While the humanitarian objections to Mondulkiri’s proposed Lower Sesan 2 hydropower dam project are well documented, a report from conservation NGO International Rivers yesterday highlighted an objection of another sort: the Lower Sesan wouldn’t be a very good location for a dam in the first <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/lower-sesan-2s-power-not-worth-a-dam-ngo/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Philip Hampden-Smith, general manager of Southeast asia operations at Manulife, talks about the company’s entry into the Cambodian market and what the new few years might bring. Cambodia’s nascent life insurance industry may be just only a year old but the nation of nearly 15 million <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/once-we-enter-a-market-we-are-committed-to-it/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand, Japan, Malaysia and Korea have sent home an average of US$360 million a year in remittances, according to Seng Sakada, general director of Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training. Overseas Cambodian migrants mainly work in the fields of housework, construction, factories <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodian-migrant-workers-send-us360-million-home-a-year/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Twenty-three workers at the M&amp;V garment factory fainted yesterday morning in Kompong Chhang province, the second thime in a week that a mass faining has occured at the factory, a Labor Ministry official said. Meng Hong, a member of a workplace safety committee that the Ministry <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/second-fainting-in-a-week-at-mv-garment-factory/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

As AustrAliAn operAtor Toll RoyAl RAilwAys looks At A possible withdrAwAl from in CAmbodiA, A new ChinA-bAcked compAny tries to tAke over And promise to rehAbilitAte more trAcks including Phnom Penh-SAigon Toll RoyAl RAilwAy won in 2010 A concession to operAte And upgrAde the CAmbodiAn rAil <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/cAmbodiA-the-next-setting-to-A-bAttle-of-the-rAils/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The International Monetary Fund has warned that a credit boom in Cambodia poses a threat to economic growth. Banks have been cutting interest rates to win customers and private sector credit has increased by almost a third in the past 12 months, the fund said. This <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-faces-risks-from-a-credit-boom-the-imf-warns/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Cambodian government says reports that it is planning to build a nuclear power plant are untrue. Cambodia denies it plans to build a nuclear power plant (Credit: aBC) a report originating in the Bangkok Post newspaper has been replicated internationally. It says the Prime Minister Hun <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-denies-it-plans-to-build-a-nuclear-power-plant/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A group of Phnom Penh residents locked in A long-running lAnd dispute with A reAl estAte project owned by CPP SenAtor LAo Meng Khin Are pitching City HAll A plAn they hope will prevent them from being evicted And keep them close to home. “We <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/boeng-kAk-fAmilies-pitch-A-new-solution-to-lAnd-dispute/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Voters who travel to cast ballots in the upcoming poll Sunday could face higher transportation fees as drivers and companies try to capitalise on heavier passenger volume. Phan Na, general manager at Phnom Penh Sorya Transportation, which sells bus tickets to several provinces, said fees could <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/going-home-to-vote-expect-a-hike-in-travel-prices/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

ANLONG VENG, CAmbodiA &mdAsh; A decAde And A hAlf After the lAst remnAnts of the Khmer Rouge cApitulAted in this northwestern town, the streets Are festooned with imAges of their erstwhile enemy, Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is seeking to prolong his 28 yeArs in <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/in-cAmbodiA-shifting-AllegiAnces-shApe-A-tougher-thAn-usuAl-election/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

In 2010, the Ha Tien Vegas Entertainment Resort, a casino investment on Kampot province’s border with Vietnam that included luxury karaoke rooms and suites, launched with high hopes of attracting Vietnamese gamblers. at the end of December, Ha Tien Vegas closed down. To the north, in <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/in-cambodia-cyber-casinos-fall-into-a-legal-gray-area/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam an yesterday said the government should clear beggars away from the country’s most popular tourism sites by providing them with decent education and legal ownership of their land. “We have performed well in working with homeless people, but I noticed <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/deputy-prime-minister-says-homeless-people-a-worry-for-tourism/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

After reAching Agreement lAte lAst month, the contrAct for A $90 million concession loAn from JApAn to CAmbodiA wAs officiAlly signed in Phnom Penh yesterdAy to improve 83.5 kilometres of NAtionAl RoAd 5. The construction is scheduled to stArt in June 2015 And will be <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/jApAn-signs-A-90m-loAn-deAl-to-improve-highwAy/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

With the opposition CNRP expecting at least 10,000 people to turn out for a rally in Phnom Penh on Monday, a military police official said Thursday that any attempt to disturb the peace would not be tolerated. Brigadier General Kheng Tito, spokesman for the military police, <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/peace-a-priority-as-officials-prepare-for-cnrp-rally-security/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Authorities sAid ThursdAy they were closely wAtching the development of the world’s big­gest storm to mAteriAlize so fAr this yeAr As it hits the Philippines todAy before moving west towArd VietnAm And CAmbodiA in the following dAys. “Our first step is to keep A close eye <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/cAmbodiA-to-keep-A-close-eye-on-severe-typhoon-hAiyAn/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Even as political instability led to a drop in Phnom Penh’s housing market over the last few months, construction and sales of De Castle Royal steamed ahead in the third quarter. Now fully over the fallout from the 2008 global financial crisis, a recent $28 million <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/de-castle-royal-construction-moves-ahead-at-a-princely-pace/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodian political analysts say a new royalist party would have little hope of success. Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who once led Cambodia’s dominant post-war political party, Funcinpec, told VOa Khmer on Monday he plans to launch a new royalist party for commune elections later this year and <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/a-new-royalist-party-would-have-little-hope-analysts-say/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

More than half a million Cambodians have been affected by land conflicts involving the government since 2000, with more than 2,000 families across the country subjected to largely violent land grabs during the first few months of this year, local rights group Licadho said Tuesday. The <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/half-a-million-cambodians-affected-by-land-grabs-rights-group/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Khmer Krom people fleeing persecution in Vietnam and denied refuge in Thailand are being sent to Cambodia, where the government does not ensure that their rights are protected, the Minority Rights Organization (MIRO) has said in a new report. The report&mdash;“abandoned People Khmer Krom Seeking Refuge <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/khmer-krom-seeking-refuge-remain-in-a-state-of-limbo/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Late last month, Nhem Bunna, a retired government soldier, struck it lucky here like few have since Ieng Sary led his Khmer Rouge rebels to defect to Phnom Penh in 1996. Clutching his index finger below the top joint, his feet still in the silt of <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/scraping-out-a-living-in-pailins-spent-gem-mines/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>