The plant was closed temporarily in April 2010 due to high domestic cassava prices and a low final selling price on European markets. At the least 10,000 tones of domestic cassava is needed per month to produce ethanol, a compound that can be blended with petrol to reduce carbon emissions.

The plant will restart the process of its production in October which is the period of the annual seasonal harvest of cassava comes. And it is expected that the tapioca price will be going down at that time.

In addition, dry-chip cassava currently costs US$210 per tonne, about 45 percent more than US%145 per tonne last year. The price of the biofuel on the European market is still low, about US$500 per tonne.

“The price of ethanol goes hand-in-hand with the price of oil, so when oil prices go down, bio-ethanol goes down. There was no room for us to increase the price of ethanol in the EU market; that’s why we decided to stop production,” Kim Jung-ho, MH Bio-Energy Cambodia director of administration was quoted by the Post.

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During April 2010, the bilateral trade was estimated to total USD$386 million alone. Exchanged goods with neighboring countries were worth USD$914 million in the year to the end of April, increased 84 percent from USD$497 million for the first four months in 2009.

Lang Seng Hor, market manager for Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture-CEDAC- was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying that April is traditionally a strong month for trade due to economic spin-offs from agricultural harvests, including crops of rice, corn, cassava and beans.

FTPO showed figures that the total trade between the both nations dropped 22.15 percent to UDS$1.658 billion in 2009, from UDS$2.130 billion in 2008.

Products that Thailand has exported to Cambodian market are petroleum, processed goods, consumer products, building materials, fruits, vegetables and cosmetics. Products that Cambodia extorted Thailand are agricultural products, secondhand garments, recyclable metal and fish.

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Famed for its strong yet delicate aroma, Kampot pepper can range from intensely spicy to mildly sweet. Its unique flavour is thanks to a combination of factors found only in Kampot, says Jerome Benezech, the Director of Farmlink Ltd – a private Cambodian company that deals the development of regional agro-business.

Jerome Benezech, Director of Farmlink Ltd: “Kampot pepper” has a distinct flavor- it has a very fresh aroma with hints of eucalyptus and it lingers in the palate. Its unique flavor is due to a combination of Kampot’s rich soil, the climate in this area which is between the mountains and the sea, as well as the experience of several generations o f pepper farmers.”

Farmlink is currently working with 125 local farmers with the aim of doubling pepper production in five years. More than 20,000 pepper vines have been planted since 2003 – still a fraction of the one million grown during the French protectorate. Many pepper farmers like Ngnoun Lay come from generations of pepper growers.

Ngnoun Lay, Pepper Farmer: “Since I was born my mother and father grew pepper and now I do the same thing. In fact, we have grown peppers in my family for the last four generations. Whether the price is high or low I still plant pepper because, apart from growing rice, it’s all I’ve ever know.”

After harvesting, the peppercorns are dried in the sun before being carefully sorted by hand. Kampot pepper is the first Cambodian product to apply for Geographical indication (GI) protection similar to Champagne or Parmesan cheese. It would mean that only pepper actually grown in Kampot could use that name. The aim of GI status is to help promote it around the world, as well as protecting its quality. Angela Vestergaard, Farmlink’s marketing director, is leading the effort to secure GI status.

Angela Vestergaard, Marketing Director, Farmlink Ltd: “This idea behind the GI project is to protect the environment in this region and to make sure that Kampot pepper keeps its high quality and is not mixed with lesser quality peppers. We want the consumer to be guaranteed the highest quality and to be sure that what they are getting is authentic Kampot pepper.

Kampot pepper comes in four basic varieties – black, white, red and green – each with a unique aroma and intensity. It goes particularly well with fish dishes like this local favourite – fried snapper in Kampot pepper sauce.

Frits Mulder, a restaurant owner and food critic based in the capital Phnom Penh, says Kampot pepper is not like any ordinary pepper.

Frits Mulder, Restaurant Owner: “I think you can compare it to a good wine. If you drink ordinary wine all the time you will notice a big difference when you try a glass of something really good- the taste is better and it lingers in your mouth for longer. It’s the same with Kampot pepper. It’s ust not comparable with ordinary pepper.”

Growers are hopeful that if Kampot pepper can earn GI protection next year, the province can regain its status as one of the world’s premier pepper growing regions.

Information for this report was provided by APTN.

(The original artilce is from the Voice of Amerca news)

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Marketing graduate student Sao Hok, 25, who started his career as a broker for Teng Lay Company two years ago agrees with Vanthon. “You know, for the same goods we just change the figure and the date in the system because the same form is already there; then it is done. Before, I had to fill in the whole document every time.”

