National government
Ministries and other national bodies
Ministry Questions Unions Over Role in Kandal Garment Protest
The Interior Ministry has summoned six union representatives for questioning following a complaint from Jack Liu, director-general of Tainan Enterprises (Cambodia) Co., Ltd., alleging that they incited violence at his Kandal province garment factory in late December. A letter dated Thursday, signed by the Interior Ministry’s ...
New protection for giant ibis
A newly demarcated wildlife and forest protection zone designed to safeguard Cambodia’s national bird, the giant ibis, along with a number of other endangered species, has been approved after more than 10 years in the making. A government sub-decree approving a protection zone spanning 66,932 hectares ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/new-protection-giant-ibis
Sonando next to test capital ban
Beehive Radio president Mam Sonando has said he and his supporters will defy the capital’s ban on demonstrations at the Ministry of Interior this morning after the government refused to issue his station a licence for increased bandwidth. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sonando-next-test-capital-ban
Beehive Radio Protest To Go Forward
Independent radio broadcaster Mam Sonando says he will go forward with a planned demonstration Jan. 27, in protest of the government’s refusal to allow him to expand his radio reach and open a television station. The Minister of Information denied permission for the expansion, but Mam ...
Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/beehive-radio-protest-to-go-forward/1837059.html
Interior Ministry Says No to Freedom Park Rally
The government will consider a planned union rally on Sunday of several thousand people at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh an attempt to “overthrow the government,” Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said on Friday. Phnom Penh municipality rejected the request to hold the rally, but ...
Sinary Sany
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/interior-ministry-says-no-to-freedom-park-rally-51032/
Cambodia's rubber export up 34 pct in 2013
Cambodia has seen a 34 percent rise in dry rubber export last year thanks to rising demand globally, the figures of the Ministry of Commerce showed Thursday. The country had exported 74,200 tones of dry rubber last year, up 34 percent from 55,344 tones in a ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2014-01/23/c_133068429.htm
Legal actions to be taken against protest leaders: Interior Ministry
Ministry of Interior warned that legal measures would be taken against those who would hold protests, defying a ban imposed by the government. The warning was made yesterday after the leaders of nine labor unions insisted that they would hold protests, which are scheduled for January ...
The Cambodia Herald
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=NTdmZGU2OGFmMmR
Unions to Proceed With Mass Rally in Freedom Park Despite Ban
Unions planning a mass rally at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park on Sunday to call for the release of 23 detainees and a higher minimum wage in the garment industry say they will proceed with the event despite City Hall’s decision Thursday to deny permission. The nine ...
Union leader violates protest law: Phnom Penh official
Phnom Penh official on Wednesday said that union leader Chea Mony violated the protest law and protest ban which was imposed by the government recently for the security concern. The Deputy Governor made the comment after Chea led march along the streets to mark the ...
The Cambodian Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=15&token=M2MxNjBiZGRhZWU
Child Rapes Account for Majority of Sex Attacks Last Year
The number of reported rapes recorded by human rights group Adhoc fell by about 24 percent in 2013 compared to the previous year, though the rape of children and minors continued to account for the majority of attacks. Chuon Chamrong, head of Adhoc’s women’s section, ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/child-rapes-account-for-majority-of-sex-attacks-last-year-50995/
More Plots Readied for Land Titles at Boeng Kak
Phnom Penh deputy governor Khuong Sreng oversaw the demarcation of five more plots of land Thursday in the city’s Boeng Kak neighborhood, where at least 48 families are still fighting for formal land titles. Some 3,000 families have been evicted from the neighborhood since the city ...
Mech Dara and Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/more-plots-readied-for-land-titles-at-boeng-kak-51002/
After Arrests, NGOs Continue Petitioning to ‘Free the 23′
Following the arrest of 11 activists on Tuesday as they attempted to deliver a petition to the U.S. and French embassies seeking the release of 23 jailed protesters, NGO representatives quietly delivered similar petitions to the Japanese Embassy and European Union headquarters Wednesday. The petitioners, representing ...
