25/12/2009
Nareerat Wiriyapong
Bangkok Post
Japan is offering Thailand and other Southeast Asian nations financial and technical assistance to develop logistics infrastructure, aiming to help Japanese companies operating in Asean to lower their logistics costs by half within five years.
The financial aid would be provided in terms of soft loans for Asean countries to build infrastructure such as roads, bridges and tunnels to develop intra-region links, said Techa Boonyachai, who chairs a capacity-building committee for drafting the national Logistics and Supply Chain Policy.
Most of funds would be located to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, while Thailand would receive a smaller portion of the supports he said.
The financial and technical offers are aimed in part at enhancing the speed of Japanese firms in completing business transactions. About 3,000 Japanese companies operating in Thailand would be the beneficiaries of this strategy, said Mr Techa, who is also vice-chairman of the Thai National Shippers Council (TNSC).
Under Japan's comprehensive logistics policy adopted by the cabinet in July 2009, the country has outlined measures to develop an efficient logistics system for the period of 2009 to 2013, in which green logistics is a core element.
The Yukio Hatoyama governments' pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25% in the next 10 years from 1990 levels is a very challenging target, Mr Techa said.
According to the Transport Ministry, exact amounts of financial aid have not yet been finalised. Details will be updated when Japanese and Thai transport officials meet again next year.
Mr Techa said the technical assistance from Japan to Thailand for green logistics would include eco-friendly driving, and models for inter-city and urban transport. Some developed countries, for example, have started using cleaner vehicles such as electric vans for short-distance transport in big cities to lower emissions.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Mobile TV service to be testrun in Cambodia with S korean help
Source: Xinhua
2009-12-23 11:59
Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB)technology first developed by South Korea will be launched in Cambodia on a trial basis, said the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) Wednesday.
The KCC, South Korea's telecommunication regulator, officially announced in a press release that the start of its test run with Cambodia's national broadcaster TVK on delivering terrestrial DMB services in the country at a ceremony held in Phnom Penh Tuesday.
The Cambodian government will decide on converting the trial program into a full-scale service in the first half of next year, the KCC said.
Prior to this announcement, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on DMB service cooperation last October, the regulator said.
In order to expand the DMB service to overseas markets, the KCCis also in the process of promoting full-scale services in Egypt and Malaysia, after conducting pilot programs last year, it added.
DMB is a service that allows users to receive multimedia such as TV, radio, and data-casting directly to their mobile devices.
The breakthrough technology was originally developed in South Korea and the world's first official mobile TV service started in May 2005.
2009-12-23 11:59
Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB)technology first developed by South Korea will be launched in Cambodia on a trial basis, said the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) Wednesday.
The KCC, South Korea's telecommunication regulator, officially announced in a press release that the start of its test run with Cambodia's national broadcaster TVK on delivering terrestrial DMB services in the country at a ceremony held in Phnom Penh Tuesday.
The Cambodian government will decide on converting the trial program into a full-scale service in the first half of next year, the KCC said.
Prior to this announcement, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on DMB service cooperation last October, the regulator said.
In order to expand the DMB service to overseas markets, the KCCis also in the process of promoting full-scale services in Egypt and Malaysia, after conducting pilot programs last year, it added.
DMB is a service that allows users to receive multimedia such as TV, radio, and data-casting directly to their mobile devices.
The breakthrough technology was originally developed in South Korea and the world's first official mobile TV service started in May 2005.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Govt calls on Japan to increase business ties
The Phnom Penh Post
Thursday, 17 December 2009 15:01 Chun Sophal
Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh says Japanese firms can benefit from new agreement offering minimal tariffs on exports
SPEAKING to Asian business officials visiting Phnom Penh, Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh Wednesday singled out Japan, encouraging firms from the country to do business and invest in Cambodia to take advantage of a recent trade deal.
On December 1, the Cambodia-Japan Free Trade Deal went into effect offering foreign firms that invest in the Kingdom access to the Japanese market with 98 percent of duties eliminated.
“Japanese companies should … take the chance to do business and invest in Cambodia to produce goods for duty-free export,” Cham Prasidh told the gathering of business leaders and officials.
