Saturday, June 23, 2012

The promise of pork

While the Kingdom’s biggest industrial pig farming company is seeing steady growth as the nation’s population and hunger for pork grows, small pig farmers are having a hard time of it in the face of fluctuating prices and lowercost imports from Thailand, according to experts and insiders who came to a recent briefing session in Phnom Penh on the swine industry.

Last year, pig production reached over two million head, up slightly from 2010, but that is down from 2.7 million in 2006.

The raising of pigs has a long tradition in Cambodia and is still one of the most important livestock-related sectors in the country, even considered by many only second to rice cultivation.

To be continue...

Source: http://www.etmcambodia.com/blog.php?article=476

Sweet deal

Canadian firm to grow natural sweetener in Kampong Speu

Stevia Nutra Corporation, a Canadian agro-business company, has announced its decision to grow stevia in Cambodia’s Kampong Speu province. The company will grow the plant, whose leaves are used as a sweetener or sugar substitute, on just over 20 hectares of land close to Phnom Penh.


Stevia Nutra has incorporated Mighty Mekong Agro Industries Co. Ltd, a Cambodia- based wholly owned subsidiary, which it says will allow the company to capitalize on significant labor and technical advantages as well as provide access to prime fertile lands, potentially in other areas of the Mekong River sub-region as well.

To be continue...

Source: http://www.etmcambodia.com/blog.php?article=481

Paddy potential

Indonesian rice sector representatives in Cambodia on fact-finding mission

Earlier this month, 60 representatives of the Indonesian rice industry as well as that country’s commerce ministry visited the factory belonging to Golden Rice (Cambodia), a leading rice miller in the Kingdom, to explore the potential for rice exports to the sprawling archipelago.


“Cambodia right now is a big rice exporting country and Indonesia is a big rice importing country,” said Benny A. Kusbini, chairman of the National Board of Indonesian Farmers’ Union. “Our group has come to look at how both countries can cooperate on rice,” he said.

Be to be continue...

Source: http://www.etmcambodia.com/blog.php?article=469

Monday, June 4, 2012

Exploratory study

Firms from the Chinese city of Liuzhou eye opportunities in Cambodia

Representatives from six large companies based in the city of Liuzhou in China’s southern Guangxi province recently visited Cambodia looking for investment opportunities and local business partnerships. The trade mission was led by Zheng Junkang, mayor of the city.


The six Chinese firms—Liugong Machinery Co., Liuzhou Chemistry Co., Liuzhou Tang Lili Import and Export Co., Liuyi Chemical Industry Co., Liuzhou OVM Machinery Co., and Liuzhou City Wei Ermu Prestressing Co.—are active in the machinery, automotive, iron and steel, fertilizer and chemical industries.

For more information, please visit http://www.etmcambodia.com/blog.php?article=456 
or Economics Today Magazine, Issue 122

Sunday, June 3, 2012

ADB Institute Opens Developing Asia Journalism Awards Competition


The Asian Development Bank Institute today opened the 2012 Developing Asia Journalism Awards (DAJA) competition with a call for submissions of articles by journalists working in developing Asia and the Pacific.


"The DAJA competition is a unique opportunity to highlight the significant contribution of journalism and individual journalists to the development process in Asia," said Masahiro Kawai, Dean and CEO of the Asian Development Bank Institute, in opening the competition.
"Asian economies are changing rapidly," he said. "By providing clear and well-informed news reporting and analysis journalists play an important role in every society by helping the public better understand the issues and events shaping their future."

DAJA 2012 will focus on a critical question facing Asia and the Pacific: "Green Growth – or Growth versus Green?"

The Asia-Pacific growth and development story over the past five decades is unprecedented. And the rapid transformation of economies is continuing. But the process of rapid growth and rising prosperity has been resource and energy intensive. In many places the impacts on the environment have been severe. Often the poor and vulnerable suffer the greatest consequences.

It is now widely accepted that a new growth path is needed. Environmental damage is no longer viewed as an acceptable trade-off for economic expansion. Countries, cities, communities, and individuals around the region are acting on this belief.

"The choices are not easy. Economic growth is important. It creates jobs and raises resources to fund education, health, and other social programs critical to long-term development. But a business-as-usual scenario is no longer viable. Asia needs to find a new, sustainable way to grow and develop," said Mr. Kawai. "We hope the DAJA competition can explore this complex challenge through the work of journalists who are trying to understand and explain such issues better every day."

DAJA 2012 will highlight the opportunities, challenges, and solutions being uncovered as Asia and the Pacific seek a path to sustainable growth. Journalists are invited to submit published articles that explore the interaction between populations and the environment across the region.
  • Can economies maintain rapid growth without damaging the environment?
  • How are the development decisions and actions of communities, cities, and countries affecting the environment?
  • What are individuals, community leaders, business people, politicians, the judiciary, governments and others doing to improve the balance between man and nature?
  • How will the promotion of Green Growth impact efforts to alleviate poverty?

Possible topic areas include issues such as climate change (droughts, flooding, sea-level rise, etc.); energy use/efficiency; renewable energy; water, waste, and forest management; sustainable transport; pollution; urban development; and others.


In assessing submissions an international panel of judges will give special focus to stories that investigate how these issues are impacting the lives of the poor—the 1.8 billion Asians living on less than $2 a day—and stories that explore new ideas or approaches to managing environmental challenges that may be of use to others in Asia and the Pacific.