Vanthon and Hok are among more than 200 brokers who use the ASYCUDA (Automated System for Customs Data) office rein Sihanoukville International Port. The office has 15 computers linked to the Customs database. The program, which was installed in late 2006 to improve efficiency in trade facilitation and increase government revenue, is supported by the World Bank under the US$10 million Trade Facilitation Project.

Although Vanthon and Hok are full of praise for the way the computerized system helps them with their daily work, they say they would like to see more steps taken toward further trade facilitation. They, and many other brokers, would like to see the ASYCUDA system go online so that they can complete the paperwork from their own company offices. “It will help us more if the ASYCUDA system is installed on-line,” they said. “We would prefer not to have to come and wait to use one of the computer terminals in the Customs office here. Sometimes we have to queue.”

Roger Tan, Managing Director for the Thai-pare Garment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and the Secretary of Garment Manufacturers’ Association in Cambodia (GMAC) believed: “If the Government agrees to ASYCUDA going on-line, the time saving and efficiency of public service will increase many folds.”

The ASYCUDA program is one example of the progress made in Cambodia in the last few years towards trade facilitation. The time and cost of doing business in Cambodia has been decreased by recent changes such as the reduction of bureaucratic red tape and extensions to the tax holiday for newly arrived businesses.

Learning lessons from the past, and looking ahead towards an improved trade environment in Cambodia to attract investors, like the ASYCUDA program, are the goals of a new Trade Development Support Program (TDSP) to be launched on March 23, 2009. This program will assist government agencies to integrate with the international economy and to find new roads for doing business with Europe, Asia and America. TDSP focuses on legal reforms, investment regulation and trade facilitation.

“With global trade expected to shrink in 2009 for the first time in 27 years and Cambodia’s economy under real pressure, this program can help Cambodia attract more investors and can contribute to Cambodia’s growth,” Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Manager said.

The US$12.6 million grant for the TSDP is financed by donations from the European Union, the Danish government and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. It will be managed by the Cambodian Government through –the Ministry of Commerce – under the coordination of the World Bank in dialogue with development partners.

Roger Tan, Managing Director for the Thai-pare Garment Manufacturing Co.,Ltd. and the Secretary of Garment Manufacturers’ Association in Cambodia (GMAC), said Cambodia has many issues that need to be addressed, and he hoped the TDSP would make a significant contribution. He said the cost of predations in garment manufacturing remained high compared with competing countries. And in the current deteriorating world market conditions, garment buyers demand even quicker delivery.

“Cambodia will have difficulty to compete with the countries that have their own raw material supply,” he said. “Given the current difficult market situation, the demands for high skill and low cost are priorities to win market share.”

Mr. Tan suggested four main points should be considered. First, the government must seriously and immediately look into more trade facilitation. Second, the public sector must be informed of the need to compete with the rest of the world to survive. Third, persistent unrest and unreasonable demands on employers (especially at this difficult time) will force out investors and discourage new investments. Finally, the Government and the people of Cambodia must make short term sacrifices for long-term gains.

Discussing the transport sector, Chhim Sokan, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Cambodia Trucking Association and the President of Sokan Transport Co. Ltd, said the transport service industry also faced challenges. Most of the service his member companies provided was based on credit. When a client closed their business or ran away, there was no mechanism to ensure the service provider was paid, so the transport company ended up carrying a bad debt.

Another challenge, he said, is the unfair competition between registered companies and unregistered firms. The unregistered firm had an advantage, and the government should regulate to ensure a level playing field.

(Source: The World Bank Newsletter, April 2009)

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The program focuses on legal reforms, trade facilitation and product standards, and is designed to empower the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) to facilitate trade by improving regulations and internal processes. TDSP is part of the trade sector-wide approach (known as the Trade SWAp), which unites all activities funded by development partners to assist the RGC to enhance its trade potential. The Trade SWAp covers activities in different areas – from fisheries to rubber and tourism – through addressing legal reform, product and service development for exports and capacity development for trade, and takes on board many of the RGC’s ongoing re forms in such areas as decentralization and public finance management.

H.E. Dr. Cham Prasidh, Senior Minister, Minister of Commence, said in his  speech that, with support from development partners, the RGC believes the Trade SWAp will strengthen partnerships with the private sector.

“It is a strong commitment of the RGC to translate Aid for Trade into concrete actions that will contribute to a more robust private sector and overall income generation,” said Dr. Cham Prasidh, Senior Minister, Minister of Commence. “Since Cambodia is the first nation to apply a sector-wide approach in the trade sector, it is a proud moment for the Minister of Commerce and Development Partners to say that ‘The Trade SWAp is established officially today.”

