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An Airbus A320-232, operated by charter firm Small Planet Airlines Poland, is seen in Burgas airport, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/Bulphoto Agency
Low-cost carrier Small Planet Airlines is planning a direct flight between Siem Reap and Tokyo, with the maiden flight likely to take off early next year, an official at the Ministry of Tourism said.

Top Sopheak, spokesman at the ministry, said that Small Planet Airlines will launch a direct flight between Siem Reap International Airport and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport in the beginning of 2019.

“Small Planet Airlines has announced recently in Japan that they will start flying from Narita to Siem Reap in an attempt to increase the number of visitors from Japan to Cambodia and vice versa,” Mr Sopheak said.

Small Planet Airlines will be the second carrier to connect the countries with a direct flight. In 2016, All Nippon Airways (ANA) launched its Phnom Penh-Narita route.

Sin Chansereyvutha, spokesman at the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, said he has not been informed by the company of its plans, but that the airline has every right to operate the route.

“We gave them the Air Operator Certificate last year, so if they want to start flying to a new destination, they just need to inform us so that we can contact the destination and facilitate the process,” Mr Sinsereyvutha said.

Ho Vandy, secretary-general of Cambodia National Tourism Alliance, welcomed the prospect of a new flight between Cambodia and Japan.

“With ANA’s direct flight from Tokyo to Phnom Penh, the number of Japanese visitors rose dramatically, as well as the number of Cambodians travelling to Japan. This new flight will further boost those numbers,” Mr Vandy said.

Sorry, this entry is only available in JP.

A Lion Air airplane is seen parked at the tarmac of Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta February 20, 2015. REUTERS/Beawiharta
Local tour operators and tourism associations are exploring potential tourism markets in Indonesia and urged both the Indonesian and Cambodian governments to facilitate direct flights between the two countries.

Speaking at the ‘Sales Mission 10 Indonesia Branding Destination’ in Cambodia on Friday, Chhay Sivlin, president of Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA), said Indonesia is the top five tourism destinations for Cambodian tourists.

Ms Sivlin said outbound Cambodian tourists to Indonesia and from Indonesia to Cambodia has increased recently compared to the past few years. She said this was due to the fact that Indonesia has promoted their tourism destinations in Cambodia as they found that Cambodians showed interest in visiting foreign countries, especially the neighboring nations.

“Indonesia is a new destination for Cambodian tourists. We saw the number of both countries’ tourist arrivals increasing,” Ms Sivlin said, adding that, “Indonesia is a big market for Cambodia. We want to grab this market, and push for more direct connectivity. Currently, we rely on Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore for air transits,” she said.

The event was organized by the Ministry of Tourism of Indonesia in collaboration with Cambodia’s Tourism Ministry, CATA and Embassy of Indonesia in Cambodia.

Veng Sam Ol, managing director of Khmer World Connection Tours, a tour company sending tourists to Indonesia told Khmer Times the outbound traffic from Cambodia to Indonesia has immense potential with its attractive places to lure Cambodians.

Mr Sam Ol said his company’s tour packages are mostly designed for wedding, honeymoon, family and others. A week visit to Indonesia would cost $1,000 with demand increasing for this destination.

However, he said the poor connectivity and absence of direct flights are the main issues.

“We encountered the challenges with flights as we have to transit in Malaysia or Singapore Therefore, It is difficult to attract both tourist from Cambodia to Indonesia and Indonesia to Cambodia.

“More Cambodians will travel to Indonesia if there are direct flights. This is the main complaint that we get from potential travellers,” Mr Samol said.

CATA president Sivlin echoed Mr Samol’s views on the absence of direct flights. She said it is a challenge for Cambodia, which is missing out on Indonesia’s vast marketplace. She said though there are flights connecting to Indonesia via Singapore or Malaysia, they are not good enough. “We have to wait hours or sometimes a day long to reach Indonesia.”

Indonesian Tourism Ministry`s deputy assistant for marketing development region I, Ibu Masruroh, said the total number of Cambodians traveling to Indonesia increased from 5,000 in 2016 to 6,000 in 2017, while there were 49,000 Indonesians visiting Cambodia in 2017.

World Bank senior economist Miguel Eduardo Sanchez Martin speaks at the event. KT/Chor Sokunthea
The World Bank, citing up-beat investor sentiment and a rise in exports, has revised the country’s economic growth upward, estimating it will be 7 percent in 2018, a 0.1 percent increase from an earlier prediction in April.

