The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which will become a reality at the end of this year, would boost the ten- nation bloc’s influence and prestige in the global stage, according to Cambodian scholars here. ...

The United Kingdom sees Cambodia as a strategic location at the heart of a transportation network through Thailand, Vietnam and Laos to reach China and other countries in the region and the world, a senior UK trade official said yesterday. ...

The position of National Assembly spokesman will no longer be held exclusively by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, with the role to be split in three, allowing for two partisan representatives and one from the parliament’s secretariat.​ ...

Opposition lawmaker Um Sam An, who was at the fore of the CNRP’s efforts earlier this year to reveal Vietnamese encroachments into Cambodia, said on Monday that he had entered self-imposed exile along with opposition leader Sam Rainsy. ...

After five years of building and delays, the $24 million Angkor Panorama Museum in Siem Reap was opened on Friday by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, cementing growing ties between the Kingdom and North Korea, especially in Siem Reap. ...

Senate spokesman Mam Bun Neang issued a statement Monday describing as “shameful” the decision by the chamber’s 10 opposition senators to boycott the day’s vote in protest of the arrest warrant issued for opposition leader Sam Rainsy. ...

Economists say Cambodia is not facing the risk of an aging population, as is happening in richer countries around the region, but it must still plan for a future when its younger generations grow old. ...

Em Chan Makara, president of the Disability Action Council (DAC), told reporters that his group will issue drivers licenses for people with disabilities in conjunction with the government. The council will also discuss appropriate vehicles for disabled people with other stakeholders. ...

Hun Sen will spend two days in Bangkok and is scheduled to meet the leader of Thailand’s military government, Prayuth Chan-ocha, for talks on border issues, agriculture, trade and investment, and regional connectivity. ...

More than 1,000 Cambodian workers working for eight South Korean companies here gathered yesterday at National Olympic Stadium for “Korea Day for Cambodian Friends,” a celebration of Korean culture and a chance to thank employees for their hard work. ...

Cambodia was one of the few bright spots for the air cargo industry last year with a modest increase in year-on-year air freight shipments as other regions experienced weak growth due to the cooling global economy. ...

A local firm has seen revenues grow by adding online operations to its casino, allowing it to take bets from offshore players. Now it is designing the software that allows other casinos to get a piece of the action. ...

Police officials yesterday called for tougher sentencing of drug dealers and for the government to make it “easier and faster [for police] to seize their property”, as the Interior Ministry’s annual drugs conference wrapped in the capital. ...

Local authorities in Preah Vihear province are teaming up with the Apsara Authority to protect the 8,100 hectares of land surrounding the Koh Ker archaeological site, which they say is under threat from illegal loggers and intrusive settlers. ...

Government officials on Wednesday applauded China’s decision to take emergency measures to counter the impact of a regional drought by releasing water into the Mekong River from the Jinghong Hydropower Station in China’s southwestern Yunnan province. ...

A 30-month study by Vietnamese researchers on the impact of 11 proposed hydroelectric dams in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) has found that the economic damage to Cambodia alone will be worth some $450 million per year. ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who is living in France to avoid prison time, will be tried over allegations of defaming National Assembly President Heng Samrin starting July 28, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court has announced.   ...

The smuggling of illegally cut timber from northeastern Cambodia’s Ratanakiri  province to Vietnam has dramatically increased since around April 17, with smugglers traveling the roads between the two countries day and night, sources in the region say. ...

More than 100 pieces of luxury rosewood bearing Cambodian names and a phone number were found by Thai police and forest conservation officers in a national park in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province on Tuesday.   ...

The government has reversed course on a controversial decision to downsize the proposed boundaries of a long-awaited protected area for the beleaguered Prey Lang Forest, the largest lowland evergreen forest left in Southeast Asia.   ...