Aid and development

The value of garment and shoe exports to the European Union are expected to reach the same level as those sent to the U.S. by 2013, an official from the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) said yesterday. Garment, textile and shoe exports to the E.U. ...

Thai authorities yesterday opened a dam near the Cambodian border, a move that could worsen flooding and affect thousands of people in Banteay Meanchey province, according to Cambodian officials. Mr. Vanda [vice president of the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM)] said the excess water ...

Disputed figures surround the flood death toll in Banteay Meanchey province. Yesterday, Banteay Mean­chey city hall spokesman Keo Ratanak rejected reports that more than 10 people had drowned in the province as a result of the flooding, saying: “The exact number is seven.” But according to numbers ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that he has requested a $140 million loan from China to build a 190 km road that would branch off National Road 5 and allow easier access to Thailand. The request comes just one month after Mr. Hun Sen returned ...

Poor education and a lack of skills are still major challenges for Cambodian women and a recent meeting in Phnom Penh with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the United Nations Development Program set out to validate an action plan on women’s economic empowerment that ...

A total of 11 people have now died due to flooding in the country since mid-September, while the worst affected area, Banteay Meanchey province, continued to suffer amid torrential rain on Thursday night, government officials said on Friday. ...

More than half of Cambodians living in rural areas still do not have access to treated water, about 200 people heard yesterday at a forum at the Phnom Penh Hotel. The event was sponsored by WaterSHED, an NGO funded by USAID’s Regional Development Mission-Asia and the Stone Family Foundation. According ...

Newly-appointed Asian Development Bank’s director for Cambodia Eric Sidgwick said Wednesday that promoting inclusive and environmentally sustainable growth that will help improve the quality of life of Cambodians, especially those who are most vulnerable, are his key focus areas. “This is an exciting time to be ...

Cambodia is trying to attract foreign investors with manufacturing bases in neighbouring countries, with promises their factories would be safer from flooding. The Phnom Penh Post reported that Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh is appealing to foreign investors with production bases in neighbouring countries, particularly Thailand, to ...

Cambodia’s Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said foreign investors with production bases in Thailand ought to consider Cambodia for future expansion because of the Kingdom’s greater resistance to floods. Speaking at Phnom Penh Honda’s 20th anniversary yesterday, the Commerce minister said that while Cambodia faces floods each ...

While protesters demonstrated outside, urging land and human-rights reform, members of the donor community met with the government yesterday at the Council for the Development of Cambodia in Phnom Penh to sign off on a series of development targets that bore only a faint resemblance to those ...

The World Bank urged the Cambodian government Wednesday to accelerate reforms while taking a participatory approach to its National Strategic Development Plan. Speaking at a meeting of the Development Partner Coordination Committee, World Bank Country Director Annette Dixon congratulated the government on its current development plan ...

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 ...

Cambodia is expected to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) in poverty reduction two years earlier than the UN-imposed target, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Friday. According to the UN MDG, Cambodia is set the target to reduce poverty rate to 19.4 percent by 2015, meaning ...

Charoen Pokphand Group is leaning towards investing more in Indochinese countries in light of their growing economies and regional trade liberalisation through the Asean Economic Community in 2015. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam have a wealth of natural resources that could support the group’s products from ...

The United States will sign up to provide 18.5 million U.S. dollars to Cambodia to support the country’s priorities in agriculture, food security, and climate change adaptation and mitigation, according to a media release from the U.S. Embassy here on Thursday. The agreement will be signed ...

 A Millennium Development Goal Acceleration Framework action plan presented yesterday by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) seeks to address Panha’s and other women’s lagging economic opportunities in Cambodia. The plan will help Cambodia achieve targeted Millenium Development Goals by 2015. Though no date of ...

Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh and 100 Cambodian companies are set to represent the Kingdom at the 9th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, China, which starts tomorrow, according to officials. The expo will include representatives from all 10 ASEAN countries and China itself. Cambodian officials will seek ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is pushing forward with the US$67 million flood reconstruction project aimed at rebuilding roads,bridges and irrigation systems hit by the devastating high waters of 2011, improving the nation’s infrastructure and providing livelihoods to people in six severely affected provinces, according ...

Residents of Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak and Borei Keila communities delivered petitions to the offices of the European Union and World Bank yesterday in their ongoing attempts to enlist Cambodia’s aid donors in their efforts to have jailed anti-eviction activists released from Prey Sar prison. ...

Despite the recent spate of high-profile arrests and deportations, analysts, attorneys and civil society groups are divided on whether the Kingdom is finally beginning to live down its reputation as a haven for the fugitives and criminals who have long been drawn to the country ...

Two weeks after Prime Minister Hun Sen returned from China with more than half a billion dollars in new loans and grants, Cambodia once again asked Beijing for money on Thursday. In a bilateral discussion held alongside this week’s series of meetings between Asean energy ministers, ...

Cambodian Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy on Thursday hailed Chinese companies for hugely investing in the country’s energy sector, which is a key element to support the sustainable social and economic development. Suy Sem’s appreciation was made during a bilateral meeting with Wu Yin, ...

China has done a lot to support Cambodia over the years, with millions of dollars in aid, loans and investment. But after reports last week that China has pledged another $500 million in soft loans and grants-and publicly thanked Cambodia for its support in Southeast ...