Kingdom licenses first round of new factories
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. ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/kingdom-licenses-first-round-new-factories
Sokha hotel to foot bill for Sihanouk beach road
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. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23707/sokha-hotel-to-foot-bill-for-sihanouk-beach-road/
Garments to keep economy strong through China slowdown
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. ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/garments-to-keep-economy-strong-through-china-slowdown-111225/
Micro lenders see steady expansion
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. ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24525/micro-lenders-see-steady-expansion/
First oil refinery a step closer
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. ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24607/first-oil-refinery-a-step-closer/
Anti-corruption unit arrests lawyer; bar warns of graft
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. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/anti-corruption-unit-arrests-lawyer-bar-warns-of-graft-113372/
Amid lack of interest, more wood auctions called off
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. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/amid-lack-of-interest-more-wood-auctions-called-off-115335/
Rainsy asks EU to cut imports
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. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/27332/rainsy-asks-eu-to-cut-imports/
Joint CCC-Matrade agreements
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. ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/27631/joint-ccc-matrade-agreements/
Ministry scolds South Korean firm
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. ...
Tin Sokhavuth
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/28162/ministry-scolds-south-korean-firm/
Malaysia abuse claims drive agency to call for urgent fixes
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. ...
Colin Meyn
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/malaysia-abuse-claims-drive-agency-call-urgent-fixes-117260/
Convicted rapist insists retrial will prove his innocence
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. ...
Matt Blomberg and Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/convicted-rapist-insists-retrial-will-prove-his-innocence-94212/
Survey says garment workers earn $191 monthly
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. ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/survey-says-garment-workers-earn-191-monthly-94853/
Socio-economic survey shows Cambodia’s balanced sex ratio
The Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey 2014 has revealed the balanced sex ratio in the country, according to the state news agency-AKP. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/socio-economic-survey-shows-cambodia%E2%80%99s-balanced-sex-ratio-9023
Hun Sen: Rainsy no different than Pol Pot
Prime Minister Hun Sen released a three-page statement Thursday claiming there were “no differences” between what opposition leader Sam Rainsy would do to the country if he won the next election and the destruction Pol Pot wrought during his three years in power. ...
Kuch Naren and Alex Willemyns
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-says-sam-rainsy-no-different-than-pol-pot-97014/
Firm gives Ratanakkiri minorities cash for ceremony
Representatives of 14 ethnic minority communities in Ratanakkiri province on Friday accepted $1,700 each from Vietnamese rubber company Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) to buy a buffalo and hold a ceremony to appease the spirits that had been disturbed by the firm’s plantations. ...
Khuon Narim and Matt Blomberg
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/firm-gives-ratana%C2%ADkkiri-minorities-cash-for-ceremony-100330/
Australian lawmaker urges censure of acts against Cambodian opposition
An Australian senator wants to see a resolution censuring Cambodia for recent political attacks on the opposition. Ludlum told Australian lawmakers they should pass a resolution recognizing the current acts representing an “extremely bad sign for democracy in Cambodia.” ...
Community sues border police over loggers
A group of villagers in Mondolkiri province filed a lawsuit this week against three local border police officers and a forestry official accusing them of allowing Vietnamese loggers to sneak across the nearby border and illegally log the forests they depend on for a living. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/104780-104780/
Human trafficking up, spurred by migration
Human trafficking out of Cambodia is on the rise, according to an Interior Ministry report released on Thursday, and is being fueled by relaxed border controls and economic disparity in the region, according to a separate U.N. report. ...
Taylor O'Connell and Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/human-trafficking-up-spurred-by-migration-109004/
Three briefly held over Kampot roadblock
The Kampot Provincial Court will continue to investigate three villagers and an NGO worker after they were arrested and released on Friday for allegedly setting up an illegal checkpoint to extort money from timber and firewood transporters in Kampot’s Chhouk district, according to officials. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/three-briefly-held-over-kampot-roadblock