Cambodia sits at a crossroads in the Asean region, potentially making it a key part of regional economic development and trade flows, though improved infrastructure and more innovative financing approaches are still needed, infrastructure experts meeting in Phnom Penh said yesterday. ...

Almost 100 people from Boeung Snor village gathered at Banteay Meanchey’s Provincial Hall yesterday, demanding that provincial authorities resolve a 13-year-old dispute involving land promised to a group of Khmer Rouge defectors by the government in 1997. ...

Germany-based apparel industry trade fair organiser Messe Frankfurt France signed a memorandum of understanding with the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia yesterday to offer discounted exhibitor fees to Cambodian manufacturers in a deal valued at €400,000 ($450,000). ...

The Thai government on Wednesday publicly announced that nationals of five countries, including Cambodia, can visit Thailand for up to 90 days without a visa to seek medical treatment, an official at the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh said yesterday. ...

Phnom Penh Governor Khoung Sreng said the municipality was half-way through a two-week crack-down on pawn shops in order to prevent the sale of stolen goods at the increasing number of second-hand establishments across the capital. ...

Anticipating popular unrest surrounding the “treason” trial of opposition leader Kem Sokha, Minister of Interior Sar Kheng on Friday instructed provincial governors, police chiefs and officers to block people from travelling to the capital and to prevent any attempts at demonstrations. ...

Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, managing director of property consultant CBRE Thailand, said prime residential property for rent in the Cambodian capital has posted the highest yield among all sectors at 8% per year. Selling prices remain relatively low, but rents are high. ...

If it wasn’t already clear, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday let an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos know how he really felt about former U.S. President Barack Obama and his administration’s “pivot” to Asia. ...

Cambodia Youth Party leader Pich Sros filed a complaint today at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court against Cambodia National Rescue Party leader Kem Sokha in response to the latter’s encouragement of voters not to “waste” their votes on small parties. ...

The CNRP was forced to hold a downsized version of a seminar for incoming elected officials led by party president Kem Sokha at its headquarters in Kompong Chhnang province on Monday after provincial authorities refused to allow a larger gathering. ...

The government is not doing enough to help farmers weather the destructive effects of drought and flooding brought on by climate change, leaving NGOs to provide aid and emergency relief in cases of natural disaster, agriculture industry leaders said at a forum yesterday. ...

The Koh Kong Provincial Court summonsed 23 villagers from Chikor Leu commune to present themselves – and any relevant documents – at a July 12 hearing with representatives of the two sugar companies that bulldozed their farmland and evicted them from their homes in 2006. ...

Svay Rieng Provincial Court has summonsed the three female workers wounded during a protest at Kao Ve Garment Factory in Manhattan Special Economic Zone for one more round of questioning before the case against the former Bavet city governor is sent for trial. ...

Laos has given the go-ahead to build a massive dam on the lower Mekong river, despite opposition from neighbouring countries and environmentalists. A formal ceremony marking the start of full construction at Xayaburi would be held on Wednesday, the government said. ...

Just as a solution to a two-week-long dispute at two SL Garment factories seemed over on Saturday, the company’s owner issued a statement refusing to recognise an agreement that had lured more than 5,000 employees back to work. ...

The Kandal Provincial Court issued an injunction yesterday against Yung Wah Industrial Co. Ltd., preventing the company from selling assets at its two garment factories in Takhmao City where thousands of workers have been protesting the past two days over unpaid wages. ...

A Kampong Speu judge released the vice-president and a member of the Free Trade Union on bail yesterday after the court questioned the two about their alleged roles in a violent demonstration at Sabrina Garment factory. ...

The National Assembly of Viet Nam presented 1,000 tonnes of rice to Cambodian flood victims at a ceremony held in Phnom Penh yesterday. The latest floods took the lives of 80 people and resulted in economic losses of around US$1 billion. ...

More than 2,000 garment workers at a Vattanac II Industrial Park protested in front of the complex, threatening to block National Road 3 and demanding the reinstatement of 11 union officials and the firing of the manager who allegedly dismissed them. ...

The Chinese government signed to provide 300 biodigesters to Cambodian households on Monday, officials said. Sar Chetra, deputy secretary general of the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, signed to receive the donation from Song Xiaoguo, economic councilor at the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia. ...