Government

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. ...

While calls from all corners have demanded Australia take Cambodia to task – not only for its political crackdown but also for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s threats to beat up protesters on Australian soil – observers say any such confrontation is unlikely to materialise during ...

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 ...

In an unusual reversal of rhetoric, Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly questioned the loyalty of long-time ally Vietnam on Wednesday, while ordering the interior and justice ministries to thoroughly investigate former opposition leader Sam Rainsy for treason for allegedly colluding with the Kingdom’s eastern neighbour. ...

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. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen revisited a wedge issue between Cambodia and the US on Tuesday, complaining about the approximately $500 million in Vietnam War-era debt accumulated under the Lon Nol regime still owed to the superpower. ...

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. ...

UN Special Rapporteur Rhona Smith raised the forced dissolution of the CNRP and the redistribution of its legislative seats, as well as the government’s frequent legal action against sitting parliamentarians, during her visit on Tuesday with National Assembly President Heng Samrin. ...

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 ...

The Ministry of Interior has officially allowed Equitable Cambodia, an NGO involved with community advocacy, to resume its work after it had been suspended since September last year.​ ...

The Chinese government is picking up the majority of the tab for the joint military exercise between China and Cambodia from March 17 to 30 in Kampong Speu province’s Samroang Tong district. ...

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Cambodia yesterday asked the Interior Minister to justify the dissolution of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party. Rhona Smith is on a 10-day mission to the Kingdom and yesterday held a closed-door meeting with Interior Minister Sar ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen will attend the Asean-Australia Special Summit this week in the face of planned protests against his attendance, including by the wife of slain political analyst Kem Ley who was recently granted refugee status. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement ...

The Institute of Standards of Cambodia developed 63 new standards last year, bringing the total number of certifications available from the government to 868, though one industry representative said the system still needed improvement in order to facilitate exports. ...

The government of South Korea will help to build a Cambodia-Korea Friendship Bridge across the Mekong River in the future, according to a statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday. The announcement came after a meeting on Friday between Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and newly-appointed ...

The labour minister said on Monday that Cambodia’s garment sector grew by 4 percent last year to reach $7.6 billion, which would mark a slowdown in the growth rate compared to previous years. ...

Some 300 villagers representing over 6,800 families delivered a slew of petitions to the Council of Ministers and Ministry of Land Management on Monday demanding resolution to longstanding land disputes affecting about 19,000 hectares over four provinces. ...

Strikes in Cambodia plummeted by more than half last year, according to the Ministry of Labour’s annual report – a statistic lauded by the government as evidence that worker conditions had improved but rejected by labour advocates as a sign that dissent was being suppressed. ...