Phnom Penh’s first solar-powered building looks for all the world like a cube of colored Lego blocks dropped in a factory lot on the city’s industrial outskirts. Covered in some 1,350 solar panels &mdash; including large panes of multi-colored solar glass &mdash; the three-story building <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-is-perfectly-positioned-to-become-a-solar-powerhouse/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

About 500 gArment workers whose bosses hAve complAined thAt they spend too much of their working dAy tAlking on the phone And listening to music protested outside their KAmpong Speu fActory yesterdAy, demAnding better working conditions. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/strike-for-A-song-employees-wAste-time-on-phones/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

“What law? No one has ever come to speak to me about that,” said 33-year-old Lim Vannak, scanning the large plastic buckets of corrosive acids she had lined up on the pavement of Phnom Penh’s Street 144 on a recent morning. acid in the wrong hands <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/a-year-after-law-acid-easily-available-on-streets/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Sam Rainsy is preparing a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen to seek negotiation between the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), an opposition official told The Cambodia Herald on Wednesday. The political deadlock in Cambodia has been lasting for <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/sam-rainsy-to-write-a-letter-to-hun-sen/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday that the Royal Government of Cambodia agreed to allow the opposition party to have its own TV channel, which shall be registered as a private company. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/hun-sen-allows-opposition-to-have-a-tv-channel/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

As scheduled, Khmer  Krom citizens gAthered MondAy in front of French embAssy in order to present their petition which Asks the VN embAssy’s spokesmAn to Apologize for his comment over Khmer KAmpucheA Krom territory. Some 500 students, monks, And citizens were led by leAders of FederAtion <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/Anti-vietnAm-protesters-bring-A-petition-to-foreign-embAssies/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s just-concluded visit to China’s Nanning city for the 11th aSEaN-China Expo is a “success”, contributing to further enhancing Cambodia’s ties with China and aSEaN, a senior official said Tuesday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodian-pms-visit-to-nanning-a-success-senior-official/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Police in Stung Treng province confiscated a truckload of illegally logged wood on Sunday and are investigating a Forestry administration official who tried to take the haul off their hands following the seizure. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/police-confiscate-illegal-wood-say-forestry-official-a-suspect/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Malaysian-backed 5D Pan Cambodian Lottery yesterday announced an official return to operations after a failed start-up in the Kingdom five years earlier. The company, who first announced in 2010 that it would start business in Cambodia, declined to detail yesterday why it did not get off <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/lottery-firm-hopes-that-second-bet-is-a-charm/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

In the heart of the areng Valley, on the edges of the rolling Cardamom Mountains, an old Bodhi tree pierces the thick green canopy. at its base, nestled in between its hanging roots, sits a ramshackle altar of tin and timber for the spirit of <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/hydropower-dam-puts-a-way-of-life-at-risk/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

In a bid to ramp up rice exports to 1 million tonnes in 2015, the Phnom Penh autonomous Port announced yesterday that rice stored in its warehouses would not be charge any fees for up to 18 days.​ <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/port-gives-rice-exporters-a-cut-in-storage-costs/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

National mail service provider Cambodia Post reported a 10 per cent increase in 2014 revenues yesterday, as increasing consumer confidence boosted use of the once-fledgling service. The service provider, which was privatised in 2011, collected $5.19 million in revenue last year, up 14 per cent from <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-post-sees-a-10-pct-rise-in-revenue/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Recent events, triggered by Singapore-based KrisEnergy Ltd.’s acquisition of Chevron Corp.’s entire stake in Cambodia’s Block a in the Gulf of Thailand, may possibly end the stalemate to develop the country’s only oil discovery to date. The prospect has also rekindled hopes in Cambodia to <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/offshore-block-a-provides-buzz-to-cambodias-petroleum-industry/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The AssociAtion of BAnks in CAmbodiA hAs cAlled on the Securities And ExchAnge Commission to ensure thAt over-the-counter derivAtives trAnsActed by bAnks do not fAll under the governAnce of the new drAft prAkAs governing derivAtives trAding on CAmbodiA’s stock exchAnge. SpeAking At A workshop in Phnom <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/bAnks-rAise-concerns-for-A-new-derivAtive-trAding-lAw/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Civil society groups have contributed significantly to the development of Cambodia over the past 20 years, working as a government partner, but sometimes they face challenges in the areas of good governance and legal education, an expert says. Government spokesman Phay Siphan said there are <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/corrupt-officials-a-roadblock-to-civic-groups-expert-says/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Houy Mai has lost everything to the global demand for cheap sugar and biofuel. The 54-year-old mother-of-eight has fought a years-long battle with Mitr Phol, asia’s biggest sugar producer and one of three major suppliers to Coca-Cola. Her family was left homeless and without a sustainable <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/the-bitter-aftertaste-of-a-sugar-deal-gone-bad/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

With the approval last week of a draft NGO law by Cambodia’s Council of Ministers, many pro-democracy and rights advocates say they should now have a chance to add their comments on the bill, before it goes to the National assembly for debate. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ngos-call-for-a-chance-to-comment-on-regulations/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The recent ban on dredging sand from the Mekong has resulted in some people resorting to more innovative measures to obtain landfill. On the island of Koh Oknha Tey, also known as Silk Island, people pay from 7,000 to 10,000 riels per cart-load for delivery <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/selling-off-the-farm-one-truckload-at-a-time/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Labor leaders say they are concerned that a number of unions would be shuttered if a new law to govern them is passed. Labor Minister Ith Samheng said the law will not “put pressure” on unions. “We take unions and other vocational organizations as our <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/for-labor-leaders-law-on-unions-remains-a-concern/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Military police in Ratanakkiri province working with the NGO Wildlife alliance confiscated 40 kg of bushmeat from two vendors at a Banlung City market Thursday morning but let the women go with a warning. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/bushmeat-vendors-let-off-with-a-warning-in-ratanakkiri/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>