The CNRP said on Wednesday that Germany’s visiting minister for economic cooperation and development agreed to relay a message to the E.U. seeking help in mediating a resolution to current political tensions in Cambodia between the opposition and ruling CPP.   <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cnrp-asks-germany-for-help-in-mediation/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

China will provide Cambodia with more than half a billion dollars in aid, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced yesterday, less than a week after Cambodia again declined to support an asean statement critical of Beijing’s claims to the hotly contested South China Sea. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/after-sea-decision-chinese-funds-flow-in/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Days after a law went into effect requiring all cigarette packages sold in Cambodia to be plastered with graphic images of the health effects of smoking&mdash;blackened lungs and an infant on a respirator&mdash;there was little evidence of the new packaging in the capital. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/past-deadline-most-cigarettes-still-lack-graphic-pictures/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The government revealed its favored figure for the new garment and footwear industry minimum wage in 2017 during a Technical Working Group meeting on Friday, telling attendees that they believed it should be raised by about $8 per month &ndash; representing only a five percent <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/govt-wants-only-8-wage-increase/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Young potential voters who have migrated abroad in search of work are facing the loss of their voting rights due to a lack of information and documents required to register to vote from a location different to their registered address, civil society groups said yesterday.​ <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/young-voters-face-disenfranchisement/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Election officials toured the country during this week’s Water Festival holiday to investigate a recent sharp drop-off in the pace of voter registrations, but no glaring issues were found, a National Election Committee (NEC) spokesman said on Wednesday.   <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/voter-registration-lags-with-12-days-remaining/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Government officials reacted strongly yesterday to a recent statement by NGO Global Witness calling on Switzerland, the host of this year’s World Economic Forum, to turn away Prime Minister Hun Sen and not give him a platform to find new international business partners. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/government-responds-to-global-witness/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

While stakeholders have lauded the government’s move to establish a bond market, in a bid to raise more funds from domestic sources, they, however, expressed concern that not enough has been done to inform the public on how debt security can support government spending. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/unions-want-meet-with-minister-to-discuss-labor-law-problems/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Total revenue for the listed state-owned enterprise Phnom Penh autonomous Port (PPaP) increased 7.49 percent by the end of December last year, giving it a net value of $16.5 million compared with $15.35 million a year earlier.   <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/revenue-rises-at-the-autonomous-port/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Angkor SAngkrAntA, Siem ReAp’s lArgest culturAl festivAl held over Khmer New YeAr, rAked in A totAl income of $95 million on the bAck of 1.6 million domestic And internAtionAl visitors, A 23 percent yeAr-on-yeAr increAse, stAte news Agency AKP sAid yesterdAy. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/khmer-new-yeAr-festivAl-brings-in-more-income/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The Justice Ministry has launched a 100-day campaign to improve the court system. Ministry spokesman Chin Malin said while the system was widely regarded by outsiders as fair and without corruption, it was now time for a self-assessment to confirm its effectiveness. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/courts-review-starts/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Financial Management Information System (FMIS), a reform initiative designed to improve the governance and transparency of national budget management, will be applied to 10 government ministries later this year after a successful implementation of the scheme at the National Treasury Department, officials said yesterday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ministries-to-pilot-use-of-budget-reform-tool/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Thirty-one Chinese nationals were arrested in three districts of Phnom Penh on Monday in the latest police crackdown on alleged fraudsters accused of operating a scam using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), according to a police report supplied by an immigration official. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/over-30-chinese-nationals-arrested-in-latest-voip-scam-crackdown/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Two weeks after Bangladesh and Cambodia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Phnom Penh to purchase rice from Cambodia, on Monday of this week Bangladesh signed a deal to buy 250,000 tonnes of milled rice from Cambodia. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/bangladesh-signs-big-rice-deal/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The industry body representing Cambodia’s garment sector issued a statement yesterday urging the government to help manufacturers reduce the cost of doing business in order to offset a higher minimum wage and workers benefit package due to come into effect on January 1. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/gmac-calls-on-government-to-help-offset-rising-labour-costs/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

In a bid to decentralise the certificates of origin (COs) process to help promote international exports and ease cross-border trade, the Ministry of Commerce launched a pilot project yesterday that allows officials in the provinces of Battambang and Pailin to directly issue certification. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/local-officials-given-power-to-issue-ag-origin-certificates/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Both the miners and brokers at the mining site said the land on which the mining is conducted costs roughly $10,000 per hectare per year in a deal between the rubber plantation owner and a gemstone businessman who they referred to as the “boss”. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/working-underground-in-ratanakkiri/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Inflation in Cambodia last year reached 2.9 percent due to a moderate increase in the price of key commodities, particularly petroleum and agricultural goods, with the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) saying the low inflation rate was a product of sound macroeconomic management. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/inflation-in-2017-low-and-manageable/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodian and Chinese officials and business leaders yesterday signed 19 agreements during a visit to Phnom Penh by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, boosting Chinese investment at a time when the regional power has upped its economic and political support for Hun Sen’s government.​ <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/china-deals-swiftly-signed/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has collected less than one-third of a set of annual fees owed to it by telecommunications companies by the end of this month, with more than 80 percent of the fees so far coming from a single provider. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/payments-lagging-as-deadline-for-telecom-fees-approaches/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>