The government plans to reduce its foreign debt and raise capital through the issuance of bonds, a representative of the Ministry of Economy and Finance has unveiled. “Increasing local borrowing instead of foreign borrowing will improve the country’s trade balance and current account,” said Vong Seyvisoth, ...

The Cambodian government has reclaimed 13 hectares of protected mangrove forest in Koh Kong province, which were illegally sold off to a tycoon and partially filled with sand, though nobody involved in the sale will be sent to court. According to an announcement from the ...

A senior official at the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction appealed yesterday to institutions, private companies and related parties to help increase public housing for low and middle income families. In the first annual national forum on housing yesterday, Chhan Saphan, a secretary ...

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) issued a prakas, or directive, last week instructing commercial banks and microfinance institutions to make out more riel loans to their customers, in a bid to promote the use of the national currency. The prakas, which took effect on Thursday, ...

As the country enters its first campaign period since the CNRP nearly upset the ruling party in 2013, the opposition party believes momentum is on its side. The researchers found that in the three communes they visited, the ruling party was deeply intertwined with the ...

Cambodia and Indonesia agreed to cooperate to boost their tourism markets, particularly by enhancing air connectivity and by jointly managing their most iconic tourism sites.During an official visit to Indonesia last week, Prak Sokhonn, the Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, suggested both ...

Eight representatives of Phnom Penh communities involved in land disputes were allowed to present their petitions to the Council of Ministers yesterday after authorities blocked about 200 of their fellow petitioners from gathering in front of the Peace Palace. During a meeting with the representatives, Bun ...

An official at the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port yesterday said the state-owned firm would miss its target of registering with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) next month, a key step before listing on the country’s nascent bourse. Ho Hongsik, director of SBI Royal ...

The national flag carrier, Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA), added a new passenger plane on Sunday in order to expand new flight destinations to countries in the region, said a senior government official. “The new Airbus 321 plane is leased from an Airbus manufacturer in France,” Tek ...

Cambodian-Japanese bank Maruhan Japan opened an office in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on Saturday, making it the second Cambodian bank and the first Japanese bank to come to that country. Maruhan’s presence in Laos would boost economic and investment ties between the two ASEAN member ...

Human rights group Adhoc released a report on the state of Cambodian migrant workers yesterday, saying that tales of abuse from migrant workers and their families have increased five-fold compared to the same period last year. Seventy per cent of this year’s 141 complaints concerned domestic ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen, in his capacity as the 2012 ASEAN chair, has called for investors within the ASEAN member states as well as around the globe to invest in Cambodia in various sectors, particularly agriculture, food processing and manufacturing. The premier made the appeal on ...

Bangchak Petroleum, a majority state-owned oil refiner and retailer in Thailand, said it wants to open five petrol stations in Cambodia, with the first station opening in 2014, the Bangkok Post reported last week. Tui Rutten, president of the Thai Business Council of Cambodia did not ...

In an effort to boost trade activity between Thailand and Cambodia, both countries will discuss plans for two special economic zones along the Thai-Cambodian border next month, according to the secretary of state at the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday. “It will provide us ...

A joint committee designed to bring about wage increases in the garment sector will meet for the first time on Friday, a Ministry of Social Affairs letter obtained yesterday states. Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union, said he believed ...

In an apparent departure from the usual diet of colourless press releases and updates on the travel plans of officials, the Council of Ministers’ Press and Quick Reaction Unit website yesterday posted two articles critical of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government. The articles – Reuters’ coverage ...

Sok Sokan, son of Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, has been officially named deputy secretary general within the Council of Ministers – a rank equal to secretary of state – according to November’s Royal Affairs publication released last month. Ek Tha, a spokesman for the Council ...

The French Agency for Development (AFD) announced yesterday that it will provide $24 million to finance privately owned water and power providers to supply rural areas that state-run utilities cannot reach. During a ceremony held at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the AFD and the ...

Arrest, detention and even an upcoming trial can’t sway 68 Khmer Krom families faced with eviction to give up a bitter land dispute over a bird sanctuary in Takeo province. After being charged in April with illegally occupying state land, three representatives from Sangkum Meanchey village ...

Apple Inc. on Friday will officially launch the iPhone in Cambodia through its authorized reseller, iOne, giving customers—long used to gray market iPhones—access to Apple’s warranty. “The sales launch will be July 18. iOne, which has the monopoly right to import Apple’s products to Cambodia’s market ...