Reposted from AltAsset
Emerging markets firm Leopard Capital has successfully exited its entire investment in Cambodian mineral water company Kulara Water to the company’s founding shareholder.
The transaction harvested an undisclosed profit for Leopard Cambodia Fund, the firm said. It provided Kulara with venture financing and operational support, enabling Kulara to complete its factory construction and refine its business plan. More…
Reposted from eTravel Blackboard Asia
Investors are turning their attention to emerging markets in South East Asia again, on the back of robust hotel transaction volumes in Asia which hit US$620 million in Q1 2013, up 190 percent from the same period in 2012, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.
“Rising visitor arrivals, robust trading performance and positive market dynamics have put emerging South East Asian markets such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar back into the investment spotlight,” Tom Oakden, Executive Vice President, Investment Sales for Jones Lang LaSalle’s Hotels & Hospitality Group revealed at an industry event co-hosted with Ashurst.
Airlift has been the big game changer for many markets in South East Asia and upgraded infrastructure has enhanced the ease of travel and improved links to the rest of Asia. This is evident in the double digit tourism growth witnessed in Vietnam (15 percent), Cambodia (25 percent) and Myanmar (55 percent) in 2012, when compared with 2011. More…
Reposted from The Nation
By WATCHARAPONG THONGRUNG
Siam Cement Group (SCG) plans to invest US$1.5 billion (more than Bt43 billion) in cement and power plants and logistics facilities in the region, especially Indonesia, Myanmar and Cambodia.
The group yesterday announced the restructuring of its business with the merger of its cement, building-materials and distribution arms into a new unit called SCG Cement-Building Materials.
SCG president and chief executive officer Kan Trakulhoon said the move was in line with the group’s strategy to expand its cement and building-material business into the region to cash in on the coming Asean Economic Community, as well as to promote its investment flexibility.
The regional investment includes a $400-million cement plant in Indonesia with annual capacity of 1.8 million tonnes. Construction is scheduled for completion by the end of 2015. More…
Cambodia’s economic outlook is bright due to its steady GDP growth, low-cost labor, and upcoming integration into ASEAN’s single market
By John Enos
As the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) prepares for its single-market Economic Community in 2015, Cambodia is poised to benefit tremendously from this unification. With President Barack Obama in attendance, Cambodia played host to the 2012 ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh in November. The most salient topic was the upcoming regional economic integration and how it will stimulate new foreign investment by removing tariffs, creating Free Trade Areas (FTAs), and forging pivotal transportation links both within ASEAN and in hegemonic China.
Cambodia, as an emerging low-cost manufacturing hub with tourism appeal, a stable government, and a crescent consumer class, will prosper from this ASEAN unification. The Kingdom’s strategic location and recurrent economic durability – 7% GDP growth is expected for 2013, in line with previous years – has propelled foreign direct investment (FDI), which increased by 44% last year to reach US $1.3 billion. Hun Sen, the country’s Prime Minister, believes that Cambodia will transition from a low-income country to a lower-middle-income country by the end of this year as classified by the World Bank.
This article is an excerpt from Leopard Asia Frontier Fund’s March 2013 newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here. More…
Leopard Cambodia Fund has invested in a Thai company that produces kenaf
Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Leopard Capital LP announced today that Leopard Cambodia Fund LP has invested in Engage Resources (Thailand) Co. Ltd. (“Engage”), a producer and developer of kenaf-based products. Kenaf is a fibrous plant used in the animal feed, construction, and paper & pulp industries. Leopard Cambodia Fund’s investment provides growth capital required for Engage to continue its product development and to expand its operations from Thailand into Cambodia. This growth capital injection will contribute to Engage’s product development, add value to its core business, and assist its regional expansion by drawing on Leopard’s local experience and networks. More…
Thailand-based Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc (CPF) has announced new investments in Cambodia and Laos.
SET-listed CPF, the flagship company of the Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, is ramping up its investments in Laos and Cambodia as part of its plan to prepare for regional economic integration in 2016, reports Bangkok Post. Sakol Cheewakoset, the president of CP Laos and CP Cambodia, said a combined 250 million baht (THB) is being invested to set up a new silo and drying plant for maize at Pailin in Cambodia, and a new feed meal plant in Champasak, Laos. The goal is to strengthen the group’s integrated agro-industrial business to serve the upcoming single market under the Asean Economic Community (AEC).
CP has invested in Cambodia since 1995. Its combined investment there amounts to THB3 billion, largely spent on feed, livestock farms and food-related production units such as sausage plants and slaughterhouses.
Mr.Sakol said the silo and drying plant are to ensure effective distribution in western Cambodia and reduce logistics costs as the area is important for agricultural production.
He added the company is mulling investing in an aquatic business in Cambodia in the near future.
“CP’s business in Cambodia is doing well as the food business still has opportunity to grow. Our five-year business plan aims to double our total sales every year,” Mr.Sakol told the newspaper.
For Laos, CPF plans a combined investment of about THB1 billion, mainly on the feed, farm and food sectors. Its food business there is just in the opening stages, with ‘Five-Star’ grilled chicken starting only recently.
CP Laos started operations in 2006, running animal feed and livestock businesses.
It has one feed mill in Vientiane with production capacity of 10,000 tonnes per month. The new feed meal plant in Champasak province, slated for this year, will have production of 5,000 tonnes per month to serve consumption in the country’s southern region. The plant is expected to reduce logistics cost by eliminating the need for transport from Vientiane.
Mr.Sakol told Bangkok Post that the company is studying the possibility of launching organic production both for livestock and plants in the two countries to cater to growing organic food consumption.
“The general election in Cambodia is this July and should stabilise the political situation, while Laos has a policy to deliver its people from poverty by 2020,” he said.
Photo Credit: Google Images
“The rise is due to a sharp growth in domestic demand”
Cambodia spent about $200 million on food and beverage imports to supply the domestic market last year – an increase of more than 10 per cent from the previous year, official data from the Ministry of Commerce show. More…
The three main Asian economic powers, China, Japan and Korea, were the largest investors in Cambodia
South Korea replaced the UK as the largest investor in Cambodia last year, with about $287 million injected, 12.5 per cent of the total foreign direct investment, according to data from the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC). More…
7-Eleven will be entering the Cambodia market by 2015
Thailand’s biggest convenience store operator, CP All, plans to apply for licences to open 7-Eleven stores in countries including Cambodia by 2015, according to a Reuters news report yesterday. More…
