Ministries and other national bodies

Any information that is damaging to Cambodia’s national security or public order, affects its relationship with other countries or threatens the Kingdom’s economy or finances could be withheld from the public under a draft law on access to information. ...

Seventeen Vietnamese construction workers were arrested and the passports of 142 Chinese construction workers confiscated when immigration officers raided a building site in Phnom Penh on Tuesday afternoon. ...

An updated version of the draft Trade Union Law gives the Labor Ministry the power to suspend unions that “cooperate” or hold joint activities with groups the government deems to have caused economic sabotage or “damaged” the national interest, according to a copy of the ...

A day after the death of CPP President Chea Sim, Say Chhum, the ruling party’s secretary-general, was on Tuesday appointed to succeed him as the president of the Senate, while preparations began for the June 19 national day of mourning for the late figurehead. ...

The Interior Ministry is developing the curriculum for a “School of Good Governance,” which from 2016 will bring officials from the provinces to Phnom Penh for a crash course in acting with integrity, a ministry official and an NGO partner said Monday. ...

Mourning for Chea Sim, the late President of the Senate and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, is to last 10 days to allow foreign diplomats, national leaders and ordinary Cambodians to pay their respects. ...

There are now 109 Montagnard asylum seekers in Phnom Penh waiting to be registered, according to the U.N., but a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said Monday the government does not recognize any of them as legitimate asylum seekers. ...

Cambodia and Thailand are targeting to boost bilateral trade to more than US$5 billion in 2015, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported. In the first quarter of 2015, bilateral trade between both countries reached over US$1.6 billion. ...

According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the greatest obstacle to foreign investment in the Cambodian economy is the country’s deep energy shortfall. According to Cambodia’s Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy, the situation has not improved much in more than a decade, with only ...

The National Assembly’s Seventh Commission is to summon the minister of cult and religion for questioning regarding “illegal” religious statues erected last week and subsequently destroyed by authorities in Siem Reap’s Svay Leu district. ...

Thailand has invested $100 million in Cambodia’s construction sector, according to the latest figures issued by the Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. ...

Following an outbreak in South Korea of a deadly respiratory disease which has killed three people and infected 36 in that country since late last month, Cambodian health officials on Friday asked travelers coming from infected regions to be vigilant to avoid its spread here. ...

The $1.6-billion Untac mission of the early 1990s injected a huge amount of money into Cambodia’s economy. Now, the U.N. wants to pump millions more into the country—this time by buying up the offerings of local businesses. ...

The company that has been given production rights over a 5,500-square-km area off the coast of Sihanoukville known as Block D has been given 10 days to submit their exploration plans to be reviewed by the Mines and Energy Ministry, a spokesman said Thursday. ...

Human rights activists are calling for more transparency in any potential agreement to send Cambodian workers to Qatar. ...

Eleven more Montagnard asylum seekers arrived in Phnom Penh this week, bringing to 85 the number waiting to apply for refugee status, the U.N. said Tuesday. ...

Cambodian natural rubber prices rose by about 20 percent last month compared to the same time last year as a result of major global producers reducing supply to the international market, officials and rubber producers said Monday. ...

In a few weeks, Cambodian high school seniors will sit down to take the national college entrance exam. Last August, Cambodia’s Minister Hang Chuon Naron pulled off a revolution. He cracked down on cheating. Pass and fail rates neatly flipped, with only 25 percent passing ...

In their latest crackdown on shisha, Phnom Penh police detained, “educated” and informed the parents of 80 people found smoking the flavored tobacco out of water pipes at two separate establishments over the weekend, officials said Sunday. ...

More than 30,000 people are expected to turn out for CPP President Chea Sim’s funeral procession in Phnom Penh on Friday, with security around the city to be ramped up accordingly, a festival official said Wednesday. ...

The Tourism Ministry has downgraded the one-year operating licenses of two hotels where children recently drowned in swimming pools in an effort to make them compensate the victims’ families and carry out safety upgrades. ...

Phnom Penh, Siem Reap City and Sihanoukville will each be divided into 10 zones to allow for easier management, according to the Ministry of Land Management. ...

Cambodia’s Ministry of Land Management is in the initial phase of a project to build affordable housing for the Kingdom’s low-income population. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday resumed its questioning of Major General Thong Sarath, a Defense Ministry official charged with orchestrating the murder of tycoon Ung Meng Chue in November. ...