The Federation of Associations for Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia (FASMEC) will launch its “Selling Cambodian Products” campaign throughout the country early next year to boost the sale of local products and reduce imports, the organization’s president said yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Environment signed a framework agreement yesterday with Conservation International and the Mitsui Banking Corporation to launch the planning phase of a new REDD+ project for the Prey Lang forest, officials confirmed.   ...

Activists say a new sand-processing facility is under construction in Koh Kong’s Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary, in the vicinity of the area where two companies were granted permission to conduct environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for sand-dredging projects, documents show, despite a standing government ban on sand ...

The state-owned Rural Development Bank on Monday announced it will rebrand as the Agriculture Development Bank within the next couple of years, offering a wider range of funds and banking services. ...

Sweden said yesterday it was stopping new aid for Cambodia, except in education and research, and would no longer support a reform programme after the CNRP was dissolved last week. ...

Industries such as tourism and garment production are booming. Mining is taking off and the Cambodian Stock Exchange (CSX) is finally up and running after a 10-month delay with Phnom Penh Water Supply (PPWS) its first listing. “PPWS is considered one of the best managed state ...

As much of the world struggles with post growth, Cambodia’s tourism and hospitality sector continued to expand and diversify, attracting more intraregional activity and especially from major emerging markets in Asia, MICE segments, as well as traditional leisure clientele. Like neighboring countries Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Laos, Cambodia has quickly emerged into a well sought-after tourist ...

When the new Ford showroom opened on Monivong Boulevard on Friday morning, the most distinguished guest was the great granddaughter of company founder Henry Ford, Elena A Ford. The entourage also included Ford’s regional and local associates, all of whom were joined by the deputy. ...

ACLEDA Bank, Cambodia’ leading commercial bank, held a ground-breaking ceremony yesterday for its new 20-storey headquarters, which will be located directly behind its present building. The new headquarters will cover 43,000 square metres, with parking for 700 cars. Construction is scheduled for completion in two years. ...

Grounded Tonlesap Airlines has changed its name to Wat Phnom Airlines, an official with Cambodia’s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation said yesterday, about two months after the local chartered carrier suspended all of its flights. Wat Phnom Airlines is now in the process of applying for ...

Laos plans to establish consulate general in Siem Reap province to boost bilateral cooperation with Cambodia through tourism and trade, a senior official from Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday. “Tourism from Laos is increasing annually, so Lao PDR will establish a general consulate based ...

About half the Koh Kong province villagers relocated to make way for a Union Development Group resort project have abandoned the new homes provided for them, citing poor conditions and an inconvenient location, a village representative said yesterday. More than 1,000 families living in the province’s ...

In its continuing campaign to clean up the grade 12 national exam, the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has warned that anyone caught leaking copies of the test or selling answers could find themselves imprisoned. Punishments for misbehaving exam observers are spelled out in an ACU statement released ...

An existing moratorium on economic land concessions should be no impediment to pouring more cash into the Kingdom’s booming, and highly criticised, rubber trade, industry executives in the capital heard yesterday, as many current ELCs can simply be recycled to a new crop of investors. Ly ...

Following an order from Prime Minister Hun Sen last month to crack down on intimidation and harassment by tax collectors in local markets, City Hall pledged to take legal action yesterday. Phnom Penh governor Pa Socheatvong told municipal and provincial governors that fines for rogue collectors ...

Prince Norodom Ranariddh is officially back in the political game. The Ministry of Interior has approved the former prime minister’s Community of Royalist People’s Party (CRPP), Ranariddh’s cabinet chief, Noranarith Anandayath, said yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Education has vowed to shift its focus from the quantity of the country’s universities to their quality by instituting a moratorium on the approval of new institutions, officials said yesterday. Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said that with more than 100 universities already ...

The minister of labour has sent a stern warning to garment factories to take measures to end mass faintings or face the consequences. Speaking after a safety workshop yesterday, Ith Sam Heng said the government will get tougher on factories, fining those that didn’t provide safe ...

Despite Cambodia’s unofficial freeze on inter-country adoptions, the Ministry of Social Affairs recently urged partner countries to reforge, in principle, their adoption partnerships with the Kingdom. In a statement issued on Monday, the ministry opened the application process for international adoption agencies, as only adoption agencies ...

Political analyst Kem Ley plans to create a diverse set of independent political parties in the new year, tackling what he says is an autocratic “disease” infecting both the ruling party and the opposition. Using his newly founded “social network” Khmer for Khmer as a springboard, ...