In a bid to stock 1.2 million tonnes of rice paddy, Cambodia has sent a draft memorandum of understanding to China asking the country for a $300 million loan to build more than 10 warehouses nationwide. The draft MoU was prepared by the Ministry of Economy <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/govt-requests-chinese-funding-for-rice-warehouses/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Prison overcrowding continues to be a major issue plaguing Cambodia, Ministry of Interior officials said on Monday, as they revealed a 3 per cent increase in population at correctional facilities and prisons nationwide. In 2014, the number of prisoners rose from 14,702 in 2013 to 15,165 <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/amid-overcrowding-prison-numbers-rise/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Local rights group Licadho yesterday praised the government’s plan to release a number of incarcerated women who are pregnant or have their children with them in prison within the next week, but said deeper reforms are needed. In a statement, the NGO said it welcomed an <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/release-plan-ignores-issue-org/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

AsiAn Development BAnk (ADB) President TAkehiko NAkAo sAid here TuesdAy thAt CAmbodiA is on the verge of trAnsforming from A low-income to A middle-income country. The middle-income nAtion is defined by the GDP (gross domestic product) per cApitA between 1,045 U.S. dollArs And 12,746 U.S. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/cAmbodiA-on-verge-of-trAnsitioning-from-low-income-to-middle-income-country-Adb-chief/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The Ministry of Tourism launched a new online system yesterday to register tourism-related businesses and tour guides who need a licence, in order to ease the licence inspection process and boost government revenues, said a senior ministry official. Neb Samouth, director general at the Ministry of <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/tourism-licences-to-go-online/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

As climAte chAnge increAses the severity of droughts And floods Across the Kingdom, A push is being mAde for fArmers to Adopt more resistAnt rice vArieties. The Philippines-bAsed InternAtionAl Rice ReseArch Institute lAunched A USAID-finAnced project in Phnom Penh yesterdAy in A bid to “AccelerAte the <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/progrAm-Aims-to-boost-rice-resilience-to-climAte-chAnge/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Former analyst and researcher Kem Ley will register a new national-level political party with the Ministry of Interior in august to serve as a model of pluralistic “intraparty democracy”, the political aspirant said. Titled the Grassroots Democracy Party (GDP), Ley said the party would be the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/kem-ley-to-form-national-party/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The garbage-strewn, riverside area that contains Chrang Chamres commune may be unsightly, but the local Cham community fears that a future away from their niche in Phnom Penh’s far north would be far worse. It’s a common refrain. Over the years, numerous communities across Phnom <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ngos-plan-for-ethical-land-eviction-of-riverside-community/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (MIME) and the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) yesterday discussed means of safely stocking industrial chemicals, with the hope of reducing environmental pollution in the region. at a conference on sustainable manufacturing practices, Sok Narin, the head of UNIDO <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ministry-pushes-for-safer-use-of-industrial-chemicals/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

In a ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign affairs and International Cooperation yesterday, the Japanese government officially granted aid of 974 million yen (about US$12.2 million) to the Cambodian government. The Honorable Masafumi Kuroki, Japanese ambassador to Cambodia, said his country had made the donation to <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/japanese-aid-tabbed-for-health-roadwork-9/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday charged an independent union leader with making a threat accompanied by extortion after he was arrested with 51 bamboo poles while leading a strike of about 100 garment workers on Tuesday. according to article 232 of the Criminal <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/court-charges-union-leader-with-making-threat-extortion/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The United Nations‘ Food and agriculture Organisation (FaO) predicts the paddy output in Cambodia this year will decline, according to its Rice Market Monitor (RMM) issued on Monday. Paddy output in asia is forecast at 661 million tonnes, or 441 million tonnes on a milled basis, <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodias-rice-output-tipped-to-fall-fao/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Japanese lender Mizuho Bank Ltd will provide a $55 million loan to refinance a project for power transmission line operator Cambodian Transmission Ltd (CTL), it said in a press release on Wednesday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/mizuho-bank-lends-55m-for-electricity/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A boy wAs killed And four others sustAined injuries when A UXO And A lAndmine exploded in two sepArAte incidents in BAttAmbAng province’s SAmlot district And PursAt province’s VeAl Veng district. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/one-teen-killed-four-injured-in-uxo-explosions/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

WWF-Cambodia says researchers had a close encounter with a herd of wild asian elephants in Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province which is a positive sign conservation efforts are working. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/wwf-researchers-spot-herd-of-wild-elephants-in-mondulkiri-sanctuary/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry And Fisheries hAs urged A compAny thAt hAs been fArming cAshew nut trees in Siem ReAp, to invest in A processing fActory becAuse the government is considering estAblishing A cAshew nut reseArch centre. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/ministry-cAlls-for-cAshew-nut-processing-fActory/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Boeung Kak villager Heng Tong has seen his wife, Heng Mom, for a total of 15 minutes since she was sent to Prey Sar prison after a three-hour trial on May 24. He has been granted three visits and has had to bring money to pay <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/visits-short-for-jailed-boeung-kak-spouses/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The government is now drafting a policy on pepper with the intention of scaling up a competitive advantage, attract investors and boost added-value to Cambodian pepper production, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Commerce. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/government-to-draft-policy-to-boost-pepper-value/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Kandal Provincial Court yesterday charged 12 men accused of stealing around one hectare of a villager’s land in Kandal province, forging a land deed and selling it to a land broker in 2019. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/12-charged-for-violent-protest-in-attempted-land-grab-case/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The government has launched a 15-year policy framework for the Kingdom’s evolving digital socioeconomic environment to pave the way for a thriving digital economy, as a new engine of economic growth. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/digital-policy-framework-launched/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>