Agro-forestry-fishery exports generate 25.7 billion USD in 8 monthsThe agro-forestry-fishery sector raked in 3.13 billion USD from exports in August, raising the total value in the first eight months of this year to 25.7 billion USD, up 7.3 percent year-on-year. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the best performers in the period included rice, fruit and vegetables, key forestry products and seafood. Exports to major markets like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Republic of Korea (RoK), China, the US and Japan increased significantly over the past eight months. The country exported about 4.4 million tonnes of rice worth 2.2 million USD between January-August, up 6.8 percent in volume and 22.1 percent in value from the same period last year. In August alone, 441,000 tonnes valued at 209 million USD was shipped abroad. China remained Vietnam’s largest rice importer, making up 24.7 percent of the market … [Read more...] about BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 2/9
Phnom penh post business
BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 30/8
E-commerce key for farm exportersVietnamese enterprises should take advantage of e-commerce development to boost exports of farm produce to China, experts said at a meeting on Sunday in HCM City.Wen Xi Chen, economic counselor at the Chinese Consulate General in the city, said Vietnamese enterprises should cooperate with well-known Chinese e-commerce enterprises to open online stores of high-quality farm produce for export to China.While e-commerce has narrowed the production and consumption gap, and extended consumer markets, traditional sale channels have not updated market information regularly, he said.To develop e-commerce for agricultural products, logistics service, traceability and human resources should ensure product quality, he added.Nguyen Hoang Anh, member of the Advisory Council for Reform, who is also vice president of the Digital Agriculture Association (DAA) Viet Nam, said China remained a major market for agricultural products exported from Viet Nam due to similarity … [Read more...] about BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 30/8
With Cambodia’s free press under fire, ‘China model’ makes inroads
As Cambodia's once-robust press freedom comes under attack, Chinese-linked outlets have found new footing ahead of July elections, pushing the country's media toward an authoritarian model - and bolstering strongman Hun Sen's tight grip on power. Critical coverage is increasingly drowned out by gushing pro-government tirades and pro-Beijing content as China extends its influence beyond business into Cambodia's press. At the forefront of this shift is government-friendly website Fresh News. The owner Lim Chea Vutha, in a crisp suit and flashy ring, welcomes Beijing's support with open arms, namely in the form of sponsored trips to China. "As a Cambodian citizen, I declare that I support China, I support Chinese investment in Cambodia," the 38-year-old told AFP in the company's modern newsroom, as dozens of young reporters huddled over computers nearby. Several of his employees have been treated to reporting trips on Beijing's dime, he said, and he travelled there in early June. In … [Read more...] about With Cambodia’s free press under fire, ‘China model’ makes inroads
More walkouts over new ownership of embattled Cambodian newspaper
Seven more journalists resigned from Cambodia's embattled Phnom Penh Post on Tuesday as foreign staff revolt against new ownership accused of crushing the newspaper's independence. Concern over the fate of the English-language daily has been mounting since it was sold on Saturday to a Malaysian investor whose PR firm once worked for Cambodia's authoritarian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Hun Sen's government has taken a hammer to the fragile democracy's once-vibrant media scene over the past year, leaving the Post as one of few remaining watchdogs in the graft-riddled country. The paper's main rival, the Cambodia Daily, and dozens of radio stations were shuttered last year as part of a wider crackdown on critics ahead of 2018 polls that Hun Sen is determined to win. Now many fear the Post's independence will be compromised under a newowner, Sivakumar Ganapathy, who is the CEO of a public relations firm that lists Hun Sen as a former client. On Monday the paper's Cambodian editor-in-chief and … [Read more...] about More walkouts over new ownership of embattled Cambodian newspaper
Cambodia, Myanmar frontier for VN firms: experts
Cambodia and Myanmar offer huge investment opportunities in the agricultural sector for Vietnamese firms, experts said. The two countries have made a successful switch from a centrally planned economy to a market-oriented one, and their productivity has increased significantly while labour costs remain competitive. Speaking at a seminar in HCM City on Thursday on the opportunities for agricultural investment in Cambodia and Myanmar, Meach Yady, chief of agricultural marketing at Cambodia’s Department of Planning and Statistics, said agriculture accounts for 25 per cent of his country’s GDP and gets special attention from the Government. It has also adopted policies to encourage businesses from Viet Nam and other countries in the region to invest in its agriculture, he said. Cambodia is a promising market for Vietnamese firms, who can invest in growing and processing fruits and vegetables, cassava, maize, mung beans, and seeds, animal feed production, dairy farming and … [Read more...] about Cambodia, Myanmar frontier for VN firms: experts