National government

One in every four children in Cambodia under the age of 5 has not had their birth registered, but a new program aims to tackle the problem at the commune level using mobile phone technology, according to UNICEF. ...

Yong Sheng Global Trading, a subsidiary within the Royal Group conglomerate, signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Posco SS-Vina, a Vietnamese-based steel company, for exclusive distribution rights of construction materials on Tuesday. ...

An unlicensed medic was arrested in Tbong Khmum province on Monday after administering three injections to a patient who then died en route to a nearby clinic, a police official said on Tuesday. ...

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) received a grant totaling $8 million from the South Korean government, through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to modernize its national retail payment system as the Kingdom gets ready to trade in the Asean Economic Community. ...

The Ministry of Labor has instructed employers and unions in the country’s crucial garment sector to begin preparations for the next round of minimum wage negotiations. ...

Trying to stay in sync with Cambodia’s rapid information and communication technology (ICT) growth, the Kingdom’s ICT Federation has been overhauled and is now fully chaired by industry insiders. ...

The Ministry of Economy and Finance has announced the date of the auction for timber confiscated from logging companies by the National Anti-Deforestation Committee (NADC) earlier this year, inadvertently releasing the official names of seven previously unknown companies caught housing illegally logged wood. ...

Cambodia’s minister of social affairs on Sunday departed for a visit to Spain, which will be followed by a trip to Malta, to discuss and sign adoption agreements with both countries, according to a statement released Sunday. ...

The Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Associations (CAMFEBA) yesterday launched an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) guidebook aimed at providing employers with practical recommendations to help businesses better understand the dynamic regional changes of integration. ...

More than 400 people in Prey Veng’s Peamro district came down with cold and flu-like symptoms on Saturday, prompting the Ministry of Health to launch an investigation into the cause of the sickness. ...

An environmental group has been accused of complicity in the decline of the critically endangered Siamese crocodile in Koh Kong province’s Areng Valley, mainly due to traps that are believed to have killed the last breeding-age female in the area. ...

Nearly four months after the Ministry of Commerce implemented a fuel-pricing mechanism that lowered prices at the pump to reflect the fall in the global commodity last March, petrol prices have inched back up to pre-intervention levels. ...

All of the Kingdom’s longstanding land disputes will be resolved with the help of 27 newly-created teams, Minister of Land Management Chea Sophara said last week. ...

Environment Minister Say Samal claims Cambodia has put an end to illegal logging and timber exports to Vietnam, despite reports of continued, and even rising, levels of forest clearing and timber being transported to the Kingdom’s neighbor. ...

Just ten years ago, Cambodians relied on dingy, storefront Internet businesses if they wanted to get online. Computers were old, power cuts were frequent, and overhead fans creaked along in a failing attempt to keep customers cool as they paid per minute to “surf” the ...

Grow Asia, which formally launched a partnership with Cambodia late last year, will reconvene on June 13 in Phnom Penh to kick-off working groups between the public and private sector, including NGOs, after targeting six crops for market potential. ...

A series of talks will be held next month to discuss the future of minimum wages in the footwear and garment industries, with their findings to be announced and enforced early next year, according to Ministry of Labor officials. ...

Banks and financial institutions are urged to provide more support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially those owned by women, as access to capital remains a major obstacle for their growth. ...

The Ministry of Education has proposed the creation of three new departments, including one for special education, a move applauded by NGOs yesterday, though some questioned whether enough funding would be available.   ...

Cambodia is planning to be a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) to protect the intellectual property rights of foreign products coming into the Kingdom. This, a high ranking government official said, will shore up investor confidence and attract more foreign investment to the ...

Elections are due in the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) for the second term of its president and council of board members. The elections come at a crucial time as the government considers an emergency loan request from the CRF to help protect the rice sector ...

A senior official at the Labor Ministry said strikes and protests were “disrupting” investment in the garment sector and claimed that some unions, and even some employers, were not respecting the rights and freedoms afforded to workers by the Labor Law and international labor conventions. ...

Nearly half of the known orphanages in Cambodia missed on Tuesday’s deadline for registering with the government, further delaying attempts to reform the country’s wayward residential child care sector, an official said on Tuesday. ...

A Justice Ministry spokesman yesterday lashed out at European Union representatives for a statement condemning the “judicial harassment” of opposition leader Kem Sokha, while the Ministry of Education slammed a teachers union that backed the CNRP acting president.   ...