In most cases the language differences are going to be the largest hurdle. Getting all your printing and website translated is going to be costly so work out what really needs to be translated. English will be commonly spoken in countries such as India but it’s still considered polite to translate things like contact information on your flyer printing. In comparison to western businesses, the business card has a lot of importance in China so make sure it’s translated well and trying to avoid the colour white. Business cards represent the person and the business in China so take time to look at the card especially if the person who has given it to your is stood in front of you. You should use both hands when giving and receiving a business card to represent the care and respect you’d show their business and never use your left hand when handling business cards.

Always make sure you know the business etiquette of the culture you’re in if you want your business to be profitable. For example, if you have an initial meeting in China you should present your potential Chinese business partners with a simple gift to solidify a new relationship. Respect is also an important factor in Chinese business, the more senior the staff the more respect they deserve, try to avoid sarcasm or even a joke that could be considered inappropriate in front of your new potential business partners.

COFCO is the largest leading firm in the businesses of biofuel and biochemical production, oilseed processing, rice trading and processing for exports, brewing materials production, and wheat processing, and real estate business in Beijing, China.

In October of 2010, China signed a rice inspection and quarantine cooperation agreement with Cambodia, which is easier for Chinese investors to export rice from Cambodia.

Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance, Vongsey Vissoth, was quoted by the Xinhua as saying that Cambodia has produced 7.3 million tones of rice paddy in 2010, of which the surpass quantity is 3.5 million tones of rice paddy or 2.1 million tones of processed rice that is available for exports.

“Cambodia has potentials in tourism and the extent of the economy is bigger, it is estimated that Cambodia needs up to 40, 000 rooms by 2015 as the number of foreign tourists is expected around 3.7 million at that year,” Tith Chantha, director general of the Ministry of Tourism, was quoted by the Xinhua as saying.

He also added that Cambodia has 438 hotels with 24,239 rooms, accommodating around 2.1 million foreign tourists last year.

Ken Loo, Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia Secretary General, said that foreign buyers had been returning to order garment from Cambodia but some buyers were scared to contract Cambodian factories after the series of strikes that occurred in September.

He also added that there are 20 new factories opened, which need to employ between 300 and 500 garment workers each, but the increase in labor forces is likely to increase as production there rose.

The government set the minimum wage for workers at US$61 per month, but protest leaders were demanding US$93$ per month.

During April 2010, the bilateral trade was estimated to total USD$386 million alone. Exchanged goods with neighboring countries were worth USD$914 million in the year to the end of April, increased 84 percent from USD$497 million for the first four months in 2009.

Lang Seng Hor, market manager for Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture-CEDAC- was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying that April is traditionally a strong month for trade due to economic spin-offs from agricultural harvests, including crops of rice, corn, cassava and beans.

FTPO showed figures that the total trade between the both nations dropped 22.15 percent to UDS$1.658 billion in 2009, from UDS$2.130 billion in 2008.

Products that Thailand has exported to Cambodian market are petroleum, processed goods, consumer products, building materials, fruits, vegetables and cosmetics. Products that Cambodia extorted Thailand are agricultural products, secondhand garments, recyclable metal and fish.

During April 2010, the bilateral trade was estimated to total USD$386 million alone. Exchanged goods with neighboring countries were worth USD$914 million in the year to the end of April, increased 84 percent from USD$497 million for the first four months in 2009.

Lang Seng Hor, market manager for Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture-CEDAC- was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying that April is traditionally a strong month for trade due to economic spin-offs from agricultural harvests, including crops of rice, corn, cassava and beans.

FTPO showed figures that the total trade between the both nations dropped 22.15 percent to UDS$1.658 billion in 2009, from UDS$2.130 billion in 2008.

Products that Thailand has exported to Cambodian market are petroleum, processed goods, consumer products, building materials, fruits, vegetables and cosmetics. Products that Cambodia extorted Thailand are agricultural products, secondhand garments, recyclable metal and fish.

“I think the growth of our exports to Singapore last year was probably because of the export of sand,” Chan Nora was quoted by the Post as saying.

According to the figure from the ministry of commerce, bilateral trade between Cambodia and Singapore was up from US$640.4 million to US$1.8 billion in 2009.

By the way, Singapore’s exports to Cambodia increased 41 percent from $523.95 million to $740.9 million, while Cambodia’s exports to Singapore shot up 275 percent to $438.2 million from $117 million.

According to Ministry of Commerce, Singapore’s main exports to the Kingdom last year included unwrought gold, diesel, petrol, alcohol, non-industrial diamonds and electronic goods, while Cambodia’s main exports were natural sand, semi-manufactured and unwrought gold, cigarettes, silk, silica and quartz sand, and woven materials, including clothes.

Ministry of Commerce’s press release stated that, they will help the ministry effectively administer rules of origin, custom valuable, product information for trade promotion and draft sanitary standards.

Trade SWAp is an effort to focus national policy and international support on a “single comprehensive programme endorsed by all sector stakeholders”.

Senior Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh was quoted by the Post as saying that “Remarkable challenges related to regulation, finance, management capacity and staff incentive schemes have emerged.”

Dilyara Borovik, a counselor at the Russian Embassy, gave a speech at the an event to mark the 30^th anniversary of the Russian Cultural Center in Phnom Penh that the trade between the two countries for the first nine months of this year totaled US$32.3 million, a 28.7 percent increase over the same period last year, quoted by the Cambodia Daily as saying.

Ms. Borovik added that Cambodian exports to Russia make up 60 percent of trade between the two countries, with garments, agricultural products and seafood being the largest exported products.

In 2008, investment totaled US$600 million with businesses such as the Beeline mobile phone, said she.

“With the economic crisis this year, people are afraid to invest abroad especially if we don’t know the situation in our own country,” Ms. Borovik said.

According to the press conference, Pov Sambath, company director, said that the landmark consignment would be shipped on November 30, reported the Phnom Penh Post.

“If it is successful we will export between three to five containers a month to Japan and South Korea. Next year we will export to Canada, the US and Europe,” the Cambodia Daily quoted Mr. Sambath as saying.

90 percent of products would be exported to overseas markets. The company also hopes to produce octopus and fish further down the line.

At the present, Cambodian farmer planting rice is using traditional method and dependent on nature. So, improving the quality of rice and increasing the productions are important for access to international markets.

Yang Saing Koma, president of CEDAC, was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying that farmers should upgrade the quality of their organic rice to compete with the both local and international markets.

Mak Seurn, chief of the Department of Agriculture Extension at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries observed that currently only 115 of more than 10,000 farming associations were formally registered with the ministry, reported the Post