Vendors along O’Chheuteal Beach yesterday protested against a new Preah Sihanouk provincial project that requires them to build new stalls – set back from their current ones – before the Sea Festival starts on December 17, in order to expand the beach area for tourists. ...

In the latest effort to mitigate the impact of plummeting rice prices, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday that the government was seeking $300 million from China to boost the capacity of rice millers and provide funds to them for purchasing paddy from farmers. ...

Asia’s largest sugar producer, Mitr Phol, is responsible for violating the rights of hundreds of villagers in Oddar Meanchey who saw their land grabbed, homes destroyed and livestock killed to make way for plantations, according to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT). ...

Cambodia is ranked one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. Many of its people rely on agriculture, and the changes to the country’s climate, whether more droughts or more floods, makes them particularly vulnerable. ...

Kith Meng, chairman of the Royal Group, was reelected president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce yesterday in a landslide vote at its Phnom Penh office. The tycoon, whose interests span television, banking, telecoms and property, was also reelected president of the Phnom Penh Chamber ...

Cambodia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding to begin work on opening a pipeline for Cambodians to work in the gulf nation, which has been routinely criticised for failing to protect migrant domestic workers from abysmal treatment and slave-like conditions. ...

Government officials who travel overseas for work will have to turn over their service passports when they return to Cambodia starting this month due to misuse of the documents to overstay official trips and partake in unrelated work, according to a Foreign Affairs Ministry statement. ...

As a result of the meeting with the specialist commissions, Minister of Labor Ith Samheng said that nearly 50 percent of the comments given by union leaders, business owners, development partners and the government were used to make changes in the draft union law yesterday. ...

A small-scale sand dredging business on the banks of Sraeng lake in Banteay Meanchey’s Teuk Cho commune was shut down yesterday by Preah Net Preah district authorities after it was found to be operating without a license, according to district governor Ly Sovannarith. ...

The International Coordinating Committee (ICC) for Preah Vihear held its second meeting in Siem Reap City on Monday to discuss ongoing efforts to preserve the 12th century Hindu temple and turn the majestic but remote site into a popular tourist destination.   ...

Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana met on Friday with the National Assembly’s opposition-led human rights commission to discuss issues related to judicial independence and court procedure, including government interference in the court system and abuse of the pretrial detention system.   ...

Another four government officials will be promoted to senior secretarial positions in three ministries as part of the upcoming cabinet reshuffle, which Prime Minister Hun Sen claims will increase government efficiency, according to a letter to the president of the National Assembly last Friday. ...

Forty new factories received permission to operate in Cambodia during the first three months of this year, while 54 factories have applied for licenses and 21 are currently undergoing renewal procedures, according to a report released yesterday by the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft. ...

The government has ordered the beachfront Sokha Hotel in Preah Sihanouk province to open a section of fence that blocks access to a stretch of beach, as well as construct a direct, paved route for pedestrians and cyclists making their way to the waterside. ...

The World Bank on Monday said it still predicted strong growth from the Cambodian economy—led by garment exports—and only a moderate cooling over the next few years despite a “faster than expected” slowdown in China, Cambodia’s biggest foreign investor.   ...

Loans and deposits in the Kingdom’s crowded microfinance sector rose about 10 percent during the first quarter of the year from the same period last year, according to a report from the Cambodia Microfinance Association, which put the rise down to an expanding economy. ...

Construction on a $3 billion oil refining plant, the Kingdom’s first, will start in October this year and is expected to be finished by the end of 2018, according to a senior executive at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday. ...

The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has arrested a lawyer in Phnom Penh over undisclosed allegations of graft, with the bar association issuing a notice to members on Wednesday warning them against acting as a “go-between” for court officials and clients.   ...

The Finance Ministry has rescheduled a trio of timber auctions that had been set to start today after a continued lack of interest from buyers, although bidding for a lot in Stung Treng province will go ahead on Wednesday as planned.   ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has asked the European Union (EU) to decrease imports of clothing from Cambodia in an effort to put economic pressure on the government into respecting human rights and freedom of speech, saying he believed the act would not affect workers.   ...