The state-owned bank entrusted with extending $27 million in emergency loans to millers to purchase rice paddy has marginally lowered the interest rate on these conditional loans in an effort to shorten some of the strings attached. The Rural Development Bank (RDB) announced late on Sunday ...

With the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the tax-collection arm of the United States government, stepping up its global sweep to catch American individuals and corporations hiding their overseas earnings, the American Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia yesterday held a presentation for investors and financial institutions ...

Preah Sihanouk’s provincial governor on Wednesday warned that legal action would be taken against any brokers trying to grab land in the Kbal Chhay area, where it is prohibited to build property or sell land plots. The warning came after provincial authorities discovered that in recent ...

The Kingdom’s first life insurance company, Cambodian Life, launched yesterday, courting a market almost entirely unfamiliar with the service. Industry insiders said demand for the products would need time to grow. The establishment of Cambodian Life in the Kingdom would develop confidence in the market and ...

Some Cambodian foodstuffs contained potentially harmful preservatives used to extend the shelf life of the products and ensure profits, an official said yesterday. Pork Sovannarith, secretary of state for the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, said some food producers continued to use preservatives that could ...

The International Trade Centre (ITC) yesterday rejected criticisms over the misuse of expenses and funds for a sector-wide Cambodian silk project, saying its approach was appropriate and well managed. Mao Thora, secretary of state for the Ministry of Commerce, publicly criticised the ITC during a seminar ...

The Ministry of Agriculture’s fisheries administration announced yesterday that the seasonal nationwide ban on commercial fishing is now in effect, according to a statement. Signed by the director general of the fisheries administration, Nao Thuok, the announcement states that the fishing ban north of Phnom Penh’s ...

llegall migration is on the rise, but human trafficking cases appear to be declining, according to the government’s annual labor migration report, released yesterday. Speaking at the start of a three-day workshop held at the Ministry of Interior that involving embassies, NGOs and government officials, Chou ...

Loggers in Prey Lang forest are under scrutiny once again, after a 21-year-old man was charged with illegally clearing and occupying state-owned land. Kampong Thom Provincial Court yesterday put suspect Ven Nak of Sandan district’s Dang Kambet commune under pre-trial detention, said Khin Vannak, a deputy ...

The Somaly Mam Foundation (SMF) has said its decision to cut off funding to Agir Pour Les Femmes en Situation Precaire (Afesip) came partly because of the continued involvement of embattled anti-human-trafficking activist Somaly Mam in the local NGO. In a statement on Monday, the SMF ...

The Ministry of Industry and Handicraft will introduce an online registration platform for Cambodia’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) this year, a ministry official confirmed yesterday. Heng Sok Kong, secretary of state at the ministry, said the new software for web registration was built in partnership ...

Amnesty International and rights group Licadho in a joint statement yesterday called on UN member states to “address the country’s human rights crisis” at a UN Human Rights Council hearing in Geneva on Tuesday. The statement, which was sent to foreign embassies, the Cambodian government and ...

A wildlife sanctuary in Takeo province may provide refuge for birds, but it’s a source of contention for 68 Khmer Krom families who stand to lose their livelihood. The local fisheries administration wants to evict villagers from the state-owned sanctuary in Borei Cholsar district, but the ...

A group of 14 ethnic minority Uighurs, including six children, fleeing China were arrested on Saturday in the Thai border province of Sa Keo after Cambodian smugglers deserted them on Friday, Thai media reported yesterday. The five men, three women and six children who were apprehended ...

The opposition CNRP will host a conference in Phnom Penh on July 27 with 2,000 members of its National Council along with about 3,000 elected commune councilors, according to a statement issued by the party Wednesday. “Although the leaders are busy visiting and helping the people ...

A national seminar on youth and cultural development was held here Monday with an aim to encourage young people to help safeguard, preserve and develop national culture, officials said. The two-day event brought together 700 participants, including culture officials, artists, archeologists, historians, and youths, said Culture ...

In an effort to centralise tax registrations and improve taxpayer accountability, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF) this month passed a raft of changes to the country’s tax registration regulations. Prakas 1139, issued by the MoEF on October 9, states that all legal entities including ...

Delegates from Laos and Cambodia have held an extraordinary meeting in an attempt to resolve outstanding issues related to their shared border, state-run media Vientiane Times reported Thursday. The meeting was held on Wednesday to examine demarcations where technical survey teams from both sides had been ...

A Ministry of Commerce official said in a speech last week that the controversial draft cybercrime law was almost ready to appear before the National Assembly, though another government official dismissed this yesterday. At a conference on cybersecurity attended by representatives of the public and private ...

In the face of global economic fragility, the Cambodian government needs to review its fiscal policies and deepen its pockets – building a “buffer” for use in times of crisis, the World Bank has warned. The World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects 2015 report states that Cambodia ...