Government

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 ...

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 ...