about 6km southeast of Kampot town, along the Dang Prek estuary of the Kampot river which flows into Kampot bay. Chhay attended an October 7 inspection of the project site, led by Minister of Public Works and Transport Sun…
A total of $25.15 million in loans have been disbursed to 189 tourism-related enterprises under the $150 million Tourism Recovery Co-Financing Scheme (TRCS) as of September 30 – most of which are in the restaurant business – representing just over one-sixth of the scheme’s funds, according to the state-owned Small and Medium Enterprise Bank of Cambodia Plc (SME Bank). Broken down by category, restaurants accounted for the most funds, at a 38 per cent share, followed by hotels (25 per cent), guesthouses (25 per cent) and other businesses (12 per cent). A total of 44 per cent went to women-owned…
Cambodian investors accounted for more than half of the nearly $3.5-billion value of the projects approved by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) in the first nine months of this year. The CDC, the government’s highest decision-making body for large-scale investments, reported that it approved 150 new projects and expansions in the January-September period with total registered capital of $3.45958 billion, up by 16 undertakings and about $0.101 billion compared to the same time last year. Cambodian investors represented the lion’s share of the total registered capital for the nine-month period, at 50.94 per cent or $1.762 billion,…
The government has stuck to its guns through the thick and thin of Covid-19, pushing to turn crisis into opportunity for economic growth, by spurring sweeping reforms, improving the business environment and strengthening competitiveness in international markets, in efforts underpinned by pandemic management world-renown for its effectiveness, according to Prime Minister Hun Sen. The premier was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Cambodia Outlook Conference 2022, held in the capital on October 6 under the theme “Revitalising Cambodia: Sustaining Development After Covid-19”. Cambodia had maintained an average annual economic growth rate above seven per cent in the two decades…
Cambodia exported $1.090 billion worth of electrical machinery and equipment and related products in the first eight months of 2022, up 64.18 per cent from the $663.585 million recorded over the same time in 2021, according to Customs. Analysts ascribed this uptick to brisk momentum in Cambodia’s economic diversification push, coupled with a blossoming production industry and expanding export channels powered by an all-round investment boom as well as supportive arrangements with key trading partners of the Kingdom. The aforementioned category of items, corresponding to Chapter 85 of the harmonised tariff schedule, accounted for 6.97 per cent of the value…
The General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) has collected $19.73 million in levies on previously-untaxed right-hand-drive (RHD) vehicles in the 90 days to October 4, in Phase II of its campaign to get owners of such vehicles to comply with their tax obligations by the October 8 deadline or risk seizure, according to its chief. Owners of RHD vehicles that were recently grandfathered-in as street legal without modification were instructed to register by July 31 for vehicle identification and new special number plates reserved for RHD vehicles, and subsequently fulfil their tax obligations by October 8. Barring…