Wednesday, 12 August 2009 15:01 Chun Sophal

The Original News from Phnom Penh Post

at: www.phnompenhpost.com

Farmers in Battambang and Kampong Cham provinces will have a new market for little-produced crop with $1-million export agreement to deliver 5,000 tonnes

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

A farmer in Kampot province this week holds kernels of red corn.

Tauch Tepich Import Export company said Tuesday that it had inked its first agreement with Saigon Trading Group (SATRA) to supply 5,000 tonnes of red corn, worth US$1million, to the Vietnam-based company this year.

Tauch Tepich, director of the import-export company, said he hoped the deal would open more doors.

“We hope that the export of red corn to Vietnam will provide opportunities for Cambodian farmers to win wider markets for their agricultural products,” he said.

According to the agreement signed last week, Tauch Tepich will begin supplying red corn to SATRA, at $200 per tonne, this month and continue through the rest of the year.

Tauch Tepich said Tuesday that the company will transport its first installment of 700 tonnes through two international border crossings in Trapaing Thlong and Phnom Da, both in Kampong Cham province.

Future exports are to be trucked to Vietnam each week until the balance of the agreement is reached, Tauch Tepich said, adding that if the process goes smoothly, his company could see continued cooperation with SATRA.

Tauch Tepich said Cambodia is well-suited to produce red corn, and that his company is capable of delivering an additional 5,000 tonnes next year if additional agreements are struck.

He added, however, that many farmers choose not to produce red corn because of a lack of appropriate markets and export options.

Tauch Tepich said his company had purchased the red corn from Cambodian farmers in several districts of Battambang and Kampong Cham provinces, with cooperation from the Baitong community, led by Phu Puy, president of the Battambang Chamber of Commerce.

Yang Saing Koma, director of the Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture, said Tuesday that Cambodia lacks markets for the crop every year, and that if proper agreements existed to export it, more farmers would be willing to invest in the crop.

Corn farmers generally see low profit margins because of the expense of importing quality seeds, Yang Saing Koma said, adding that private companies as well as the Ministry of Agriculture should provide more opportunities to farmers by preparing production plans and supplying seeds.
“I think that the export of red corn is a good step to assist our farmers in meeting market needs,” Yang Saing Koma said.

The export agreement with SATRA follows an announcement by the Ministry of Agriculture in June that South Korean company KOGID Cambodia will invest $150 million to grow and process corn for animal feed to be sold overseas.

Cambodian farmers planted about 141,264 hectares of red corn, with a total production output of 561,584 tonnes, in 2008, according to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture.

Ministry figures also showed that total corn production last year was 611,865 tonnes from 163,106 hectares of land, principally in Battambang, Pailin, Kampong Cham and Kandal provinces.

Cambodia launches new airline

Tuesday July 28, 2009

Source: ATW Daily News

Cambodia Angkor Air, a joint venture between the Cambodian government (51%) and Vietnam Airlines (49%), was launched at a Phnom Penh ceremony yesterday. Officials said the startup is capitalized at $100 million and will begin flying today to Siem Reap and Ho Chi Minh City with two ATR 72s, according to press reports from the capital. Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said the carrier will operate an A321 in the “near future,” and eventually will serve Sihanoukville and Bangkok. The country’s Royal Air Cambodge shut down in 2001.

HANOI, Jun 8, 2009 (Asia In Focus) — A joint venture between the PAUL CHAM CO LTD and the US-based PHI GROUP will invest US$51 million in a cement plant in Cambodia’s Stung Treng Province, it was announced on Wednesday. Phnom Penh-based Paul Cham is 51 per cent-owned by the Vietnam-headquartered T&T COMPANY.

* Paul Cham director Nguyen Thi Cham said the feasibility study for the cement project had been completed and that construction of the plant would start in July.

* The cement factory and limestone quarry in Stung Treng Province’s Thala Barivath District will turn out its first products early next year, she added.

Source: http://ki-media.blogspot.com/2009/06/vietnam-us-joint-venture-to-build.html

Vietnam-Cambodia ties focus on energy and mining

Source: http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/news/250807/domestic_vi.htm

Last updated: 22:28 – August 27, 2007

Vietnam-Cambodia industrial co-operation will focus on energy, mining and electricity, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The ministry said Vietnam has sold nearly 85 million kWh of medium-voltage electricity to Cambodia since 2002.