Other international financial institutions have also issued similar forecasts for the Cambodian economy, with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) putting national growth at 7 percent and 7.25 percent respectively this year.

The World Bank, according to its East Asia and Pacific report released yesterday, said economic growth is driven mainly by external demand, exports, rising government spending, and an up-beat investor sentiment.

The report added that garment, travel goods, and footwear exports increased 16.1 percent year-on-year during the first half 2018, up from 8.3 percent recorded at the end of 2017. Consistent with this trend, fabric imports, largely used as inputs for garment production, grew at 37.1 percent during the first six months of 2018.

It said tourist arrivals reached 3 million in the first half of the year, representing a 13.6 percent increase compared to 11.8 percent in 2017, adding that the rise is driven by a surge in tourist arrivals by air from China.

The report says capital inflows continue to increase, and the external position remains stable. The current account deficit slightly widened in the first half of 2018, but was entirely financed by foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows.

Speaking at a press conference, Miguel Eduardo Sanchez Martin, senior economist of the World Bank in Cambodia, said strong growth in garment, travel goods, and footwear exports was partly supported by the agreement between Cambodia and the United States on travel goods in 2016. Under the deal, Cambodia can export travel goods to the US duty-free.

He said 2018 saw a strong and stable foreign direct investment inflow, steady currency deposit movement and expects FDI to peak this year.

“Cambodia is an attractive destination for FDI from all countries because of the ‘dollarised’ economy. Chinese investors in Cambodia who are looking for opportunities in the real estate and manufacturing sectors are attracted by cheap labor force and the relative close proximity to China. The ties between the two countries have also encouraged more Chinese investors to come to Cambodia.

“As global demand peaks this year, growth in Cambodia is expected to remain robust, easing modestly to 6.8 percent in 2019 and 2020. Strong economic growth is expected to result in continued poverty reduction,” Mr Martin said.

The report said FDI rose 14.3 percent year-on-year during the first six months of 2018. More than half of the inflows originated from China, and are directed towards commercial and residential real estate, as well as, to a lesser extent, manufacturing and agriculture.

With the current construction boom, newly emerging hot spots include the seaside provincial town of Sihanoukville, where FDI approvals amounted to $126 million in June alone.

Confidence in the banking system remained strong, and private sector deposits, largely in US dollars, grew at 22.4 percent in June, it said.

The report also highlighted the main risks to Cambodia’s economy. Those stem from rising protectionism and a potential revision of Cambodia’s preferential access to advanced economies.

A tariff war escalation in major economies would affect Cambodia only indirectly. On one hand, there could be some potentially positive trade and investment diversion from China in the short-term. On the other hand, however, the trade war could disrupt global value chains and depress investors’ sentiment, adversely impacting Cambodia and other small export-oriented economies.

A sharp slowdown in the Chinese economy could substantially dampen Cambodia’s growth prospects. The impact through the trade channel would, on the other hand, be muted, due to low dependency on China as an export destination.

