Chinese firms have huge ambitions for Cambodia, with a second firm this week proposing three projects worth an estimated US$6.5 billion to the National assembly yesterday, but no deadlines were set for the implementation of the projects, according to officials. Pan Xiaoping, chairman of Ruijin Investment Holding Ltd, <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/china-firm-proposes-6-5bn-deal/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Access to informAtion And open budgets is the first component of the ImplementAtion PlAn for the SociAl AccountAbility FrAmework (I-SAF).1 The other three components Are citizen monitoring, fAcilitAtion And cApAcity building, And leArning And monitoring.2 Three types of locAl services providers Are At the focus: <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/sociAl-AccountAbility/heAlth-center-budget/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

About 150 former Boeng KAk lAke residents stAged A protest At Phnom Penh’s Freedom PArk yesterdAy, demAnding more compensAtion thAn they initiAlly received when they were evicted from their homes to mAke wAy for A reAl estAte project owned by the firm of A CPP <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/boeng-kAk-evictees-protest-demAnd-compensAtion/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The ApsArA Authority hAs told Yun Sokhorn to remove A wAll And A rest house from the southern pArt of TrApAing HephkA irrigAtion dike in Bos KrAlAnh villAge, Chriev commune, Siem ReAp province becAuse the structures hAd encroAched on lAnd designAted As A nAtionAl heritAge. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/lAndowner-told-structures-encroAch-on-heritAge-lAnd/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A prominent union leAder on TuesdAy threAtened to hold A lArge-scAle demonstrAtion if the newly elected government ignores the EuropeAn Union’s resolution demAnding A politicAl compromise between the ruling CAmbodiAn People’s PArty (CPP) And the court-dissolved CAmbodiA NAtionAl Rescue PArty (CNRP). <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/union-leAder-wArns-of-protests/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The Kingdom has settled on a route for a planned $2.5 billion high-speed toll road from Phnom Penh to the Vietnamese border in Bavet, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and the Japanese International Cooperation agency revealed in a seminar yesterday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/toll-expressway-route-unveiled/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Siam City Cement (SCCC)’s board of directors has approved a 40-per-cent share in a joint-venture company in Cambodia, Chip Mong Cement Corporation, a first step in its strategy to take advantage of the upcoming asean Economic Community. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/sccc-to-take-40-of-cambodia-firm/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The government has ordered the beachfront Sokha Hotel in Preah Sihanouk province to open a section of fence that blocks access to a stretch of beach, as well as construct a direct, paved route for pedestrians and cyclists making their way to the waterside. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/sokha-hotel-to-foot-bill-for-sihanouk-beach-road/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

“The Microfinance Sector in Cambodia: Opportunities and Risks” is an attempt to get a wider view and deeper insight from various researchers on fostering a robust, stable and sustainable microfinance sector, the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) said in a statement yesterday.   <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/central-bank-to-put-focus-on-mfis/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) hAs Arrested A lAwyer in Phnom Penh over undisclosed AllegAtions of grAft, with the bAr AssociAtion issuing A notice to members on WednesdAy wArning them AgAinst Acting As A “go-between” for court officiAls And clients.   <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/Anti-corruption-unit-Arrests-lAwyer-bAr-wArns-of-grAft/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The National assembly yesterday approved a draft law on the implementation of the fifth freedom of the air, a commercial aviation right that grants airlines the privilege of using Cambodian airports as a stop-over on scheduled flights between their home country and another country. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/fifth-freedom-to-open-kingdoms-airspace/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Finance Ministry has rescheduled a trio of timber auctions that had been set to start today after a continued lack of interest from buyers, although bidding for a lot in Stung Treng province will go ahead on Wednesday as planned.   <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/amid-lack-of-interest-more-wood-auctions-called-off/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A British mAn who hAs spent five yeArs in prison for rAping A 16-yeAr-old girl requested MondAy thAt the AppeAl Court grAnt him A retriAl And the chAnce to present evidence thAt hAs not come before the court, which he sAys will prove his innocence. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/convicted-rApist-insists-retriAl-will-prove-his-innocence/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A new survey of whAt the country’s 700,000 gArment workers eArn And spend in A typicAl month hAs concluded thAt the mediAn tAke-home pAy of A gArment fActory employee is $191, higher thAn the minimum wAge, but lower thAn whAt employers hAve clAimed. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/survey-sAys-gArment-workers-eArn-191-monthly/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

About 50 Phnom Penh residents gAthered On SundAy to rAlly AgAinst A plAnned roAd on Chroy ChAngvA peninsulA thAt will run Alongside A mAssive $3 billion development project. The 12-meter-wide roAd will be locAted just 100 meters behind NAtionAl RoAd 6A. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/residents-protest-roAd-plAnned-neAr-ocic-development-site/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Despite a precipitous drop in the start-up costs of solar energy, Cambodia’s biggest industrial parks are sticking to high-cost grid and fuel-generated electricity, claiming that when it comes to attracting foreign manufacturers, a stable power supply trumps a cheaper electricity bill. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/sezs-starting-to-see-the-light-of-solar-energy/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Some 34 families in Kampong Chhnang’s Lorpeang village yesterday filed a new petition at the provincial hall urging authorities to intervene in a nine-year land dispute with KDC International, which villagers say has reached a bottleneck and is affecting their daily lives. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/kampong-chhnang-disputants-water-woes-ignored/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Military police have identified the suspected leader of what they believe to be a sex trafficking ring masquerading as a masseuse-training agency as a 40-year-old businesswoman with Cambodian and Thai citizenship who owns karaoke parlors in both countries.   <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/officials-identify-leader-of-capitals-sex-trafficking-ring/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has provided a $13 million loan to support a higher education campus for the acleda Institute of Business that will help raise education standards, enhance students’ employability and encourage sustainable economic growth. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ifc-banking-on-smart-graduates/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Police in Ratanakkiri province say they are investigating the origin of a pile of first grade logs stashed along a road built by and leading out of a Vietnamese-owned rubber plantation that has long been the target of illegal logging accusations.   <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/police-investigate-logs-left-by-rubber-plantation-road/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>