“With global trade expected to shrink in 2009 for the first time in 27 years and Cambodia’s economy under real pressure, we need to find wider export markets and bigger investors for Cambodia,” said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Manager, “We aim to help Government agencies make business easy for local and foreign business people who want to contribute to Cambodia’s growth.”

“For us, it is important to help Cambodia benefit to the maximum extent from the duty-free access that it enjoys to the vast market of the European Union,” said Rafael Dochao Moreno, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Delegation of the European Commission. “Our $9 million contribution will go a long way to increasing Cambodia’s trade.”

Tom Barthel Hansen, Head of Representation, of Danida said: “Danida is proud to be a partner in this program – which has even more relevance now as we face a major global economic crisis.We  want to support the strengthening of Cambodia’s economic base and ensure that investors and local businesses are able to benefit from global trade.

This will be critical to sustaining growth into the future, and improving the livelihoods of many millions of Cambodians.”

Ayumi Fujino, Head of Regional UNIDO office said: “As the UN agency responsible for industrial development, UNIDO is committed to contribute to the enhancement of trade capacity in order for Cambodian business and industry sectors to fully participate in and benefit from the opportunities in the global market. It is our great pleasure, therefore, to be a part of this profound initiative made possible through a strategic alliance with the Government and development partners and to witness its commencement.”

(Source: The World Bank Newsletter, April 2009)

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According to the Cambodia Economic Watch, the rubber sector is expected to post a negative 2.6 percent growth rate in 2008 because old growth rubber trees have been replaced either by new trees that are still too young to produce raw rubber or other crops. Rubber growth is thus expected to remain flat in coming years.

Due to the effect of the world economic slowdown, the price of dry rubber has declined to US$ 1,300 per ton in the international market and US$ 1,200 per ton in the domestic market, but the price of bottom line for Cambodian rubber planters was US$ 700 per ton.

According to the official figure, Cambodia has 110,000 hectares of land to plant rubber trees. And the number is expected to increase up to 150,000 hectares in 2015.

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Many French chefs consider Kampot pepper the best in the world.

During the French colonial era, about one million pepper plants were grown in the province, mainly to produce pepper for export to France.

Famed for its strong, yet delicate, aroma, Kampot pepper can range from intensely spicy to mildly sweet.

Jerome Benezech, the director of Farmlink, which is working with local farmers to increase pepper production, says the pepper’s unique flavor is thanks to a combination of factors found only in Kampot.

He says Kampot pepper has a distinct flavor. It has a very fresh aroma with hints of eucalyptus and it lingers in the palate. He says its unique flavor is due to the combination of Kampot’s rich soil, the climate in this area which is between the mountains and the sea, as well as the experience of several generations of pepper farmers.

Under the Khmer Rouge government in the late 1970s, Kampot’s famous pepper plantations were uprooted and replaced with rice fields.

But in recent years the spice has been making a comeback and production is once again on the rise.

Farmlink works with 125 local farmers with the aim of doubling pepper production over the next five years.

More than 20,000 pepper vines have been planted since 2003 – still a fraction of the amount produced under the French.

Many pepper farmers like Ngnoun Lay come from generations of pepper growers:

He says since he was born his mother and father grew pepper and now he does the same thing. In fact, he says, they have grown pepper in his family for the last four generations. Whether the price is high or low he stills plant pepper because, apart from growing rice, it is all he has ever known.

Farmlink staff members say that while pepper requires more labor than growing rice, it is more profitable for farmers.

Kampot pepper is the first Cambodian product to apply for Geographical Indication protection similar to Champagne or Parmesan cheese. GI status means that only pepper actually grown in Kampot can use that name.

Angela Vestergaard, Farmlink’s marketing director, leads the effort to secure GI status. The aim is to help promote Kampot pepper around the world, and to protect its quality.

She says the GI project will protect the environment in this region and make sure that Kampot pepper keeps its high quality and is not mixed with lesser quality peppers. She says Farmlink wants the consumer to be guaranteed the highest quality and to be sure that what they are getting is authentic Kampot pepper.

Despite the economic slowdown, demand for Kampot pepper is growing, although more slowly than before.

But growers are hopeful that if Kampot pepper can earn GI protection next year, the province can regain its status as one of the world’s premier pepper growing regions.

(The original article is extracted from Voice of America)

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The program implementation will not only involve coordination between government ministries but will involve regular checks by the private sector in Cambodia. And all money will be used to tackle priority issues in diversifying the economy.

There are four components to the project:

• The first component of the project is trade policy formulation and implementation. This component will support the Government’s trade strategy, in particular: (i) technical barriers to trade and sanitary and photo-sanitary measures; (ii) trade facilitation; and (iii) other legal reforms and World Trade Organization obligations.