MANILA, October 4, 2018 – Despite a less favorable external environment, the growth outlook for developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) remains positive, according to the latest World Bank economic report on the region. Growth in developing EAP is expected to be 6.3 percent in 2018, lower than in 2017 due to the continued moderation in China’s growth as its economy continues to rebalance.
Navigating Uncertainty, the October 2018 edition of the World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update released here today, underscores however that in recent months a combination of trade tensions, higher US interest rates, a stronger US dollar, and financial market volatility in many emerging economies has increased the uncertainty around the region’s growth outlook. At the same time, inflation has begun to rise across the region, particularly in Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
“Robust growth has been and will continue to be the key to reducing poverty and vulnerability in the region,” said Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific. “Protectionism and turbulence in financial markets can hurt the prospects for medium-term growth, with the most adverse consequences for the poorest and most vulnerable. This is a time for policy makers across the region to remain vigilant and proactively enhance their countries’ preparedness and resilience.”   
China is expected to slow moderately to 6.5 percent in 2018, after growing faster than anticipated in 2017. Growth in developing EAP, excluding China, is expected to remain stable at 5.3 percent from 2018 to 2020, driven primarily by domestic demand. In Thailand and Vietnam, growth is expected to be robust in 2018 before slowing in 2019 and 2020 as stronger domestic demand only partially offsets the moderation in net export growth. Indonesia’s growth should be stable, thanks to improved prospects for investment and private consumption. Growth in 2018 in the Philippines will likely slow, but the expected expansion of public investment will boost growth over the medium term. In Malaysia growth is expected to ease, as export growth slows, and public investment is lower following the cancelation of two major infrastructure projects.
In EAP’s smaller economies, growth prospects remain robust, averaging over 6 percent annually in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, and Myanmar between 2018 and 2020. Growth is expected to resume in Timor-Leste following the resolution of a political impasse, while in Papua New Guinea it is expected to rebound in 2019, following the large earthquake earlier this year. Growth in the Pacific Island countries is expected to remain relatively stable, although highly vulnerable to natural disaster shocks.
“The regional and global integration of most economies in the region intensifies their vulnerability to external shocks. The main risks to continued robust growth include an escalation in protectionism, heightened financial market turbulence, and their interaction with domestic fiscal and financial vulnerabilities,” said Sudhir Shetty, World Bank Chief Economist for the East Asia and Pacific region. “In this context of rising risks, developing EAP economies need to utilize the full range of available macroeconomic, prudential, and structural policies to smooth external shocks and raise potential growth rates,” he added.
The report points to a four-pronged approach for countries in developing East Asia to address these emerging risks:
* Reduce short-term vulnerabilities and build policy buffers. Pursuing proactive macroprudential policies can help address financial sector vulnerabilities, reduce capital market volatility, and manage exposure to exchange rate movements. Greater exchange rate flexibility can help absorb and adapt to external shocks. Tighter fiscal policies can help preserve or rebuild buffers to cope with a future downturn, without threatening debt sustainability.
* Redouble commitment to an open, rules-based international trade and investment system, including through deeper regional economic integration. Regional economies could gain by deepening existing preferential trade agreements and lowering non-tariff barriers. A further escalation of trade tensions could be avoided by turning to bilateral negotiations or the World Trade Organization.
* Deepen structural reforms, including liberalizing key sectors, improving the business climate, and boosting competitiveness. Leveling the playing field between SMEs and large firms, and between foreign and domestic firms, could also help reduce resource misallocation and create jobs.
* Strengthen economic security and promote economic mobility though programs such as targeted cash transfers, fiscally-sustainable social insurance systems, better access to prenatal and early childhood development, and more resources to schools in geographically-disadvantaged areas so as to reduce gaps in access and quality of education.
For the Pacific Island countries, the report stresses the need to focus on maintaining fiscal and debt sustainability while continuing to strengthen their resilience to natural disasters. Continued efforts to strengthen debt policies and debt management, improve natural resource management, and boost the quality of spending will be crucial to improve debt sustainability. Minimizing the effects of future natural disasters will require building fiscal buffers, improving crisis preparedness, management, and mitigation, and expanding targeted social protection mechanisms.

City Hall yesterday launched five new city bus routes using buses provided by the Japanese government.

The Japanese agreed to provide 100 buses and 60 have already been delivered with 20 more arriving today. The rest will be delivered later this year.

Phnom Penh Governor Khuong Sreng said yesterday at the launching ceremony that City Hall will use all 100 buses to service the people, especially the poor, and help reduce traffic jams in the city.

“With the new routes, we now have 13 city bus lines for people who would like to use state buses for easier and faster travel,” he said.

Mr Sreng added that officials will now identify the best locations to park the buses to make it convenient for the public to use the services.

The new routes are from Borey Santepheap 2 in Por Senchey district to the Phnom Penh Economic Zone; from Central Market to the Boeng Chhouk bus stop; from Sleng Pagoda to the Stung Meanchey bus stop; from the Royal Railway station to Pasteur avenue; and from the Kouch Kanong roundabout in Sras Chork commune to the Phsar Doeum Thkov roundabout.

Mr Sreng also ordered authorities to educate motorists not to park their vehicles at spots designated for buses as this will inconvenience the public.

He noted that City Hall will also provide bus services for people to travel from Phnom Penh to their hometowns for Pchum Ben, adding that he was waiting for advice from Prime Minister Hun Sen on how many buses should be deployed.

Ean Sokhim, Phnom Penh Autonomous Bus Transportation Authority director, said yesterday that the capital had eight public bus lines using 156 vehicles previously.

“Between 20,000 and 21,000 passengers use city buses daily,” he said. “We have now launched the five new bus lines using the buses donated by the Japanese government.”

Svay Rieng provincial authorities plan to build a factory that recycles plastic waste to make furniture in collaboration with a Japanese company and support from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, according to officials.

Toch Poliva, the deputy provincial governor in charge of the project, yesterday said if all went according to plan, the factory will be ready by April.

“We may likely start building the factory in Svay Rieng city at the end of this year so that we can start operations in April,” he said. “The factory will not be large and will be used to house equipment imported from Japan by the Gomi Recycle 110 company.”

