The government sold off more than 10,000 cubic meters of illegally logged wood in direct negotiations with private businessmen over the past two days, according to a Finance Ministry official, after abandoning efforts to auction it off due to a lack of interest. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/after-abandoning-auctions-government-sells-off-seized-timber/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A report published lAst week by the UN Action for CooperAtion AgAinst TrAfficking in Persons (UN-ACT) sAys the mAin cAuse of humAn trAfficking from CAmbodiA to ChinA wAs A lAck of jobs And low wAges, forcing mAny young women to look At opportunities AbroAd. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/poverty-cAuses-trAfficking-to-chinA-sAys-report/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The Royal Group, Cambodia’s biggest conglomerate, will be involved in funding future phases of a massive coal-fired power plant under construction in Preah Sihanouk province, a government official said yesterday, although details of the size of the investment or its timeline remain hazy. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/sihanoukville-power-plant-draws-royal-groups-interest/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

In the midst of annual minimum wage negotiations, Minister of Labour Ith Samheng used a visit from members of the Southeast asian Youth Programme to reiterate that the minimum wage for garment workers would reach at least $160 a month by 2018, state media reported. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/familiar-wage-figure-floated-by-minister/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The number of workers at the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) is expected to increase from 30,000 now to 200,000 in the next few years as the port city becomes a manufacturing hub for the Kingdom, a senior official with the Commerce Ministry said yesterday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ministry-forecasts-surge-in-jobs-at-sihanoukville-sez/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodia’s opposition party has called on the government to expedite a “dragging” investigation into a violent attack on two of its lawmakers and urged the United Nations to join the probe after the international body expressed concern over the assault. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodias-opposition-calls-on-government-to-expedite-dragging-assault-probe/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Leaders of the 10-member association of Southeast asian Nations (aSEaN) Sunday signed a declaration establishing a formal economic, political, security and socio-cultural community. The aEC is set to become fully functional December 31. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/asean-creates-community-encompassing-600-million-people/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Art cAn represent A nAtion’s identity, And younger generAtions hAve A responsibility to conserve it. But thAt meAns educAtion, to help youth AppreciAte Art And culture, sAys DonnA StrAhAn, heAd of conservAtion And reseArch At the Freer-SAckler GAllery. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/educAtion-key-to-Art-conservAtion/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The return of tigers to the Cambodian wild edged a little closer this week, as the wildlife charity spearheading the project sent a representative to India to see how numbers were boosted there and to discuss bringing big cats from the subcontinent to the Kingdom. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/plan-to-reintroduce-tigers-moves-forward/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Nearly four decades after fleeing Cambodia as a child, a tearful Michael Vannak Khem Misie­wicz returned to his home country in De­cember 2010 on the U.S. Navy guid­ed-missile destroyer he commanded; his fall from grace has been equally dramatic. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodian-american-naval-officer-pleads-guilty/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodian casino operator NagaCorp Ltd. posted a net profit of $172.6 million last year, a 27 per cent increase over the previous year, attributing the surge to increased business volume across all gaming segments at its NagaWorld casino complex in Phnom Penh. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/nagacorp-casino-profits-swell-to-173m/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Vietnamese government has given the go-ahead to a project to enlarge a major route playing an important part in the transport of goods from provinces and cities in southern Vietnam to Cambodia and other Southeast asian countries, local newswire VnExpress reported Monday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/major-route-linking-ho-chi-minh-city-to-cambodia-to-be-broadened/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s son Hun Manet inaugurated four primary schools in Koh Kong province’s areng Valley on Monday, along with the head of a group known as the Cambodia Youth Movement 157, which donated the schools, a local official said on Tuesday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/hun-manet-inaugurates-areng-valley-schools/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A week After An AlliAnce of millers And exporters criticized the CAmbodiA Rice FederAtion (CRF) for its inAction in the fAce of the sector’s possible collApse, the federAtion WednesdAy Announced the formAtion of A new tAsk force to mAnAge chAllenges fAcing its members. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/under-fire-rice-federAtion-vows-Action/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

AppeAl heArings begAn on ThursdAy in the cAse of 11 opposition figures who were convicted in July for insurrection over A 2014 politicAl protest, with A CNRP officiAl blAsting the municipAl court over double stAndArds for rejecting his request to get medicAl treAtment outside prison. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/cnrp-insurrection-AppeAl-heArings-begin/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The government was unaware of about half of the residential child care centers operating in four provinces and Phnom Penh prior to a study conducted last year, according to a report released on Thursday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/government-unaware-of-at-least-128-orphanages-report-says/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The government decided to drop a 10 percent value added-tax (VaT) for rice products during a meeting on Wednesday between representatives of the rice sector and government officials at the Council for the Development of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, officials said.   <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/government-waives-10-percent-vat-for-rice/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s eldest son, Hun Manet, arrived back in Phnom Penh on Monday after two weeks in the U.S. and Canada, deriding a lawsuit filed against him in Los angeles for wrongful imprisonment that includes a count of “international terrorism.” <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/manet-returns-from-us-dismisses-lawsuit/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Thai government plans to build a special economic zone (SEZ) worth about $141.6 million in Sa Kaeo, which borders the Kingdom’s Banteay Meanchey and Battambang provinces, to serve SMEs that aim to expand their business into Cambodia, according a Thai media report. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/thai-sez-eyes-cambodia/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A senior Interior Ministry officiAl tAsked with investigAting the 170,000 thumbprints submitted in support of A CNRP petition to the king sAid on ThursdAy he hAd received sAmples of the prints but would be unAble to proceed with his work without more money. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/more-money-needed-to-probe-thumbprints/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>