Monday, 7 June 2010

The Phnom Penh Post News in Brief


via CAAI News Media

Exports drop on eurozone debt crisis

Monday, 07 June 2010 15:00 May Kunmakara

Cambodia’s exports declined by 18 percent in April compared with the month previous due to economic spillover from the Greek sovereign debt crisis, the Ministry of Commerce said. The domestic garment sector was slowed by falling European consumption in April caused by Greece’s woes, Department of Statistics and Information director Kong Putheara said. “Many neighbouring European countries were impacted by the Greek crisis, lowering people’s demand and drawing our total exports down,” he said. Of April’s US$198 million in total exports, $175 million were garment products, according to Ministry of Commerce statistics. Garment exports to the European Union declined by 18 percent in April, along with a 3 percent fall in shipments to the US and a 33 percent drop to other markets, its figures show. However, year-on-year exports rebounded 9.48 percent from $181 million in April 2009. Kong Putheara said overall positive trends for the Kingdom’s exports as a recovering global economy caused an increase in demand. “People [in international markets] are starting to gets jobs, so they have money to afford our products,” he said.

S'pore to open SME office in Phnom Penh

Monday, 07 June 2010 15:01 Jeremy Mullins

SINGAPORE’S Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) plans to open its first business centre abroad in Phnom Penh next year, according to Channel NewsAsia. The centre aims to explore investment opportunities, particularly in infrastructure and education. Claiming Singapore’s SMEs often lag rivals such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea in exploring foreign opportunities, the association would aim to facilitate early entrance to the Kingdom. “We think that in the next five years, Cambodia would be the next big thing, possibly even as big as Vietnam and being relatively untapped. This is the right time to be in Cambodia right now,” ASME CEO Bryan Teh was reported as saying. The report estimated there was over US$200 million in bilateral business opportunities, and said there is currently no Singapore representative or assistance in the Kingdom. ASME and the Singapore embassy were unavailable for comment Sunday.

Sex Crime: Kratie man arrested for killing child

Monday, 07 June 2010 15:01 Kim Yuthana

Sex Crime

Kratie provincial officials on Thursday arrested and charged a man with the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl whose body was found hanging from a tree in the forest near her home on March 30. Keo Samnang, 19, was arrested Thursday and sent to provincial court the next day. He was accused of raping and murdering the girl on March 28. Provincial prosecutor Chat So Reasmey said the man is being held at Kratie provincial prison. “He was sent to provincial prison for further investigation,” she said. Thim Narin, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said the number of rape cases in Kratie had not been calculated for the month of May. But in April, she said that she had counted seven rape cases for the first four months of the year, compared to just three for the same period in 2009.

No comments: