About 50 protesting villAgers in SihAnoukville’s Mouy commune blocked NAtionAl RoAd 4 yesterdAy for About one hour in An effort to stop Authorities from demolishing their houses illegAlly built in the KbAl ChhAy protected forest. Heng Sokhom, A representAtive of the group, Acknowledged thAt their houses <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/lAnd-dispute-closes-A-nAtionAl-roAd/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Viet Nam was among Cambodia’s top five investors as of last april with US$3.2 billion in 171 projects.It is also Cambodia’s third largest trade partner with bilateral trade topping $3.3 billion as of 2015, Vietnamese Commercial Counselor Nguyen Bao said, noting the two countries are <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/vn-a-top-investor-in-cambodia/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Sihanoukville has long been a part of the government’s plan to develop the Southern coast as Cambodia’s next tourism hotspot after Siem Reap, and if recent arrival numbers are anything to go by it seems to be growing in appeal. However, as new property developers <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/sihanoukville-gets-a-wake-up-call/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A mining explorAtion firm working in the remote jungles of northeAstern CAmbodiA is using termites in its seArch for goldDeep in the heArt of RAtAnAkkiri province, the eArthen mounds thAt pepper the forest floor provide clues As to the minerAl weAlth thAt lies below. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/A-nest-of-little-gold-diggers/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The tonnage of Cambodia’s agricultural exports increased by over 20 per cent last year, led by a surge in shipments of dried cassava chips, according to the latest Ministry of agriculture data. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/agro-sector-on-a-growth-path/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodian and australian officials on Sunday denied claims made by a Rohingya refugee from Burma over the weekend that he was being poorly treated in Phnom Penh, with the Interior Ministry’s refugee director calling the man “a liar.” <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/government-calls-rohingya-refugee-a-liar/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Although dAtA for first four months of this yeAr hAve shown A slight rise in rice exports, millers And exporters continue to rAise concerns on the bAck of April’s rApid decline. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/rice-sector-predicts-A-worrying-trend/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

For years, archaeologists excavating pre-angkorian sites in Banteay Meanchey province unsuccessfully attempted to stop the looting of the area’s temples and buried treasures.   <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/children-a-new-defense-against-looting/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A stunning rise in the vAlue of construction projects Approved by the government in the first hAlf of the yeAr could be A sign thAt developers hAve found A willing Ally in the newly Appointed minister of lAnd mAnAgement, who hAs pushed through hundreds of <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/A-boom-yeAr-for-building-projects/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Cambodia marginally improved its global competitive ranking this year, moving up five spots to place 90th out of 144 nations surveyed, with weak public institutions and lack of innovation continuing to affect its economic progress, according to a newly released World Economic Forum report.The Global <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/potholes-on-a-path-to-progress/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Phnom Penh authorities yesterday offered an economic argument for ministries, motorists and citizens to respect traffic laws, claiming that congestion-related costs in the capital were setting the country back about $6 million per month. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/congestion-costing-6-million-a-month/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

LGBT Cambodians face a formidable level of prejudice and discrimination, which for many means a life lived in secrecy and isolation, a major new study of attitudes has revealed.The survey of almost 1,600 people, straight and LGBT, across seven provinces, published yesterday, found that a <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/for-many-lgbts-a-secret-life/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The province of Banteay Meanchey will build a new market for vendors displaced from the Long Keur market on the Thai side of the Poipet border, a provincial official said yesterday, adding that vendors will be allowed to continue selling their counterfeit goods at the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/knock-offs-find-a-new-home/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Sathapana Microfinance Plc, one of the largest in Cambodia, will officially transform itself into a commercial bank late next month, a move in line with Japanese-owned Maruhan Bank acquiring a 95.1 percent stake in 2012. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/sathapana-to-become-a-commercial-bank/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Increasingly hurt by sanctions and frozen out by the West over its meddling in Ukraine, Syria and the recent US presidential election, Russia is seeking to pivot to asia and establishing a beachhead in a decidedly warmer locale &ndash; Cambodia. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/kingdom-a-warm-respite-for-russia/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The International Monetary Fund says Cambodia’s young population compared with other regional countries will be a driving force for financial development and contribute to the emerging finance technology sector, or Fintech.  <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/imf-make-youth-a-demographic-dividend/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The deteriorating political climate in Cambodia and ramped up government rhetoric against the United States could end up jeopardising the Kingdom’s economic relations with the US, its largest single trading partner, analysts have warned. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/a-fray-in-us-economic-ties/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Prime Minister Hun Sen branded the opposition party a “terrorist network” yesterday, while vowing to “cut the arms and legs” of the alleged operation and its purported attempt at “colour revolution” after the disputed 2013 national election. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/pm-calls-cnrp-a-terrorist-network/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Agriculture officiAls And struggling smAllholder tobAcco fArmers Are cAutiously hopeful thAt tAriff exemptions grAnted under A new trAde Agreement with VietnAm will lift sAgging demAnd for their crops. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/tobAcco-turns-over-A-new-leAf/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A 227-kilogrAm US-mAde Mk 82 bomb wAs uneArthed on WednesdAy As Authorities were digging A pond in KAndAl’s Kien SvAy district. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/uxo-uncovered-in-A-kAndAl-pond/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>