Aid and development

Australia’s Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has defended the government’s plan to transfer refugees to Cambodia, saying the programme would start small but be a long-term arrangement. Under Canberra’s hardline immigration policy, asylum-seekers who arrive on boats are denied resettlement in Australia and sent to Papua New ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has maintained its growth projections for Cambodia in 2014. The ADB’s midyear outlook for Cambodia, released yesterday, states that Cambodia’s economy still stands to achieve 7 per cent growth by the end of the year, and potentially 7.3 per cent in ...

Cambodia may be on the verge of a new era in human rights protection, an independent United Nations human rights expert declared today, adding that while the political momentum in the country was headed in a “positive direction,” a strong human rights infrastructure was still ...

About 100 anti-eviction activists from the Boeng Kak, Borei Keila and Lor Peang communities held their latest joint protest outside the World Bank office on Thursday over a recent announcement that it is considering the resumption of loan to the government after a three-year freeze. ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday that the country needs about 11 billion U.S. dollars for public investment to support the implementation of the government’s priorities from 2013 to 2018. ...

The World Bank is contemplating a $25-million project to build up 15 social land concessions (SLCs) across Cambodia and could approve the scheme as soon as December, according to a proposal posted to the Bank’s website late last month, a move that would end its ...

More than 100 officials from some 20 economies in Asia and the Pacific are meeting with donor institution representatives in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province in a bid to strengthen public financial management systems for climate change adaptation projects, said a news statement on Monday. ...

The Chinese government provided 200 sets of ambulances to​ the Cambodian Ministry of Health on Friday to contribute to the development of health sector. Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Bu Jianguo signed to deliver the ambulances to​ Cambodian Minister of Health Mam Bunheng. ...

With security footage of elephants, clouded leopards and other wildlife caught on hidden cameras in Cambodia’s Eastern Plains flashing on a TV screen, Toby Eastoe of Conservation International noted that their cameras also catch other activity. Presenters ranging from anti-corruption advocates to health service workers ...

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Monday unveiled a five-year Integrated Nutrition, Hygiene and Sanitation project in Cambodia, which is estimated to cost 16 million U.S. dollars, according to a press statement from the U.S. Embassy to Cambodia. ...

The Council of Ministers on Friday approved a three-year $5.24 billion “public investment program”—a package of several hundred projects from 2015 to 2017 designed to help the government reach its goal of 7 percent annual growth or better. ...

The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation between Cambodia and China has been providing “more favourable conditions” for economic, trade and investment ties between the two countries, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister Sok An said on Sunday. ...

A proposed project hopes to channel the widespread use of mobile phones among factory workers to bring the voice of the 600,000 Cambodians employed in the crucial garment sector into future wage negotiations. The project, which would collect information about working hours, conditions, wages and expenses ...

Weak logistics have stood in the way of Cambodia’s trade progress for years with its export costs at least 30 percent higher than those of Southeast Asian neighbours Thailand and Vietnam. Getting the goods from farmers to markets remains difficult, and exporters struggle to supply overseas ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday defended his government, saying its reputation for corruption is undeserved, laying blame on the private sector for initiating the bribe process and calling out international development partners for applying double standards. Speaking at the Eighth Regional Conference of Anti-Corruption Intiative for ...

The government has finished calculating the additional compensation it will pay out to some of the families forced to move for a $143 million railway rehabilitation project being funded mostly by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), according to a new report. The report, released this week ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday that countries and economies in Asia and the Pacific region needed to work together to fight against corruption. ...

The Chinese government has provided forestry equipment in equivalent to 4.1 million yuan (667, 200 U.S. dollars) to Cambodia for protecting and developing forest sector, officials said. ...

Cambodia needs to develop a trade logistics plan to align the Kingdom with the regional production network and increase its competitiveness as an investment destination, a senior World Bank economist said yesterday. ...

About 50 villagers who live near railway lines in Phnom Penh gathered outside the Asian Development Bank yesterday morning to again demand more detailed information about what will happen to them during forthcoming phases of a bank-funded railway rehabilitation project. ...

Cambodia on Monday launched a five-year policy and action plan for early childhood care and development with an aim to increase enrollment and enhance protection for children aged less than six years old. ...

The UN and human rights groups called on the government Friday to honor its obligations as a party to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and thoroughly investigate the disappearance of 16-year-old Khem Sopath, who was last seen lying ...

As part part of its multibillion-dollar Urban Transport Master Plan, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) unveiled a modern rail system for Phnom Penh yesterday that could begin operation as soon as 2023. The trains would thin out traffic on the capital’s choked-up roads, which currently lack ...

Following a meeting with a visiting U.S. diplomat on Wednesday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary of State Ouch Borith said the U.S. shares Cambodia’s concerns about a controversial hydropower dam Laos is planning to build on the Mekong River. Cambodia and Vietnam both fear that the ...