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.   ...

The Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) will for the first time sign bilateral cooperation agreements with Malaysia’s External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) to pave the way for businesses in both countries to carry out matching activities, like events and expositions. ...

Sun Chanthol, senior minister and minister of Public Works and Transport, met with the president of Dansan Consultants on Friday to talk about the lack of safety signs on a construction site on National Road 21 that allegedly caused two deaths in a traffic accident. ...

The agency tasked with investigating abuse by Malaysia’s security forces said that claims of fatal abuse against foreign maids—including Cambodians—at a detention center were untrue, though it said the center where the abuse allegedly occurred was in urgent need of attention. ...

A British man who has spent five years in prison for raping a 16-year-old girl requested Monday that the Appeal Court grant him a retrial and the chance to present evidence that has not come before the court, which he says will prove his innocence. ...

A new survey of what the country’s 700,000 garment workers earn and spend in a typical month has concluded that the median take-home pay of a garment factory employee is $191, higher than the minimum wage, but lower than what employers have claimed. ...