Ministries and other national bodies

Minister of Education Hang Chuon Naron yesterday advised Grade 12 students who fail the national exam to study vocational skills instead of ending their education. Speaking at the launching of a pilot project “Basic Education Equivalency Program” in Phnom Penh, he said that students who ...

There were more than 300 fires in the first half of this year, an increase from the number of cases recorded during the same period last year, the Interior Ministry said yesterday. ...

The General Immigration Department said that the program to revoke official documents that were not properly issued, to mostly 70,000 ethnic Vietnamese, was about 70 per cent complete. Khun Sambo, deputy director general of the department, which is under the Ministry of Interior, said it ...

The Ministry of Environment yesterday praised local supermarkets and shopping centres for reducing plastic bag usage following legislation passed last year that requires them to charge customers for plastic bags. ...

More than 3,000 hectares of paddy fields have been destroyed and 20,000 damaged by recent floods in the provinces of Stung Treng, Kratie, Kampong Cham, and Tbong Khmom, according to a preliminary report from the Ministry of Agriculture. ...

Tour guides at the Kingdom’s historical sites are voicing concern over an audio tour app they said is threatening their careers. Developed by local company Angkor Audio, the app provides spoken tours in 14 languages. ...

Cambodia’s global logistics performance ranking dropped 25 spots to 98th this year after achieving a commendable 73rd in 2016, the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) said, but local experts questioned the lack of clarity on the ranking slip. ...

The European Union (EU) should not falter in its support of the government’s target to transform the country into a higher middle-income nation by 2030, said the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) last week. ...

The Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak urged a Hunan-based company to take advantage of the vast, untapped potential in the agricultural sector and to invest in an export processing plant in Battambang. ...

Families in Preah Sihanouk province’s Muoy commune are withdrawing their request for the Land Management Ministry to intervene in a land dispute with Sihanoukville Autonomous Port official Chan Kang as the matter has been resolved. ...

Junior Chamber International Cambodia, in collaboration with WCS Cambodia, will hold a two-day tree planting event in Mondulkiri province starting on August 17 as part of a campaign to grow about 50,000 trees from this year to 2020. ...

In a statement yesterday the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology said that Mekong river water levels in Stung Treng and Kratie provinces have increased, while water levels in Kampong Cham have begun to recede after authorities deployed water pumps. ...

The process of obtaining geographical indication (GI) status for Kampong Speu palm sugar in the European Union suffered a setback this week after a company asked for revisions to the wording of the product’s guidebook, according to a producers association. ...

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport said caretaker Prime Minister Hun Sen presided over the official launch of a ferry service that has been operating for the past three months. The service takes passengers along the Tonle Sap and Tonle Bassac rivers, making three ...

Exports of garment and footwear products achieved solid growth during the first half of the year, expanding by 9.3 percent. According to the Ministry of Commerce, exports from the country’s garment industry were valued at $3.7 billion during the first six months of the year. ...

The Ministry of Water Resources yesterday released a statement warning residents living along the Mekong river that water levels will continue to rise in the upcoming days due to heavy rain and strong weather across several provinces in the country. ...

Under its Boosting Food Projection programme, the government has now successfully opened eight markets for chemical-free vegetables in eight provinces across the country. ...

The recent gains in the global price of oil will not affect plans for the development of the Apsara oilfield, according to a representative of the company that holds the rights to the area. ...

The government yesterday said that it donated $100,000 in humanitarian aid to Laos as a relief package for thousands of victims affected by a collapsed dam that left dozens dead, hundreds missing and thousands displaced. ...

Stung Treng provincial authorities yesterday evacuated nearly 100 more families in Stung Treng city due to continued flooding caused by rising water levels in the Mekong river. ...

Authorities yesterday began evacuating villagers affected by floods along the Sesan river in Ratanakkiri province, the Ministry of Water Resource and Meteorology said. The ministry also asked villagers along the river to continue to take precautions following a rise in water levels. ...

Transport Minister Sun Chanthol said on Sunday that the Japanese government will not cut infrastructure financing following international criticism and calls made by former opposition members to end funding. ...

The Ministry of Tourism has directed restaurants, canteens, KTVs, discos, bars and beer gardens not to sell alcoholic beverages on July 28-29, in conjunction with the national elections. If such business owners sell alcohol on the specified days, they face having their operating licenses suspended ...

The inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Cambodia witnessed solid growth in the first half of this year due to strong funds flowing into the financial and real estate sectors, said a central bank report. It said this was despite the agriculture and garment ...