After a slow year in 2010, demand for office space in Phnom Penh is beginning to rebound as occupancy levels in new and existing units increase, real estate experts said yesterday. However, it is still unclear whether or not there is enough demand to fill ...

In the wake of several violent garment-factory protests last week, the International Labour Office yesterday launched a five-year, US$5 million Decent Work Country Program in Cambodia to focus on improving industrial relations. “[This] marks the beginning of a new body of work for the ILO in ...

More than one-sixth of Cambodian businesses in 2011 were part of the Kingdom’s information and communications sector, a government census showed. Of the 182,439 new enterprises that sprang up in the country between June 2009 and March 2011, some 95,590 serviced the sector, according to the ...

A top executive from Cambodian company Vattanac yesterday denied the firm had damaged colonial-era buildings along the capital’s riverfront, as one local business owner sought a new home. Construction at a Vattanac building site – situated on Phnom Penh’s Sisowath Quay – has been at ...

Citing a government investigation that revealed factories colluding with unlicensed subcontractors to use unethical labor sources including prisoners, Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh has asked the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia to urge adherence to labor law. Rehabilitation programs meant to teach vocational skills such ...

Total government spending in 2012 is set to reach $2.62 billion, an increase of 9 percent on the $2.4 billion the government had budgeted to spend in 2011, according to a copy of the 2012 draft budget law obtained yesterday. As part of the new budget, ...

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s yesterday lowered Cambodia’s long-term sovereign credit rating by one notch to B due to the country’s continued inability to diversify its economy and increase government spending. The decision by Standard & Poor’s comes after the agency said in September that constraints ...

Cambodia plans to expand its exports of milled rice and other agricultural products to the United Arab Emirates, Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh said yesterday. The UAE seeks a replacement for the milled rice it would otherwise import from Thailand, where the worst flooding in decades ...

Cambodia has one of the world’s highest rates of deforestation, ranking ninth among 180 countries in terms of forest loss during the past decade, according to a new study, which said that economic land concessions and illegal logging were the primary cause for the demise ...

Considered one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the effects of climate change, the Royal Government of Cambodia is taking major steps to improve its resilience and reduce its disaster risk with support from the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. To ...

A raft of new laws to boost the local economy is in the pipeline and will be passed before the end of the year, according to a senior public official. Mao Thora, secretary of state at the Ministry of Commerce, told Khmer Times on Tuesday that the E-commerce ...

Investment in construction in the Kingdom reached a new high during the first nine months of the year, amounting to $6.5 million, according to the latest government report. From January to September, investment in the sector grew by 34.7 percent compared with the same period last ...

Cambodia’s digital economy remains at a nascent stage and will need at least 10 years to grow and aim for a technology-driven economy, said Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth. Speaking at the national consultation workshop on Policy and Direction of Cambodia’s Digital Economy ...

Senators yesterday unanimously agreed to pass the National Strategic Development Plan of 2019-2023 worth $57.7 billion in capital. In order for the budget plan to be finalised, it will need to be reviewed by the Constitutional Council and approved by the King. The vote was held ...

The Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA) has set a time schedule for the visit of tourists in the Angkor Archeological Park, reported the state news agency-AKP.The new time schedule, taking effect from Jan. 1, 2016, ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy is set to issue the country’s first commercial underground mining license to Indian company Mesco Gold in two weeks, despite opposition by residents of two villages concerned about compensation and environmental damage. The company plans to break ground on its ...

The three-month voter registration period opened on Thursday, with Prime Minister Hun Sen telling reporters after enrolling at his local commune office that he hopes the new voter registry will put an end to post-election protests. After the July 2013 national election, the CNRP refused to ...

Commune offices around the country are bracing for a surge in voter registrations over the Pchum Ben holiday that could become a make-or-miss moment in building the foundation for upcoming elections. After nearly a month of registrations, the National Election Committee reported on Tuesday that 3.5 ...

As the United Nations meets this week to draw up a new set of sustainable development benchmarks, the era of the body’s landmark Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is coming to a close, with some wondering – in spite of gains – what efficacy such targets ...

The conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement has industry insiders in Cambodia split over whether or not the new pact will limit the Kingdom’s trade growth potential in the US market and see future investments diverted to Vietnam.Ending a long-drawn negotiation process that lasted five ...