Government
PM gets his photo-op with Obama as Cambodian-Americans protest
A grinning Prime Minister Hun Sen walked up to US President Barack Obama and shook his hand in California yesterday, lending the premier his long-sought aura of legitimacy even as hundreds of angry Cambodians protested his 31-year rule less than half of a kilometre away. ...
Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-gets-his-photo-op-obama-cambodian-americans-protest
Water supply authority director shoots back at corruption charges
The General Director of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) yesterday denied a slew of corruption allegations published by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), including one that he hired 500 employees after they paid $3,000 apiece for a job. The PPWSA – once a beacon ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21429//
Ministry removes officials from office for skipping work
The Ministry of Interior has removed four Oddar Meanchey provincial officials from office, including former deputy governor of Anlong Veng district Nhem En, for failing to show up for work, according to a ministry letter received by Khmer Times yesterday. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21423/ministry-removes-officials-from-office-for-skipping-work/
Another Korean ministry says it didn’t help envoy
South Korea’s Ministry of Justice has become the second of that nation’s ministries to deny it is working with Cambodia’s ambassador to the country, Suth Dina, to clamp down on illegal migrants and political dissent. ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/another-korean-ministry-says-it-didnt-help-envoy
Cambodia is open for investment, PM tells America
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday made a direct appeal to businesses in the United States to increase investment in Cambodia, ahead of the US-ASEAN Summit in Sunnylands California, and just days after Deputy Prime Minister Sok An spoke with officials from the US Embassy here ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21410/cambodia-is-open-for-investment--pm-tells-america/
In bribery, knowledge is power, says paper
A Cambodian-American political scientist has proposed a novel way to tackle corruption in the Kingdom: force bribe-taking bureaucrats to compete with each other. ...
Jack Davies
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/bribery-knowledge-power-says-paper
Revenue from taxes continues to rise
The General Department of Taxation collected almost $116 million in tax revenue last month, up 10 percent over January 2015, with strong growth across all segments, according to official data released on Friday. ...
Sum Manet
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21412/revenue-from-taxes-continues-to-rise/
Thai princess to visit Kingdom next week
Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will travel to Cambodia for a three-day official visit next week, where she will meet with King Norodom Sihamoni, Prime Minister Hun Sen and attend multiple groundbreaking ceremonies at schools in Kampong Speu and Kampong Thom provinces, according to a ...
Ros Chanveasna
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21417/thai-princess-to-visit-kingdom-next-week/
PM pulls no punches on US arrival
In a wide-ranging speech to ruling Cambodian People’s Party supporters in California yesterday, Prime Minister Hun Sen slammed the US government as well as the opposition, and said his presence at the US-ASEAN Summit at Rancho Mirage was no different than that of US President ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21430/pm-pulls-no-punches-on-us-arrival/
Barriers remain for Southeast Asia’s economic integration plans
Efforts to integrate of Southeast Asia’s economies are beginning to bear fruit, experts say, although there is some way to go before the goal of turning the region into a single market and production base can be reached. ...
Ten Soksreinith
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/barriers-remain-for-southeast-asia-economic-integration-plans/3190571.html
Veggie farming to trim kingdom’s import bill
Government officials, economists and businesses discussed the implementation of a draft program to invigorate vegetable farming in the Kingdom and cut imports from neighbouring countries in half by 2018. ...
Ayanna Runcie
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/veggie-farming-trim-kingdoms-import-bill
Two Cambodian merchants denied bail in Thai court
The two Cambodian merchants arrested at Rong Kluea Market during a Thai Department of Special Investigation (DSI) raid that turned violent earlier this month were denied bail on Friday by the Thai Court of Appeals, according to a statement released by the Cambodian Foreign Affairs ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21374/two-cambodian-merchants-denied-bail-in-thai-court/
Minister decries fake journo licence plates
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith took to Facebook on Saturday to remind drivers of vehicles with illegal “press” licence plates that “it will not be a fine, but prison” if police catch them. ...
Lay Samean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/minister-decries-fake-journo-licence-plates
Ministry makes it easier for the little guys to dig
It will get easier for small, rural mining operations to register with the government this month, thanks to a change in the Ministry of Energy and Mines’ policy of issuing licenses, according to a ministry statement released last week. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21376/ministry-makes-it-easier-for-the-little-guys-to-dig/
Sokha vows neutrality in Cambodia’s civil service
Cambodia’s civil servants and security forces must be politically neutral, and will be if the Cambodia National Rescue Party takes power after the 2018 election, acting opposition leader Kem Sokha told supporters in Banteay Meanchey on Saturday. ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sokha-vows-neutrality-cambodias-civil-service
Hun Sen heads to US for ASEAN summit
After weeks of build up—including threats of protests in the U.S. and counterprotests at home—Prime Minister Hun Sen will join regional leaders today for the U.S.-Asean Summit in Rancho Mirage, California. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-heads-to-us-for-asean-summit-108438/
Saudis sign MOU on maids
Cambodia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding to begin work on opening a pipeline for Cambodians to work in the gulf nation, which has been routinely criticised for failing to protect migrant domestic workers from abysmal treatment and slave-like conditions. ...
Chhay Channyda and Shaun Turton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/saudis-sign-mou-maids
Appeal court to hear ‘insurrection’ case next month
Eleven opposition activists who have been jailed since 2014 for supposedly participating in an “insurrection” will have their appeal against their conviction heard on March 17, their lawyer said on Friday. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/108429-108429/
ASEAN market watch: Cambodian corruption, telecoms bidding in Myanmar, and increasing Philippine trade deficits
Transparency International’s 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks Cambodia as the ‘Most Corrupt’ country in Southeast Asia. Cambodia score was 21 out a possible 100 points, which is the same as the country’s score in 2014. ...
Montagnards ‘to be processed’
Immigration officials yesterday sought to dial back public remarks by Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak, who on Wednesday appeared to tell reporters that the more than 100 Montagnard asylum seekers currently waiting to have their claims assessed would be summarily deported. ...
Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/montagnards-be-processed
Japanese, Chinese navies to visit Cambodia days apart
The final two weeks of February will feature visits to Sihanoukville from both the Japanese and Chinese navies to conduct goodwill and training exercises, as the two powers vie for influence and allies in Southeast Asia amid increasing Asian nautical tensions. ...
Peter Ford and Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/japanese-chinese-navies-to-visit-cambodia-days-apart-108270/
Japan lobbies for joint meeting with ASEAN ministers of defense
A high official from the Japanese Defense Ministry (JDM) has lobbied for Cambodia and another ASEAN members to support the creation of a meeting between their defense ministers and the JDM to be held next year in Laos, according to officials at a meeting at ...
Ban Sokrith and Phun Chan Ousaphea
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21309/japan-lobbies-for-joint-meeting-with-asean-ministers-of-defense/
Journalist detained over logging story
A journalist who accused a military police commander of accepting bribes from illegal loggers in Mondolkiri province was arrested and briefly detained on Thursday on the commander’s orders, a move that was criticized by the Ministry of Information. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/journalist-detained-over-logging-story-108258/
National police force hires more than 4,500 officer
The National Police has hired more than 4,500 new officials into its ranks, according to a sub-decree dated Wednesday. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/national-police-force-hires-more-than-4500-officer-108298/