Mr Poliva said that the project has reached the stage where the Japanese side is putting the proposal to the Japanese government for approval.

“We are also requesting for trucks from the company to make sure the waste collection is up to international standards because we currently lack such vehicles,” he said. “The price tag for the project has yet to be fixed as it has yet to be approved by the Japanese government.”

Mr Poliva estimated that the amount of plastic waste in Svay Rieng city is about nine tonnes daily, noting that the factory will be built near a rubbish dumpsite in Svay Rieng commune.

JICA officials were not available for comment on the project yesterday. One official confirmed the ongoing cooperation, but was not aware of the details.

Yusuke Okumura, director of Gomi Recycle 110, was quoted in a provincial administration report on Thursday as saying that the company is prepared to import the waste collection trucks and build the factory.

He also conveyed his appreciation to the provincial administration for its cooperation in realising the project.

Provincial Governor Men Vibol said in the report that in addition to converting plastic waste into furniture, the project will also help clean up the city to make it more attractive.

A letter obtained by Khmer Times on August 31 tells of the Prime Minister approving the creation of two new provinces. One is to carve out of Kandal province and the other will be made from a portion of Mondulkiri’s Koh Nhek district and Rattanakiri’s Lumphat district.

This will increase the number of provinces in the Kingdom to 26.

Interior Minister Sar Kheng had requested said a government measure to improve the effectiveness of administration, security, public order, local development, and public services.

He will assign technical officers to cooperate with relevant partners to conduct a study on the proposed areas and confer with Hun Sen thereafter.

Mr Keng says he wants the preliminaries to be completed by January 2019 “… in order to ensure a [sufficient] period of time for the government to adjust the number of seats in capital, city, provincial, municipal, district, and khan councils for the upcoming election of the third mandate in May 2019.

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WorldBridge Arena, a shopping and entertainment complex built by the WorldBridge Group in Phnom Penh, will open to the public in November, with half of the retail space on offer already booked.

Simon Griffiths, managing director of Urban Asset Solutions, a company that has provided consulting and management services to WA Arena, said the complex was built with a $10 million investment, and consists of 13 main buildings.

It will have a market with a wide selection of products, from fashion and gadgets to handicrafts and beauty products.

“WB Arena brings together the most popular global brands as well as the most popular home-grown restaurants and cafés.

“Customers can choose from a wide selection of cuisines from Chinese, Khmer, Western, Japanese, Vietnamese and Thai all the way to ice-cream parlours, coffee shops and bakery cafes,” Mr Griffiths said.

“We also have an additional entertainment concert, live show theatre, spa and massage,” he added.

Mr Griffiths said that more than 50 percent of the commercial space available at the complex has already been booked.

Chhay Sivlin, president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, welcomed the new development. She said the new entertainment complex shows the potential of the private sector to create innovative commercial spaces to meet local and international demand.

“This is a new destination for tourists in the Kingdom. I hope it will help boost the number of tourists to the capital,” Mrs Sivlin said.

Jiranun Wongmongkol, chairman of RCG Retail (Cambodia), the company that brought Inthanin Coffee to Cambodia, told Khmer Times that an Inthanin café will open in the complex in December this year.

“We hope that the new outlet will be a success. There is not many cafes in this side of town, and is not far from the centre of Phnom Penh and Takhmao city,” she said.

WA Arena extends over 1.3 hectares of land and is located between the Tonle Bassac River and national road 2 in Chak Angre Krom.

Construction of the Kingdom’s first-ever highway, stretching 190 kilometres to connect Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, was confirmed to start in November.

The highway will begin in Phnom Penh’s Chaom Chao area, starting at street Tom Nop Kop Srov, which links national roads 4 and 5, according to Va Simsorya, spokesman at the Ministry of Public Works.

“Minister Sun Chanthol has already confirmed that construction of the expressway will begin in November as planned,” Mr Simsorya said on Friday.

“The site is now being prepared for the upcoming construction work.”

China Road and Bridge Corporation, who has been granted the project, has also said they are ready to begin work, Mr Simsorya said.

The highway will be built on a build-operate-transfer basis, with the Chinese firm reaching a deal with the Cambodian government in January.

The government is now working on a compensation plan for people affected by the project, Mr Simsorya added.

The thoroughfare will come at a cost of nearly $2 billion, and it will stretch over 190 kilometres – shorter than the current road, which runs for 240 kilometres. It will have four lanes for the majority of its run and will take four years to complete.