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. ...

Rapid urbanisation in Phnom Penh in the past decade has created jobs and reduced poverty, but better urban planning, management and infrastructure are needed to avoid further sprawl, congestion and pollution, according to a new World Bank report released yesterday. ...

Watching the premiere of Angelina Jolie’s new film “First They Killed My Father” in the shadows of the ancient ruins of Angkor on Saturday night, Riem Vet was transported back to his teenage years living under the Pol Pot regime. ...

Cambodia could expand its foreign trade by up to 16 percent, adding approximately $2 billion worth of exports, by complying with a new international trade protocol that aims to slice through the red tape that slows and complicates cross-border trade. ...

Dozens of Laotian soldiers started building a post on a disputed tract of land along the border on Thursday, breaking a deal made just a day earlier between Laos and Cambodia to withdraw forces until after the Khmer New Year. ...

A day ahead of May Day, the Building and Wood Workers Trade Union Federation of Cambodia held a small rally outside the National Assembly demanding the inclusion of construction workers within the minimum wage framework and new guidelines for workplace safety. ...

Banking sector leaders have expressed concern over a new government decree that places additional fees on financial services, warning that the costs of what some have described as an “impractical and inefficient” tax would likely be passed along to consumers. ...

Local diversified company Jet’s Group has launched a new collateral option that allows would-be homeowners to buy gold bullion from Hong Kong that can be used to secure investments in its Cambodian property developments, a company executive said yesterday. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen approved the establishment of a new interministerial task force yesterday that will work to develop and manage community-based ecotourism locations in a bid to find sustainable ways to draw tourists to destinations across the Kingdom. ...

About 100,000 foreigners working without permits will be fined after Khmer New Year and potentially face jail time and deportation if they fail to get paperwork or pay their fines, the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Labour announced yesterday. ...

Angkor Gold Corp, a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company, has announced the identification of five new prospects in Ratanakiri province, according to a company statement. the mining firm said it planned to consolidate its gold prospects in the northeastern corner of the country. ...

The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) has requested adding four trading sessions to its two current sessions in the hopes of increasing trade volumes.  The request, if approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia, could see new sessions added within a month. . ...

Almost 85,000 visitors traveled to Kampot over the first three days of the Lunar New Year. The 84,917 visitors included 1,252 foreigners with the Bokor Mountain resort alone attracting 67,548 visitors including 1,004 foreigners, [a tourism official] said. ...

The National Assembly’s banking and finance commission has called parliament’s chief administrator for questioning on Tuesday over alleged spending irregularities in a 2015 budget that included buying 30 new cars at $200,000 each and spending $25,000 on a flagpole. ...

The National Assembly’s Anti-Corruption Commission will visit Siem Reap this month to further probe claims Angkor Archaeological Park’s manager, the Apsara Authority, underreported ticket sales, as new figures show a drop in visitors to the World Heritage site last month. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a new directive last week putting the Ministry of Mines and Energy in charge of all aspects of approving sand dredging operations in a move that one official said would help clear out a backlog of license requests. ...

Residents on Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changvar peninsula embroiled in a land dispute with tycoon Pung Khieu Se’s Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation were to submit a petition to City Hall today following a new compensation offer from the authorities last week. ...

More than 60 per cent of Cambodian students have experienced gender-based violence in schools, with staff committing the violence a fifth of the time, according to a new research report from Plan International and the International Center for Research on Women. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday returned from an international disaster management conference in Japan, where he secured a promise from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to help Cambodia with voter registration once new election laws come into effect, an official said. ...

Pung Chhiv Kek, the president of rights group Licadho, has declined her nomination as the “neutral” member of the bipartisan National Election Committee (NEC), forcing the CPP and CNRP to select a new candidate for the key final position on the body. ...