The Phnom Penh Post
Port plan to lower freight costs
A massive $300 million expansion of the Kingdom’s principal seaport announced this week will significantly improve supply chain logistics, reduce transport costs, and increase the competitiveness of Cambodian goods in international markets, private sector leaders said on December 29. Sin Chanthy, president of the Cambodia ...
Dolphin deaths slowing
The critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphin’s population in the Mekong is “stabilising”, the World Wildlife Fund said on December 27. With the sighting of 10 new dolphin calves and six reported deaths in the past year, 2016 saw a 30 percent drop in the mortality rate ...
Sky Angkor to stick with Airbus for expansion
Sky Angkor Airlines has abandoned a plan to lease two Russian Sukhoi aircraft after the deal proved “problematic,” and will instead look to use more conventional Airbus commercial jets to support its route expansion plans, a company executive said on December 27. The Korean-Cambodian airline ...
China poaches airport contract
The government has commissioned a Chinese consortium to build a new international airport for Siem Reap and formed a committee to determine how to compensate the French company that operates the city’s existing airport for prematurely ending its concession licence, according to documents obtained on ...
Angkor Air in another A320 deal
Cambodia Angkor Air, the Kingdom’s flag carrier, is expecting to receive delivery of a leased Airbus aircraft later this week as part of a previously unannounced deal with Dublin-based aircraft leasing and aviation finance company AerCap. The arrival of the Airbus A320 follows the delivery ...
Antibiotics prescribed ‘blindly’, doctors admit
Cambodian physicians, by their own admission, routinely prescribe antibiotics “inappropriately” based on habit and poor hygiene rather than evidence of an infection, a new study has found. The article, published by peer-reviewed science site BioMed Central last week, included research gleaned from focus group discussions ...
Media report of $10B debt incorrect: government
The government sought to set the record straight on December 22 after local media outlets erroneously reported that the Kingdom’s public debt had reached $10 billion at the end of 2015. Without naming which media outlets had published the skewed figure, which was shared widely on ...
Pheapimex ties ‘cause for concern’
Alex Corporation, the firm behind a proposal for an ambitious Mondulkiri mining project, appears to be ultimately owned by ruling party Senator Lao Meng Khin and his wife, Choeung Sopheap, the Post has discovered, a scenario rights groups say should give cause for concern. The ...
Chhin chides ministry on ELCs
Deputy Prime Minister Bin Chhin, the Kingdom’s top authority in charge of resolving land disputes, slammed the Ministry of Agriculture over “shameful” irregularities in granting economic land concessions at the Environment Ministry’s annual meeting on December 21. During yesterday’s meeting, Chhin accused the Ministry of ...
Plans spilt for oil refinery
A mysterious cluster of crude oil storage tanks recently constructed on the coast near Kampot are linked to a $400 million project by timber baron Try Pheap to build an industrial park and oil refinery, government officials confirmed on December 21. The five 2-million-litre tanks ...