Cambodia welcomes same-sex marriage, gov’t spokesman says
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan expressed support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Cambodia yesterday, responding to Nepal’s new constitution – which has been described as the first in Asia to enshrine protection for the rights of LGBT people. ...
Chea Takihiro
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/16143/cambodia-welcomes-same-sex-marriage--gov---t-spokesman-says/
More families take deals to vacate dam site
Another 73 families in Stung Treng province have accepted the government’s offer of new land in exchange for the farms they will lose to the Lower Sesan II hydropower dam currently under construction, the second group to take the deal. ...
Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/more-families-take-deals-to-vacate-dam-site-109569/
Number of orphanages in Cambodia rises to 267 last year, up 92 pct: survey
A new survey released by Cambodia’s Social Affairs Ministry on Thursday showed that the number of residential care institutions in the country’s five key provinces increased to 267 last year, up 92 percent from only 139 in the year before. ...
Shanghai Team
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=324810
Travel goods exports could soar as US drops tariffs
New trade privileges that allow Cambodian-manufactured travel goods duty-free access to the United States for the first time could see exports of these items increase by over 400 per cent in the coming years, industry experts said yesterday. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/travel-goods-exports-could-soar-us-drops-tariffs
Royal Group submits plan for coal-fired plant
New details have emerged on Royal Group’s ambitions to expand its energy portfolio after a government official clarified that Cambodia’s biggest conglomerate is seeking to develop its own coal-fired power plant, rather than finance an existing one. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/royal-group-submits-plan-coal-fired-plant
Road safety efforts ‘insufficient’
A new study warns that a UN initiative to cut global road deaths in half by 2020 is on course to fail amid “clearly insufficient” efforts, with middle- and lower-income countries such as Cambodia at the forefront of the battle. ...
Charles Parkinson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/road-safety-efforts-insufficient
Union agrees to stop protests; factory to set aside complaint
Demonstrations surrounding the establishment of a new union at a garment factory in Kompong Speu province ended Monday after management dropped their complaint against two jailed workers in exchange for protesters agreeing to return to their jobs, a court official and unionists said. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/union-agrees-to-stop-protests-factory-to-set-aside-complaint-98387/
EU to provide 10 million euros for election reform, NEC still needs more
The European Union pledged €10 million in preparation of the upcoming 2017 and 2018 elections yesterday, which the National Election Committee (NEC) hopes to add to in a new budget they will be submitting to the government, according to NEC officials. ...
Chea Takihiro
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21238/eu-to-provide-10-million-euros-for-election-reform--nec-still-needs-more/
Factories failing women: study
Despite their overwhelmingly female workforce, garment factories in Kompong Speu province fail to adequately address the maternal health and child-care needs of their staff, according to new study set to be released by the French NGO Enfants and Developpment. ...
Taylor O'Connell
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factories-failing-women-study-108780/
Another armyworm outbreak hits Koh Kong
As farmers across the country continue to recover from crop devastation wrought by a plague of armyworm caterpillars, those in Koh Kong province are facing a new outbreak that is decimating young rice plants, officials said on Monday. ...
Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/another-armyworm-outbreak-hits-koh-kong-114721/
Gov’t eyes million-tonne rice quota deal with Indonesia
Cambodia is close to signing an ambitious agreement with the Indonesian government that would pave the way for the Kingdom’s rice producers to export 1 million tonnes of rice under a new quota scheme, a state official said yesterday. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/govt-eyes-million-tonne-rice-quota-deal-indonesia
Local chiefs still key to registration, study finds
Despite having access to other sources of information about the election process, including television and smartphones, Cambodia’s urban poor remain heavily reliant on potentially biased village-level officials when it comes to voter registration, according to a new report. ...
Ananth Baliga and Kong Meta
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/local-chiefs-still-key-registration-study-finds
Over 3.76B riel swapped in banknote exchange
The Central Bank announced on Monday that it exchanged 3.76 billion of old and worn Khmer riel banknotes (equivalent to $930,091) to new notes during its “Loving Riel Notes”, campaign which lasted five days during the Pchum Ben holiday. ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/over-376b-riel-swapped-banknote-exchange
Party-busting bill passed in ‘final blow’ to democracy
In what some are calling one of the most significant threats to democracy that Cambodia has faced in a generation, the CPP-controlled National Assembly on Monday voted to give the government and courts sweeping new powers over political parties. ...
Ben Sokhean and Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/party-busting-bill-passed-in-final-blow-to-democracy-125486/
Kingdom sees major increase in United States investment
US investments in Cambodia increased 15-fold last year, due mainly to the construction of a new Coca-Cola plant in the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, according to a statement from the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC). ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35808/kingdom-sees-major-increase-in-united-states-investment/
Cambodia-China cooperation
Cambodia and China reiterated their commitment to speed up the construction of the Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville super highway and the building of a new airport in Siem Reap, according to the government’s Press and Quick Reaction Unit yesterday. ...
Sum Manet
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/37923/cambodia-china-cooperation/
Foreign Minister on US mission
Foreign Minister Park Sokhornn will be at the White House on Thursday for the first meeting between Asean foreign ministers and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson since the new administration of President Donald Trump took office in January. ...
Ros Chanveasna
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/37938/foreign-minister-on-us-mission/
Life insurance market grows
Two new life insurance companies will launch operations in Cambodia by the end of this week, aiming to grab hold of a market that has seen rapid expansion in recent years while also creating stronger competition in the emerging industry. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/life-insurance-market-grows
Roadside families protest at City Hall
Nearly 100 residents living along a stretch of land running from a railway in Boeung Kak to National Road 5 have gathered again outside City Hall to demand information about the development of a new road threatening to destroy their homes. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/38081/roadside-families--protest-at-city-hall/
China’s ‘Belt and Road’ policy benefits Cambodia, analysts say
The multi-trillion-dollar scheme proposed by Chinese premier Xi Jinping in 2013 aims to promote economic integration across Eurasia by investing in a “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “Maritime Silk Road”, comprising transnational economic corridors and new trade arrangements. ...
Hean Socheata
http://www.voacambodia.com/a/china-belt-and-road-policy-benefits-cambodia-analysts-say/3859343.html