Swedish clothing giant H&M recently announced a program to boost wages for garment workers in its sub-contractor factories around the world, including in Cambodia, where the company is a leading buyer. H&M’s announcement comes at the end of a turbulent year in the garment sector href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-garment-wages-set-to-rise-as-hm-pushes-new-approach/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

After a three-year moratorium on sending maids overseas—sparked by a spate of serious abuses by recruiters and employers—momentum is building to once again send hundreds of thousands of Cambodian women to work overseas as domestic servants. Since Prime Minister Hun Sen shut down the industry in href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/maids-set-to-work-abroad-but-safety-fears-linger/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Workers striking for a second day at a garment factory in suburban Phnom Penh succeeded yesterday in having one of their eight demands met, as Taiwanese-owned Meroson Cambodia Co Ltd agreed to reinstate three employees allegedly fired for joining a union, a union official said href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/factory-bows-but-strike-continues/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

The government’s proposed NGO draft law is a barrier to effective aid and development, civil society organizations said yesterday during a workshop in Phnom Penh focused on compiling a report on Cambodia’s climate for NGOs ahead of a global forum on aid effectiveness to be href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ngos-voice-concerns-about-draft-law-ahead-of-aid-forum/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

About 170 garment workers fainted at a factory in Kampong Speu yesterday, the first day Anful Garments Manufacturing reopened after being hit by a mass fainting incident on Monday, workers and government officials said yesterday. The second mass fainting at the Hong Kong-owned factory, which supplies href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/another-timeout-for-anful/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

More than 144 families threatened with eviction from Daun Penh district’s Srah Chak commune to make way for a new $27.5 million Chinese-Cambodian Friendship Bridge attended a meeting on Friday to discuss an offer of relocation and compensation, an official said The meeting with Deputy District href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/relocation-cash-offered-to-make-way-for-bridge/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

A new US commitment to oil and mining transparency may push the Kingdom closer to a similar agreement, Cambodian experts have said. US President Barack Obama announced earlier this week that the US would join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative as an implementing country, according to href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/calls-for-kingdom-to-join-transparency-group/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

As part of a continuing push to bolster rice exports, the government has agreed to waive all export tariffs on milled rice and will also eliminate value-added tax (VAT) on paddy rice purchased domestically. According to a promulgation signed last month by Finance Minister Keat Chhon, href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/tariffs-on-rice-slashed-to-help-fuel-exports/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Sunday that he was considering introducing the death penalty for people who rape children, but he said it would only happen after a nationwide referendum. He was speaking during a meeting in the capital’s Dangkor district with 44 staff href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/pm-mulling-referendum-over-death-penalty-for-beasts-who-rape-children/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Two-way trade between Cambodia and the UK will remain strong even if the UK leaves the EU as bilateral trade between the two countries surpassed $1 billion last year, said Ministry of Commerce spokesman Seang Thay on Wednesday. According to a Ministry of Commerce press href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/government-uk-cambodian-trade-will-remain-strong/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

The Education Ministry has formed a committee tasked with addressing complaints from students who failed the national high school exam and demanded a review of their grades. A ministry press statement issued yesterday acknowledged that many students have protested the results of the exam and filed href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ministry-forms-committee-as-students-protest-exam-results/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

A secret ballot yesterday failed to resolve garment union splits over what to demand at upcoming minimum wage talks, with at least one independent union rejecting the majority vote of $158 and vowing to put forward $178.The division came a day after Labour Ministry spokesman href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/unions-house-divided/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

A team of more than 30 doctors and nurses from Hainan province in China have spent the last four days at Kampong Cham provincial hospital removing cataracts from low-income patients. Kang Baiying, a team member and a Hainan provincial official, said her team had been on href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/chinese-bring-sight-to-kampong-cham/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Rights and democracy groups say Cambodians are not being protected by the constitution, which has been routinely violated by all three branches of government. Over 170,000 families across the country were hurt by land disputes in 2014, according to a new a report by NGO href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/groups-concerned-over-increasing-violations-of-constitution/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Nearly two years after an Interior Ministry official was first accused of threatening to kill the deputy leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, police have finally transferred the case to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, officials have told the Post.In December 2013, Pheng Vannak, href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/facebook-threat-case-is-moved-to-court/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

More than 70 workers from a Korean-owned massage centre in the tourist hub of Siem Reap protested in front of their workplace yesterday, demanding a basic wage of $177 per month and a $100 yearly health bonus.Workers from the Alaska Massage Center have been on href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/massage-workers-strike-in-siem-reap/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Nine Phnong ethnic community representatives and a senior Adhoc officer jointly filed a lawsuit yesterday at the Mondulkiri Provincial Court against eight local officials they allege have turned a blind eye to illegal logging in the Phnom Nam Lyr wildlife sanctuary.The suit follows their inspection href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/logging-complaint-filed/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Recently, Cambodia’s prime minister signed a series of decrees placing the responsibility of Prey Lang protection with the Ministry of Environment and provincial governments. It’s a promising change, development professionals and conservation activists tell Devex, as a combination of stronger national and local government cooperation href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/development-actors-bet-on-political-power-shift-to-save-cambodias-forgotten-forest/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

The Cambodia Mine Action Centre has received a grant of more than $170,000 from APOPO, a rat-demining organization, to support the HeroRat activities in clearing landmines in Siem Reap province. Also, in 2018, CMACC will also receive $1.2 million from the United Nations Development Program href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/rat-demining-aid-granted/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Officials appeared to walk back a promise to issue larger-than-average electricity price reductions ahead of July’s elections, instead following a previously announced plan to make small reductions in costs. Ty Norin, chairman of the Electricity Authority of Cambodia (EAC), released a statement earlier this month announcing href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/government-sticks-to-plan-on-power-price-cuts-ahead-of-election/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...