Ministries and other national bodies

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is planning to establish a new $60 million program focused on developing local technical skills and increasing the competitiveness of Cambodia’s labour force in 2019, according to Minister of Labour Ith Sam Heng. ...

The Cambodian riel accounted for about 17 percent of total currency circulation last year, a number similar to previous years, but central bank officials said they remained optimistic that use of the local currency will grow in the future. ...

A Wildlife Conservation Society official yesterday expressed concern about the potential impact on birds, livestock and humans after a poisoned pond was found in a conservation area in Preah Vihear province’s Chheb district. ...

According to the latest forecast from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Cambodia economy will grow by 7 percent this year on the back of higher public spending and steady growth in construction and tourism. The IMF’s forecast is slightly higher than the figure released by the ...

The Interior Ministry has concluded an investigation into the violent clash between villagers and authorities earlier this month, reaffirming that no one was killed in the confrontation that sparked when officials began dismantling huts built on Memot Rubber Plantation Company land in Kratie province’s Snuol ...

The government has accepted a request from a senior officer of the US State Department to hold another discussion on the draft minimum wage law before it is approved. After meeting with Sarah Morgan, an official with the US Office of International Labour Affairs, Labour Minister ...

A Borei Keila villager has been ordered to appear for questioning Tuesday at the Ministry of Interior over protests in Tuol Kork last month against the forced evictions of residents to make way for a development project. ...

Donica Pattie, Canada’s Ambassador to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, on Friday lauded Cambodia’s recent advancements in factory labour conditions, which she said might prompt Canada to increase purchases from Cambodian textile manufacturers, according to a high-ranking Cambodian official. ...

Former Bar Association president and Interior Ministry official Bun Honn was given additional powers at the ministry to act as a signatory for Minister Sar Kheng in matters relating to NGOs and associations. ...

Tax on nearly 6,000 vehicles across the country has not been paid on time as required, according to an inspection by the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s General Department of Taxation. A press release by the GDT signed on March 16 and released yesterday said the ...

The Preah Sihanouk provincial administration said a highway from Phnom Penh to Preah Sihanouk province will commence construction by next year. The decision was made after a study of the 190-kilometre highway was recently completed, setting in motion a $1.7 billion infrastructure project with a Chinese ...

Two protected wildlife sanctuaries – Snuol Wildlife Sanctuary in Kratie province and Roneam Daun Sam Wildlife Sanctuary in Battambang and Banteay Meanchey provinces – have been dissolved under a royal decree, with at least one conservationist on Sunday saying the move illustrated the government’s failure ...

Stung Treng provincial environmental officials on Sunday confiscated two excavators that were inside the Anlong Phe Wildlife Sanctuary and will send the case to court, according to an official. Eng Phirong, director of the provincial Environmental Department, said he received a report from villagers in ...

Cambodia’s salt producers are suffering from a catastrophic harvest season that is likely to deplete their reserves and threaten the industry’s future prospects, according to leaders of the country’s largest salt federation. ...

A gathering in Svay Rieng province of some 40 villagers led by a farmers’ organisation was shut down by local police on Thursday because the group allegedly had not requested permission, though provincial authorities had been notified the week before. ...

Three helicopters, eight armoured personnel carriers and other military materials from China arrived in Cambodia yesterday a few days ahead of a military exercise between the Cambodian and Chinese militaries in Kampong Speu province. ...

The Minister of Labour yesterday suggested that recently graduated doctors should find work at factory infirmaries following a government push for garment factories to take better care of their workers. ...

The Labour Ministry will send more than 200 trainers to factories and relevant institutes to educate workers about labour rights. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Soeung Sarsochetta, secretary of state at the Labour Ministry, said 250 trainers from the Labour Ministry would go to factories, businesses ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday lauded engineers for constructing the first Cambodian-built concrete bridge across the Mekong River in Kampong Cham province. Speaking at an inauguration ceremony for the bridge, Mr Hun Sen said the bridge was the first-ever concrete bridge built across a river ...

Seeking to find new markets for Cambodia’s world-renowned Kampot pepper, the Ministry of Commerce held talks last week with Swiss dairy La Maison du Gruyere.   ...

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is calling for the cooperation of all stakeholders in the ICT sector to solve a vulnerability in mobile phone networks that has led to a rise in the number of hacks in the kingdom. ...

Authorities in Siem Reap province on Monday stopped the clearing of protected wetlands within the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, halting the work of a team that had already cleared one hectare of flooded forest.The authorities found nine vehicles, including bulldozers, excavators and trucks, and seven ...

Annual reports from two ministries released on Monday appear to show significantly different numbers of factories, enterprises and garment factory workers in Cambodia last year, and officials at the two ministries contacted yesterday did not explain the contradictory data. ...

Telecommunications officials have raised the possibility that a series of hacks against government officials and ministries could have been so-called SS7 attacks, a recently discovered hacking method that involves taking over a person’s cellphone number. At a meeting with local cell companies on Tuesday, officials ...