NEC: digital voter registry to reduce fraud
The new computerized registry of voters for the next election will catalog citizens’ real names, reduce fraud, and get rid of the double-name glitches that plagued the last election cycle, says NEC spokesman Hang Puthea. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/13460/nec--digital-voter-registry-to-reduce-fraud/
CPP claims hundreds of defections from opposition
The ruling CPP held a ceremony on Saturday in Oddar Meanchey province to welcome 564 new members in what it says was a mass defection from the CNRP due to dissatisfaction with the opposition party. ...
Aun Chhengpor
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cpp-claims-hundreds-of-defections-from-opposition-90584/
Adhoc: houses for families displaced by dam sub-standard
New houses built for 100 families who were pushed off of their land by the construction of the Sesan Krom II Dam have been slammed as substandard by the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc). ...
Chea Takihiro
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/14260/adhoc--houses-for-families-displaced-by-dam-sub-standard/
Four other investment projects worth more than $8 million approved by CDC
The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) has approved four new investment projects with a total capital of $8.4 million. ...
Khmer Times Staff
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501083098/four-other-investment-projects-worth-more-than-8-million-approved-by-cdc/
Observer registration opens for voter list
The National Election Committee yesterday said that local and international observers have until the end of December to register their credentials with the NEC in order to monitor the registration of new voters this year. ...
Ven Rathavong
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50530842/observer-registration-opens-for-voter-list/
ASF spread ‘being monitored’
A government animal health official is monitoring the possible spread of African swine fever into new provinces bordering Vietnam. This follows an outbreak in Ratanakkiri in March, which was hoped had been kept under control. ...
Khorn Savi
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/asf-spread-%E2%80%98being-monitored%E2%80%99
Tourism board mulling fresh tourism strategy
Cambodia Tourism Marketing and Promotion Board, a joint institution between the government and the private sector, is studying a new strategy to attract more foreign visitors to the Kingdom, Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said. ...
Hin Pisei
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/tourism-board-mulling-fresh-tourism-strategy
Six provincial governors selected for retirement
Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng has announced that six new provincial governors have been selected to replace those who have reached retirement age, denying the move has anything to do with the old governors’ performances. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22492/six-provincial-governors-selected-for-retirement/
Kingdom's sugar exports to EU plummet
New figures show that Cambodia’s sugar exports to the European Union fell by 94.8 per cent between 2013 and 2015, amid accusations of rights abuses and land grabbing in the Kingdom’s industry. ...
Will Jackson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdoms-sugar-exports-eu-plummet
Bank of China to expand operations in Cambodia
Bank of China, one of the five biggest state-owned commercial banks in China, will expand its operations in Cambodia by opening new branches in Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, a local bank executive said yesterday. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/bank-china-expand-operations-cambodia
Gov’t to crack down on surrogacy clinics
Fleeing strict new laws at home, surrogacy companies are moving their “wombs for rent” services from Thailand to Cambodia, causing some analysts to raise concerns that would-be parents could be swindled by the little-regulated industry. ...
Chea Takihiro and Jonathan Cox
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/17745/gov---t-to-crack-down-on-surrogacy-clinics/
Voter e-registration test run going ‘smoothly’
Testing of a new electronic voter registration system is “running smoothly”, with more than 14,000 people registered across 24 provinces since the pilot project began on November 1, the National Election Committee announced yesterday. ...
Vong Sokheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/voter-e-registration-test-run-going-smoothly
Draft telecoms law gives Gov’t broad spying powers
A new draft of the proposed Telecommunications Law would give authorities the right to eavesdrop on any conversation, along with a host of other powers that a rights group has warned would effectively nationalize private service providers. ...
Mech Dara and Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/draft-telecoms-law-gives-govt-broad-spying-powers-101351/
Duty-free shop follows tourism surge on coast
The new duty-free shop opened by China Duty Free Group (CDFG) in Sihanoukville will have a major impact on development of the tourism industry in the coastal resort, a senior provincial official said yesterday. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/19469/duty-free-shop-follows-tourism-surge-on-coast/
Loans to fight LGBT poverty
LGBT Cambodians driven into poverty by discrimination, and sometimes forced to sell sex to survive, may soon enjoy the benefits of a new online campaign designed to raise money to help them rebuild their lives. ...
Jamie Elliott
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/loans-fight-lgbt-poverty
Boom times in Preah Sihanouk
The property sector in Preah Sihanouk province seems to be booming, thanks to new project developments, the growth in tourism and a twinning program between the province and Zhencheng district in China’s Guangdong province. ...
Sum Manet
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/31370/boom-times-in-preah-sihanouk/
Interest cap poses body blow for Cambodian microfinance
Just months ahead of local elections, the Cambodian government has ordered the microfinance industry to cap interest rates on new and refinanced loans at 18 percent a year starting April 1. ...
Robert Carmichael
http://www.voacambodia.com/a/interest-cap-poses-body-blow-for-cambodian-microfinance/3783292.html
Minorities forced to trek from Sesan village
About 100 ethnic minority members were forced to trek 12 km on Wednesday out of a Stung Treng village on the verge of being flooded by a new hydroelectric dam after authorities blockaded a road. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/minorities-forced-to-trek-from-sesan-village-132930/
Psychological distress high among disabled
People with disabilities and their families in two Cambodian provinces – Kampong Cham and Tbong Khmum – experience significant psychological distress, endure discrimination and stigma and their rights “re-main largely unrecognised”, a new study has found. ...
Sen David and Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/psychological-distress-high-among-disabled
Legal firm to help elite gain dual citizenship
A NEW international law firm is preparing to set up shop to provide foreign citizenship or residency services to Cambodia’s wealthy elite by helping to facilitate large overseas investments as well as business expansion plans. ...
Matthieu de Gaudemar
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/legal-firm-help-elite-gain-dual-citizenship