Cambodia’s “Economic Free­dom”—a broad measure of how well individuals and businesses can create and protect their wealth —was classed as “mostly unfree” in a new report released by the Washington-based Heritage Foun­dation, which identified corruption and bureaucracy as impediments to free markets. ...

Consular officials yesterday were working to repatriate a Cambodian maid fleeing what she described as unfair working conditions in Saudi Arabia, even as Cambodia’s minister of labour was en route to seal a long-awaited deal to open a pipeline of workers to the Gulf nation. ...

A grinning Prime Minister Hun Sen walked up to US President Barack Obama and shook his hand in California yesterday, lending the premier his long-sought aura of legitimacy even as hundreds of angry Cambodians protested his 31-year rule less than half of a kilometre away. ...

Cambodians were optimistic about the economic and political future of the Kingdom, according to a national survey on citizen’s perceptions released on Wednesday by the Asia Foundation, although observers yesterday questioned whether that optimism remains in light of the government’s recent crackdown on the opposition. ...

A Thai study being carried out on special economic zones (SEZ) in 15 provinces along the country’s borders has been welcomed by Cambodian and foreign businessmen, who say both countries can benefit, but some uncertainty remains over exactly where and when the zones will be ...

The chief executive of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) resigned his post on Monday in the wake of an investigation into a possible $200,000 bribe paid by a gaming firm he previously headed to a consultancy with connections to a sister of Prime Minister Hun ...

With a $148 million injection of capital through a Share Purchase Agreement, National Bank of Canada (NBC) now holds a 90 percent stake in ABA Bank, according to ABA and NBC executives, who ensured that the agreement will not alter ABA Bank’s strategy but enhance ...

Alan Doss, executive director of former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s eponymous foundation, met with officials from the CPP, CNRP and National Election Committee (NEC) on Monday as the first step in the body’s efforts to help election reform here.   ...

Wing Specialised Bank is trying to stay ahead of the game in the money transfer and mobile payment sector by forging new partnerships. The Post’s Ayanna Runcie sat down with Wing’s recently appointed CEO Jojo Malolos to discuss his plan for the company’s future. ...

The Labor Court will be ready to hear cases by the end of next year, according to officials from the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training. The court is being optimistically designed to effectively resolve labor disputes in the garment sector, Labor Minister Ith Samheng said ...

Members of the opposition will join their ruling party counterparts on the National Assembly’s (NA) Second Commission on Economics, Finance, Banking and Auditing in a meeting today with a European Union (EU) technical working group to discuss EU subsidies to Cambodia. ...

The government has set an annual target of producing 1.2 million tons of fish in farms within the next three years to support high local demand and to reduce the flood of imports from neighboring countries, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. ...

The environmental protection group WWF has criticized the penalty imposed on three brothers arrested in Mondolkiri province over the weekend for filling the trunk of a car with turtles, lizards, snakes, a monkey and a civet—all of them meant to be food for a party. ...

The government-owned bank charged with issuing $27 million in emergency loans to rice millers as part of an initiative aimed at propping up the struggling rice industry announced the terms of the credit lines yesterday, and said it would ensure that the funds were used ...

The fate of the last surviving Irrawaddy river dolphins on the Laos-Cambodian border hangs in the balance after a Laos government official was reported as saying this week that construction of the dam would begin by the end of the year.   ...

Members of the ruling party and opposition met Wednesday to discuss amendments to the election law for local commune councils. The five points are election campaign procession, campaign period, raising party signs in public places, punishment, and reprimands on civil servants. ...

A senior military delegation led by Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh is attending the Vietnam – Cambodia Dialogue on National Defence Policies, from October 18-20 in Cambodia, as part of the 2015 Cooperation Plan between the two Ministries of National Defence. ...

H&M and global union federation IndustriALL on Tuesday signed off on a deal aimed at improving conditions for the 1.6 million workers at the 1,900 factories around the world filling orders for the Swedish clothing giant that will include a new oversight committee in Cambodia. ...

The international market for surrogacy is proving to be very resilient in the face of legal and social disruption. Now that India, Nepal and Thailand have banned international clients from using local surrogates, clinics and brokers are shifting their business to Cambodia. ...

The third and final tranche of 1.8 million shares in Phnom Penh Autonomous Port’s (PPAP) recent initial public offering (IPO) sold out by the middle of last month, according to Hei Bavy, director general of the state-owned enterprise. ​ ...