• The second component of the project is performance monitoring. This component will support to surveys and monitoring tools to assess progress in implementing the Government’s trade strategy and provide evidenced-based feedback.

• The third component of the project is institutional and human capacity. This component will support to the development of strengthened institutions, stronger incentives, and improved technical ability to formulate and implement the Government’s trade policy.

• The fourth component of the project is implementation support to TDSP. This component will support the development of the Ministry of Commerce’s implementation capacity to act as a Secretariat for the trade sector wide approach (SWAp) and program manager for the TDSP. This will include support to assist it in meeting its fiduciary responsibilities. This will also support other departments’ and agencies’ capacity in implementing the TDSP.

Cham Prasith, the ministry of commerce, said that this finance will be used to promote Cambodia’s trade sector, based on the small project and he added that what is important is that the money will be spent on the priority issues identified by the government. And the project will be based on three pillars- solving cross-cutting issues; promoting of export production and a focus on services; and improving institutional capacity.

During the workshop, World Bank Country Qimiao Fan said that in the present, Cambodia’s weak export controls and tough international export regulations required by developed nations are acting as a burden on Cambodia’s growth rate, he added that “one of the priorities that we have discussed with the government is the contribution that regulatory reform can make to the business climate, reported the Cambodia Daily.

Qimiao was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying that “I believe that we can and should make some quick wins by building on progress that has been made in several areas,” he added that “First, the government should further strengthen Cambodia’s regional integration with its close neighbours and ASEAN partners, and second, it should promote higher productivity and greater diversification in agriculture.”

In a bid to strengthen the economy and to boost exports to access the international market, the World Bank funded “Export Market Access Fund (EMAF)” US$ 1.6 million in grant, which is run by the ministry of commerce, in an attempt to help Cambodia-based companies and business associations over the 16 months.

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The report, presented Tuesday at a seminar in Phnom Penh, states that 207 “garment and footwear enterprises” employing 75,000 workers closed down between 2004 and 2008.

Although the report does not specify how many closed in 2008, it points to a sharp drop in purchase orders from the United States and the European Union as a principal factor that pushed factories into bankruptcy.

Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, told the Post Tuesday that 30 garment and footwear factories employing 27,000 workers closed in 2008.

Options for the unemployed
The report states that many of those who lost their jobs are “skilful employees” who have applied for new jobs at factories in Phnom Penh.

Others have opted to return to their home provinces, it states.

But Chea Mony said some unemployed workers were reluctant to leave the capital and had taken jobs in karaoke bars and beer halls.

Dr Vichet Lok, executive director of the NGO Cambodia Health Education Development, which works with garment factory workers in Phnom Penh, said a rising number of unemployed workers were considering indirect sex work, which would expose them to diseases including HIV/Aids.

(The original article is extracted from The Phnom Penh Post)

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Khaou Phallaboth, president of the firm’s Cambodian minority stakeholder, told the Post on Tuesday that Kampot Cement has already cut production by 10 percent since January and plans another 10 percent cut for the year.

“It is dependent on the market – now the market has dropped due to the economic downturn, the credit crunch, falling land prices and lower property investment,” he said.

“We are reducing our production to avoid oversupply, and we hope that by year’s end the economy, will be recovering,” he said adding that no layoffs were planned at the plant.

“We employ around 300 workers, and we do not plan to cut the workforce because we believe the crisis is temporary.”

Kampot Cement launched in January 2008 under a US$127 million joint venture with Thailand’s largest industrial conglomerate, Siam Cement Group (SCG). SCG controls a 90 percent share, and Cambodia’s Khaou Chuly Group holds the remainder. The plant produces one million tonnes of cement, he said.

Stock Exchange of Thailand-listed SCG reported a 2008 fourth-quarter loss of nearly $100 million in January, its first quarterly loss in 11 years.

Chhean Dara, manager of the $50-million Happiness City development in Phnom Penh, said cement consumption at his project has fallen.

“Early last year, we were using about 900 tonnes of cement per month but now, we have cut that to 200 to 300 tonnes a month,” said Chhean Dara.

The managing director of building materials supplier Lay Mong Leng Construction said that lower cement prices have failed to stimulate demand.

“Now a 50-kilogram sack of cement is only $4, but early last year, it was up to $5,” she said. “It is not only cement sales that have dropped – it is all construction materials.”

Falling demand for real estate has taken a toll on new building startups, according to the CEO of Bonna Realty, adding that sales were down 90 percent.

“We forecast that the real estate market will return to normal in 2010 or later. But even then, it will not rise to the level it was at during its peak,” said Sung Bonna.

(The original article is extracted from the Phnom Penh Post)

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