Month: February 2021

The Cambodian government is providing free vaccinations against COVID-19 to all foreigners living and working in the Kingdom.

This was disclosed in a circular dated February 24, 2021, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to diplomatic missions in Phnom Penh and the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator.

The ministry in the circular said: “All foreign nationals who are currently residing and working in Cambodia can get vaccinated against COVID-19 at no charge in accordance with Cambodian COVID-19 vaccination plans”.

More details on the process of vaccinating foreigners will be released in the future, it said.

The Australian Embassy also posted the news on its Facebook page, confirming that foreigners were eligible for vaccinations.

“Australia is pleased that foreign nationals who are living or working in Cambodia will be able to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in line with Cambodia’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout. This is both a compassionate decision and a smart one because broad vaccine coverage across all groups in Cambodia will ultimately help protect everyone from COVID-19,” it said.

A British expat who requested anonymity told Khmer Times she would accept a vaccine for free from the government because it could help get her life back to normal.

An Australian expat in the food and beverage industry said he would also get a vaccine for free if offered.

He added that he is pro-vaccination and didn’t agree with those who would doubt the effectiveness or importance of getting vaccines.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh on Wednesday said it had received information that Sinopharm vaccines were being sold on the black market for between $120 and $450.

The Ministry of Health denied the report, however.

The Chinese Embassy said Chinese residents of Cambodia alerted the embassy to texts received promising vaccines if they paid $120.

Posts on Chinese social media indicated that vaccines were being sold for $450 as well.

According to Fresh News, the story first broke on Angkor Times and was spread on WeChat, saying “Cambodia sells China-aided COVID-19 vaccines at a high price.”

The embassy also said that according to their understanding of the situation, the Cambodian government and military store the vaccines and that there was no way it could have slipped through to the open market. It said any messages proposing to have the vaccine are fake.

The Chinese Embassy added that the vaccines are monitored closely and follow strict guidelines related to storage and transportation. It also noted that vaccines obtained on the black market and vaccinations administered by non-professionals pose health risks.

To date, 10,115 civilians have been vaccinated in Cambodia. The country received 600,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China on February 7 and shipments of the Oxford/AstraZenca vaccine are expected to arrive in Cambodia by the end of this month, according to World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Cambodia Dr Li Ailan.

The country’s vaccination drive began on February 10. Of the 600,000 doses, 300,000 were given to the Ministry of Defence to inoculate armed forces, dignitaries, senior ministers, governors, secretaries, and undersecretaries of state. The Ministry of Health was given the other half of vaccinations to be used by health officials and journalists.

The Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (PPSEZ) saw year-on-year revenue grow by nearly 36 percent to more than $4.2 million, according to its quarterly report released on Monday.

The firm reported an unaudited pre-tax profit of $560,793, marking a 26 percent gain over the same period in 2019.

Total assets increased slightly to $94.947 million, while total liabilities remained largely unaffected, remaining in the $38.8 million range.

According to the year-end report, the firm had more than $1.622 million in liquid assets, up from $1.433 million in 2019. The firm paid in excess of $388,000 in interest expense on loans during the three-month period. Total interest on loans accounted for more than $1.45 million of the firm’s financial costs incurred during 2020.

Earnings per share decreased significantly over the 12-month period, falling to $0.01 from the $0.20 cents achieved in 2019.

PPSEZ share prices saw a steep 47.5 percent decline over Q4, falling from $0.55 to $0.29 by the quarter’s end.

PPSEZ’s shares price fell 30 riels per share Monday following the report’s release. It closed at 1,510 riels ($0.37) per share at the end of Monday’s trading on the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX). This reduced the company’s market cap over the course of the day by $528,947 to $26.61 million.

Despite the ongoing pandemic and its impact on manufacturing, the report did show that income revenue from rentals in the PPSEZ increased during the quarter.

Rental income increased by more than $1 million from the same period in 2019, bringing in over $517,000 of revenue for the firm. Income from the sale of land was the firm’s largest revenue generator for the quarter, exceeding $2.28 million. Services rendered to firms operating in the PPSEZ generated $857,000.

The company derived $548,000 in rental income from Colben Energy (Cambodia), which operates a heavy fuel oil-fired power plant in the area. Colben in turn was paid $429,010 by PPSEZ for electricity purchases.

PPSEZ is among 17 operating special economic zones in Cambodia. There are a total of 36 zones approved for operations in the Kingdom in the future.

The firm announced earlier this year that it had established three new subsidiaries. These include PPSEZ II, a second with Sahas Property Co Ltd for further property development and a third with Japanese firm Gomi Recycle (Phnom Penh) Co Ltd in a partnership for solid waste management.

The report was reviewed by Baker Tilly (Cambodia) Co Ltd. The firm said that because reviews cover less in scope than audits, it was not aware of any significant matters that might be identified in a more comprehensive audit.

Shares of PPSEZ, which trade under the ticker PPSP on the Cambodia Securities Exchange, finished yesterday’s trading up 20 riels to close at 1,530 riels per share ($0.38).

The Government of Japan has agreed to provide $754,321 to support the areas of education and agriculture in Cambodia, under the framework, The Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO Projects.

The Grant Contract was signed Friday between Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia Mikami Masahiro, and the representatives of recipient organisations, it added.

According to the press release, some $371,479 of the total amount will be given to Non-Profit Organisation Hearts of Gold Hearts of Gold to carry out the ‘Project on Developing 4-year University of Physical Education Course at National Institute of Physical Education and Sport (Year 2)’ by improving curriculum, training teachers and installing facilities for physical education.

Through this project, approximately 65 staff and 300 teacher trainees in the institute will be able to gain better learning environment for physical education. Also over 930,000 students in Cambodia are expected to receive more effective physical education.

For its part, the International Volunteers of Yamagata (IVY) will receive about $382,842 for the project ‘Support to the smallholder farmers through contract farming of organic cashew nuts through Agriculture Cooperation (Year 3)’.

In this project, IVY will promote organic cashew nuts cultivation and cooperative marketing among farmers in Preah Vihear province to increase their income and improve their quality of life.

For the final year of this three-year project, three newly added Agricultural Cooperatives (AC) besides ongoing 10 ACs will aim to obtain an organic certification and to establish a lasting production process control system that enables each AC to become an executing entity of continued cooperative marketing and production process management after the project period.

The Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO Projects started in Cambodia in 2002 to support activities by Japanese NGOs to help Cambodia’s reconstruction and development efforts at the grassroots level.

Since 2002, the Government of Japan has provided over $42 million for 133 projects, mainly in the fields of primary education, health, agriculture and mine clearance in Cambodia.

Cambodia and Japan will organise the 21st Public-Private Sector Meeting on Feb. 11 to further boost Japanese investment in Cambodia.

The upcoming meeting will be co-chaired by Sok Chenda Sophea, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister and Secretary General of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), and Mikami Masahiro, Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia.

According to a CDC’s announcement, the bilateral meeting is part of the Aftercare-service mechanism which gives Japanese investors the opportunity to address challenges and make request to representatives of the Cambodian ministries/agencies to review and take appropriate actions so as to promote Japanese investment in Cambodia as well as to improve investment and business environment in Cambodia.

The 21st Cambodia-Japan Public-Private Sector Meeting will be held under the framework of the Agreement between the Kingdom of Cambodia and Japan for the Liberalisation, Promotion and Protection of Investment signed by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on June 14, 2007, it pointed out.

The Cambodia-Japan Joint Committee Meeting has been organised biannually and the first meeting was held on Aug. 11, 2009.