Development policy and administration

UNESCO and the Ministry of Education on Monday launched a two-month joint campaign to raise the adult literacy rate to 84.4 percent by the end of the year by airing television and radio spots to encourage enrollment in after-school literacy classes. ...

The appropriate scope of a controversial proposed ban on NGOs “insulting” political parties in election campaigns on Monday continued to divide the CPP and CNRP during talks to amend the nation’s election law, with the negotiating teams deciding to pass the issue on to their ...

A CPP-aligned youth group and a regional road-safety NGO on Tuesday launched a $1.2 million, two-year pilot program to educate Cambodians about the importance of wearing helmets while driving or riding as passengers on motorbikes. ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

When Hay Bunny left her home in Prey Veng province some five years ago to find a job in Phnom Penh, she was not expecting to wind up living in a small tin shack hemmed in by dozens of nearly identical dwellings on a single ...

Cambodian scholars have voiced their support to Chinese President Xi Jinping for his announcement of China’s contribution of 40 billion U.S. dollars for the establishment of a Silk Road Fund, saying that such a fund is vital for developing countries. Chheang Vannarith, senior researcher of ...

With agriculture still the mainstay of its economy, Cambodia is seeking to reform rural communities in partnership with Korea to shore up residents’ livelihoods and boost grain exports. The Southeast Asian country is seeking to follow in the footsteps of the “Saemaeul Undong,” or New Community ...

Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Thursday to a joint cooperation plan on tourism, but Preah Vihear temple was left out of the loop. The two countries pledged to cooperate on tourism in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in Phnom Penh by the two countries ...

Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said Thursday that reopening an entrance to the 11th century Preah Vihear Temple from the Thai side was ” unnecessary” since the country has enough infrastructures to serve tourists to this world heritage temple. ...

Cambodia must do more than open its borders for trade and investment if it hopes to benefit from regional economic integration and reduce the glaring economic inequality wrought by entrenched patronage networks and corrupt institutions, according to a new report by the Asian Development Bank ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday signed to provide grant and loan agreements worth nearly 99 million U.S. dollars to Cambodia for three development projects, the bank said in a press statement.​ The agreements cover a rural roads improvement project, a technical and vocational ...

Cambodians have experienced one of the largest drops in the rate of hunger in the world over the past quarter century, though the situation in the country still remains “serious,” according to a new report by three international NGOs. Cambodia cut its score in the ...

For 70-year-old Chan Shay, the choice between working through old age and a retirement in poverty is an obvious one. Shay, a cyclo taxi driver in Phnom Penh, said that while he dreams of retiring to his home in Takeo province, in reality he can see ...

The Ministry of Culture on Tuesday introduced the country’s first strategic cultural policy, an ambitious plan that includes setting up provincial cultural centers, launching arts education in schools, holding annual cultural events and promoting individual artists. Speaking to an audience that included representatives from the leading ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday that the country needs about 11 billion U.S. dollars for public investment to support the implementation of the government’s priorities from 2013 to 2018. ...

The Council of Ministers on Friday approved a three-year $5.24 billion “public investment program”—a package of several hundred projects from 2015 to 2017 designed to help the government reach its goal of 7 percent annual growth or better. ...

The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation between Cambodia and China has been providing “more favourable conditions” for economic, trade and investment ties between the two countries, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister Sok An said on Sunday. ...

Cambodia on Monday launched a five-year policy and action plan for early childhood care and development with an aim to increase enrollment and enhance protection for children aged less than six years old. ...

The Ministry of Planning is to release today preliminary results of Cambodia’s first agricultural industry census, which promises to provide the biggest ever snapshot of the key sector. According to a press release issued yesterday by the ministry, the census’ preliminary results will include the number ...

In the face of an increase in work-related injuries, government officials gathered in Phnom Penh on Tuesday to start work on a new plan to reduce workplace accidents and to reflect on their achievements over the past five years. ...

The Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday released a draft policy to strengthen the agriculture sector by educating farmers on how to gain greater access to markets and increase their productivity by using sustainable farming methods. The Agriculture Extension Policy, drafted in cooperation with USAID, aims to ...