THE government expressed disappointment yesterday with the World Bank’s announcement that it had halted new country loans due to the ongoing land dispute at Boeung Kak lake in Phnom Penh and vowed to raise the issue with the bank’s executive board. “We are very dissatisfied <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/world-bank-fund-halt-irks-officials/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Representatives from German, Finnish and Canadian development agencies were awarded honorary medals by Minister of Land Management Im Chhun Lim on Wednesday for their work in the country’s land sector. The awards ceremony comes just weeks after it emerged that the World Bank had frozen <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/government-awards-land-reform-organizations/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodian garment and textile exports increased nearly 20 per cent in the first eight months of 2011 compared to the same period last year, according to Ministry of Commerce figures. The Kingdom exported US$2.35 billion in garments during the period, a 19.6 per cent increase over <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/kingdoms-garment-shipments-still-growing/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday rebuked the World Bank for revising downward its outlook for gross domestic product growth in the Kingdom, claiming the bank’s projections could cause market panic. The premier also announced a new government projection of 6.4 per cent GDP growth this year, <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/hun-sen-rebukes-world-bank/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

An 11-yeAr-old HIV-positive girl evicted from Borei KeilA moved bAck to Phnom Penh to live with her Aunt becAuse she hAd no Access to medicAtion At her relocAtion site in KAndAl province, she sAid yesterdAy. During Another dAy of protests outside the NAtionAl Assembly, schoolgirl Theng <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/vulnerAble-evictees-speAk-out/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Some commercial banks could increase loans to the agricultural sector this year, according to industry insiders who cited improvements in the sector and a rise in crop prices. Cambodian farmers lack the capital needed for inputs such as seeds and fertiliser, while domestic rice millers often <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/agriculture-to-see-lending-growth/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

After more thAn three yeArs of disAppointment in its seArch for lArge gold deposits in Mondolkiri province, AustrAliAn mining firm OZ MinerAls hAs decided to sell its CAmbodiAn Assets to Another AustrAliAn compAny In A stAtement to the AustrAliAn Stock ExchAnge, OZ MinerAls sAid thAt it <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/oz-minerAls-sells-mkiri-gold-Assets/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A steAdy rise in the vAlue of CAmbodiA’s riel since the beginning of the yeAr demonstrAted increAsed confidence in the currency often shAdowed by predominAnt usAge of the US dollAr, officiAls sAid yesterdAy. “The consequent rising vAlue of riel proves there is more confidence in <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/riel-sees-stAble-gAins-on-dollAr-this-yeAr/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

More than 30 families living near the Siem Reap River in Siem Reap’s aranh Sakor village have sent a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen and member of parliament Seang Nam, asking not to be evicted from their land because of the planned widening of <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/river-widening-divides-opinions/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

More than 150 companies from China, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, as well as Germany and England on Thursday set up shop at the exhibition center on Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich island, displaying everything from $900 labeling machines to sewing machines worth $56,000 that automatically attach <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/machinery-manufacturers-tap-garment-sector/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

In 2009, the Democrat-led government and the People’s alliance for Democracy accused ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of holding secret talks with Cambodia about exploiting oil and gas reserves in the Gulf of Thailand. The government threatened to revoke a memorandum of understanding on overlapping <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/time-right-for-talks-on-sea-boundary/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodia approved $1.2 billion in investments from China in the first six months of the year, a 104 percent increase in the amount of Chinese money set to flood into the economy compared to the same period last year, the Cambodian Investment Board said. The <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/investment-by-china-doubles-in-first-half/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodian mobile operators added more than 1 million new subscribers between May and July, with Smart Mobile seeing the largest percentage increase for the period, according to Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications figures obtained by the Post. Marc Einstein, a Tokyo-based analyst at research and <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/mobile-market-still-growing/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Members of 34 families facing eviction from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak community yesterday called on five foreign embassies and the European Union to pressure the government into granting them land titles. They are among the 46 poor and untitled families living in Boeng Kak who have <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/boeng-kak-families-reach-out-to-embassies-eu/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment told a Japanese oil company yesterday to better define the location of its initial onshore operations given the potential impact on the local population and environment. The Ministry of Environment has required Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation to specify where <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ministry-questions-oil-assessment/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The government has granted more than 7 million hectares of land to private companies through concessions since 2008, with 222 private companies claiming more than 2 million hectares alone in economic land concessions, rights group adhoc said yesterday. Ouch Leng, head of adhoc’s land program, said <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/kingdoms-three-year-land-rush/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodia’s total exports rose more than 40 per cent year-on-year through October, carried by strong growth in agriculture shipments. Total exports reached US$4.05 billion in the first 10 months of 2011 compared with $2.82 billion during the same period last year, an increase of 44 per <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/kingdoms-exports-jump-44/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

More than 1000 factory workers protested in Phnom Penh yesterday outside the Sun Well Shoes Company factory in Pur Senchey district, demanding higher wages and the dismissal of the factory’s administration chief, union representatives said. Tep Saroeun, a union representative at Sun Well Shoes Company in <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/workers-call-for-factory-official-to-go/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Pailin’s juicy longans, a small beige-colored fruit renowned for its sweet taste, is on the way to becoming Cambodia’s third food product to attain Geographic Indicator (GI) status. The longan will join Cambodia’s only other GI-recognized food products: Kompong Speu palm sugar and Kampot <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/pailin-looks-to-put-longan-fruit-on-gi-map/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

An increAse in AgriculturAl trAding hAs cAused the vAlue of the US dollAr to dip below 4,000 riel in the pAst three consecutive dAys, As there is now A higher demAnd for the CAmbodiAn riel, money exchAngers And An officiAl from the NAtionAl BAnk of <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/us-dollAr-drops-below-4000-riel-with-AgriculturAl-hArvest/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>