A leAding Chinese mAnufActurer of power trAnsmission And distribution equipment recently visited CAmbodiA to explore opportunities in the Kingdom’s rApidly growing energy sector, including A proposAl for A fActory to produce equipment for the electricity sector. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/chinese-firm-mulls-energy-sector-prospects/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Solar power is slowly gaining momentum in Cambodia as a viable source of electricity for the country’s growing energy needs, though stakeholders are anxious to see a real government commitment to establish a beneficial regulatory framework. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/renewables-start-to-gain-traction/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Two military commanders, a military police commander and a provincial police chief in Mondulkiri were questioned by the national military police’s anti-logging task force yesterday for their alleged involvement in a Vietnamese timber smuggling operation. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/task-force-grills-officials-over-allegations-of-graft/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Maruhan Japan Bank yesterday became the first commercial bank in Cambodia to make a direct equity investment into a microfinance institution by becoming Sathapana’s majority shareholder, with a 95.1 per cent stake. Financial details were not disclosed. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/maruhan-japan-bank-buys-stake-in-mfi/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Soldiers used force on Friday to end a strike at a garment factory on Veng Sreng Boulevard, where demands included a lunch bonus of 2,000 riel and an end to forced overtime, workers and union officials said yesterday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/military-might-soldiers-put-end-to-veng-sreng-strike/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Five families among a community of 40 that have been fighting a powerful developer for land they live on in Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changva district accepted compensation packages on Monday, the first cracks in a previously united community. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/five-families-accept-flats-in-chroy-changva/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

In a letter published online yesterday, the anti-Corruption Unit slapped a Kampot district governor on the wrist for not clearly posting public service fees and for overseeing a racket that allegedly solicited bribes in exchange for expediting paperwork. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/district-governor-in-kampot-reprimanded/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A CPP-Aligned youth group And A regionAl roAd-sAfety NGO on TuesdAy lAunched A $1.2 million, two-yeAr pilot progrAm to educAte CAmbodiAns About the importAnce of weAring helmets while driving or riding As pAssengers on motorbikes. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/cpp-youth-group-roAd-sAfety-ngo-lAunch-helmet-cAmpAign/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Cambodia inaugurated a 1.73-km Mekong River bridge, along with a 143-km road, here on Wednesday in a bid to boost economic development and reduce poverty in this far northeastern region. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-inaugurates-china-funded-mekong-bridge-road/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Military police destroyed more than 500 marijuana plants with an estimated value of $30,000 in Kampot province on Friday, an official said. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/marijuana-crops-burned/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A cAmerAmAn for nAtionAl television broAdcAster TVK wAs Arrested on SAturdAy on direct orders from Deputy NAtionAl Police Chief Mok Chito for using A fAke police license plAte And illegAlly possessing A police uniform And hAndgun, officiAls sAid SundAy. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/tvk-cAmerAmAn-nAbbed-After-encounter-with-police-officiAl/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Police in Mondolkiri province on Tuesday burned down more than 130 shelters belonging to a community of ethnic Bunong families in Keo Seima district that authorities accuse of squatting on a Vietnam­ese rubber plantation, a local official said. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/police-burn-down-mondolkiri-minority-communitys-shelters/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A deAdline set by Prime Minister Hun Sen to finAlize A controversiAl drAft NGO lAw by the end of MAy will be missed, As A government spokesmAn sAid discussions were put on hold while the Interior Minister is AbroAd. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/meeting-over-ngo-lAw-on-hold-As-pms-deAdline-pAsses/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

An NGO umbrellA group sAys it hAs seen A new, leAked copy of A controversiAl drAft lAw thAt Aims to regulAte the country’s hundreds of non-government orgAnizAtions&mdAsh;And thAt the lAtest version mArks A significAnt step bAckwArd. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/new-drAft-of-ngo-lAw-much-worse-thAn-the-lAst-ccc-sAys/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Royal Cambodian armed Forces soldiers from Kratie province surrounded a platoon from Mondolkiri on Tuesday night in order to free a group of Vietnamese men who had been detained on suspicion of illegal logging, a military official said Wednesday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/soldiers-face-down-soldiers-over-capture-of-loggers/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Foreign funding for HIV/AIDs progrAms took A shArp dive lAst yeAr, As A lower rAte of HIV infection Among the generAl populAtion led donors to declAre victory over the diseAse. But the diseAse remAins A threAt, experts sAy. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/hivAids-funding-plummets-but-risks-remAin/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Environment Minister Say Sam al and a group of NGOs on Monday agreed to cooperate to resolve a years long dispute between hundreds of families in Koh Kong province and a Chinese company they accuse of stealing their land. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/govt-and-ngos-join-to-settle-land-dispute/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Phnom Penh&ndash;Kong Song’s farmland was his family’s livelihood for three decades until the bulldozers moved in and tore down his home in rural Cambodia to make way for a multimillion dollar foreign-led business. His family was one of 253 forcibly evicted five years ago in southern <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/land-grabs-mar-cambodias-boom-rattle-investors/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Thailand&ndash;Consumers face prospect of high prices, low quality rice from Burma, Cambodia: TDRI. While consumers and taxpayers will suffer from the government’s controversial rice policy, Vietnam will substantially gain, the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) has warned. ammar Siamwalla, a prominent economist, yesterday asked the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/rice-scheme-will-hurt-thais-and-help-vietnam/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Dozens of anti-eviction activists on Monday held a rally in Phnom Penh and submitted a petition to the Ministry of Interior, demanding the arrests of Daun Penh district officials they claim conspired to viciously attack them during a peaceful protest at Wat Phnom last month. On <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/activists-demand-interior-ministry-lead-wat-phnom-attack-probe/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>