The deadline for submission of articles to DAJA 2012 is 31 August 2012.

The panel of judges will select 25 finalists. Cash prizes will be awarded to one Winner, one First Runner-up, one Second Runner-up and one Young Development Journalist of the Year (under age 30 as of 31 August 2012). All finalists will be invited to the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo in November 2012 for a special DAJA forum and awards ceremony.
If you are interested in participating in the DAJA 2012 program, please register online. When you have registered, you will be sent instructions by email on how to login to your account to submit articles.


For information on competition rules and mechanics, as well as information on how to submit articles, journalists should visit the ADB Institute web site: ADBI Journalism Awards.


Vim and vigor


World Bank presents rosy outlook for Cambodian economy

Cambodia’s economy still shows signs of vigorous health despite the slowdowns in the key export markets of the United States and European Union, according to a report issued by the World Bank, which forecast the Kingdom’s GDP would grow by 6.6 percent in 2012.


6.6 percent in 2012. In its East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, released on May 23, the World Bank predicted slightly higher growth rates than the Cambodian government, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), all of which predicted the Kingdom’s economy would expand by 6.5 percent this year.

The report found that growth would be even higher in 2013, forecasting a 6.7-percent rate, slightly lower than the ADB’s forecast of 7 percent.

For more information, please visit http://www.etmcambodia.com/blog.php?article=444
or Economics Today Magazine, Issue 121

Giving them a fair shake

The Fair Trade certification aims to improve the status of producers in Cambodia

For Men Sinoeun, executive director of the Artisans’ Association of Cambodia, the problems facing craftspeople, artisans and small-scale producers in the country are many—they do not enjoy legal protections, market access or subsidies offered by some other countries. Their incomes are usually low and they often work in conditions that are poor, at best.


That is why his group is strongly promoting Fair Trade, a certification system that aims to ensure that producers receive a fair price for their products and that they adopt social and environmental standards which are sustainable. Products with the World Fair Trade Organization label are supposed to meet 10 principles, including fair trading practices, fair price, no child or forced labor, good working conditions, etc. On May 11, his group hosted an event to promote the Fair Trade to more producers and organizations in Cambodia.

For more information, please visit http://www.etmcambodia.com/blog.php?article=424
or Economics Today Magazine, Issue 120

Super Stalks


Bamboo could be basis for sustainable industry

Bamboo, one of the world’s fastest-growing plants, is used extensively in many parts of Asia for everything from food to musical instruments and furniture. But according to organizers of a recent conference on bamboo’s potential, the plant could form the basis of a sustainable and multifaceted industry, providing everything from materials for construction to fibers for the Kingdom’s garment industry and acting as a powerful weapon in the fight against climate change.


and traditionally, indigenous communities have made wide use of this largest member of the grass family for the construction of floating houses, or pens for aquaculture and livestock, according to Jeevanandhan Duraisamy, a climate change officer with UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and a speaker at the Bamboo Green Growth and Carbon Finance Conference in Phnom Penh.

Most fishing nets used in the Tonle Sap River are made using bamboo while Cambodians have long employed the material in cooking or building grain storage structures and fencing. Traditionally, ladders and furniture have been made with bamboo; it has also been burnt as fuel.

For more information, please visit http://www.etmcambodia.com/blog.php?article=396
or Economics Today Magazine, Issue 119

Finding new potential in the paddies


Cambodia prepares to conduct agriculture census

With US$1 million in aid from Australia, Cambodia is preparing to conduct the nation’s first agriculture census— a thorough study of the Kingdom’s agricultural sector which will research strategies to improve its performance. The entire cost of the project, set to be completed this year, will be US$7 million, according to Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun.


Penny Richards, Australian ambassador to Cambodia, said the census will provide vital data on Cambodia’s agriculture ector which will be used to improve policies and programs to address the needs of Cambodian farmers. The aim is to improve yields and reduce rural poverty. Cambodia is still largely an agricultural country, with between 75 percent and 80 percent of the population working in the sector.

For more information, please visit http://www.etmcambodia.com/blog.php?article=411
or Economics Today Magazine, Issue 119

“Cambodia’s potential for EU businesses is considerable”


Interview with EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht

The European Union is ASEAN’s largest export market and the Asian bloc’s second-biggest trading partner. The EU is also ASEAN’s biggest investor. In 2010, it injected around US$17 billion in the region. Still, there is a lot of untapped potential, according to Karel De Gucht, the EU’s trade commissioner, for both ASEAN-EU and EU-Cambodian trade ties. Economics Today asked him about the future of trade between the two regions and his thoughts on Cambodia’s investment climate.


You have talked about the establishment of a free-trade agreement between ASEAN and the EU. Why do you want to see such a deal?

The ASEAN and the EU are the two major regional integration initiatives in the world, making them natural partners. I am convinced that a region-to-region deal would bring the most advantages to both EU and ASEAN exporters, industries and consumers. Indeed, a regional FTA would provide businesses on both sides with access to a large market based on consistent conditions and enhance not only inter- but also intra-regional trade. In stepping up our trade relations, we would provide new opportunities for importers, exporters and consumers as well as stimulate growth in both economies.

For more information, please visit http://www.etmcambodia.com/blog.php?article=416
or Economics Today Magazine, Issue 119