The National Bank of Cambodia will launch a new payment system to increase inter bank activity in a move to shore up confidence in the Kingdom’s rapidly expanding banking sector, it said in a press release yesterday. ...

More than two-thirds of the 158 land disputes triggered by large-scale plantations over the past two decades have yet to be fully resolved, according to a new report by the NGO Forum on Cambodia.   ...

A new initiative led by Interpol will focus on improving border security in Southeast Asia, with the international police body warning that increased cross-border criminal activity will be a likely unintended consequence of the region’s growing integration. ...

Local innovations have catapulted Cambodia, which has long had dire toilet use numbers, to be a leader in sanitation. On World Toilet Day, the country gears up to attain ambitious new targets, Joanna Mayhew reports. ...

The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has rejected a request from the Royal Academy for Judicial Professionals to provide observers at the upcoming exam for new judges and prosecutors, according to a letter posted to the unit’s website on Sunday. ...

The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has refused to supervise the upcoming exam for new judges organized by the Royal Academy for Judicial Professions (RAJP), claiming that the RAJP “lacks the will” to work with them on fighting against widespread judicial corruption. ...

The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications has defended the controversial new Telecommunications Law following a biting legal analysis by rights group Licadho, which says the legislation is a veiled tool to silence critics and potentially criminalize private expression. ...

The Ministry of Commerce is visiting the Kingdom’s petroleum importers to check their inventories following the release of new regulations this week that require the companies to maintain and report their stock levels, a ministry official said yesterday. ...

Phnom Penh’s median household income could swell to surpass the projected level of Bangkok within 15 years if the city’s rapid urbanisation is properly managed through effective policymaking and adequate city planning, according to a new study. ...

The chief executive of ANZ Royal Bank has denied media reports that the Australian and New Zealand Bank Group (ANZ) is considering pulling the plug on its Cambodian operations amid a planned retreat from the region’s markets. ...

The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has demanded that all new commune chiefs and councillors elected at the June 4 local elections submit asset declarations to the unit and reminded those who were re-elected to update their declarations. ...

The government spent far less than half of its approved $5 billion budget for expenditures in 2017 during the first six months of the year, according to a new report by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). ...

The Ministry of Health’s communicable disease control department has produced a short video in advance of next month’s Khmer New Year warning revellers of the dangers of consuming rice wine, which has been linked to multiple deaths. ...

As part of ongoing education reforms, a new curriculum set to be implemented in 2018 will address the lack of career counselling in high schools across Cambodia, a Ministry of Education official told attendees of an education forum yesterday. ...

Cambodia could add an additional $320 million to the economy over the next 10 years while increasing tax revenue by $24 million if it dropped its tariffs on information and communication technology (ICT), according to new research published yesterday. ...

Cambodians who leave the country for work overseas still often lack effective access to the country’s justice system when they have problems with recruitment agencies, despite some recent improvements, a new report from the International Labour Organization says.​ ...

Cambodia’s market regulator has finalised regulations for establishing a corporate bond, moving one step closer to introducing a new capital market tool that would allow companies to raise funds for expansions, debt refinancing or acquisitions, officials announced yesterday. ...

Private sector tourism operators claimed yesterday that a new government mandate that charges travelers an additional $2 fee to use ferry services to reach the islands off the coast near Sihanoukville has sparked a furious backlash from domestic tourists. ...

A study of the mass administration of anti-malarial drugs in two provinces of Cambodia has shown the challenges that surface during such interventions, including the spread of “rumours” among villagers, which can decrease participation, new research shows. ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is planning to establish a new $60 million program focused on developing local technical skills and increasing the competitiveness of Cambodia’s labour force in 2019, according to Minister of Labour Ith Sam Heng. ...