In a bid to make Cambodia more business-friendly, the government will cut back on red tape and reduce industry membership costs, sun Chanthol, the new minister of commerce, said yesterday. speaking to representatives from the private sector at a conference at the InterContinental Hotel in Phnom ss='cambodia-color'>...

More than two months of research into relations between NGOs and the government was officially presented in Phnom Penh on Thursday, with an overriding message of distrust, and concerns that the proposed NGO Law will be repressive. Following the release on Wednesday of a summary of ss='cambodia-color'>...

Tens of thousands of workers protested in front of the Ministry of Labor on Monday, after negotiations between labor leaders and the government failed to find a resolution to demands of higher wages in the face of a rising cost of living. Labor Minister Ith ss='cambodia-color'>...

Major labels that have clothing manufactured in Cambodian factories have written an open letter expressing concern for the recent shootings of workers demonstrating for higher wages. Adidas, Gap, H&M, Levi’s and Puma were among those that signed the January 7 letter to the Phnom Penh government, ss='cambodia-color'>...

Though most of the opposition complaints reviewed by the Constitutional Council have been dismissed so far, one has been deemed credible and appropriate, a council spokesman said. According to spokesman Uth Chhorn, one complaint regarding a campaign-period clash between supporters of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue ss='cambodia-color'>...

Voter rolls at several polling stations appear to have been “intentionally manipulated” in advance of the election to allow large groups of individuals to cast fraudulent ballots in communes where they were ineligible, according to a report released saturday by rights group Licadho. One of the ss='cambodia-color'>...

Parkson Holdings Bhd (PHB)’s expansion into Phnom Penh, Cambodia, via its proposed Parkson Mallwould provide it with a steady income stream in the long term, mainly from rental yield, according to Affin Investment Bank. The proposed location of the mall – directly opposite the Phnom Penh International ss='cambodia-color'>...

The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) arrested a senior customs official in Preah sihanouk province and two Electricte du Cambodge (EdC) officials in Mondolkiri province in separate corruption cases this week, ACU and court officials said Friday. Mondolkiri Provincial Court prosecutor Khut sopheang said two staff members of ss='cambodia-color'>...

Local watchdog groups say they have been forced to take forest protection into their hands, due to a failure of government to do so. “As we have seen: the National Assembly, the senate and the government do not work,” Ouch Leng, head of the Cambodian Human ss='cambodia-color'>...

An indigenous Bunong minority community in Mondolkiri province’s Keo seima district on Wednesday filed a complaint claiming that authorities had destroyed their homes, but authorities allege that the villagers are living on land owned by a private company. Villagers claim that since November, 37 homes in ss='cambodia-color'>...

Visiting representatives from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on Monday urged the Labor Ministry to withdraw its threat to revoke the licenses of six unions behind recent strikes, and to drop legal proceedings against union leader Rong Chhun. His visit follows garment worker protests ss='cambodia-color'>...

The Royal Palace has released a statement demanding that King and Queen Mother’s names be left out of politics and asked people not to “exploit” their names for political ends, state media claimed Thursday. “The Royal secretariat of Her Majesty Queen-Mother Norodom Monineath sihanouk has issued ss='cambodia-color'>...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday morning granted bail to two of the 23 union activists and protesters jailed following the lethal suppression of garment worker strikes by military police on January 3. Municipal court presiding Judge Leang samnatt held an unscheduled hearing on Friday ss='cambodia-color'>...

Cambodia’s poverty rate fell dramatically between 2004 and 2011 – from more than 50 per cent to roughly 20 – but those gains are so precarious that a slight economic shock could send millions plunging back below the poverty line, according to a World Bank ss='cambodia-color'>...

Members of an ethnic minority in Koh Kong province’s Areng Valley stood watch Thursday to block a road leading to the site of a proposed dam after they heard that Chinese workers would inspect the site, community representatives said. Villagers believe that the Chinese company sinohydro ss='cambodia-color'>...

Verdicts will be handed down Friday in two garment protest-related cases that rights groups say were built on a weak body of evidence. The two cases occurred months apart but followed a similar narrative: Garment workers fed up with their calls for a higher monthly minimum ss='cambodia-color'>...

Khan Thea, a subsistence fisherman who lives and works along this sprawling, 7,000-hectare lake fed by the Mekong River, was not having a good day on the water. struggling to net even a single fish, he finally resorted to a dangerous—and illegal—technique: fishing with electric current. ss='cambodia-color'>...

The Labor Ministry on Tuesday defended its failure to act on the results of its own study, which in November found that the minimum livable wage for garment factory workers is between $157 and $177. In its annual report, the ministry listed its wage study, carried ss='cambodia-color'>...

Most tuk-tuk drivers have to continuously vie with each other to attract tourists’ attention, but Oung Hour gets it without even trying. As he stands on the sidewalk near the riverside, groups of tourists point at his bright mustard-yellow tuk-tuk, its smooth fiberglass body shaped like ss='cambodia-color'>...

More than 100 garment and shoe factory workers fainted in two separate incidents Thursday, the first reported factory faintings of the year, according to local officials. Eighty-two garment workers fainted at the Crystal Martin factory in Kandal province after inhaling fumes from leaking battery acid, a ss='cambodia-color'>...