Government
International relations
Standard forms aim for public bid transparency
The Ministry of Economy and Finance on Monday announced the release of standardised bidding forms for public contracts, a measure it said would increase transparency and accountability, though the opposition and Transparency International Cambodia offered more cautious assessments yesterday. According to a state media announcement, the ...
Stuart White
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/standard-forms-aim-public-bid-transparency
Baby formula brands place profit above health
Dara Raksmey, the owner of a pharmacy of the same name on Phnom Penh’s Street 294, keeps a record of every can of Dumex baby formula she sells. “If you buy six large cans you get a scooter and if you buy 12 large cans you ...
Ouch Sony and George Wright
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/baby-formula-brands-place-profit-above-health-58635/
Tea Banh denies supporting Russia
Minister of Defence Tea Banh yesterday denied allegations that Cambodia supported Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Local media reported yesterday that during a meeting with the defence minister on Monday, Russian Ambassador Dmitry Tsvetkov thanked the Kingdom for supporting Moscow in the recent secession crisis in Ukraine ...
Cheang Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/tea-banh-denies-supporting-russia
Deal would send workers to Saudi Arabia
Cambodia is nearing a deal that would open a pipeline of workers to Saudi Arabia, a country where Southeast Asian migrants have in the past been abused and even executed for crimes that include “sorcery”. Following a meeting in Hanoi last week with Saudi Ambassador Salah ...
Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/deal-would-send-workers-saudi-arabia
After strong start, city bus’ future unclear
After a monthlong test run saw 10 buses often filled with passengers, a Chinese-owned company promised in early March to inject millions into the project and add hundreds of new buses. But Global Trade Development left the project last month after the municipality refused to grant ...
Hul Reaksmey and Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/after-strong-start-city-bus-future-unclear-58640/
Cambodian PM due on Friday
Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen is expected to pay a 3-day official visit to Dhaka from Friday to further expanding and strengthening trade relations and cooperation in agriculture sector between the two countries. During the visit, sources said Dhaka is expected to seek long-term ...
The Daily Star
http://www.thedailystar.net/cambodian-pm-due-on-friday-23869
MEA, WAPCOS sign agreements for assisting Cambodia in water resources management
The Ministry of External Affairs today signed two agreements with the public sector WAPCOS Limited for assisting Cambodia in water resources management. One of the agreements is on Study of Ground Water Resources of Kampong Spue Province in Cambodia and the other on Development of ...
NetIndian News Network
http://netindian.in/news/2014/05/14/00029084/mea-wapcos-sign-agreements-assisting-cambodia-water-resources-management
Court temporarily halts lease transfer for victory beach
Russian businessmen Nikolai Doroshenko and Sergei Polonsky are locked in a legal dispute over Sihanoukville’s Victory Beach following Mr. Polonsky’s release from prison last month, according to copies of court documents obtained Monday. The Preah Sihanouk provincial court has temporarily prevented Mr. Doroshenko from transferring the ...
Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/court-temporarily-halts-lease-transfer-for-victory-beach-58598/
Illegal wood exports to China tripled in 2013
Cambodia’s exports of protected rosewood and other high-value timber to China more than tripled last year, according to U.N. figures cited in a new report that blames lax law enforcement across the Mekong region and skyrocketing demand in China for pushing some species to the ...
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/illegal-wood-exports-to-china-tripled-in-2013-58593/
Bag snatchings jump: EU
After being presented with statistics showing a more than 100 per cent rise in petty crime against foreigners, Minister of Interior Sar Kheng yesterday called on police officials to look into what’s causing the problem. Nicolas Baudouin, a spokesman for the French Embassy, confirmed that a ...
Vong Sokheng and Joe Freeman
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/bag-snatchings-jump-eu
ASEAN not take sides in South China Sea disputes: Cambodian official
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) did not take any sides in South China Sea disputes, but supported the settlement of the disputes based on international law and agreed documents, a senior Cambodian official said in Phnom Penh on Sunday. “ASEAN made the statement based on a principle that ...
Cambodian King returns from visit to France
Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni arrived in Phnom Penh, capital city of Cambodia, on Monday morning after the tour to France for two weeks to strengthen and expand bilateral ties and cooperation. ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-05/12/c_133327201.htm
HRW says trial of Stung Meanchey pair ‘flawed’
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has labeled the trial of two teenagers arrested during the lethal suppression of a garment sector strike in November 12 as “deeply flawed” and said that the pair should be spared prison sentences. In a statement Sunday, the rights organization claims that ...
