International relations

Cambodian Ministry of Commerce said Friday that it had issued operating licenses to 1,952 new companies in the first eight months of the year, down 15 percent compared with the 2,300 firms over the same period last year. During the January-August period this year, the ministry ...

U.S. Ambassador William Todd on Thursday said that despite his efforts to promote Cambodia as an attractive destination for business, major American companies are reluctant to invest here as they still perceive the country as indelibly corrupt. “I believe now is the time for big U.S. ...

The case of a Battambang provincial government official ac­cused of embezzling some $200,000 in state funds has been referred to the Anti-Corruption Unit in Phnom Penh, provincial officials said Thursday. Battambang Provincial Court deputy prosecutor Long Hokmeng said a two-week investigation into the case brought against ...

Resentment is still simmering toward Cambodia for its handling of the contentions South China Sea issue last year, which fractured the unity of Asean, analysts from around the region said Thursday. During the first day of a two-day regional conference in Phnom Penh organized by the ...

Cambodia and the U.S. have signed an extension to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that imposes strict import restrictions on artifacts dating from the Bronze Age to the end of the Angkor Empire. Hab Touch, director-general for tangible heritage at the Ministry of Culture and ...

Despite the demonstration at Freedom Park, razor-wire barricades, blocked streets and clashes between citizens and police in the past two days, it appears that the camp-in and security presence in the city are merely a novelty for some tourists. On Monday afternoon, one couple, Australians John ...

Although China has undergone an unprecedented economic slowdown, Chinese and Cambodian officials believe it will not seriously affect Cambodia’s economy. Over the past nine months, China’s GDP grew slightly above 7 percent, its slowest pace in 13 years, and some economists expect poor performance for the ...

Five Southeast Asian countries, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam, are targeting a double-digit growth rate of international visitors annually by 2015 under the theme “Five Countries – One Destination”, according to Hoang Tuan Anh, Viet Nam’s Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism. In a ...

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has said that its future support of agricultural development in Cambodia depends on the outcome of an investigation into a provincial official accused of embezzling funds from JICA-donated fertilizer. The accused, deputy bureau chief of Battambang’s department of agriculture Seng ...

Singapore Banking Corporation Ltd. (SBC Bank), a leading commercial bank in Cambodia, signed a memorandum of understanding with JCB International Co., Ltd. (JCBI), the international operations subsidiary of JCB, for the issuance of JCB cards in Cambodia. A ceremony to commemorate the milestone moment was held ...

Investments in Cambodia’s construction sector have continued to grow sharply in the first six months of the year thanks to sound economic growth and investors’ trust in the country’s political stability, Im Chhun Lim, the country’s Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, said ...

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday donated 50 laptops and 100 cellphones in equivalent to 70, 000 U.S. dollars to its Cambodian counterpart to increase task efficiency. Speaking while handing over the supplies to Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Chinese Ambassador to ...

Despite being one of the earliest proponents of the U.N.-sponsored Convention on Cluster Munitions, Cambodia was still not ready to sign on, an official said on the eve of the fourth annual meeting of state parties to the treaty in Zambia. Heng Ratana, director-general of the ...

Some of these ASEAN economies are not like the others. Singapore is 80 times richer than Myanmar and its population lives 20 years longer than Cambodia’s, while Myanmar ranks 50 places behind Cambodia in terms of global competitiveness, according to a wide-ranging analysis from the World ...

The Cambodian government’s plan to build 20 dams along the Mekong River, with a view to boosting energy security, could harm food security and biodiversity in the region, as well as ignite a regional conflict over sharing of the river’s water, a conference has heard. ...

China has pledged 200 million Yuan (around USD $33 million) to Cambodia in addition to the loans and grants provided in April of this year. The loan announcement was made during a meeting between Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen and China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang. Hun Sen ...

Vietnam plans to build 13 new border gates along the boundary line with Cambodia to help boost trade that has already been growing between the two Southeast Asian nations. Vietnam and Cambodia will work out plans to add 13 new border gates over the next seven ...

Cambodia was expected to export as much as 400,000 tons of milled rice in 2013 thanks to rising demand on international markets and the country’s efforts in developing rice industry, Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said Tuesday. “We project that Cambodia can export up to 400,000 tons ...

The National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan and related bodies are warning of a rise in fraudulent investment schemes involving real estate in Cambodia, where economic growth is boosting foreign investment. The center received 1,312 inquiries between October 2011 and early this month from consumers who ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday questioned two businessmen over allegations of fraud and using forged public documents, including claims they faked a signature from Prime Minister Hun Sen in a mining transaction, court and police officials said. Deputy prosecutor Var Sakada said Cambodian Al ...

Shallow draft, lack of rail connectivity, uneasy relations with Vietnam, and the general slowdown may leave LM 17, Cambodia’s brand new $28-million container terminal near Phnom Penh, up the strait. Even if the terminal achieves the targeted throughput of 110,000 TEUs (it has moved 70,000 so ...

Cambodia has imported 871,000 tons of petroleum in the first six months of the year, a 5.6 percent decline compared with the 922,800 tons at the same period last year, the figures of the Ministry of Commerce showed Monday. During the January-June period this year, the ...

In the wake of an announcement by the National Election Committee (NEC) that it has completed its investigation into election irregularities, the U.S. and Australian embassies in Phnom Penh on Monday continued to call for an independent and transparent inquiry into the results of the ...

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the country’s financial regulator have informed Australia-based mining giant BHP Billiton it could still be charged over allegations the company bribed overseas officials, which include claims of improper payments to members of the Cambodian government. Prime Minister Hun Sen ...