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The first waterway taxi in Phnom Penh came into service on Friday, carrying people from the northern part of the city south to Takhmao city in Kandal province.

A system to transport agricultural products will shortly follow.

Under the management of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, three water taxis are in service from 6am to 6pm, docking at six places along the waterway.

The service will be free until the end of July. The ministry says that after July the fare will be 5,400 riel ($1.30) the 25km trip.

Each new boat costs about $200,000, and the ministry planned to use six of them for a full service which was expected to be introduced soon, Transport Minister Sun Chanthol said.

The blue boats all have air conditioners, and can carry about 60 passengers.

“It is a historical for Cambodia to get a boat taxi service,” Mr Chanthol said.

“We launch the boat taxi service today to allow people use the service before Khmer New Year as the government has promised, along with other promises including the railway service from Poipet and Serey Sophorn and the airport railway service.”

The ministry has partnered with PiPay, a mobile payment app in Cambodia, to sell water taxi tickets. There are ticket offices at each stop.

The boat taxis give people an alternative to the city bus service, privately owned tuk-tuks and other vehicles.

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday applauded the achievement of setting up water taxis. He said the service would help ease traffic congestion on streets.

Phnom Penh Kong Sominea took the boat taxi service with her friends.

“It is good that the boat taxi service is now available,” Ms Sominea said, adding that she had experienced using the city buses.

“It will be easy to use this public transport service.”

Mr Chanthol said the government planned to expand the service beyond the current route to Saang district and Phnom Penh Autonomous Port in Kean Svay district in Kandal province.

“If demand for the boat taxi service increases, the ministry will build more stops in Saang district and Koh Thom and in Phnom Penh Autonomous Port,” he said.

The ministry also has a plan to build a port along the Mekong River for agricultural product transport soon after a feasibility study by the Korean International Cooperation Agency.

A port for agricultural products will be built in Kampong Cham province’s Tonle Bet, Mr Chanthol said.

The project was based on studies by KOICA of the waterway from Phnom Penh to the northeastern Kratie province.

However, Mr Chanthol could not say what the estimated budget for the project would be.

Kim Saroeun, of Kampong Cham provincial agricultural department, said that the project would meet the demands of farmers and agricultural traders in the province who wished to see lower transport costs.

“If the project goes ahead, it will be in response to the wishes of farmers and agricultural product traders because the cost of transporting agricultural products from one place to other is high,” Mr Saroeun said. “When there is a port for agricultural products, it will also become a hub for agricultural products. Especially, it will encourage farmers.”

Mr Saroeun said vegetables, fruit and meat produced in Kampong Cham province were mostly sent to Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and a few other provinces. Agro-industry products – cassava and rubber – were mostly sold to Vietnam.

KHMER TIMES

 

Sorry, this entry is only available in JP.

Visa, the global payment company, aims to expand its electronic payments in Cambodia, seeing the country’s economic growth as a chance to expand.

Sean Preston, Visa’s country manager for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, set out the investment expansion plan at a meeting with Economy and Finance Minister Aun Pornmonirath last week.

“Visa has been cooperating with local banks to use Visa credit and debit cards, aiming to expand more business in the country,” Mr Preston said.

“Due to the economic growth in Cambodia in consecutive years, Visa card usage rose by 65 percent in 2017.”

He said he expected Visa use to keep increasing this year.

“Visa also aims to cooperate with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to study the feasibility of tax payment or other revenues via an electronic payment system, which will give another use in the future,” Mr Preston said.

Mr Pornmonirath welcomed electronic payment for income collection and any feasibility study.

Electronic payments were important for the economy to be effective and for financial inclusiveness.

“Nowadays in terms of attracting foreign investments and encouraging and protecting foreign investments, Cambodia had been implementing a ‘Friendly Business Environment’ policy,” he said.

“Implementing this will give more encouragement to foreign investors with confidence in Cambodia.”

Visa announced in September last year its credit and debit cards were accepted at Angkor Wat, one of world’s most popular tourist destinations, to drive tourism and increase the shift from cash to electronic payments in Cambodia.