Aun Pheap and Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/after-arrests-ngos-continue-petitioning-to-free-the-23-50966/
Minimum wage up for ministerial discussion
An interministerial committee led by Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon will meet next month to discuss the recent minimum wage increase and subsequent fallout. Ministry of Labour spokesman Heng Sour yesterday told the Post that Prime Minister Hun Sen assigned Chhon to lead the meeting ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/minimum-wage-ministerial-discussion
Exports consistent for Cambodia’s ag sector
Cambodia exported 2.9 million tons of agricultural products last year, roughly the same as 2012, but experts say the figure does not reflect the huge potential for the market. According to official data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, exports included more than 1 ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/exports-consistent-cambodia%E2%80%99s-ag-sector
Cambodia produces 9.3 mln tonnes of paddy rice last year
Cambodia had produced 9.3 million tons of paddy rice in 2013, which was comparable to the amount in 2012, according to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday. Hean Vanhorn, director of the single window secretariat for facilitating milled rice exports, called on ...
Global Times News Staff
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/838958.shtml#.UuHaSMr-LIU
Pro-Government Unions Call for Action Against Leaders of Strikes
Unions aligned with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government issued a statement Wednesday calling on it to “take action” against union leaders who they accuse of inciting workers to hold strikes and violent demonstrations. “We would like to request [CPP Labor Minister] Ith Sam Heng to take ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/pro-government-unions-call-for-action-against-leaders-of-strikes-50970/
Untrained guards rule at protests
Security guards that have forcibly detained protesters in the capital in recent weeks include large numbers of men who have received no government security training, Phnom Penh municipal spokesman Long Dimanche said yesterday. In an effort to recruit civilian “public order” officers, Dimanche told the Post, the ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Shane Worrell
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/untrained-guards-rule-protests
China donates 600 sets of radio transmitters to Cambodian Army
The Chinese government on Wednesday donated 600 sets of radio transmitters to the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) in order to increase the capacity and efficiency in information communication among armed forces. Speaking during a handover ceremony at the Headquarters of the Infantry on the outskirts ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-01/22/c_133066316.htm
Cambodia's 64 trade unions urge gov't to take legal action against gangster unions
Cambodia’s 64 trade unions on Wednesday asked the Minister of Labor Ith Samheng to take serious legal action against some gangster unions that have caused riots and illegal strikes as well as intimidations to their members in protests, according to a joint letter. “We’d like to ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-01/22/c_133066064.htm
Cambodia's new business registrations drop 12 pct in 2013
Cambodia had issued operating licenses to 2,988 new companies last year, down 12 percent from 3, 386 in a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday. Of the 2013 new business registrations, foreign businesses registered 1,448, down 9 percent, while local registrations fell ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2014-01/22/c_133065203.htm
11 Activists Arrested for Views That ‘Impact Public Order’
Eleven political activists were pulled off the street by helmeted security guards Tuesday morning during a peaceful march to foreign embassies to deliver petitions calling for an end to government violence and the release of 23 imprisoned activists and strikers. The 11 protesters—10 land rights activists ...
Phorn Bopha and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/eleven-activists-arrested-for-views-that-impact-public-order-50934/
The Assassination of Union Leader Chea Vichea—A Decade On
Ten years after his assassination, friends and associates remember Chea Vichea, the founding president of the Free Trade Union, as a quiet man but a charismatic leader, passionate about labor issues and the right for workers to collectively bargain for higher wages and better conditions. ...
Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/the-assassination-of-union-leader-chea-vichea-a-decade-on-50951/
Ministries Discuss New Appeal Courts, Judicial Reform
The Ministry of Justice is moving ahead with plans to expand the Appeal Court system around the country as part of inter-ministerial talks that began on Monday on the subject of judicial reform. The talks, which are expected to wrap up today, focus on a long-awaited ...
Khuon Narim and Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ministries-discuss-new-appeal-courts-judicial-reform-50940/
Cambodia's economy achieves 7 pct growth last year despite political row: central bank
Cambodia’s economy grew by 7 percent in 2013 even though political row over the July election has still persisted, the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) said Tuesday. The growth was lower than that of 2012, which was up to 7.3 percent. “In 2013, Cambodia’s economy achieved ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2014-01/21/c_133062259.htm