<p>Seemingly backing away from previous criticism, Heng Ratana, director-general of the Cambodia Mine Action Centre (CMAC), expressed gratitude to the US on Friday for pledging another $1.9 million to the organisation, while still implying that Cambodia is not treated as well as its neighbouring countries. ...p>

<p>Several subordinates of a senior minister within the office of the prime minister registered and rubber-stamped a gargantuan $23.2 billion investment project chaired by the minister’s wife, while officials in the know say the project stands little chance of getting off the ground. ...p>

<p>Minister of public Works and Transport Sun Chanthol yesterday ordered his officials to keep a close eye on a new $1.3 million project to widen National Road 4 in preah Sihanouk province in order to halt criticism of shoddy road quality and corruption in his ...p>

<p>The Mines and Energy Ministry yesterday shut down six sand depots in Kandal province’s Sa’ang district for allegedly failing to “respect” a ministry directive concerning the proper transportation of sand, but they will be allowed to reopen on Wednesday if they agree to comply. ...p>

<p>A recent study on the role of Cambodia’s moneychangers found that three private forex traders control two-thirds of the total demand for riel currency and exert more influence on foreign currency exchange rates than the central bank, raising the possibility of collusion in fixing rates. ...p>

<p>Two Apsara Authority officials were arrested yesterday morning after it was discovered they were in charge of felling a centuries-old spirit tree in Siem Reap province’s Kauk Chak commune on Saturday, enraging residents who had worshipped it for years, according to the provincial governor. ...p>

<p>A Cambodian subsidiary of Thai electronics manufacturing services company SVI plc is moving closer to commencing construction on a factory on the outskirts of phnom penh that will manufacture electronics equipment for export to the US and Europe, a company representative said yesterday. ...p>

<p>The government will offer three-year, multiple-entry visas to Chinese and South Korean investors in an effort to make doing business easier and increase investment in the Kingdom, the premier said during the first Cambodia-China Business and Financial Development Forum in phnom penh yesterday. ...p>

<p>A proposed power transmission line to be constructed at the edge of the Tonle Sap Floodplain protected Landscape as early as next year will pose a new threat to a critically endangered bird species known as the Bengal Florican, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society ...p>

<p>The number of illegal logging sites discovered within prey Lang forest between April and July was 14 percent higher than the previous four-month period, according to a report released yesterday by the prey Lang Community Network (pLCN) based on data collected with a novel smartphone ...p>

<p>At its 40th party congress over the weekend, the ruling Cpp predicted another victory in commune elections next year and national elections the year after on the back of recent populist policies including cheaper electricity and more land for the poor. ...p>

<p>Cambodia hopes to see Japanese investment in the light industry sector, which will help develop the kingdom’s labor force.&nbsp;Minister of Commerce pan Sorasak, in a meeting last week with Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia Hidehisa Horinouchi, asked Japan to consider investing in the light industry sector. ...p>

<p>A $360 million sugarcane factory will start operating next month after stopping last June due to a shortage of raw material.&nbsp;The Rui Feng sugarcane mill opened last April with capacity to produce nearly half a million tons a year for export, mainly to Europe and ...p>

<p>prime Minister Hun Sen has told a solidarity dinner with the Cambodian-Chinese Association that Cambodia backs the “One-China policy” and will not allow the Taiwanese flag to be raised in the kingdom.&nbsp;This stance would avoid affecting the good relationship between the two countries. ...p>

<p>prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday pulled the country’s mobile operators into his aggressive campaign to clear up any confusion about the relationship between the government and microfinance institutions (MFIs), ordering them to send audio and text messages telling subscribers that MFIs were private entities. ...p>

<p>The Ministry of Economy and Finance secured a $36.3 million concessionary loan from the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) program aimed at accelerating the production of small-scale agricultural products including rice, vegetables, potatoes, silk and livestock, according to a ministry release yesterday. ...p>

<p>Villagers from Stung Treng whose homes stand to be flooded by the Lower Sesan II dam met with representatives of the Ministry of Mines and Energy at an NGO Forum-sponsored meeting in phnom penh yesterday, in hopes of establishing a dialogue towards a long-awaited compromise. ...p>

<p>Several families affected by the construction of the Lower Sesan II dam yesterday renewed their calls for the government to demarcate boundaries so they can stay on their “ancestral land,” while others who chose to relocate painted a grim picture of squalid conditions in their ...p>

<p>At least 70 timber smugglers transporting some 200 cubic metres of illegal first- and second-grade wood were stopped by authorities in the phnom O’ral Wildlife Sanctuary over the weekend, before being allowed to leave without charges and still in possession of the illegal timber. ...p>

<p>The European Union is expected to enter Kampong Speu palm sugar into its registry of protected geographical indicators (GI) by July following a push by the Cambodian government to protect the specialty food product in one of its biggest markets, a Ministry of Commerce official ...p>