National government
Ministries and other national bodies
CNRP will vote against draft NGO law, Sam Rainsy says
Cambodia National Rescue Party president Sam Rainsy told representatives of NGOs today that lawmakers from his party will vote against the controversial draft law on associations and NGOs if it is not amended. ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12517/cnrp-will-vote-against-draft-ngo-law--sam-rainsy-says/
Hijacked tanker did not enter Cambodian waters, officials say
A Malaysian-flagged oil tanker that was hijacked by pirates last week was spotted in Cambodian waters by the Australian air force Thursday, according to Malaysian state media. Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh, however, said the vessel never passed through the country’s territorial sea. ...
Over 3,000 illegal doctors in country: Ministry
A Health Ministry official said Thursday that an investigation in the wake of a devastating HIV outbreak in Battambang province’s Roka commune late last year had revealed more than 3,000 unlicensed doctors operating across the country. ...
Khy Sovuthy and George Wright
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/over-3000-illegal-doctors-in-country-ministry-85893/
Gov’t, European union agree to first phase of deal for evictees
The European Union says the Cambodian government has agreed to the first part of a comprehensive plan they have been wrangling over for more than a year to properly compensate thousands of families that have lost land to sugarcane plantations. ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-european-union-agree-to-first-phase-of-deal-for-evictees-85901/
Draft law sets legal drinking age at 21, highest in region
The Health Ministry has drafted Cambodia’s first-ever law to control the sale and consumption of alcohol, which imposes a minimum legal drinking age of 21 and would fine retailers who sell liquor to anyone underage. ...
Khy Sovuthy and Simon Henderson
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/draft-law-sets-legal-drinking-age-at-21-highest-in-region-85785/
Over 200 fishermen to return from Indonesia on charter airliner
More than 200 Cambodian fishermen trapped in Indonesia were scheduled to be returned home Thursday morning on a charter Boeing 737 airliner following the intervention of Indonesia’s Fisheries Ministry and Cambodian diplomats in Jakarta. ...
Khuon Narim and Alex Consiglio
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/over-200-fishermen-to-return-from-indonesia-on-charter-airliner-85764/
Cambodia renews call for Vietnam to stop building military post at undemarcated border area
Cambodia on Wednesday renewed its call for Vietnam to cease immediately the construction of a military post at an undemarcated border area between Cambodia’s Kandal province and Vietnam’s An Giang province. ...
Shanghai Daily News Staff
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=288096
Primary schools in spotlight at funding talks
Less than a week after Unicef announced that primary school enrollment in Cambodia had reached a high of 94.5 percent, government officials and foreign donors met Tuesday to discuss ways to improve the quality of the education those students are getting. ...
Maria Paula Brito and Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/primary-schools-in-spotlight-at-funding-talks-85710/
Child garment workers not a problem, minister says
The labor minister said Tuesday there were so few underage workers in the garment industry that “we can count them on our fingers,” but a unionist and an NGO countered that child labor was still rife in the country’s smaller garment factories. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/child-garment-workers-not-a-problem-minister-says-85699/
Chea Sim’s bodyguards to return to brigades
Late CPP President Chea Sim’s personal bodyguard unit will be disbanded following the cremation of his body on Friday and its members returned to their former police departments and military brigades, officials said Monday. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/chea-sims-bodyguards-to-return-to-brigades-85629/
Opposition compliments gov’t on reaction to alleged encroachment
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy on Monday extended a rare compliment to Cambodia’s foreign minister, who has sent two missives since Friday to Vietnam, accusing the government allowing encroachment in Ratanakkiri province. ...
Neou Vannarin
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/opposition-compliments-govt-on-reaction-to-alleged-encroachment/2822319.html
More wage negotiations set, as workers maintain demands
The government has released a schedule for minimum wage discussions with unions and factories this year, as workers continue to demand $177 per month to keep up with the rising cost of living. More talks are scheduled from July through January. ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/more-wage-negotiations-set-as-workers-maintain-demands/2822361.html
Thailand and Cambodia under talk on avoidance of double taxation for their investors, Thai Ambassador says
Thailand and Cambodia are negotiating on the avoidance of double taxation for investors from each other’s side. Thai Ambassador to Phnom Penh Nuttavudh Photisaro told Radio Thailand reporters that if the negotiation is successful, it will save both Thai and Cambodian investors from paying taxes twice. ...
