[Vietnamization] The Hun family's female moguls

Image: Daniel Nass

The Hun family's female moguls

The Phnom Penh Post | 7 July2016

It’s no secret that the fortunes of Cambodia’s elite families often run through their women, so it’s perhaps little surprise that Global Witness’ newest report, Hostile Takeover, reveals a vast network of holdings to be in the hands of the Hun family’s mothers, sisters, wives and daughters.

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s eldest daughter, Hun Mana, has alone amassed a portfolio of high-profile businesses and is the “most prominent business tycoon in the family”. Her 22 firms are recorded as having more than $66 million in listed capital alone, of which she is the chairwoman or director of 18, making her far more than a silent investor. 

From television stations to advertising, manufacturing to telecoms, and Cambodia’s fastest-growing sector, construction, Mana is often a company’s sole face, though she at times partners with other prominent businesspeople like Kith Meng or CPP Senators Lao Meng Khin and Ly Yong Phat.

It’s her 100 per cent control over Bayon Media Hight System – which broadcasts Bayon TV, BTV News and ETV – that gives her father direct access to most households in Cambodia. A 2015 Open Institute survey found that close to a third of Cambodians get their daily dose of news and information primarily from television. 

Another highly visible investment is the 6 per cent she owns in Cambodia’s leading mobile service provider Metfone – which is part of Vietnam’s largest and military-run telecom provider Viettel.

Mana’s link to big international brands comes from her chairing of Moon Media, an outdoor advertising specialist that handles such clients as Visa, Unilever, Proctor & Gamble and Honda. Additionally, Hun Maly, Mana’s sister, heads the high-end shopping mall TK Avenue, home to major brands like Mango, Adidas, Zara and Shiseido cosmetics.

As economic growth has begun to trickle down in urban Cambodia, the family has created an extensive portfolio in the fast-growing consumer electronics and food and beverage segments.

Pich Chanmony, who is Hun Manet’s wife, chairs seven companies, according to the Commerce Ministry’s registry, among them, Brands Management, which has franchises for bubble tea outlet Chatime, burger joint myBurgerLab and Thailand’s Boat Noodle chain. She also gets a slice of the consumer goods market as the exclusive supplier and retailer for South Korean multinational LG Electronics. 

But, such ventures are not confined to Hun Sen’s immediate family. 

Sok Sopheak, wife of Hun Sen’s nephew Seang Heng, is linked to iOne, Cambodia’s leading Apple retailer. 

Hun Sen’s youngest sister, Hun Seng Ny, is a 50 per cent shareholder in well known firm Attwood Investment Group, which holds exclusive Cambodian rights to premium brands - Johnnie Walker, Hennesy and Corona beer. She also chairs UNT Wholesale, importing products, such as Durex condoms, Nescafe Gold coffee and Nestle ice cream.