Amret MicrofinAnce received A $10 million boost yesterdAy by A loAn from GermAn development bAnk KfW, According to A joint stAtement from the finAnce institutions. CheA PhAlArin, chief executive officer of Amret MicrofinAnce Institution, sAid yesterdAy thAt the new loAn &ndAsh; equAl to neArly double its <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/Amret-mfi-gets-10m-loAn-to-Aid-sme-reAch/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Negotiators for the ruling party and opposition say they are preparing for a summit to settle their differences over election reforms, following meetings this week with a team of Japanese development experts. Officials from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party say they will still push for <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/political-parties-say-they-are-working-toward-agreement/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

U.S. Embassy Charg&eacute; d’affaires, a.i. Jeff Daigle visited In Komar Primary School in Kampong Thom province today to highlight a $20 million U.S. government school feeding program funded by the U.S. Department of agriculture (USDa) and implemented by the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP), <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/us-promotes-child-nutrition-and-development-in-cambodia/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday questioned an elderly tycoon who was jailed earlier this month in a real estate dispute with his brother, also a prominent businessman. Huot Seng Long, 76, who also uses the name Thai Seng Long, was questioned in a closed-door <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/court-questions-tycoon-in-dispute-with-his-brother/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Woman who was taking part in a pilot scheme to place Cambodian maids in Singapore is waiting to be repatriated after being molested at her employers home and allegedly mistreated by a recruitment firm, she said yesterday. Nation’s managing director, Gary Chin, rejected those claims <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/abused-maid-awaits-return/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Police have warned coffee lovers there could be a couple of bad batches circulating and percolating in Phnom Penh after a raid on a fake coffee enterprise in Sen Sok district’s Khmuonh commune yesterday. Officers arrested four men during the joint operation in Banlar Sa Et <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/four-arrested-in-raid-targeting-fake-coffee/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

One month after the government announced a systemic crackdown on ghost workers, the Ministry of Education suspended a Sihanoukville administrator for alleged absenteeism, according to a copy of the disciplinary letter. Minister of Education Hang Chuon Naron said the suspension was decided on following complaints <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/salary-cut-off-for-absenteeism/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A womAn Accused of orgAn trAfficking wAs tried At the Phnom Penh MunicipAl Court on MondAy for Allegedly persuAding her two cousins And A neighbor to sell their kidneys in ThAilAnd lAst yeAr. Anti-humAn trAfficking police Arrested Nhem Sinuon, 29, in Phnom Penh’s Chroy ChAngvA district <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/in-court-kidney-trAder-denies-running-trAnsplAnt-enterprise/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Around 80 citizen journAlists from Around CAmbodiA held A meeting in Phnom Penh WednesdAy, in A first-ever networking event for A new kind of reporter in the country. ProfessionAl journAlists And other mediA professionAls joined the event, sponsored by the CAmbodiAn Center for Independent MediA And <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/citizen-journAlists-move-to-estAblish-wider-network/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Cambodia’s $5.5 billion garment industry is nearing a crossroads amid uncertain prospects for outsourcing, an industry source says, citing participants at a recent trade show in Phnom Penh. “Many industry suppliers believe that while Cambodia remains a growing market for their textile and garment products, there <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodias-garment-industry-seen-approaching-crossroads/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Ministry of Interior has asked the government to grant what would have been the new location of the Ministry of Environment in Meanchey district’s Niroth commune to the newly created General Departments of Identification and Immigration instead, according to an official spokesman. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ministries-switch-up-new-office/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The National assembly will vote on a proposal to make the National Election Committee (NEC) a Constitutional body in early October, opposition lawmakers said on Thursday, honoring part of a deal the ruling CPP struck with the CNRP in July to get the opposition to <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/vote-set-for-election-committee-amendment/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The lawyer of a 70-year-old widow whose land was stolen by a cousin of Prime Minister Hun Sen, Dy Proem, has filed a letter to the National assembly’s human rights committee asking the body to help speed up the long-stalled case. Dy Proem was sentenced <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/end-impunity-for-pms-cousin-lawyer-insists/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong yesterday defended the independence of Cambodia’s judiciary following concerns raised by a UN official about the whirlwind imprisonment of 11 activists arrested for protesting last week. Kuong accused Surya Subedi, the UN’s special rapporteur for human rights, of making a habit <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/foreign-ministry-strikes-back-at-subedi-remarks/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Oryza White Rice Index (WRI), a weighted average of global white rice export quotes, ended the month of March at about $413 per ton, down about $7 per ton from a month ago and down about $41 per ton from a year ago. Global <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/oryza-march-2015-rice-market-review/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Just one refugee on Nauru has taken up the australian government’s offer to settle Cambodia, according to a Cambodian official. a Cambodian interior ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak told the Cambodia Daily that a Rohingya man was so far the only refugee who had taken up the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/one-refugee-on-nauru-takes-up-resettlement-offer-says-cambodian-official/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A senior US diplomAt hAs rAised concerns over A proposed lAw to govern NGOs in CAmbodiA. Hor NAmhong told reporters TuesdAy the drAft lAw is not meAnt to impose undue burdens on NGOs. Civil society will hAve A chAnce to comment on the drAft when <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/senior-diplomAt-cAlls-ngo-lAw-unnecessAry/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The Cambodian Center for Independent Media has set up a website for public comment on a contentious draft law to regulate Cambodian cyberspace. The website establishes a “wiki”-like crowd-sourcing platform for comments on the law, even though the public has not been able to see the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/website-crowdsources-comments-on-draft-cybercrime-law/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A new speciAl economic zone Aiming to mAke CAmbodiA into A regionAl logistics hub held An officiAl groundbreAking ceremony yesterdAy, At its future home on the muddy outskirts of Phnom Penh in KAndAl’s TAkhmAo district. The $100 million Kerry Worldbridge SEZ project is A pArtnership between <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/new-sez-Aims-for-logistics-hub/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The Cambodian Rice Federation held a press conference yesterday to allay fears drummed up by local media that fake rice is being distributed in the Kingdom.Rumours began to surface this week when a reporter with local news site Khmerload published a story claiming to have <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/rice-fed-dispels-fake-rice-claims/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>