NNT News Staff
http://thainews.prd.go.th/CenterWeb/NewsEN/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNECO5806160010001
Tourists and residents: stop giving cash to street kids!
Child-protection NGOs and government officials are urging tourists and residents of Cambodia to stop giving money to street children because these well-intentioned gestures can have devastating effects. ...
Va Sonyka
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12291/tourists-and-residents--stop-giving-cash-to-street-kids-/
Leaked draft of law fuels fear among NGOs
A leaked copy of the contentious draft law on associations and NGOs is fuelling fears among its many critics that its purpose is to stifle criticism of the government by giving it broad powers to shut down both foreign and domestic associations and NGOs. ...
Donald Lee and Va Sonyka
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12287/leaked-draft-of-law-fuels-fear-among-ngos/
Government announces start of garment sector wage talks
The Labor Ministry on Friday announced that formal negotiations to set a new minimum wage for the country’s all-important garment sector—now at $128 a month—will begin in July, reviving the same schedule for talks it used with unions and employers for the first time last ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-announces-start-of-garment-sector-wage-talks-85550/
Montagnards may get asylum-seeker status
The government may recognize the more than 100 Montagnard asylum seekers in the capital as refugees, a senior official at the Interior Ministry has said. ...
Donald Lee and Nov Sivutha
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12288/montagnards-may-get-asylum-seeker-status/
CNRP lawmakers lead another trip to disputed VN border
Continuing a campaign by the opposition to inspect alleged encroachment upon Cambodian territory along the Vietnamese border, CNRP lawmaker Ou Chanrith on Saturday led a trip to a disputed cashew farm in Svay Rieng province, fellow lawmaker Kong Saphea said Sunday. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cnrp-lawmakers-lead-another-trip-to-disputed-vn-border-85538/
Cambodian king grants royal honorary title of "Samdech" to 2 politicians
Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni Sunday bestowed the royal honorary title of “Samdech” on two politicians in the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) for their devotion to the nation and the throne. ...
Shanghai Daily News Staff
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=287540
Cambodia protests Vietnam for digging 5 ponds inside its territory
Cambodia has protested Vietnam for digging five ponds inside northeast Cambodian territory in Ratanakiri province, according to a Cambodian Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic note sent to the Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh on Friday. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://bit.ly/1fblUwe
Ghost workers still in government office
The spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Kiev Sopheak, said that there are still ghost workers in government offices, even though the Anti-Corruption Unit cracked down on this practice last year. ...
Nov Sivutha
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12223/ghost-workers-still-in-government-office/
Cambodia to commence talks over 2016 wage hike for garment sector next month
Cambodia will begin to discuss the annual increase of monthly minimum wage for the garment and footwear industry for 2016 in July, according to a Labor Ministry’ s statement issued late Friday. ...
Xinhua team
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12240/cambodia-to-commence-talks-over-2016-wage-hike-for-garment-sector-next-month/
Government tells vietnam to ‘respect the borderline’
The Foreign Affairs Ministry sent a strongly worded diplomatic note to Vietnam on Friday asking its eastern neighbor to “respect the borderline” after an inspection by government officials confirmed that Vietnamese authorities dug five ponds within Cambodian territory in Ratanakiri province. ...
Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-tells-vietnam-to-respect-the-borderline-85488/
Provisional sand dredging licenses awarded
The Ministry of Mines and Energy on Friday announced the provisional winners of its public auction to award four licenses to dredge sand on a stretch of the Mekong River clogged by a build-up of silt, which is obstructing the passage of vessels through the ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/provisional-sand-dredging-licenses-awarded-85500/