International relations

The Cambodian government should construct an effective annual review system for the minimum wage to ease worker unrest, according to clothing retail giant H&M. The Swedish company’s comments came after CEO Karl-Johan Persson visited the country in mid-October, meeting Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen and other ...

The U.N.’s envoy for freedom of as­sembly on Tuesday presented a report to the U.N. General Assem­bly that calls for an approach to election monitoring that looks be­yond polling day to assess wheth­er elections in countries such as Cambodia are “free and fair.” The report, compiled ...

It has been one year since Cambodia announced that it was lifting its ban on intercountry adoptions beginning January 1, 2013, but despite praising Cambodia’s efforts to implement international regulations, countries that ban adoptions of Cambodians said this week that they were no closer to ...

PTT Plc, Thailand’s giant oil and gas conglomerate, has renewed its concession with the Cambodian government to provide jet fuel services for another five years at airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Senior executive vice-president Auttapol Rerkpiboon said PTT will provide jet fuel service at ...

China on Thursday donated one million U.S. dollars to Cambodia for the relief of the flood- affected people. Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Bu Jianguo handed over the cash donation to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace in the Cambodian capital. Bu, on behalf of ...

Germany’s new ambassador to Cambodia, Joachim Baron von Marschall, said Wednesday during a meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong that he hoped the country’s ruling CPP and opposition CNRP would meet to resolve the post-election uncertainty, an official said. “His Excellency [Mr. Baron von Marschall] ...

The United States embassy in Phnom Penh contains an intelligence-gathering operation that amasses information about Cambodia, the Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday, citing a map first published in Germany’s Der Spiegel. The Herald article referenced some 90 international surveillance sites, including ones housed in embassies in neighbouring Jakarta, Yangon, Bangkok and ...

Teenage pregnancies are hindering Cambodia’s development as young mothers are unlikely to finish school and therefore lack job opportunities, government and U.N. officials said at the launch of a global report on adolescent pregnancies on Wednesday. “The Ministry of Women’s Affairs acknowledges that adolescent pregnancies have ...

Malaysia has not yet received a draft agreement aimed at protecting Cambodian migrant domestic workers from abuse, but the government is pressing Cambodia to lift its two-year moratorium on sending maids, a Malaysian official said Wednesday. In October 2011, Prime Minister Hun Sen imposed a ban ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday charged convicted British pedophile Richard Fruin, 36, with sexually abusing two brothers, aged 8 and 11, at a guesthouse in Phnom Penh, court officials said. While the court has yet to decide Fruin’s fate, his case—and many similar ...

Bangkok Bank has urged Thai businesses to have a more active role in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) in terms of trading activities and investment, in order to tap the growing middle-class market in those countries. Speaking at the bank’s “Trade Logistics in Greater Mekong Sub-region: ...

Cambodia ranked 137 out of 189 countries in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2014 report released Tuesday, the first drop in at least two years that shows conducting business in the country is becoming more difficult. The report ranks countries in 10 categories, including starting a ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government as the two sides remained stalled in talks in a deadlock over disputed national elections. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) said in a public statement that it could not guarantee that any agreements made with Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian ...

A group of NGOs condemned rampant abuses of sexual and reproductive health rights in Cambodia last week, just days before the government submitted a human rights progress report to the United Nations. The Cambodian Center for Human Rights, in cooperation with the Asia Pacific Network of ...

Cambodia failed Monday to make its deadline to submit a key human rights report—known as the universal period review (UPR)—to the U.N., said Mak Sambath, deputy chairman of the government’s Human Rights Committee. Having missed the submission deadline, the government is now hoping to get its ...

Trade and tourism between Indonesia and Cambodia is growing but the two countries can still increase cooperation in those fields, according to participants in the 7th Indonesian Trade and Tourism Promotion exhibition on Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich on Sunday. The sale of Indonesian pharmaceuticals, food products ...

Cambodian President of the National Assembly Heng Samrin on Monday expressed his satisfactions with China-Cambodia relations and cooperation and vowed to further enhance for the benefits of the two countries and peoples. He made the remarks during a meeting with Lei Yulan, vice- chairwoman of the ...

About 1,000 maids from Cambodia are expected to be available every month in once the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Malaysia and Cambodia on the matter is signed. The MoU, which is being finalised by both governments, would see the lifting of the ban on Cambodians ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday urged Chinese companies to focus their investments in processing plants for agricultural products in order to help increase the country’s productivity for exports. The premier made the suggestion during a meeting with a visiting Chinese delegation led by Wang ...

Singapore signed two energy-related Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with Cambodia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), at the Singapore Energy Summit on Monday. This is part of its efforts to strengthen partnerships in the energy sector. Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr S Iswaran, ...

The government will today submit its second report to the UN Human Rights Council as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process that takes stock of human rights progress in each UN member state. Governments are required to report to the council every four and ...

Cambodia has made little progress on gender equality and is the lowest-ranked country in the region, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2013 Gender Gap Index released Friday, slipping a place from last year to rank 104 out of 136 countries. The index examines the ...

Cambodia will submit a human rights report to the U.N. today for a universal periodic review (UPR), the second time it is participating in the process, according to the Council of Ministers’ Press and Quick Reaction Unit. Under the UPR process established in 2006, the Human ...

Despite the disputed territory near Phra Viharn Temple, Thai-Cambodian border trade is still normal as 150,000 billion baht cash flow is expected by the end of 2013. According to the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC), border trade along the disputed area around Phra Viharn Temple ...