National government
Ministries and other national bodies
Government defers logging permits
The Council of Ministers has ordered a temporary suspension to permits for clearing and transporting timber from the reservoir area of the Lower Sesan II Dam until after the upcoming elections in July, with a government official yesterday saying illegal logging was “out of control”, ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-defers-logging-permits
Working group created to study fainting phenomenon
The Labour Ministry has created a technical working group to study and investigate what causes fainting in an attempt to reduce episodes of fainting at factories nationwide. Labour Minister Ith Samheng, who is also chairman of the National Committee for Health and Work Safety, said the ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50111447/working-group-created-study-fainting-phenomenon/
Duong Sruoch Group denies clearing in wildlife sanctuary
A representative with Duong Sruoch Group in Preah Vihear yesterday denied allegations that that the company had been illegally clearing forest outside the boundaries of social land concessions it had been licensed to log. Duong Sruoch Group was specifically named in a directive issued Monday by ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/duong-sruoch-group-denies-clearing-wildlife-sanctuary
Official releases EU trade data amid spat
Cambodia exported about $3 billion worth of goods to the EU in the first nine months of last year, according to Ouch Borith, a secretary of state at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Borith’s remarks came at the ministry’s annual meeting and were in response to a ...
Brendan O’Byrne
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/official-releases-eu-trade-data-amid-spat
Probe into Chinese investment to Sihanoukville still idle
A task force established a month ago to address problems stemming from an influx of Chinese investment to Sihanoukville has not received a single report of illegal businesses or taken any enforcement action, with one official maintaining it was impossible to take “serious” action for ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/probe-chinese-investment-sihanoukville-still-idle
‘Thousands of tonnes’ of weapons imported: PM
Prime Minister Hun Sen bragged yesterday about importing “thousands or tens of thousands” of tonnes of weaponry overnight in the run-up to a major joint military exercise with China. “Samdech Tea Banh, the minister of defence, he does not transport flowers,” the premier said to an ...
Ben Sokhean and Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/thousands-tonnes-weapons-imported-pm
Germany supporting rural development in Cambodia
The German embassy in Cambodia is cooperating with the government to assist in rural development.According to a press release from the German embassy issued yesterday, more than 2,500 kilometres of roads, 88 bridges, 48 schools and 11 markets have been built across the country with ...
Sen David
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50111151/germany-supporting-rural-development-cambodia/
Analysis: The government has announced plans to cover workers’ severance, but is it the best solution to factory disputes?
The government will begin to pay out of pocket for severance wages for labourers at abruptly shuttered factories whose owners have fled, effectively enacting a pro-worker policy without further burdening private businesses – albeit at the risk of discouraging good corporate citizenship, experts say. ...
Yon Sineat and Brendan O’Byrne
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-depth-business/analysis-government-has-announced-plans-cover-workers-severance-it-best-solution
US cuts aid to Cambodia with aim to ‘urge government to reconsider its current course’
The White House is cutting aid to several assistance programs in Cambodia due to “recent setbacks to democracy”, it announced late Tuesday. Some programs supporting Cambodia’s Tax Department, military and local government will be cut or reduced “to ensure that American taxpayer funds are not being ...
Daphne Chen and Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/us-cuts-aid-cambodia-aim-urge-government-reconsider-its-current-course
Cambodia holds live-fire exercise near Laos
A live-fire exercise along the Cambodian-Lao border yesterday in Stung Treng province’s Siem Pang district, where a conflict with Laos arose last year, was not to demonstrate power or threaten any neighbouring countries, according to the Ministry of National Defence. ...
Mom Sophon
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50110701/cambodia-holds-live-fire-exercise-near-laos/
Licences to log SLCs are ordered revoked
The Council of Ministers has ordered licences granted to private companies to log and collect timber from social land concessions (SLC) and state-owned land revoked, following years of allegations that some companies were exploiting the permits to carry out illegal logging. The council on Monday released ...
Phak Seangly and Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/licences-log-slcs-are-ordered-revoked
Government pledges documentation for ethnic Vietnamese
The government yesterday maintained it was opening a path to citizenship for roughly 70,000 ethnic Vietnamese people living in Cambodia, though many have lived here for generations, and advocates say a current drive to revoke “irregular” government documents is effectively rendering many stateless. ...
