International relations

The Ministry of External Affairs today signed two agreements with the public sector WAPCOS Limited for assisting Cambodia in water resources management. One of the agreements is on Study of Ground Water Resources of Kampong Spue Province in Cambodia and the other on Development of ...

Russian businessmen Nikolai Doroshenko and Sergei Polonsky are locked in a legal dispute over Sihanoukville’s Victory Beach following Mr. Polonsky’s release from prison last month, according to copies of court documents obtained Monday. The Preah Sihanouk provincial court has temporarily prevented Mr. Doroshenko from transferring the ...

Cambodia’s exports of protected rosewood and other high-value timber to China more than tripled last year, according to U.N. figures cited in a new report that blames lax law enforcement across the Mekong region and skyrocketing demand in China for pushing some species to the ...

After being presented with statistics showing a more than 100 per cent rise in petty crime against foreigners, Minister of Interior Sar Kheng yesterday called on police officials to look into what’s causing the problem. Nicolas Baudouin, a spokesman for the French Embassy, confirmed that a ...

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) did not take any sides in South China Sea disputes, but supported the settlement of the disputes based on international law and agreed documents, a senior Cambodian official said in Phnom Penh on Sunday. “ASEAN made the statement based on a principle that ...

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni arrived in Phnom Penh, capital city of Cambodia, on Monday morning after the tour to France for two weeks to strengthen and expand bilateral ties and cooperation. ...

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has labeled the trial of two teenagers arrested during the lethal suppression of a garment sector strike in November 12 as “deeply flawed” and said that the pair should be spared prison sentences. In a statement Sunday, the rights organization claims that ...

Customs officials over the weekend said they will shed no further light on Friday’s massive haul of three tons of illegal elephant ivory at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port—Cambodia’s biggest-ever ivory seizure—until investigations are complete and a case can be sent to court. A scan on containers that ...

More than 200 villagers from three communes in Svay Rieng province on Saturday protested against a proposal to build a huge irrigation canal through their land, a local official said Sunday. The planned canal would stretch across Kraol Kor, Svay Yea and Chhoeuteal communes in Svay ...

Friends and family of Canadian journalist Dave Walker, whose badly decomposed body was found on May 1 in Siem Reap province, have issued new statements accusing the Cambodian and Canadian governments of being complicit in what they say was his murder. According to a statement posted ...

Cambodia’s premier Hun Sen has urged Asean leaders to make a statement on Thailand’s ongoing political turmoil Sunday at a regional summit being hosted for the first time by Myanmar. Hun Sen proposed the statement at a morning meeting of Asean leaders. He is a close ...

Being landlocked and poor has always placed Laos at a disadvantage to its more powerful neighbors. The only body of water that offers Vientiane an international reach is the Mekong River, which flows through the heartland of Southeast Asia. Now, that river, which laps the western ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday advised armed forces and local authorities along border with Thailand to keep calm. Cambodia and Thailand has had a bitter border dispute since July 2008 when the UNESCO added the Cambodia’s Preah Vihear temple to its World Heritage ...

Anti-corruption advocates say they want the US government to help them push for transparency in the extractive industries, as ongoing mining continues to disrupt the lives of many Cambodians. At least 120 companies, most of them Chinese, have obtained mining licenses in the last decade, as ...

Xu Qiliang, visiting vice- chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, on Thursday visited a group of 10 Chinese doctors working at the Preah Ketomelea Hospital, known as the Military Hospital, in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Xu was accompanied by Chay Saing Yun, secretary ...

Cambodian customs officers on Friday morning confiscated around three tons of elephant tusks at the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port in Southwestern Preah Sihanouk province. In February, customs officers nabbed two Vietnamese men at the Siem Reap International Airport for smuggling 79.5 kg of illegal elephant tusks ...

Media experts warn that Vietnam continues to restrict social media, and Cambodia could be following suit. At a forum in Washington to mark World Press Freedom Day on May 3, panelists said online and traditional media activities have been restricted by Vietnamese authorities. The forum, ...

Cambodia lacks the skilled labor force necessary to advance the economy and the government must find ways to create more valuable work as it faces fierce regional and international competition, according to a new report released Thursday by the World Bank. The report, “East Asia Pacific ...

The retail marketing business in Cambodia has been growing at approximately 8% a year for the last 10 years and is expected to increase by 7.5% a year from 2014-2018. This economic expansion and greater purchasing power of Cambodians, is seen as presenting great opportunities ...

The Chinese government on Thursday donated 10,000 U.S. dollars to the Cambodian Red Cross (CRC) to support humanitarian activities. Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Bu Jianguo presented the donation to CRC’s president Bun Rany during the celebration of the 151st anniversary of the World Red Cross — ...

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tea Banh met with Xu Qiliang, visiting vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, on Friday, pledging to further enhance bilateral ties and cooperation for mutual benefits. Tea Banh extended cordial welcome to Xu for leading a delegation of ...

The ouster of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra by that country’s Constitutional Court yesterday reverberated throughout the region, raising questions about how a Thailand without Yingluck at the helm would get along with its neighbours. But Cambodian officials and analysts were broadly in agreement that little ...

Bilateral trade volume between Cambodia and the United States had amounted to 845 million U.S. dollars in the first three months of 2014. The number saw a 11-percent rise from 758 million U.S. dollars over the same period last year, figures release by the U.S. Department ...

A World Bank-supported rubber company accused of land grabs has suspended some of its projects, as an investigation by the bank continues. The Hoang Anh Gia Lai company, which received support from the bank’s International Finance Corporation, said in a decision following an April 2 ...