Aid and development

During a defence of his 30-year legacy on Wednesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen also took pains to extricate the nation’s newest, longest and most expensive bridge from corruption allegations. ...

In a bid to stock 1.2 million tonnes of rice paddy, Cambodia has sent a draft memorandum of understanding to China asking the country for a $300 million loan to build more than 10 warehouses nationwide. The draft MoU was prepared by the Ministry of Economy ...

In the face of global economic fragility, the Cambodian government needs to review its fiscal policies and deepen its pockets – building a “buffer” for use in times of crisis, the World Bank has warned. The World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects 2015 report states that Cambodia ...

Oil-importing nations such as Cambodia should be first in line to benefit from the oil-price decline provided they swiftly enact reforms to reinvest savings into strengthening fiscal policy and human capital, according to the World Bank. ...

The European Union will speak to Cambodia’s government on behalf of two communities in Battambang involved in land disputes, according to the rights group Adhoc. ...

Global garment brands who source their products from Cambodia should play a part in helping the industry absorb the new minimum wage of US$ 128 per month, according to experts from the International Labour Organization (ILO). The new minimum wage for the approximately half-a-million workers in ...

Cambodia has become increasingly reliant on China for aid. But critics warn that financial support from China is not well tracked and likely means the country has undue influence over the government, and that could mean more trouble down the road as Cambodia looks toward ...

The European Union has announced new funding of EUR410 million under its bilateral cooperation with Cambodia over the period 2014-2020 to continue its support to Cambodia’s progress. ...

A senior official of the Cambodian government on Saturday welcomed Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s pledge of 3.09 billion U.S. dollars aid to the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) member countries, saying the offer is essential for socio-economic development and poverty reduction. The offer includes 1 billion ...

Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided US$67 millions in loan to support and improve water supply, tourism and financial sectors in Cambodia. The loan agreement was signed Thursday between Aun Pornmoniroth, Cambodia’s Minister of Economy and Finance, and Eric Sidgwick, ADB Country Director for Cambodia. ...

The Labor Ministry on Thursday launched a new three-year policy for improving the lot of Cambodia’s more than 700,000 migrant workers that includes plans to step up monitoring of the country’s often-abusive recruitment agencies and add labor attachés to more embassies. Nilim Baruah, a senior ...

Oxfam International, one of the first aid groups to work in Cambodia post-Khmer Rouge, has urged the hundreds of international NGOs (INGO) still operating in the country to consider their future roles and possible exit strategies. Speaking at the launch of two new research reports yesterday ...

Cambodia on Thursday dispatched the fifth batch of 184 peacekeepers to Lebanon to replace the fourth group, whose one-year United Nations peacekeeping mission has ended. ...

In its latest plan to tackle gender disparities, the government applauded its own progress, while still acknowledging persistent challenges, such as a lack of women in leadership roles, and new ones, such as women’s vulnerability to climate change. “The situation of women has improved remarkably over ...

The European Union’s delegation to Cambodia will almost triple its funding to the Kingdom over the next five years because the bloc’s aid policy has shifted its focus to least developed countries. Jean-François Cautain, ambassador for the European Union’s delegation to Cambodia, announced the EU would ...

Provincial authorities in Ratanakkiri province on the Vietnam border have yet to allow a team of UN workers to actively seek out a group of Montagnards potentially seeking asylum. UN refugee workers met with provincial officials for more than an hour on Wednesday, but no permission ...

The Cambodian government is nearing completion of a policy aimed at strengthening the Kingdom’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a senior official said yesterday. Minister for Industry and Handicraft Cham Prasidh yesterday told reporters his ministry was preparing a comprehensive SME policy with the purpose of ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen returned from South Korea on Monday having struck a series of deals with Seoul, including an agreement to explore the creation of a South Korean-funded agricultural university in Cambodia, according to one of Mr. Hun Sen’s advisers. Speaking to reporters at Phnom ...

The Cambodian government will allow UN representatives to seek out a group of Montagnards reportedly in hiding in Ratanakkiri province. Interior Minister Sar Kheng gave the green light for UN offices of human rights and refugees to look into the case, where at least 13 Montagnards ...

Plans for a universal health care system will be included in the 10-year strategy to strengthen Cambodia’s social welfare, according to a government official, as a new report reveals almost three-quarters of Cambodians lack any legal health coverage. The study, released this week by the International ...

Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen has committed to stopping new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections by 2020, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said. The news came following Cambodian government’s decision to allocate $3.7 million from 2015 to 2017 to HIV treatment. ...

The European Union has agreed to investigate forced displacement claims in relation to Cambodia’s troubled sugar industry. The move could see thousands of villagers compensated for illegally confiscated land and loss of earnings. The Clean Sugar Campaign – which has been calling on the EU to ...

A UN delegation met with Ratanakkiri province’s deputy police chief yesterday afternoon to discuss the fate of 13 Montagnard asylum seekers who have been hiding in the province in recent weeks. The provincial administration, however, has continued to call for the group’s deportation. Deputy police chief ...

A UN special rapporteur will take the cause of Cambodia’s land-eviction battles and the abuses faced by those waging them to the UN Human Rights Council, according to a report released today. Michel Forst, the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, will file ...