TRADE between Cambodia and Thailand has surged more than 80 percent during the first four months of 2010 compared to the same period last year, statistics from the Thai Embassy’s Foreign Trade Promotion office (FTPO) show.

The neighbours exchanged goods worth US$914 million in the year to the end of April, up 84 percent from $497 million for the first four months in 2009, statistics obtained Wednesday state.

Bilateral trade during April 2010 was estimated to total $386 million alone, a major surge from a low base in the same month of 2009.

April is traditionally a strong month for trade due to economic spin-offs from agricultural harvests, including crops of rice, corn, cassava and beans, Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) market manager Lang Seng Hort said Wednesday.

Tension between the two nations flared last year following deadly clashes over the disputed Preah Vihear temple, though FTPO officials said the conflict had little impact on trade.

“The decline in trade last year was not due to political issues,” FTPO director Jiranan Wongmongkol said Wednesday. “This year’s figures are just increasing to pre-crisis trading levels. Last year was simply a bad year.” Continue reading…

BANKS were asked to consider the risks involved in carrying agricultural sector loans by a Bank of Thailand representative during the second day of a macroeconomic policy seminar held in Phnom Penh Wednesday.

Rongporn Roengitya, senior examiner in the Bank of Thailand’s risk management examination department, said the risk of lending to agricultural enterprises was “much higher” than the manufacturing sector, which meant that banks might need to “hold” more capital to adequately service the risks.

“You can lend [to agriculture], but know your risks well,” she warned, highlighting the number of unpredictable factors involved in sector returns – such as weather and insect population.

Her comments during a broader presentation on Thailand’s macroeconomic experiences stemmed from discussions during the UN-led conference, where agriculture was highlighted as playing a key part in the future of Cambodia’s economy.

ACLEDA Bank’s CEO In Channy responded to the remarks.

He said that the bank had already taken on hefty loans to the agriculture sector and was well aware of the risks involved. Continue reading…

Popular singer, Meas Soksophea, now left for Town Production after her contract with Sunday Production ended since May 2010. Even though, until now, her new album with new production is still not released yet. Now, we are waiting to see whether her new songs will be supported by fans or not. When she was with M Production and Sunday Production, her songs were supported strongly. Continue reading…