Ministries and other national bodies

Despite an initial rebound in global rubber prices, Cambodian rubber farmers predict a bleak year as production and exports have increased while profits continue to suffer. ...

Between 2009 and 2012, the Ministry of Environment went on nationwide leasing spree, signing over vast swaths of the country’s nominally protected areas to private companies for rubber plantations and other agribusiness ventures.   ...

An overloaded truck’s owner was ordered to pay 7.8 million riel ($1,917) in fines yesterday after his driver was caught with 61 tonnes of wood in his truck, 26 tonnes above the legal limit.   ...

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology issued a strong weather warning yesterday for coastal, plains and plateau areas, from yesterday to June 5, especially along coastal areas where the ocean swell is expected to reach one to two-and-a-half meters. ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) claims falling productivity levels and rising infrastructure costs in the Kingdom’s garment sector could put the country at a disadvantage with its neighbouring competitors.   ...

A Ministry of Defence staffer with the rank of major was arrested on Tuesday, allegedly while dealing drugs in Battambang’s Kamrieng district. ...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has finished its evaluation of rice producers and processors that have registered to export milled rice to China, checking to see if they comply with the hygiene laws in China. ...

Battambang police have called upon the Interior Ministry’s anti-terrorism department for help arresting the creator of a video that suggests corrupt officials have sold off the province’s most important reservoir.   ...

Despite the government’s vow to be more transparent with regulations and the issuing of sand-dredging licences, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) has granted nearly 70 new such licences without holding public auctions or requiring companies to disclose environmental impact assessments (EIA) results to ...

An investigating team from the Ministry of Mines and Energy has concluded that evidence at Chhay Ching Heang Group’s operations in Ratanakkiri province seemingly points to illegal gold mining, though lab results from minerals extracted by the company are still pending, according to a ministry ...

The Cambodian and Russian governments have signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) to help build a nuclear power plant in the Kingdom, despite previous statements saying the opposite and with no timeline as to when such a plant would be built, according to the Ministry ...

The Phnom Penh health department has announced an investigation into the death of a newborn who allegedly choked while being fed by staff at the privately owned VIP Sorphea Maternity Hospital.   ...

Regularly scheduled direct flights between Cambodia and Russia proposed by Prime Minister Hun Sen last week in Moscow might land in the coastal town of Sihanoukville, an official said yesterday. ...

The Interior Ministry has made tentative plans to send a delegation of three people to the South Pacific island of Nauru next month to meet and vet two more refugees who have volunteered to resettle in Cambodia.   ...

Vietnam will host its seventh annual trade fair in Cambodia during the second week of October of this year, the Department of Economics in the Vietnam Ministry of National Defense (MOD) announced in Ho Chi Minh City last week.   ...

Officials at the Ministry of Justice will join members of the Labor Ministry, local authorities, police and provincial governors on the Committee for the Settlement of Strikes and Demonstrations after a union leader requested they be included. ...

About 200 Cham Muslims turned out to the Al-Serkal Mosque near the old Boeng Kak lake in Phnom Penh on Friday to protest a controversial road that the government plans to build through the mosque’s land. ...

The developer of the controversial Gold Tower 42, which has sat idle for years, has been refused permission to restart development and finish off the hulking, half-built concrete shell. ...

People smoking tobacco in offices, restaurants and other public spaces will have to indulge their habit in clearly demarcated smoking areas or both the smoker and establishment owner will face fines, the Ministry of Health announced. ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy signed joint prakas with the Ministry of Environment to simplifying the environmental impact assessment (EIA) requirements for artisanal and small-scale mining practices.   ...

A military officer convicted of fraud and sentenced to one year in prison in October is still em­ployed by the National Defense Uni­versity (NDU), the school con­firmed this week, despite the fact that the officer’s co-conspirator is now behind bars.   ...

Cambodia’s tourist arrivals registered an increase of 2.6% during January to March, this year, according to the Statistics and Tourist Information Department. ...

Khmer Specialized Bank, a subsidiary of Khmer Holding Group, was officially inaugurated to offer financial services to Cambodians yesterday, with $21 million worth of investment capital and becoming the 13th specialized bank in Cambodia. ...

Bilateral trade between Thailand and Cambodia decreased by 13 per cent in the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2015, according to statistics provided by the Royal Thai Embassy. ...