According to the agreement, exporters to the world’s second-largest economy must produce a certificate proving country of origin.
Some Japanese companies are already taking advantage of tax breaks in the Kingdom. Ajinomoto, the world’s largest producer of monosodium glutamate (MSG), started building a packing factory at the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone this quarter and has previously suggested it may expand operations further. However, there are markedly fewer Japanese companies operating in Cambodia than elsewhere in the region.
Hiroshi Hattori, an expert from the Japanese Overseas Development Corporation, said Wednesday that 3,000 firms from Japan operate in Thailand and 1,500 in Vietnam.
Last year, Japanese investment totalled just US$7.82 million, about a tenth of that from Singapore or Thailand. The figure will almost certainly drop this year, given that only $4.76 million was invested by Japan in the first 10 months.
Hattori said that numerous obstacles remain for Japanese companies considering doing business in Cambodia, namely the high price of electricity and the still-bureaucratic administrative system.
“Japanese companies spend a long time planning before starting businesses or investments,” he said, adding that firms from Japan are usually looking to the long term.
Doing Business, part of the World Bank Group, ranked Cambodia 145th out of 183 countries surveyed in terms of ease of doing business, six places lower than the 2009 position. For starting a business, Cambodia was at 173, falling two places on the 2009 survey result.
The project found that it took an average 85 days to start a business in the Kingdom, more than double the Asia Pacific average of 41 days – and was one of the main obstacles to launching investments here.
Cambodia faired much better in the category that measured how well investments were protected, ranking 73rd overall.
Cham Prasidh’s call to Japanese firms Wednesday echoed comments made earlier this year when he likened Japan to an economic magnet that could drag firms from other countries to invest in Cambodia.
Thursday, 17 December 2009 15:01 Chun Sophal
Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh says Japanese firms can benefit from new agreement offering minimal tariffs on exports
SPEAKING to Asian business officials visiting Phnom Penh, Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh Wednesday singled out Japan, encouraging firms from the country to do business and invest in Cambodia to take advantage of a recent trade deal.
On December 1, the Cambodia-Japan Free Trade Deal went into effect offering foreign firms that invest in the Kingdom access to the Japanese market with 98 percent of duties eliminated.
“Japanese companies should … take the chance to do business and invest in Cambodia to produce goods for duty-free export,” Cham Prasidh told the gathering of business leaders and officials.
According to the agreement, exporters to the world’s second-largest economy must produce a certificate proving country of origin.
Some Japanese companies are already taking advantage of tax breaks in the Kingdom. Ajinomoto, the world’s largest producer of monosodium glutamate (MSG), started building a packing factory at the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone this quarter and has previously suggested it may expand operations further. However, there are markedly fewer Japanese companies operating in Cambodia than elsewhere in the region.
Hiroshi Hattori, an expert from the Japanese Overseas Development Corporation, said Wednesday that 3,000 firms from Japan operate in Thailand and 1,500 in Vietnam.
Last year, Japanese investment totalled just US$7.82 million, about a tenth of that from Singapore or Thailand. The figure will almost certainly drop this year, given that only $4.76 million was invested by Japan in the first 10 months.
Hattori said that numerous obstacles remain for Japanese companies considering doing business in Cambodia, namely the high price of electricity and the still-bureaucratic administrative system.
“Japanese companies spend a long time planning before starting businesses or investments,” he said, adding that firms from Japan are usually looking to the long term.
Doing Business, part of the World Bank Group, ranked Cambodia 145th out of 183 countries surveyed in terms of ease of doing business, six places lower than the 2009 position. For starting a business, Cambodia was at 173, falling two places on the 2009 survey result.
The project found that it took an average 85 days to start a business in the Kingdom, more than double the Asia Pacific average of 41 days – and was one of the main obstacles to launching investments here.
Cambodia faired much better in the category that measured how well investments were protected, ranking 73rd overall.
Cham Prasidh’s call to Japanese firms Wednesday echoed comments made earlier this year when he likened Japan to an economic magnet that could drag firms from other countries to invest in Cambodia.
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