George Wright
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hrw-says-trial-of-stung-meanchey-pair-flawed-58483/
Ivory haul investigation kept under wraps
Customs officials over the weekend said they will shed no further light on Friday’s massive haul of three tons of illegal elephant ivory at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port—Cambodia’s biggest-ever ivory seizure—until investigations are complete and a case can be sent to court. A scan on containers that ...
Saing Soenthrith
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ivory-haul-investigation-kept-under-wraps-58470/
Villagers in Svay Rieng angry over planned canal
More than 200 villagers from three communes in Svay Rieng province on Saturday protested against a proposal to build a huge irrigation canal through their land, a local official said Sunday. The planned canal would stretch across Kraol Kor, Svay Yea and Chhoeuteal communes in Svay ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-in-svay-rieng-angry-over-planned-canal-58480/
Family of Dave Walker says evidence points to murder
Friends and family of Canadian journalist Dave Walker, whose badly decomposed body was found on May 1 in Siem Reap province, have issued new statements accusing the Cambodian and Canadian governments of being complicit in what they say was his murder. According to a statement posted ...
Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/family-of-dave-walker-says-evidence-points-to-murder-58443/
Cambodia urges Asean to issue statement on Thai political turmoil
Cambodia’s premier Hun Sen has urged Asean leaders to make a statement on Thailand’s ongoing political turmoil Sunday at a regional summit being hosted for the first time by Myanmar. Hun Sen proposed the statement at a morning meeting of Asean leaders. He is a close ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=ZGU4YzIyOGRmMjJ
Lao Dam troubles Mekong waters
Being landlocked and poor has always placed Laos at a disadvantage to its more powerful neighbors. The only body of water that offers Vientiane an international reach is the Mekong River, which flows through the heartland of Southeast Asia. Now, that river, which laps the western ...
Marwaan Macan-Markar
http://www.irrawaddy.org/asia/magazine-regional/lao-dam-troubles-mekong-waters.html
Cambodian PM orders troops along border with Thailand to stay calm
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday advised armed forces and local authorities along border with Thailand to keep calm. Cambodia and Thailand has had a bitter border dispute since July 2008 when the UNESCO added the Cambodia’s Preah Vihear temple to its World Heritage ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-05/09/c_133322374.htm
Groups want US help in improving transparency in extractive industries
Anti-corruption advocates say they want the US government to help them push for transparency in the extractive industries, as ongoing mining continues to disrupt the lives of many Cambodians. At least 120 companies, most of them Chinese, have obtained mining licenses in the last decade, as ...
Xu Qiliang visits Chinese doctors working in Cambodian military hospital
Xu Qiliang, visiting vice- chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, on Thursday visited a group of 10 Chinese doctors working at the Preah Ketomelea Hospital, known as the Military Hospital, in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Xu was accompanied by Chay Saing Yun, secretary ...
Asean-China-Center News Staff
http://www.asean-china-center.org/english/2014-05/09/c_133322029.htm
Cambodia seizes 3 tons trafficked ivory tusks at sea port
Cambodian customs officers on Friday morning confiscated around three tons of elephant tusks at the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port in Southwestern Preah Sihanouk province. In February, customs officers nabbed two Vietnamese men at the Siem Reap International Airport for smuggling 79.5 kg of illegal elephant tusks ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-05/09/c_133321744.htm
Media experts fear online restrictions in Vietnam, Cambodia
Media experts warn that Vietnam continues to restrict social media, and Cambodia could be following suit. At a forum in Washington to mark World Press Freedom Day on May 3, panelists said online and traditional media activities have been restricted by Vietnamese authorities. The forum, ...
Sok Khemara,
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/media-experts-fear-online-restrictions-in-vietnam-cambodia/1910603.html
Report shows workforce still lacks skills
Cambodia lacks the skilled labor force necessary to advance the economy and the government must find ways to create more valuable work as it faces fierce regional and international competition, according to a new report released Thursday by the World Bank. The report, “East Asia Pacific ...
Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/report-shows-workforce-still-lacks-skills-58432/