Visitors to Cambodia can use their Visa cards at more than 7,000 merchant locations and more than 1,000 ATMs across the country.

KHNER TIMES

The rail link from Phnom Penh International Airport to the city will be ready for service before the start of Khmer New Year in the middle of this month, officials say, as the first tests of the service were conducted on Sunday.

The Royal Railways service connects the airport with the existing rail line. The new link is about 1.6km long.

Construction of the line started in January and is now complete.

Chan Kimleng, director of the railway department at the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation, said the station inside the airport was still under construction but the link would be ready for service before Khmer New Year.

The official launch of the airport service would be announced later, Mr Kimleng said.

The government says the service will be free for the first three months and will be used by local and foreign airport passengers.

Royal Railways, owned by conglomerate chief Kith Meng whose company also manages the country’s railway network under a 30-years exclusive concession, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Sun Chanthol, Minister of Public Works and Transportations, said last month that the airport rail link would will help reduce traffic congestion between the city and the airport area.

The rail link will use three carriages which the company imported from Mexico. The train is said be able to carry about 150 passengers at a time with a travelling time of 20 to 25 minutes between the airport and the city.

Mr Kimleng said that as a first step, the firm would probably use its existing train which would be replaced after the ordered carriages arrived.

Beside the airport railway service, another rail service is about to be launched tomorrow connecting Sisophon to Poipet city. Mr Kimleng said this would also be free of charge for the first three months.

Sorry, this entry is only available in JP.

Sorry, this entry is only available in JP.

Mizuho Bank, one of largest banks in Japan, has started operations in Cambodia with its first branch in Phnom Penh.

Bank general manager Takeshi Fukui said the venture would provide financing to investors and entrepreneurs, both local and foreign, in Cambodia.
“The branch opened on April 19 and is providing a source of finance in Cambodia,” Mr Fukui said.

“Financing for individuals and SMEs is available in the country. But what’s lacking is financing for large entrepreneurs and big companies.

“That’s where we at Mizuho can help fill the gap,” he added.

Mr Fukui said Cambodia is important as an important regional player in Asean in terms of connectivity and transport links.

“We are here because of Cambodia’s geo-strategic position,” he said, adding that the opening of a branch in Cambodia was also to attract Japanese investors.

Direct flights between the two countries by Japan’s ANA airline were bringing more Japanese people, particularly businessmen.

A series of seminars related to business matching would be conducted to attract Japanese investors, Mr Fukui said.

The bank received a licence from the National Bank of Cambodia in February.

Chea Serey, director-general of the NBC, said earlier that Mizuho Bank would play an important role in attracting more Japanese businessmen.

“Mizuho will bring in Japanese investors for years to come,” Ms Serey said.

With the number of Japanese companies settling in the kingdom and creating jobs markedly on the rise, Prime Minister Hun Sen reminded Japanese businesses yesterday of the important contribution they make to the local economy and asked them to keep investments into the country flowing.

Mr Hun Sen spoke during a meeting with a delegation of Japanese businessmen headed by Chang-Woo Han, chairman of Maruhan Group, which recently acquired Sathapana Microfinance Institution.

The prime minister urged Mr Han to continue to expand the operations of his business in the kingdom, pointing out the tremendous benefits to the local economy and to Cambodian society of Japanese investment.

“I asked Mr Abe to encourage Japanese investors to explore possibilities in our aviation sector by creating more direct flights between Cambodian and Japan, as well as to consider investing in local infrastructure,” the premiere said, referring to his August trip to Japan where he met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

During the encounter with the Cambodian leader, Mr Han announced plans to build a 22-storey building for his bank on Phnom Penh’s Norodom Boulevard next year, which will be completed by 2020 and worth about $60 million.

Maruhan Group has $120 million in assets in the kingdom and 168 branches nationwide. It employs about 4,300 people, taking 15 percent of the pie in the local banking sector, according to the bank’s representatives.

According to the CDC, Japanese companies are now involved in 115 different projects in the country, which in total are worth $1 billion and have created 36,000 jobs.