Phnom Penh’s population nearly doubled in the first decade of the 21st century, in large part thanks to workers streaming into the capital in hopes of sending money back home to their families in the provinces.Published in Migration Studies, Dr Laurie Parsons’ Mobile inequality: Remittances href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/remittances-may-worsen-kingdoms-wealth-divide-study/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

ASEAN needs to seek more funds from development partners to develop infrastructure and connectivity in order to narrow the gap among member states, said Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday at the opening ceremony of the 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting. The Premier said strengthening the connectivity href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/asean-needs-more-funding/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Community activists and conservationists commemorating slain environment activist Chut Wutty on the weekend used the occasion to shed light on what they allege are the shadowy practices of a logging company in the southwestern Cardamom forests. Activists amongst the hundreds of people who travelled to Koh href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/chut-wutty-slaying-puts-timbergreen-logging-in-spotlight/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Foreign direct investment flows continued to see strong growth across the 10-member ASEAN bloc in 2014, with most countries in the Lower Mekong region reporting higher levels of inflows given their rising infrastructure needs and manufacturing activities, according to a new report jointly produced by href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/kingdom-shows-narrow-but-strong-fdi-growth/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Europe’s largest manufacturer of two-wheeled vehicles, Italy’s Piaggio, will return to Cambodia in September, being absent since the Khmer Rouge takeover. Vespa Cambodia Co Ltd, part of Narith Long’s Narita group, signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Piaggio last month to distribute its Piaggio scooters, href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/piaggio-to-return-to-cambodia-with-legendary-vespa-scooters/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Twenty convicts in Preah Sihanouk Provincial Prison were employed by military and local authorities to tear apart a nearby village on land slated for a second prison compound, villagers and rights groups alleged yesterday. However, prison authorities denied that any incarcerated people were involved in the href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/prisoners-utilised-in-violent-eviction/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

As much as local people are benefiting from the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) recovery project following last year’s record floods, they aren’t receiving all the benefits they could, according to some accounts. Operating in five provinces of Cambodia to restore road access to those affected by the floods, href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/locals-bypass-road-projects/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Last year, the United Nations called for culture to be given top priority in the post-2015 global development agenda, citing its importance to economic growth, social inclusion, equality, and sustainable development. It is difficult to quantify the impact culture has on a nation, particularly for a developing href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/in-cambodia-culture-shapes-identity-spurs-economic-growth/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

In the latest bid for an increase in garment-industry wages, Free Trade Union (FTU) president Chea Mony yesterday called on the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) to come to the table and discuss a $120-per-month minimum wage. A few days after Cambodian Confederation of Unions href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodias-free-trade-union-offers-minimum-wage-plan/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, accompanied by businesspeople and senior officials, flew to Nanning City of southwest China’s Guangxi province on Monday to attend the 11th ASEAN-China Expo. Senior officials accompanying the prime minister included Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol, Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia Chea href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodian-pm-businessmen-head-to-nanning-for-11th-asean-china-expo/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Cambodia, along with other ASEAN members, will make joint efforts to create an upgraded China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and contribute to the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, said a senior Cambodian official at the First ASEAN href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-vows-to-contribute-to-chinas-one-belt-one-road-initiatives/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Police seized more than two tonnes of dangerous counterfeit medication on Saturday and arrested a Phnom Penh pharmacy owner in a sting officials say has netted the largest-ever haul of illegal medication in Cambodia. After nine days of surveillance, the Ministry of Interior’s Economic Police unit swooped href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/record-bad-medicine-haul/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Five metric tonnes of certified organic rice — the first such shipment from Cambodia — will depart for the European Union this Friday. The shipment, exported from Cambodia by an entity called Green Trade, comprises three tonnes of brown rice and two tonnes of white jasmine href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/first-certified-organic-rice-heads-for-europe/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

The Asia Development Bank‘s Cambodia Resident Mission has appointed Eric Sidgwick as its new country director. Sidgwick aims to focus his efforts on promoting an inclusive and environmentally sustainable growth, said a press release issued by the Asia Development Bank (ADB) yesterday. Sidgwick started working at the href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/new-country-director-for-adb-in-cambodia/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

A union representative is accused of beating a rival over the head with a walkie-talkie during a factory protest yesterday in the latest burst of violence in one of Cambodia’s special economic zones. Bou Sokray, 25, a representative for the Coalition of Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/blows-at-capital-protest/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

More than 2,500 Ocean Garment factory workers jostled with about 100 military police in the capital’s Dangkor district yesterday in their second protest march over the alleged sexual harassment of four female employees. In an inter-governmental ministerial committee meeting on Tuesday, Ocean – which supplies href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/clash-charges-roil-ocean/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) of Japan will sign a memorandum of understanding with Acleda Bank Plc this weekend for mutual business co-operation. Senior Acleda officials said the agreement would help to improve investment and trade from Japan to Cambodia.   Acleda will also give Japanese investors and businesses advice href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/sumitomo-mitsui-bank-returns-to-kingdom-after-45-years/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

The unclear future of Cambodia’s national railway, following Toll Royal Railways’ suspension of operations on March 31, has cast doubt not only on the oft-delayed redevelopment project but also on a larger build-out expected to connect much of Asia. Toll Royal, a joint venture by Australian href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/toll-royal-derails-regional-projects/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Discussion about hydroelectric power plants in Cambodia tends to focus on two aspects, both negative. One is an overdependence on Chinese investment, and the other is a relatively disproportionate focus on the environmental impacts of hydroelectric power. Chinese Influence Most hydroelectric power plants in Cambodia are associated href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodias-hydroelectric-question-china-power-and-the-environment/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Cambodia will face both challenges and opportunities when the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) combines its 10 countries into a single market for economic development, a move intended for 2015, officials said during a round-table discussion yesterday. Sok Siphanna, an adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/opportunities-challenges-for-asean/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...