Government

The Interior Ministry will directly investigate the identification cards of some voters – alleged by the opposition to be Vietnamese – after a study showed that data was lacking. ...

Cambodia has become the first Asian country to sign on to the Sustainable Development Investment Partnership (SDIP), a global initiative that aims to unlock the funding of infrastructure projects through public-private sector partnerships. ...

Six months since the central bank launched its FAST payment system, a new scheme to provide instant riel-denominated fund transfers between financial institutions and their clients, the bank recorded a total fund transfer of 10 billion riel ($2.5 million) as of end-2016. ...

Cambodia is seeking to expand its market for milled rice to Sweden and is looking for ways to cooperate further in trade and investment. ...

The National Election Committee (NEC) yesterday changed its procedure for resolving complaints that allege some registered voters are Vietnamese by holding brief, private hearings to speed up the process. ...

Cambodia’s judicial system is troubled by a cycle of corruption, with both sides of the bench accusing the other of perpetuating the practice of bribery, Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) Chairman Om Yentieng said on Thursday at the inauguration of the new bar association president. ...

The Land Ministry will meet with the three companies at the center of the decade-long land dispute in Koh Kong province this week in an attempt to finally resolve the villagers’ grievances. ...

Government revenue collected on property transfers and construction services dropped off by 25 percent last year, reflecting a slowdown of the Kingdom’s construction sector despite a surge in the reported value of investment in real estate development projects, according to analysts. ...

Hundreds of registered voters are being called in to a tribunal set up at the Interior Ministry compound in Phnom Penh this week to face questioning about whether they are Cambodian enough to participate in upcoming elections. ...

Land titles were issued for nearly four million people involving 500,000 land plots last year, nearly two thirds of the total of seven million plots, the Land Ministry has reported. ...

Vietnam inked a deal with Cambodia on Friday to provide more than half a million dollars’ worth of training in encryption coding, prompting some to question the wisdom of accepting foreign help to protect state secrets. ...

The National Election Committee (NEC) yesterday dismissed seven complaints made by the opposition CNRP alleging that 181 Vietnamese nationals were allowed to illegally register on the electoral roll. ...

Cambodia hopes to see Japanese investment in the light industry sector, which will help develop the kingdom’s labor force. Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak, in a meeting last week with Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia Hidehisa Horinouchi, asked Japan to consider investing in the light industry sector. ...

Efforts to introduce an effective, modern taxation system appear to be paying off as government coffers swelled last year, giving the state more revenue to use for development at a time when donor aid is drying up. ...

The Ministry of Commerce has finished the draft consumer protection law and will soon submit it to the Council of Ministers, according to a senior government official.​ ...

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) released its review of 2016 and outlook for 2017 this week, highlighting the continued large growth of the banking sector while warning that the Kingdom was still vulnerable to external economic factors. ...

The government yesterday decided to stop selling temporary permits to Cambodian citizens heading to Thailand’s Rong Kluea market through the Poipet border checkpoint. ...

Cambodian farmers may be able to cut export costs from the middle of the year if an agreement is signed letting them send their produce through the Thai port of Laem Chabang. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen and Lao President Bounnhang Vorachith met yesterday at the inauguration of a checkpoint on the border between both countries, subsequently reaching an agreement to allow residents on both sides to cross freely with only a special border pass. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen joined his Laotian counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith for a visit to the site of the controversial Don Sahong Dam just across the border on Tuesday, remarking that the trip was a reminder of Laos’ commitment to improving the livelihoods of Cambodians. ...

The opposition CNRP said on Tuesday it was preparing to submit complaints to the National Election Committee (NEC) about almost 5,000 Vietnamese voters it says were registered to vote without citizenship, a move criticized as continuing the party’s tradition of populist Vietnam-bashing. ...

The government has removed the fee for inspection services on milled rice slated for export, aiming to reduce the cost of Cambodia’s rice and increase its competitiveness in international markets. ...

Phnom Penh City Hall will add five new bus lines to the city’s public transportation system in an effort to increase ridership even though no profit has been made on the service. City Hall spokesman Met Meas Pheakdey told Khmer Times yesterday that the number of ...

The government is stepping up the fight against illegal mining in the country, cracking down on an illegal mine in Mondulkiri province last Friday and arresting two people. But local residents targeted by the crackdown protested after the raid, complaining that large mining corporations were allowed ...