Local rice millers and exporters have responded with alarm to the rice-export target set by the Lao government of 1 million tons this year, while Cambodian rice millers and traders have yet to overcome numerous barriers hindering their competitiveness at home and abroad. ...

The government decided to drop a 10 percent value added-tax (VAT) for rice products during a meeting on Wednesday between representATives of the rice sector and government officials AT the Council for the Development of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, officials said.   ...

Construction workers broke ground yesterday in Boeung Keng Kang I at the site of a $16 million dollar condominium project partially funded by Malaysia’s Chip Hock Realty and Development. This project gets off the ground as foreign investment in the Kingdom sees increased growth. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that Cambodia will not join other Asean nations in supporting an upcoming verdict from the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in a suit filed by the Philippines about continuing issues with China over the South China Sea. ...

To mark 20 years of the work of NGO Pour un Sourie d’Enfant (PSE), a new film about the founders was premiered at the Chaktomouk Hall on Phnom Penh’s riverside on Friday evening when Queen Mother Norodom Monineath was the guest of honor. ...

Cambodia’s judicial system is troubled by a cycle of corruption, with both sides of the bench accusing the other of perpetuating the practice of bribery, Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) Chairman Om Yentieng said on Thursday at the inauguration of the new bar association president. ...

ANZ Royal customers will be able to make tax payments in local currency and in US dollars at all bank branches and online starting in April following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Economy and Finance Ministry on Friday. ...

Private sector industry leaders speaking at an investment conference yesterday in the capital railed on the high cost of electrical power, which they said was sapping their competitiveness, while state officials offered assurances that state-backed power generation schemes would soon bring prices down. ...

The government will spend at least $12 million to relocate the Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) and build a cultural center on four hectares of land in Chroy Changvar district, while the old university buildings will be used to expand the National Museum. ...

In celebration of World Water Day on Wednesday, the US embassy held the Cambodian premiere of the US documentary “A Plastic Ocean” – an award-winning documentary on the impact of plastic waste around the world – at Aeon Mall’s Major Cineplex.   ...

Cambodia will host the 20th Asean-China meeting aimed at boosting further discussions on the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) which could lead to finalizing the framework of the Code of Conduct (COC).   ...

The government has lashed out at the U.S. and E.U. over their criticism of the detention of five current and former rights workers in Cambodia for more than a year, adopting the language of its critics by calling their statements “politically motivated.” ...

A second ship accused by the NGO Mother Nature of illegally exporting dredged ocean sand last week is expected to arrive at a port in China today with a cargo of silica sand, which is exempt from the ban, the ship’s owner said yesterday. ...

Exports grew at a solid pace in 2016, rising by 7.2 percent to $7.3 billion, but the number of registered exporting factories fell by 10.4 per cent, while the number of workers declined by 2.9 per cent, compared to 2015.   ...

The Financial Management Information System (FMIS), a reform initiative designed to improve the governance and transparency of national budget management, will be applied to 10 government ministries later this year after a successful implementation of the scheme at the National Treasury Department, officials said yesterday. ...

The land concession overlaps the site of the Bunong community’s old village, their spirit forest and their burial grounds—religiously significant areas that, according to Bunong beliefs, are not to be disturbed or logged at the risk of incurring the wrath of local spirits. ...

The Kingdom’s investment authority signed an agreement yesterday to promote and protect investments between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Cambodia, a move government officials hope will attract foreign direct investment from the oil-rich Gulf state, which currently stands at almost zero. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday called for the closure of a Christian anti-trafficking NGO during a heated tirade at a graduation ceremony, condemning them and CNN for broadcasting an “insulting” story about girls who were sold into sexual slavery by their own mothers. ...

When Cambodia National Rescue Party President Kem Sokha stood arm-in-arm with three newly minted deputies earlier this year, the quartet seemed eager and ready to address the party’s next challenge at hand: critical commune elections that could greatly bolster grassroots support. ...

More than 200 families who have been locked in land disputes with sugar firms will have at least some of their land returned to them after the Ministry of Land Management approved their claims yesterday, though hundreds more families are still waiting for resolution. ...