Government

Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam’s visit to Phnom Penh on Monday yielded two agreements on education and health, but no words on controversial sand imports or migrant maids, an official said. ...

The government plans to abolish a range of fees for its services, including fees for issuing birth certificates, marriage certification and national identity documents. The Interior Ministry says the changes will ease the financial burden on citizens, improve public services and make the processes more transparent. ...

Affordable houses for low-income earners and state workers will go on sale within two  weeks after a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday. The project, aimed at the lower middle class, low-income earners and state workers, will be restricted at first to low-income civil servants, said building contractor ...

Officials were tight-lipped yesterday about whether huge discrepancies in sand exports to Singapore would be discussed during a visit by the city-state’s president to the Kingdom later this week, though a Ministry of Mines official said a new export process was in the works. ...

The state-owned Cambodia Post will launch an online shopping platform in March in a move to tap the current rise in e-commerce activity. Ork Bora, director-general of the Cambodia Post, told Khmer Times yesterday that after about a year of studying e-commerce, the state-owned enterprise decided ...

At a press conference yesterday, NEC member and spokesman Hang Puthea said that in the process of posting the voter list to the website, the committee encountered two major problems – a slow access speed and an invasion by hackers. ...

Cambodia needs about $12 billion over a 10-year period to invest in the development of a skilled workforce and improved infrastructure in order to meet the goals of its Industrial Development Policy (IDP), Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak said recently. ...

Cambodia will join an international convention on the registration of industrial designs next month, furthering the scope of the county’s intellectual property protections, a government official said yesterday. ...

Geographical indication (GI) status for Kampot pepper and Kampong Speu palm sugar has been accepted in Vietnam. The agreement gives legal protection to both products and stops unscrupulous traders in Vietnam passing off local produce as Cambodian. The deal was reached last Wednesday after negotiations involving the ...

The Ministry of Health has called on all travelers to beware of a new strain of bird flu that is now spreading in South Korea and Japan. In a notice released yesterday, the Health Ministry said the discovery of H5N6, a new strain of the bird ...

After being questioned for more than two hours at the National Assembly yesterday, Environment Minister Say Samal claimed the number of forest crimes decreased in 2016, but acknowledged that some government officials were involved in some of the crimes. A recently released report from the University ...

The Ministry of Commerce is calling for producers and exporters who have been dealing in dried tobacco leaves and milled rice to apply for licenses to export to Vietnam. Vietnam agreed to waive all duties on 300,000 tons of rice and 3,000 tons of dried tobacco ...

Prospective voters ran into problems yesterday during the first publication of the country’s new voter lists. Citizens will have until January 14 to check their names and information on voter lists to confirm they are correct, either in person, at registration offices or online. ...

Cambodia exported more than 108,000 tonnes of sand to India in 36 separate shipments between 2013 and 2015, according to Indian customs data obtained yesterday, contradicting Cambodian customs data that show no sand being sent there at all. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng yesterday chastised the Rattanakiri provincial governor for lying to three ministers by claiming he was in a meeting with Mr. Kheng to avoid the trio. Mr. Kheng said governor Thorng Savun used his name to avoid meeting Environment Minster Say Samal, Land ...

The National Defense Ministry’s annual draft report showed that Cambodia’s borders are still at risk of abuse from Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, despite the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) cracking down on nearly 6,000 border crimes over the past year. ...

The French Agency for Development has granted a 30 million euro, or $31.1 million, loan for the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) to expand one of its four water plants and increase its water distribution in the capital. ...

After a three-month registration period, the National Election Committee will release its preliminary voter list on January 3, giving political parties, civil society and election monitors until January 14 to lodge complaints for any discrepancies found in the rolls.​ ...

Phnom Penh City Hall plans to build more referral hospitals in the capital in the coming years as the seven currently in use are nearing capacity, according to Municipal Governor Pa Socheatvong. ...

Truck drivers without licenses who take workers to factories will not be allowed to continue working starting next April in a bid to reduce traffic accidents, the government said on Monday. ...

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) on Tuesday released eight billion riel (about $2 million) at three percent interest to just one financial institution that joined the third bidding of the new Liquidity-Provided Collateralized Operation (LPCO). ...

The Environment Ministry’s annual report revealed 600 forestry crimes in protected areas, while there were nearly 700 cases of fishing, wildlife and land crimes. The report, released yesterday, showed that rangers, in collaboration with relevant parties, managed to prevent and suppress offenses at national parks, wildlife ...

The government revealed yesterday that Japanese company Arakawa, which is in charge of developing the White Building, does not have enough funds to cover both the $70-$80 million construction price tag and the buyouts for residents who want to sell their apartments. ...

Cambodia Post’s services grew this year, thanks to a rise in foreign investment in Cambodia, more overseas tourists, and the rising trend of online markets. Ork Bora, Cambodia Post general director, said yesterday that the increase over all previous years was due to increased confidence of ...