No former employees. Using capital raised from businesses the family established in France after it was exiled, Phallaboth began to rebuild the company. Phallaboth's command of English and the ways of Western business have given him a leg up with foreign investors. Phallaboth doesn't claim to always employ pristine business practices. Beyond the bustling markets and bougainvillea-fringed boulevards of revitalized Phnom Penh, Cambodian business remains a wild frontier.
Businessmen here have to be tough.
Phallaboth says some of the toughest competition comes from state-subsidiized mainland Chinese companies that can undercut his prices. If we don't bid low, we lose. Cambodia's government hopes that entrepreneurs like Phallaboth will help lift the country out of poverty. The country has a long way to go. For a construction company like Phallaboth's, opportunities abound in Cambodia.