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Cambodia’s exports to Thailand jumped 55 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2012 on what experts and officials said was a smoother political relationship between the countries, as well as an easing of Thai border regulations.

The Kingdom shipped US$85.4 million in agricultural products, recycled metal and fish to the western neighbour, data from the Thai Embassy’s Foreign Trade Promotion Office to Phnom Penh showed.

On par were increases in imports from Thailand, which dominated the bilateral trade relationship.

Worth $1.05 billion, imports of petroleum, processed goods, cement and consumer products from Thailand increased 58.4 per cent during the same period.

“Now Cambodia’s economy is doing well and Thailand’s economy is improving. But more important is that the political relationship between the two countries is improving,” Jiranan Wongmongkol, an official at the trade promotion office, said yesterday.

Trade, particularly energy exports to Thailand, were set to increase during the next three years.

The completion of a $3 billion coal-fired power station in Koh Kong province, a joint venture between Cambodian tycoon Ly Yong Phat and Thailand’s Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Plc, would see Cambodia’s first energy exports.

In early February, thousands of tonnes of cassava and other agricultural exports were stopped from entering Thailand, the Post reported at the time. Since then, border restrictions have been resolved, but not before diverting trade to Vietnam.

Thai business associations most likely created the stoppage, not government directives, business and economics lecturer at the University of Cambodia Chheng Kimlong said yesterday.

Such regulation would violate World Trade Organization rules, he said.

“If we could show that it was the government that was backing [the regulations], this would be against WTO policy. So we could accuse them of this.

But this wasn’t the case,” he said.

Further diversification of Cambodian exports would lead to less trade with Thailand, Chheng Kimlong said. Exports to Vietnam, China, and Malaysia – which officials have hailed as more stable markets – would take priority over exports to Thailand, he said.

Despite political progress, there was still uncertainty over the future of the Cambodia-Thailand relationship, Chheng Kimlong added.

Article source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012051656176/Business/q1-exports-to-thailand-soar.html

Crown Holdings, Inc., a leading supplier of metal packaging products worldwide, announced today that it will build a new beverage can plant in Sihanoukville, Cambodia to meet growing demand. Sihanoukville is on the Gulf of Thailand approximately 200 km from the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. It is the country’s primary commercial port and is also enjoying growing tourism.

The new plant will be sized to accommodate multiple can lines and have an initial annual production capacity of 725 million two-piece 33cl aluminum cans. The facility is expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2013 and will be Crown’s second beverage can plant in Cambodia including its two line operation in Phnom Penh.

“Cambodia is growing at a steady pace and this in turn is driving increased demand for our customers’ products, and we are experiencing a preference on their part for two-piece aluminum beverage cans,” commented Jozef Salaerts, President of CROWN Asia-Pacific. “This newest investment is supported by a long term contract with a major brewer and is consistent with the Company’s growth plans. Crown has been manufacturing beverage cans in Southeast Asia for more than 40 years and this expansion project underscores our commitment to support the growing needs of our global and regional customers and to help them continue to build their brands in the region.”

Crown currently operates seven beverage can plants in Southeast Asia. The company has one plant each in Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand as well three plants in Vietnam (one in Hanoi and two in Ho Chi Minh City). Earlier this year the Company announced plans to build a new beverage can plant in Danang, Vietnam which is expected to begin commercial production in second quarter of 2013.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical information, all other information in this press release consists of forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including whether demand will continue to grow for two-piece aluminum beverage cans in Cambodia, whether the Company can successfully implement its plans to build and commence production at the new Sihanoukville plant, whether the Company can meet related time and production targets at the new Sihanoukville and Danang facilities (including obtaining any required consents and approvals which could delay or prevent expansion) and the level of future beverage can volumes associated with customer contracts supplied from the Sihanoukville facility that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause the statements made in this press release or the actual results of operations or financial condition of the Company to differ are discussed under the caption “Forward-Looking Statements” in the Company’s Form 10-K Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2011 and in subsequent filings made prior to or after the date hereof. The Company does not intend to review or revise any particular forward-looking statement in light of future events.

Article source: http://www.healthcarepackaging.com/archives/2012/05/crown_holdings_inc_to_build_ne.php

CAIRO (Reuters) – The face of Hosni Mubarak‘s last prime minister beams down from huge billboards on major highways promising “Egypt for everyone”, but Ahmed Shafiq is polarizing voters ahead of next week’s presidential poll.

For some, his government experience and background as a former air force commander promise an end to the turbulence since Mubarak was ousted more than 15 months ago and a military council took over.

But Shafiq is a lightning rod for criticism for those who see him as a holdover from the old era.

