Commuter train hopes for route expansion to SEZ
A commuter rail service that runs from Phnom Penh’s central district to beyond its airport has slowly gained traction since it launched three months ago, raising the possibility that it could be expanded to connect the capital’s biggest industrial park. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/commuter-train-hopes-route-expansion-sez
Kem Sokha promises political tolerance to Cham muslims
CNRP President Kem Sokha has promised opposition supporters among the Cham Muslim community that any government he leads would put an end to political harassment from the community’s pro-CPP leaders, whom he claimed pressured followers not to join his party. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/kem-sokha-promises-political-tolerance-to-cham-muslims-131604/
ADB funds solar project
Cambodians will soon have access to more affordable power if the agreement signed on Monday between Electricite Du Cambodge (EDC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to set up a 100 megawatt national solar park programme goes according to plan. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/39750/adb-funds-solar-project/
Returnees still in US pending appeal
More than 50 Cambodians who were set to be removed from the US today can temporarily remain in the country to fight their deportation orders due to a last-minute decision from a US judge that immigration advocates celebrated as a “Hail Mary”. ...
Daphne Chen and Ben Sokhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/returnees-still-us-pending-appeal
Cambodia finds new target for real estate: Chinese investors
Across this traditionally low-rise Cambodian capital, a building boom is becoming more noticeable as it pushes higher into the sky, and its largest projects are often geared towards Chinese investors, who have only recently taken interest in the nation’s real estate market. ...
Chris Horton
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/business/cambodia-real-estate.html
IMF predicts slowdown on horizon for growth figures
Cambodia’s economic growth will remain on course this year but will likely slow in the coming years to 6 percent as investment tapers off and credit growth tightens, according to an updated note by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released on Friday. ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/imf-predicts-slowdown-horizon-growth-figures
CAMBODIA: H&M hits back at low wage claims
Swedish fashion retailer H&M has hit back at accusations that it fails to pay adequate wages to workers in Cambodian factories making its clothes – and says instead that the situation would be a lot worse if it didn’t source from the country ...
http://www.just-style.com/news/hm-hits-back-at-low-wage-claims_id115952.aspx
City Hall in talks over underground market
Phnom Penh officials met on Thursday with representatives from a Thai company proposing to build an underground parking lot and market adjacent to Daun Penh district’s Phsar Chas. Deputy municipal governor Chreang Sophann said the proposal by the company, Trade International, was under consideration. ...
Ouch Sony
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/city-hall-in-talks-over-underground-market-62746/
Angry villagers chase Vietnamese fishermen down Mekong river
Following a two-hour low-speed boat chase down the Mekong River in Kandal province early Thursday morning, some 100 angry villagers led by a local opposition official detained five Vietnamese nationals they say have been using illegal fishing techniques for the past three months. ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/angry-villagers-chase-vietnamese-fishermen-71455/
Court orders family off khun sear’s land: lawyer
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday sided with real estate tycoon Khun Sear and his eponymous company in a longstanding land dispute with a family living adjacent to an apartment block he obtained in a land swap, The family’s lawyer said Thursday. ...
Ben Sokhean and Alex Consiglio
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/court-orders-family-off-khun-sears-land-lawyer-says-79667/
Rights group wants sit-downs with government
Local rights group Adhoc on Thursday called on Prime Minister Hun Sen and other government officials to hold regular meetings with NGOs in order to better understand the human rights situation in the country. ...
Kuch Naren and Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rights-group-wants-sit-downs-with-government-67293/
Businessman freed after officials intervene
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday ordered that Cambodian-American businessman Richer San be released from prison, where he was being held on serious fraud charges, overturning The Appeal Court’s decision to reject his bail request a week earlier, court officials said Monday. ...
Simon Henderson and Hay Pisey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/businessman-freed-after-intervention-by-officials-70384/
Police officer arrested, later released after shooting in air
A police officer was arrested on Tuesday night for firing his state-issued K-59 pistol into the air after getting into a fight at a Khmer New Year party in Phnom Penh, but he was released without charge the same night, police said. ...
Ouch Sony
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-officer-arrested-later-released-after-shooting-in-air-82050/
IOM raising funds to return rescued fishermen
As 58 Cambodian fishermen rescued from slavery in Indonesia await their travel documents to return home, the intergovernmental body organizing their return is attempting to raise money to pay for their travel because the Cambodian government is not offering any funds for their repatriation. ...
Alex Consiglio and Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/iom-raising-funds-to-return-rescued-fishermen-82532/
Controversial NGO law goes to National Assembly for debate
Despite widespread concern it could curtail pro-democracy and rights work in the country, a bill to regulate NGOs in Cambodia arrived at the National Assembly Tuesday, where it must be debated before its likely passage into law. ...
Neou Vannarin
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/controversial-ngo-law-goes-to-national-assembly-for-debate/2824628.html
Thailand placed under nationwide MERS alert
The Public Health Ministry has put Thailand on a nationwide alert for MERS after one foreigner tested positive for The virus at a Bangkok hospital on Thursday, with various measures being implemented to ensure it does not spread. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/thailand-placed-under-nationwide-mers-alert-8698
City Hall follows through on drone ban, arrests two foreigners
Two foreign filmmakers were arrested Tuesday morning after their drone was seen filming in the skies near Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house in Phnom Penh—a flight that provided a litmus test for February’s ban on unauthorized drone operation in the city. ...
Khy Sovuthy and Simon Henderson
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/city-hall-follows-through-on-drone-ban-arrests-two-foreigners-86333/
Hun Sen maintains his support for restrictive NGO draft law
Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeated that he will stand by the draft law on nongovernmental organizations currently under review by parliament, despite continued opposition by some groups which say the legislation would hinder their work in Cambodia. ...
RFA Khmer News Staff
http://bit.ly/1g4kaFy
EdC sends warning to staff
Following various complaints from Phnom Penh residents about surges in their electricity bills despite unaltered usage patterns and frequent blackouts, the state electricity body issued an announcement on Tuesday warning staff that they will be fired if caught recording the wrong number on electric meters. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/edc-sends-warning-staff
District police chief denies raping student
A district police chief in Kompong Chhnang province was on Tuesday questioned over accusations that he raped a high-school student in his office earlier this month and threatened to kill the woman’s family if she told anyone about the assault. ...
Huot Chanpav
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/district-police-chief-denies-raping-high-school-student-89111/