Under a contract signed between the Electricity of Cambodia (EDC) and the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) in 2002, Vietnam will provide the neighbouring country with a maximum capacity of 200 MW as of 2009.

Vietnam and Cambodia also signed a memorandum of understanding on developing feasibility studies for the 90MW Se San 1 and 420MW Se San 2 Hydropower Plants.

The Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) has carried out surveys of bauxite mines in Mondulkiri province and iron ores in Stung Treng province.

The group is working with Cambodian companies to boost co-operation in exploring other minerals such as limestone, coal and metal.

In the oil and gas field, the two countries is promoting co-operation and joint studies in the Tole’Sap lake waters. (VNA)

Source: http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/business/210807/business_v.htm

Nhan Dan – In these days, workers of the Machinery Installation JSC No 18, a subsidiary of the Vietnam Machinery Installation Corporation (LILAMA) are urgently completing and running on trial basis a clinker production line for the Kampot Cement Factory in Cambodia.

The factory has a capacity of 2,500 tonnes of clinker a year, equivalent to 900,000 tonnes of cement a year.

This is the first cement factory abroad the company has won in bidding for construction. Of the total 7,000 tonnes of machinery equipment manufactured and installed for the factory, 1,200 tonnes have been manufactured in Vietnam.

Domestically, the Machinery Installation JSC No 18 is manufacturing and installing over 4,200 tonnes of equipment for the two cement factories in Binh Phuoc and Tay Ninh.

Hanoi (Asia Pulse) — Three Vietnamese businesses have teamed up to kick-start a joint stock company that will cultivate rubber in Cambodia. Phu Rieng-Karatie Joint Stock has a total chartered capital of VND200 billion (US$12.4 million). The Vietnam Rubber Industry Group holds a 40 per cent stake in the company, with Phu Rieng Rubber and Da River coming in for 30 percent each. A 70 year lease on nearly 1,000 ha of land in Cambodia’s Karatie province was secured by the firm. Some 300 ha of land has been reclaimed and 100 ha is already having rubber trees.

Source: http://www.rubberworld.com

Wed Aug 8, 7:49 AM ET

PHNOM PENH (Reuters)-Cambodia and Vietnam are going to build a $100 million (49.2 million pounds) golf course straddling their border in a region heavily bombed by U.S. forces in their anti-communist war in the 1960s and 70s, officials said on Wednesday.

The “Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Golf Resort” to be developed jointly by Cambodia’s Bada Investment Co. and a Malaysian firm called VXL will take five years to build and will have nine holes in each country, as well as a 450-room five-star hotel.

A helicopter service will be able to carry visitors from Cambodia’s famed Angkor Wat temples to the resort, tourism minister Thong Khon said.

“After visiting Angkor, they can play golf before heading to swim at the beaches,” he told Reuters.

Cambodia leased five islands in the Gulf of Thailand for $627 million to six local companies and foreign investors to build tourist resorts. It now has two golf courses near Phnom Penh and two near Angkor.

The southeast Asian nation is fast putting the legacy of Pol Pot’s Killing Fields behind it, with economic growth in last two years at around 10 percent and foreign visitors climbing rapidly to the 2 million-a-year mark. 

Thursday June 21, 02:30 PM

Vietnam Co To Grow Sugarcane In Cambodia

HANOI, June 21 Asia Pulse – The Bien Hoa Sugar Company (BSJC) has decide to cultivate 2,000 ha of sugarcane in Cambodia’s Svay Rieng province to serve its future sugar refineries in southeastern Tay Ninh province.

The company has reached agreement on the project with authorities of Svay Rieng province, said BSJC Deputy General Director Tran Phuoc Anh on June 20, adding that the initiative is expected to bring a stable income to thousands of local workers.

Anh said that his company would supply capital and sugarcane cuttings, and transfer farming techniques to the farmers.

The firm is building a factory to produce sugar and sugared products in Chau Thanh district of Tay Ninh province which borders Svay Rieng.

BSJC is currently operating a sugar plant capable of processing 3,500 tonnes of sugarcanes per day in Tay Ninh province where it has developed 4,000 ha of cane crops.

(VNA)