Two years ago, the wrong sort of credit actually brought poverty into seamstress Ul Phala's life. She borrowed from a moneylender to pay emergency medical expenses and found herself falling deeper into debt trying to repay the crippling interest rates of up to 20% a month.
Asia Pacific Breweries (APB), the producer of the ubiquitous Anchor and Tiger beers, has further expanded its operations in the last month with two new breweries, one in Laos and one in Vietnam.
APB will construct a second brewery in southern Vietnam to complement its already existing operation on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City which opened in 2003. The brewery, producing Tiger Beer, Heineken, Anchor and Bivina, has had its initial capacity of 30 million liters increased by more than 50 percent, to 46 million liters.
Unlike many of their older counterparts, the new younger breed of global professional will move on a moment's notice and have no dependents to worry about. They are so eager for international experience they are willing to be hired on as 'locals', which just happens to coincide with business needs to cut expensive expat packages to the bone. But the trip isn't all plain sailing, as expat expert Robin Pascoe reports.
So a young person's transition to working in a foreign country and the ensuing culture shock should be easy, right? Wrong.
"I will keep this brief as there's enough hot air in here already without me adding to it," were the amusing opening remarks of Andrew Mitchell, M.P. for the Conservative Party, referencing the power cut that momentarily took out the air conditioning system at the latest BBAC meeting.
A project to build a 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Sihanoukville was approved by the Council of Ministers on Friday, with plans for it to come online as early as 2010.
The plant will be built by Power Synergy Corporation, a joint-venture between Malaysian Universal Holdings and Cambodia's MKCSS Holdings, said Ith Praing, secretary of state for the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy. He revealed US$390 million will be spent on the plant and that it will be located in Sihanoukville's Stueng Hav district near an existing kerosene plant.
Lim Chhivhoo's is the quintessential rags-to riches story - the 49-year-old mother of four has triumphed over poverty, sexism, tragedy and tyranny to become one of the Kingdom's most successful businesswomen.
Medals for her contribution to Cambodia's development glint on the shelves of Lim Chhivhoo's cavernous office, sharing pride of place with her family photos. She said the cool sanctuary of her workplace is a world away from her humble beginnings.
"I spent almost my whole life working to get money for rice," she explained. "I didn't care if it was hard work or not."
Under the scorching sun, Kaing Savin flings bucketfuls of fish heads onto a throng of hissing crocodiles. Over the years, the 54-year-old crocodile farmer's dreams of growing rich on croc skins have been chewed up - he has sold fewer than five.
Kaing Savin's two hectare farm is situated along National Road 2, about 18 km from Phnom Penh in Kandal's Stung district. At the centre of a barren field is a foul smelling 60-square-meter pond teeming with crocodiles.
The government has released the details of two private companies that have been given permission to develop two of the 22 islands off Sihanoukville. The 99-year lease agreements were inked yesterday by representatives of the government and private firms.
A six-lane expressway linking Phnom Penh with the center of Vietnam's Mekong Delta "rice bowl" is in the wind.
Vietnamese and Cambodian authorities met Feb 26 to discuss the proposed highway from Phnom Penh to Can Tho city, said Kem Borey, director of the Transport Ministry's Road Infrastructure Department yesterday. Can Tho - with a population of over a million - is the thriving capital of Vietnam's fertile Mekong Delta, about 170 km southwest of Ho Chi Minh City.
Prime Minister Hun Sen arrived back in Cambodia yesterday afternoon after attending the 17th presidential inauguration ceremony in Seoul, South Korea.
Speaking at Phnom Penh International Airport, Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong (also Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation) who accompanied the premier told reporters that, besides attending the inaugural ceremony during his three day visit, Hun Sen also held bilateral talks with Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who promised to visit Cambodia this year.