The Phnom Penh Special Ec­o­nomic Zone (PPSEZ) was given clearance on Wednesday to begin final preparations for listing on the country’s stock exchange, according to a statement released by the Securities and Exchange Com­­mission of Cambodia (SECC).    ...

USAID and the US Treasury Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) have launched a joint initiative with the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) to improve fiscal transparency and accountability in the management of public finances, according to a press release issued yesterday.   ...

Next year’s commune council elections will be held on June 4, according to a decision signed on Tuesday by Prime Minister Hun Sen, marking the first nationwide ballot since the 2013 election that led to the reform of the National Election Committee (NEC). ...

As one of 10 Asean foreign ministers, Cambodian Foreign Affairs Minister Prak Sokhon will travel to China for a two-day meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the foreign ministers of Asean, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry released on Saturday. ...

There were fewer casualties from explosive remnants of war (ERW) in Cambodia during the first six months of this year than in the same period last year, according to a Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) report released yesterday.   ...

A police officer and a Forestry Administration official were shot dead by illegal loggers in Preah Vihear province early Saturday morning in an attack that also left a second officer injured, according to a local official who gave two different versions of the incident. ...

The job of spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, long held by General Khieu Sopheak, has been split up and given to 22 different ministry officials, according to a statement released Friday, though contact details for the new point people have not been published. ...

Government officials who travel overseas for work will have to turn over their service passports when they return to Cambodia starting this month due to misuse of the documents to overstay official trips and partake in unrelated work, according to a Foreign Affairs Ministry statement. ...

Thirteen provinces across the country have finished harvesting their dry season rice and yields have increased on last year’s crop, but local millers and exporters are concerned about the bulk of the crop making its way to a neighboring country.   ...

Kampong Speu palm sugar production is predicted to slightly decrease this year due to a late start, climate change, water shortages and working capital for farmers, but prices are expected to rise due to the sugar’s growing popularity since its geographical indication certification. ...

Another four government officials will be promoted to senior secretarial positions in three ministries as part of the upcoming cabinet reshuffle, which Prime Minister Hun Sen claims will increase government efficiency, according to a letter to the president of the National Assembly last Friday. ...

Demand for seafood throughout the Kingdom has slowed as a result of warnings issued by Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Ministry of Environment to avoid coastal seafood consumption this past weekend, due to a massive algal bloom off the coast of Kep province. ...

Forty new factories received permission to operate in Cambodia during the first three months of this year, while 54 factories have applied for licenses and 21 are currently undergoing renewal procedures, according to a report released yesterday by the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft. ...

The government has ordered the beachfront Sokha Hotel in Preah Sihanouk province to open a section of fence that blocks access to a stretch of beach, as well as construct a direct, paved route for pedestrians and cyclists making their way to the waterside. ...

Loans and deposits in the Kingdom’s crowded microfinance sector rose about 10 percent during the first quarter of the year from the same period last year, according to a report from the Cambodia Microfinance Association, which put the rise down to an expanding economy. ...

Construction on a $3 billion oil refining plant, the Kingdom’s first, will start in October this year and is expected to be finished by the end of 2018, according to a senior executive at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday. ...

The number of new HIV infections in Cambodia nearly doubled over the past decade—the greatest increase in Asia—while less than a third of Cambodians living with the virus are receiving medication to slow its development, according to a report released this week. ...

Despite some appearances to the contrary, things in Cambodia are looking pretty rosy at least according to the World Bank. In its latest revision of world economies the Bank raised Cambodia’s status from a low-income economy to a lower-middle income country. ...

Revenue from ticket sales to foreign tourists visiting Cambodia’s famed Angkor Wat Temple reached 43.3 million U.S. dollars in the first nine months of 2015, up 0.24 percent year-on-year, according to a news statement on Friday. ...

Human trafficking out of Cambodia is on the rise, according to an Interior Ministry report released on Thursday, and is being fueled by relaxed border controls and economic disparity in the region, according to a separate U.N. report.    ...