Aid and development

The Cambodian Red Cross, which bills itself as the country’s largest humanitarian organization, is building a six-story luxury hotel in Preah Vihear City. Government officials said Tuesday that the hotel would be used to generate revenue for the Cambodian Red Cross (CRC). The hotel is being ...

The National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) said Tuesday that it needs an additional $217 million from donors and NGOs to help recovery efforts from the floods of September and October 2013. A document accompanying the Post-Flood Early Recovery Needs Assessment Report, prepared by the ...

Cambodia’s 11-year-old investment law may be the most liberal in the region, according to the World Bank, but in practice, day-to-day business operations are far from simple, economists and business operators say. Mey Kalyan, senior adviser to the Supreme National Economic Council, said that despite a ...

Like mob deals and black market trades, the Cambodian school budget is dealt in suitcases of cash. Four times a year, the school operating budget is dispersed in stacks of cash transferred from the central bank to the Ministry of Education, eventually ending up with the ...

In 2011, Oeun Phirun took out a $450 loan from the Asian Development Bank, using half to buy a used motorbike and spending the rest on a small flock of ducks and chickens he hoped to raise. His family and about 1,000 others have been evicted ...

Dangerous political instability in Cambodia could put asylum seekers at grave risk, a leading academic has warned, as Immigration Minister Scott Morrison gave his strongest indication yet that refugees may be resettled there. University of NSW emeritus professor Carl Thayer said he was shocked the government would ...

Education Ministry officials on Monday confirmed that the ministry would no longer organize or oversee the junior high school exam, delegating the process to individual schools. As part of Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron’s reform of the graft-riddled education system, his ministry will forgo coordination of ...

The United Nations independent expert on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, expressed concern today that the country’s National Assembly held its second session last week without the opposition representatives taking up their seat, and urged the legislature to upkeep the key principles of ...

The World Bank upwardly revised Monday its GDP growth forecast for Cambodia this year to 7.2 percent, up from its October projection of 7.0 percent. In explaining the higher forecast, the bank’s East Asia and Pacific Economic Update pointed to “the expectation of renewed confidence and ...

The World Bank says Cambodia has the most open foreign direct investment regime in ASEAN while Thailand has the most restrictive. In a report released Monday, the bank also said that Cambodia had recently emerged as ASEAN’s second-biggest recipient of foreign direct investment in the agricultural ...

In a rare moment of honesty a Cambodian official has admitted his doubts about his country’s ability to meet regional expectations in time for the launch of the much vaunted ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the end of 2015. “If you talk about short-term: Yes, we ...

A weekend storm surge that saw torrential downpours hit the capital had far more dire consequences outside of Phnom Penh, where hundreds of families were affected and at least one man was killed. At least 675 homes in eight provinces were damaged in sudden thunderstorms that ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen flew Friday to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to attend the second Summit of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), which will be held on Saturday. The premier was accompanied by Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology Lim Kean Hor, Environment Minister ...

Political analysts at the US-based Heritage Foundation say relations with Cambodia are overdue for reform. In a recent analysis, “Promoting True Democratic Transition in Cambodia,” the Washington think tank says the 2013 elections, which the opposition claims were marred by widespread fraud, offer a chance to ...

The government yesterday accused Licadho of producing wildly misleading figures on land grabs, following the rights group’s announcement earlier this week that land conflicts in Cambodia have affected more than half a million people since 2000. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Sar Sovan, secretary of ...

A draft law meant to improve the maintenance and construction of Cambodia’s dilapidating roads was passed yesterday in a one-sided session of the National Assembly that saw ruling party lawmakers lambast Public Works and Transport Minister Tram Iv Tek for his allegedly poor stewardship. ...

Toll Royal Railway, the private operator of Cambodia’s train service, has no system in place to regularly inspect the state of its tracks, and lacks qualified inspectors to check either tracks or bridges, according to a recent safety audit of the firm’s Phnom Penh operations. The ...

The National Assembly of Cambodia on Thursday ratified a protocol on the investment promotion and protection agreement between the governments of Cambodia and Vietnam. All 64 lawmakers of the ruling party, who were present at the parliamentary session, unanimously approved the protocol as the opposition party’s ...

The United States on Thursday handed over underwater demining equipment to the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC)’s Underwater Demining Unit in northern Kampong Chhnang province, said a press statement from the US Embassy. US Ambassador William E. Todd delivered the equipment, including inflatable boats, air compressors, ...

The work of fourth Cambodia-China Friendship Bridge has almost been completed after a 16-month construction, a contractor said Thursday. He Luesa, head of Shanghai Construction (Group) General Company’ s construction team, said the construction of a 855 meters by 13.5 meters Takhmao Bridge across Tonle Bassac ...

Officials said two people were killed on Tuesday by separate lightning strikes in Pailin and Kompong Cham provinces as the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology issued a warning about seasonal storms spreading across the country. Searing temperatures and the approach of wet season ignited the ...

In the wake of two deaths from separate lightning strikes this week, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology issued a notice yesterday warning against potentially devastating storms lasting from today until Sunday. ...

The Asian Development Bank on Tuesday said it expects Cambodia’s economic growth to slow slightly in 2014. In its annual “Asian Development Outlook,” the bank said it expects to see a drop in the rate from about 7.2 percent last year to 7 percent this year ...

Following a scathing report from its internal watchdog about the resettlement of thousands of Cambodian families affected by a national railway rehabilitation project that it is funding, the Asian Development Bank has agreed with the government on an action plan for further compensation, it said ...