The National Assembly of Cambodia approved on 30 November a 2016 defence budget of USD383 million, a 17% increase against spending in 2015. The defence allocation amounts to around 9% of total government expenditure for the year and about 2% of GDP. ...

Nearing the end of a year that has seen tension over Cambodia’s border with Vietnam often dominate domestic political discourse, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday appeared alongside Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to inaugurate two new border posts in Ratanakkiri and Takeo provinces. ...

With social media increasingly becoming the focal point of political discourse in the country, and the prime minister threatening to take legal action against those who insult him online, the opposition CNRP has issued an appeal to its supporters urging them not to publicly insult ...

Cambodia has been invited to join the Washington-brokered Transpacific Trade Partnership (TPP), which has been described as a deal that will create the largest free-trade zone in the world if it is implemented, a senior official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance said. ...

A grinning Prime Minister Hun Sen walked up to US President Barack Obama and shook his hand in California yesterday, lending the premier his long-sought aura of legitimacy even as hundreds of angry Cambodians protested his 31-year rule less than half of a kilometre away. ...

Although an eviction deadline passed on Sunday for guesthouses, restaurants and bars along Sihanoukville’s popular O’Tres Beach, less than half of the businesses had left as of the evening, with others seeking to negotiate a deal with authorities that would allow them to stay. ...

About 100 villagers from Kratie province came to the capital yesterday to submit a petition to the prime minister’s cabinet and the Interior Ministry requesting government intervention in a land dispute case that has seen three of their fellow residents arrested, according to village representatives. ...

Alan Doss, executive director of former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s eponymous foundation, met with officials from the CPP, CNRP and National Election Committee (NEC) on Monday as the first step in the body’s efforts to help election reform here.   ...

Half of US businesses operating in Cambodia believe that political stability in the country is such that they are confident in expanding their operations, according to an annual report by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore and the US Chamber of Commerce’s International Affairs ...

The government-owned bank charged with issuing $27 million in emergency loans to rice millers as part of an initiative aimed at propping up the struggling rice industry announced the terms of the credit lines yesterday, and said it would ensure that the funds were used ...

World leaders are expected to express their support for progress on the South China Sea question at an upcoming summit in Malaysia next month. China is facing overlapping claims in the sea with Asean members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. ...

The pool of climate finances available to Southeast Asia is set to expand following an announcement by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that it plans to double its climate funding to the region by 2020 – a move welcomed by the Cambodian government and climate ...

More than 100 people have expressed interest in taking positions with the National Election Committee (NEC) since applications were made available to the public five days ago, but complicated identity and background checks have prevented anyone from actually applying, the NEC’s spokesman said on Monday. ...

The Cambodian Youth Party has gathered the 400 members and 3 million riel necessary to register as a political party, its founder said on Friday, adding that he planned to file paperwork with the Interior Ministry on Monday.     ...

Pol Saroeun, commander-in-chief of the military,  said his forces were “absolutely loyal” to Prime Minister Hun Sen and his family on Sunday at an event marking seven years since Mr. Hun Sen’s personal bodyguard unit was formed as a distinct entity from Brigade 70. ...

A recent study on the role of Cambodia’s moneychangers found that three private forex traders control two-thirds of the total demand for riel currency and exert more influence on foreign currency exchange rates than the central bank, raising the possibility of collusion in fixing rates. ...

A Cambodian subsidiary of Thai electronics manufacturing services company SVI Plc is moving closer to commencing construction on a factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh that will manufacture electronics equipment for export to the US and Europe, a company representative said yesterday. ...

A $360 million sugarcane factory will start operating next month after stopping last June due to a shortage of raw material. The Rui Feng sugarcane mill opened last April with capacity to produce nearly half a million tons a year for export, mainly to Europe and ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has told a solidarity dinner with the Cambodian-Chinese Association that Cambodia backs the “One-China policy” and will not allow the Taiwanese flag to be raised in the kingdom. This stance would avoid affecting the good relationship between the two countries. ...

Cambodia’s long-standing fear of Vietnam can sometimes appear to be borderline irrational and allegations of land grabbing, war-mongering, even contaminated food exports — alongside abusive insults — are often leveled at the eastern neighbors. That will only intensify as the commune elections get closer this ...