The Ministry of Tourism has called on travellers as well as owners and managers of tourism-linked businesses to follow and ensure compliance with the minimum standard operating procedures (SOP) for tourism, in a notice issued ahead of the three-day Pchum Ben festival this weekend. Cambodian Buddhists are observing Pchum Ben for 15 days, which falls between September 11 and 25 this year, the first 14 of which are enumerated as the 1st-through-14th Kan Ben Days, where families typically gather at pagodas, bringing food and other offerings for monks. The main festivities will take place over the three days from September…
Author: Hin Pisei
The Ministry of Public Works and Transport on September 14 inaugurated its third public electric vehicle (EV) charging kiosk, this time in central Siem Reap town, raising hopes for the wide adoption of the alternative fuel vehicles going forward. A ministry statement issued in conjunction with the inauguration ceremony appears to indicate that 305 EVs were registered by July 31, up from the 16 logged by the same date last year, in an increase it says reflects popular awareness and support for EV use in Cambodia. Speaking at the ceremony in Boeung Don Pa village, Slakram commune, minister Sun Chanthol…
Cambodia’s apex trade body still plans to open a representative office in Montreal “soon”, with newly-found enthusiasm after its first overseas outpost, also in eastern Canada, was tied to a marked uptick in interest from businesspeople looking to invest in the Kingdom, according to a senior officer. Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) vice-president Lim Heng told The Post on September 14 that the Toronto representative office has generated tailwinds for economic growth and investment in the Kingdom, as a central meeting and information hub for interested players of all nationalities to gain insight into the investment potential of the emerging…
The volume of imports and exports handled at the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) clocked in at $1.749 billion in the first eight months of 2022, marking a 27.39 per cent rise year-on-year from $1.373 billion, according to the operator. The corresponding figure for the July-August period appears to have been relatively low – somewhere in the range of 21.38-21.50 per cent of the eight month total, accounting for rounding, as opposed to one-quarter or 25 per cent – and represented a dip of roughly one per cent compared to the same two months in 2021. For reference, in the…
Cambodia is planning an event on October 3 to celebrate the 42nd World Tourism Day, which industry insiders believe will attract many visitors and draw greater international attention to the Kingdom’s tourism potential. The Ministry of Tourism affirmed in a notice dated September 9 that the event would share the same theme of “Rethinking Tourism” as the official September 27 celebration in Bali, Indonesia – as recognised by the UN’s World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) – which alludes to the global post-Covid-19 changes and trends in tourism. In regards to the later October 3 date, the ministry merely commented that each…
Air fares between Cambodia and China or the other nine ASEAN countries have on average dropped from 20 to more than 50 per cent since the first quarter of this year, as countries around the region relax Covid-19 restrictions, according to a senior civil aviation official. In an extreme example, return trips from one of a number of Chinese cities to Cambodia that had been in excess of $10,000, during darker times of the pandemic, was subsequently recorded at $6,000, then $3,000, and have now dropped to just over $1,000, State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) spokesman Sin Chansereyvutha told…
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and Japan in the first eight months of 2022 rose by more than one-sixth on-year, in a trend expected to carry into the foreseeable future, largely driven by agricultural exports from the Kingdom. Still, the business community is calling for greater efforts to identify and develop new products that could command high demand on the Japanese market. Between January and August, trade between the two countries totalled $1.332 billion, rising by 16.86 per cent year-on-year, with Cambodian exports to Japan accounting for $789.167 million, up 10.65 per cent, and imports $543.095 million, up 27.22 per cent,…
Cambodia netted nearly $6.468 billion from the export of “articles of apparel and clothing accessories” in the first eight months of 2022, up by 28.79 per cent from the $5.022 billion recorded in January-August 2021, according to the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE). These goods correspond to chapters 61 and 62 of the harmonised tariff schedule, the former of which covers items that are “knitted or crocheted”, and the latter those that are neither. Exports of items under Chapter 61 amounted to $4.598 billion, rising by 27.24 per cent year-on-year, while the analogous figure for Chapter 62 was…
The transport ministry is exploring options to expedite preliminary studies on key public railway infrastructure projects, especially the conversion of the Northern Railway Line that links to Thailand into high-speed rail. Railway freight and passenger transportation has been pinpointed as a major potential engine of economic growth and employment opportunities and a magnet for inbound foreign investment into the Kingdom. At a September 7 internal meeting of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, minister Sun Chanthol mentioned feasibility studies on modernising and upgrading the Phnom Penh-Poipet and Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville lines – also known as the Northern and Southern Railway…
A key upcoming nine-year agricultural development roadmap is set to spearhead the industry’s next phase of evolution, to maximise quality and sustainable yields, investment, research impact and exports, and improve the livelihoods, wellbeing and empowerment of smallholder farmers and all actors in the ecosystem, according to stakeholders and observers. The Council of Ministers, or Cabinet, announced that a September 9 plenary session led by Prime Minister Hun Sen approved the draft National Policy for Agricultural Development 2022-2030. The draft law will now be sent to the National Assembly (NA) for a vote. If approved, the document will be forwarded to…