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
Training centre to help locals climb ladder at garment firms
The Garment Manufacturer Association of Cambodia (GMAC) will launch its new vocational training centre next month, providing courses aimed at upgrading the skills of Cambodian workers in a bid to replace the middle-management positions currently occupied predominantly by foreigners. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/training-centre-help-locals-climb-ladder-garment-firms
Bamboo train blocked as land dispute erupts
A part of the new bamboo railway in Battambang province was blocked yesterday over of a dispute between the owner of the construction company that built the line and a man claiming the railway ran through his land near Banan mountain. ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/109301/bamboo-train-blocked-land-dispute-erupts/
Second change to Party Law this year takes aim at Rainsy
Thirty lawmakers have agreed to once again alter Cambodia’s controversial Law on Political Parties – the second change so far this year – with ruling party spokesman Sok Eysan leaving little doubt that the new law would target one person: Sam Rainsy. ...
Meas Sokchea and Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/second-change-party-law-year-takes-aim-rainsy
King again in Beijing for contested Party Law’s signing
King Norodom Sihamoni will once again be out of Cambodia on the day that widely condemned new laws are due to be signed into force, prompting some observers to suggest he is abstaining from affixing his signature to politically questionable legislation. ...
Meas Sokchea and Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/king-again-beijing-contested-party-laws-signing
Surrogacy exit rules released, with parents required to provide yearly updates
Parents of children born to surrogate mothers in Cambodia will be required to provide the government with yearly updates of their child’s mental and physical development, according to new guidelines officially disseminated to embassies for the first time yesterday. ...
Kong Meta and Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/surrogacy-exit-rules-released-parents-required-provide-yearly-updates
US businesses give Cambodia mixed marks
U.S. companies doing business in Cambodia are optimistic about the country’s overall investment environment, but remain dissatisfied with the supply of cheap and skilled labor, corruption, tax structure, and attitudes toward the U.S., according to a new survey. ...
Ben Paviour
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/us-businesses-give-cambodia-mixed-marks-133739/
Social programmes ‘underfunded’
In spite of recent pledges to expand social protections, the Cambodian government has failed to prioritise spending on services that reduce poverty and improve quality of life among vulnerable populations, according to a new report from the International Labour Organization. ...
Brendan O’Byrne
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/social-programmes-underfunded