Investvine

As the coronavirus pandemic bites and export numbers drop, garment manufacturing companies in Cambodia have asked the government to consider a temporary suspension of the minimum wage of $190 to help the sector steering through difficult times, Nikkei Asian Review reported.

7-Eleven Cambodia is finally setting up shop.

A surprise announcement by Cambodia’s central bank on May 29 that it plans to phase out the circulation of small-denominated US dollar bills has caused confusion for businesses, street vendors and consumers alike in the country.

The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) saw its sixth listing on May 25 as shares of Cambodia’s largest commercial lender, Acleda Bank, started trading unperturbed by the current economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Japan’s convenience store chain 7-Eleven is entering the Cambodian market after it signed a master franchise agreement with CP ALL (Cambodia) Co. Ltd., an indirect subsidiary of CP ALL Public Co. Ltd. of Thailand, to open and operate 7-Eleven stores in Cambodia as soon as next year despite current widespread economic disruptions from the coronavirus crisis.

A number of Asian regional and international airlines have begun resuming flights to Cambodia’s international airports in May, albeit under strict biosecurity guidelines in an attempt to revive themselves from the worst period in aviation history.

Looking at the arena of financial technology startups in Southeast Asia gives a much-needed relief from the coronavirus madness currently rampant in the region.

Cambodia’s beach resort of Sihanoukville, which saw a boom in investments in casinos and hotels from China since 2016, is suffering from the fallout of a mass exodus of Chinese after an online gambling ban came into force on January 1 this year.

The World Economic Forum (WEF)’s competitiveness ranking for 2019 is out and shows remarkable improvement for four Southeast Asian countries, namely Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei and Singapore, while others declined.

Cambodia has ambitious plans to increase the number of tourism arrivals from six million in 2018 to 12 million by 2025 as it builds two new airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap and renews, enlarges and modernises the one in Sihanoukville.