This week he fended off charges that he was involved in selling land allocated for armed forces personnel to Mubarak’s sons. Last month, he narrowly evaded an attempt by the Islamist-dominated parliament to disqualify him from the race.

“We need a military man like Shafiq who knows Egypt well and will be able to work with the military leadership to sail this country to safety,” said Ahmed Shehata, 35, a former member of Mubarak’s defunct National Democratic Party (NDP) at a rally at Jabal Asfar, on the impoverished outskirts of Cairo.

His critics say Mubarak-era figures, or “feloul” (remnants)as they are derisively called in Arabic, have helped Shafiq snap up some of the most prominent billboards in the capital.

Some members from at least two parties, dominated by former NDP members, say they back Shafiq.

That former party base plus the so-called “silent majority” of Egyptians who were glad to see the back of Mubarak but who now worry about stability of the state could yet help Shafiq squeeze into an expected run-off vote in June, though sketchy opinion polls suggest he remains a dark horse.

Parliament, now dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists repressed under Mubarak, had sought to eliminate Shafiq from the race with a law banning those who held top posts in Mubarak’s administration. But an election committee let him run pending a review of the law by the constitutional court.

Many Shafiq supporters come not from the political hotbed of Cairo and other cities, but from the countryside, where voter concerns about security and order tend to be strongest.

His staunchest opponents are already threatening to galvanize the streets against him if he pulls off a surprise.

DIVISIONS

“Egypt’s next president will be a revolutionary one. We did not ignite this revolution so that the ‘feloul’ would take it back,” said Mohamed Fahmy, who backs a leftist candidate.

Even Shafiq’s rallies hint at divisiveness.

At Jabal Asfar, he was mobbed by a devoted crowd next to the podium. But as the audience thinned further back, some grumbled about his lecturing style and his argument that Egyptians were prone to bad manners with tourists, deterring return visits.

“He didn’t talk about all the resources we have in this country, he only talked about tourism. Is that all this country has?” said Hossan Goma al-Suweila, who attended the rally but said he would vote for an Islamist, not for Shafiq.

Shafiq, speaking in general terms, advocated investing in the Suez Canal area, described the failings of the education and health systems and promised to confront thuggery on the streets.

In the audience, Ismail Shawki shrugged off the lack of specifics and pointed to Shafiq’s record, which includes modernizing and expanding airports as aviation minister.

“No one has real solutions until they become president and begin to rule. Shafiq proved himself in the past. He doesn’t need to offer solutions now. But when he is president he will,” Shawki said.

Shafiq left the rally in a convoy of black sedans along with several police pick-ups full of armed state security men, the kind of convoy Mubarak and his officials would use, snarling up roads to the frustration of many ordinary Egyptians.

But as the rally dispersed, Abdoh Mokhtar, 36, who works for an electricity company near Jabal Asfar, said he was convinced Shafiq was the man of the moment.

“He was a military man and a prime minister and a minister. You cannot go wrong with Shafiq,” he said. “This country needs a statesman, not a rookie in politics.”

(This story corrects paragraph 7 to say some members of two parties, not the parties themselves, say they support Shafiq. Removes reference to Egypt Freedom Party which does not officially endorse Shafiq but leaves it up to members to decide.)

(Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/mubaraks-last-premier-polarizes-egypts-voters-082906874.html

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Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egyptian-court-acquits-14-policemen-charged-with-killing-protesters-during-uprising/2012/05/17/gIQA1uiwVU_story.html

Sathit Rungkasiri

Thailand is moving forward to strike a doubl tax treaty with Cambodia, to cope with increasing cross-border trade.

Thailand is moving forward to strike a double tax treaty with Cambodia, to cope with increasing cross-border trade.

Sathit Rungkasiri, director general of the Revenue Department, said it is a priority to expand the double tax treaty with all countries in Asean to prepare for the Asean Economic Community.

“The double tax treaties with 8 countries in Asean have come into force. Now, the Revenue Department is rushing to discuss this issue with Cambodia. Afterwards, we will focus on extending the coverage to non-AEC countries,” he said.

After parliamentary approval for double tax treaties with nine additional countries in March, the number of countries with such treaties has risen to 64. Thailand first concluded the double tax agreement with Sweden in 1963.

The treaties cover individual and juristic persons and apply to only income taxes, namely personal income tax, corporate income tax and petroleum income tax. Other indirect taxes such as value added tax and specific business tax are not covered.

The resident country retains the right to tax the income, which has already been taxed in the source country. It calculates its tax on the basis of the taxpayer’s total income including income from the other country, which according to the DTA, is taxed in that other country. However, it allows a deduction from its own tax for the tax paid in the other country. To Sathit, such treaties promise cooperation to tame tax evasion.

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Article source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Thailand-moves-on-double-tax-treaty-with-Cambodia-30182041.html