Three new condominiums were completed and ready for move-ins in the first quarter of 2022, adding 700 units to bring the capital’s condo supply to about 33,800, as rental and sale prices of high-end units extended a decline seen in October-December 2021, according to a prominent real estate firm. In the period from January-March, there was a complete lack of new groundbreaking and sales announcements from the condo segment, with the Phnom Penh market registering a “steady decline” since end-2019, CBRE Cambodia said in a research report. The report revealed that per-sqm condo sales prices in the first quarter for…
Author: Hin Pisei
Cambodia’s imports of beverages, spirits and vinegar declined 15 per cent to $70.34 million in the first quarter of 2022 from $83.09 million a year ago, likely due to lower demand following government calls to cut gatherings and entertainment activities. General Department of Customs and Excise data showed that in March alone, total imports dipped 1.4 per cent to $26.2 million compared to $26.6 million last year. “The government’s decision to restrict gatherings, including wedding parties and traditional ceremonies to combat the spread of Covid-19, slower public spending and the increase of domestic production might have impacted the imports. “The…
Public-listed Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (PAS) recorded a surge of 16.32 per cent in container throughput between January and March this year as Cambodia and global economies navigated a recovery path, said the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. The volume of containers totalled 198,182 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), up from 170,370 TEUs in the corresponding period last year. TEU is an inexact unit of cargo capacity used in the shipping industry roughly equivalent to a container with internal dimensions measuring about 20 feet long, eight feet wide and 8.5 feet tall, or a volume roughly 38.5 cubic metres. Lou Kim…
The number of international visitors to Cambodia totalled 159,546 in the first quarter of this year, marking a 125 per cent increase from last year’s figure. More than half of all visitors entered the Kingdom by air, according to the tourism ministry. The increase comes as the country, like many others worldwide, begins to dial back its Covid-19 restrictions. Industry observers have expressed optimism that tourism gains will extend into the rest of 2022 on the back of the recent removal of coronavirus testing requirements for fully-vaccinated arrivals. The ministry reported that in the January-March period, 86,976 visitors entered Cambodia…
Cambodia’s tax revenue in the first four months of 2022 is expected to reach nearly 50 per cent of the goal set by this year’s Law on Financial Management, with first quarter revenue collected reaching just over 44 per cent, according to Prime Minister Hun Sen. The Law on Financial Management for 2022, requires the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s General Department of Taxation (GDT) to collect $2.820 billion in revenue this year. Speaking at a Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports meeting on April 27 reflecting on 2021 results and setting the 2022 agenda, Hun Sen said that effective…
The General Department of Taxation (GDT) has announced that it will be printing paper copies of the Property Tax Invoice to be distributed to all property owners in a manner similar to that of utility bills, which it hopes will eliminate most of the loopholes enabling tax evasion. GDT director-general Kong Vibol unveiled the new distribution strategy at a ceremony on April 26 alongside Phnom Penh municipal governor Khuong Sreng. Since the modernisation of the tax system in 2012, tax collection by the GDT has “increased steadily” and even exceeded the goals set by the annual laws on Financial Management…
An upcoming food safety law is expected to provide a major boost to the Cambodian food industry and leverage its potential to attract foreign investors and travellers to the Kingdom, according to local food and tourism experts. On April 25, a Ministry of Commerce delegation led by minister Pan Sorasak presented the draft law to an expert commission at the National Assembly (NA), all members of which voiced support for the bill. The document will now be sent to the NA for a vote at a later date. The draft law was unanimously approved by the Council of Ministers on…
The volume of imports and exports handled at the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) clocked in at $710 million in the first three months of 2022, marking a 50.74 per cent rise year-on-year from $471 million, the operator said in a statement on April 23. The increase is believed to reflect improvements in regional and global economic activity. For reference, company statistics show that January-February accounted for $437 million, which had been a 42.81 per cent rise over $306 million in the first two months of 2021. Sihanoukville Special Economy Zone Co Ltd generally does not disclose the individual values…
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and Vietnam totalled $1.72205 billion in the first quarter of 2022, representing a 13.6 per cent increase from the $1.5153 billion recorded in the corresponding period last year, according to Customs. In January-March, Cambodian exports to Vietnam clocked in at $758.81 million, rising by 3.9 per cent year-on-year, and imports were to the tune of $963.23 million, a 22.7 per cent uptick, data from the finance ministry’s General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) show. This means Cambodia’s trade deficit with Vietnam over the quarter passed $204.4 million, marking a nearly fourfold expansion versus the same…
The occupancy rate of retail space in Phnom Penh dropped to 66.6 per cent in the first quarter of this year, down 0.4 percentage points from 67 per cent in October-December 2021, according to a report by real estate company CBRE Cambodia. This trend comes even as pandemic restrictions were phased out and the Kingdom battled to emerge from the shadow of Covid-19, and as the total retail space in the capital is expected to increase substantially this year. The report compared the first-quarter occupancy rate with the figures of the corresponding quarters in 2021 and 2020, respectively at 74.9…