Dam easing dooms homes
It was late at night when a torrent of water burst through the Kamping Pouy reservoir on October 8 and surged into more than 50 houses effectively sacrificed to stop a potentially catastrophic breach in the dam in Battambang province. With cracks appearing in a dam ...
Amelia Woodside and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/dam-easing-dooms-homes
Grenade Attack Remembered Amid Promised Reform
Opposition leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha joined dozens of monks and hundreds of supporters on Monday for a Pchum Ben ceremony at the memorial stupa in Phnom Penh honoring the 16 people who were killed by a grenade attack on an opposition rally in ...
Aun Pheap and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/grenade-attack-remembered-amid-promised-reform-43996/
UN wants probe into Cambodian violence
The UN human rights agency urged Cambodia to launch an investigation into the “disproportionate” use of force by security forces last week against garment factory workers striking over pay. Military police opened fire on workers protesting outside a factory in Phnom Penh on January 3 and ...
Peninsula On-line News Staff
http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/asia/267595/un-wants-probe-into-cambodian-violence
Government’s Trade Union Law may limit freedom of association
A draft trade union law that the government has pledged to introduce by the end of the year includes provisions that will allow for unions to be suspended if their activities are deemed illegal, the head of Cambodia’s largest employers association said Wednesday. Van Sou Ieng, ...
Hul Reaksmey and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/governments-trade-union-law-may-limit-freedom-of-association-54042/
Six unionists charged with incitement after roadblock
The Kompong Speu Provincial Court on Tuesday charged six union representatives with incitement over a protest near the Wing Star Shoes factory earlier that day, in a move unions say was unjustified and meant to intimidate. Court prosecutor Keo Sothea said all six were charged with ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/six-unionists-charged-with-incitement-after-roadblock-58281/
In Cambodia, culture shapes identity, spurs economic growth
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 ...
Julia Chen
http://asiafoundation.org/in-asia/2014/02/12/in-cambodia-culture-shapes-identity-spurs-economic-growth/
Should Minimum Wage Be Market Driven or Government-Dictated?
Manufacturers and unions aligned with the ruling CPP yesterday said the current labor shortage inside the garment industry would act as an incentive for employers to increase salaries, and that there was no need for the government to impose a new minimum wage. During a meeting ...
No Plan to Shut Beehive Radio, Gov’t Says
As questions linger over the fate of the independent Beehive Radio station in the wake of its owner’s arrest, a government official yesterday insisted there were no plans to stop it from broadcasting, despite its often critical stance toward the ruling party. “No plan to shut ...
Sam Rainsy deleted from Voter Registration
The National Election Committee (NEC) has removed opposition leader Sam Rainsy from the voter list for next year’s national election on the grounds that he is a convicted criminal, an NEC official said yesterday. The decision means that even if Mr. Rainsy is granted a royal ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sam-rainsy-deleted-from-voter-list-for-election-5229/
Cambodia Real Estate Could Benefit From QE3
Cambodia’s highly dollarized economy could benefit from a rush of foreign capital into Asia unleashed by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest economic stimulus, unlike some of its Asian neighbors, as it lifts demand for real estate and garment exports in the developing country, a senior ...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323894704578106160673901682.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Co-op scheme aims to boost farmers’ profits
An ambitions new agricultural development project backed by a former US diplomat is aiming to dramatically revamp the sector and bring profits back into the hands of farmers. Sichan Siv, a Cambodian with dual citizenship who spent five years serving as US ambassador to the UN, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2012121960368/National/co-op-scheme-aims-to-boost-farmers-profits.html
Mobile Banking Services On A Rise
F1soft Company, a software service provider that makes banking transactions available via phone, had commenced operations in Cambodia, company officials said yesterday during a workshop. Sean Thorninn, a lecturer in economics at the Limkokwing University and expert in Cambodia’s landscape of microfinance institutions (MFI), told ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050765437/Business/mobile-banking-services-on-a-rise.html
Factory production sluggish
In the wake of last month’s election, production levels at Cambodian garment factories are still below the norm as lIngerIng fears of political unrest keep workers at home and away from the capital. Shrugged off at the outset as a natural byproduct of the election that ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/factory-production-sluggish
Gov’t Unveils Legal Plan to Break Garment Industry Strike
As mass demonstrations by garment factory workers continued Monday, the government laid out plans to bring an end to the labor unrest within the next three days, including suing union leaders in the courts and mobilizing security forces to take unspecified action. Signed by Council ...
Aun Pheap and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-unveils-legal-plan-to-break-garment-industry-strike-49763/
Linking the worst factories with the labels
The building that housed USA Fully Field Garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district stands empty now. The grounds are littered with garbage and boxes full of dusty brand labels that were stitched onto clothes by almost 400 workers before the factory owner fled in ...
Simon Henderson and Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/linking-the-worst-factories-with-the-labels-55839/
Scores of factories ‘set to sue’ over wage strike
The owners of 170 factories have handed power of attorney to the nation’s factories association ahead of a potential lawsuit directed at the leaders of six union groups. Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) secretary-general Ken Loo said yesterday that the factories would seek damages related ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/scores-factories-%E2%80%98set-sue%E2%80%99-over-wage-strike
EU concludes ‘frank’ talks on rights, reform
Four days of high-level policy meetings between the European Union and Cambodia wrapped up in Brussels yesterday, after seeing “frank and in-depth exchanges” on a number of issues, including human rights, according to an EU press statement released last night. Ahead of the meeting of ...
Kevin Ponniah
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/eu-concludes-%E2%80%98frank%E2%80%99-talks-rights-reform
Beer Promoters 'banished' for striking
Angkor Beer promoters involved in last August’s strike over unpaid overtime have been banished to less popular restaurants and beer gardens in the past year, a report on the profession says. According to Promoting Decency? Report on the Situation of Beer Promotion Workers in Cambodia, released this ...
The New Asian Century
With growing uncertainty in the US economy and an unfolding fiscal and debt crisis in the Eurozone after the global recession in 2008, Asia is expected to continue leading the global recovery. Under such circumstances, the 21st Century is emerging as the “New Asian Century”, ...
Big brands talk labour rights
The biggest names in the apparel industry, including Nike, Puma and Gap, would meet today with officials from the Ministry of Labour to discuss issues plaguing the Cambodian garment manufacturing industry, such as mass fainting and contractual disputes, labour activists said yesterday. Dave Welsh, country ...