Mech Dara and Daphne Chen
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-pledges-documentation-ethnic-vietnamese
Government sticks to plan on power price cuts ahead of election
Officials appeared to walk back a promise to issue larger-than-average electricity price reductions ahead of July’s elections, instead following a previously announced plan to make small reductions in costs. Ty Norin, chairman of the Electricity Authority of Cambodia (EAC), released a statement earlier this month announcing ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/government-sticks-plan-power-price-cuts-ahead-election
Ministries to form taskforce to protect forests
The Environment Ministry has requested the National Defence Ministry to form a joint working group over the use of land in natural protected areas to cut down on land disputes and instances of illegal logging. Defence Ministry spokesman General Chhum Sucheat said both parties agreed last ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50110603/ministries-form-taskforce-protect-forests/
Government swaps 30 hectares
The Ministry of Interior is giving 30 hectares of land to a well-connected development company in exchange for a smaller piece of land on the southern outskirts of Phnom Penh. The land swap, announced in a sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on January 18, ...
Mech Dara and Daphne Chen
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-swaps-30-hectares
Officials inspect forest that was filled in, sold
On the orders of Prime Minister Hun Sen, Koh Kong provincial authorities on Friday inspected a section of protected mangrove forest that in December was discovered to have been filled in with sand and illegally sold, with the consent of local authorities, to tycoon Chea ...
Phak Seangly and Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/officials-inspect-forest-was-filled-sold
Industrial sector grows, but still reliant on garment factories
The government released a summary of the country’s industrial sector over the past five years, showing a marked increase in growth across a wide variety of indicators. The report, released by the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts (MIH) last week, lacks specific data but shows a ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/industrial-sector-grows-still-reliant-garment-factories
Cambodian media under threat: report
Media outlets in Cambodia have came under increasing threat over the past year, according to a new report by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), though the Ministry of Information, responding to a similar recent report, has insisted freedom of expression and the press is ...
Leonie Kijewski and Rinith Taing
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cambodian-media-under-threat-report
Cases of malaria nearly doubled over past year
Health Ministry officials said the number of malaria cases in 2017 increased nearly 100 percent if compared to the previous year during a meeting to set a strategy to reduce the rate in 2018. The National Centre for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control issued an official ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50110503/cases-malaria-nearly-doubled-past-year/
Japan reaffirms commitment to Cambodia and national election
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reaffirmed his commitment to the country and the upcoming national election as Kem Sokha’s daughter has taken to social media to demand an explanation as to why Japan is supporting an “artificial” election. Last week Japan’s ambassador to Cambodia, Hidehisa ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50110505/japan-reaffirms-commitment-cambodia-national-election/
Land rights NGO given green light to resume its operations
The Interior Ministry has decided to allow land rights NGO Equitable Cambodia to operate in Cambodia after suspending its activities in September. The announcement was made after a meeting between Interior Minister Sar Kheng and EU ambassador George Edgar on Friday. ...
Mom Sophon
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50110492/land-rights-ngo-given-green-light-resume-operations/
Heritage park gets boundary posts
Forty concrete posts have been placed at key locations along the boundary of Phnom Tbeng Natural Heritage Park in Preah Vihear province, paving the way for rangers to patrol the park and enforce forestry and wildlife protection laws. The work was conducted by officials from the ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50110230/heritage-park-gets-boundary-posts/
PM orders investigation into Koh Kong land grab
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday ordered the Koh Kong provincial governor to clarify reports that state mangrove forests in the province have been grabbed and filled with sand to create land for development. Speaking during the closing ceremony for an annual conference on decentralisation, Mr Hun ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50110227/pm-orders-investigation-koh-kong-land-grab/
Army, Ministry of Environment agree to cooperate
Environment Minster Say Sam Al and Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Commander Pol Saroeun announced three new points of cooperation following a meeting earlier this week, Saroeun announced on his official Facebook page. ...
Yesenia Amaro and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/army-ministry-environment-agree-cooperate