Ministries and other national bodies
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Gov’t lifts farming ban on K Thom floodplains
The Council of Ministers has granted farmers in Kompong Thom province permission to start farming on the floodplains of the Tonle Sap lake in an area previously off limits and home to flooded forests that provide a critical fish breeding habitat. The Council of Ministers’ notice, ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-lifts-farming-ban-on-k-thom-floodplains-66008/
M’kiri villagers seize wood from rubber firm
Villagers in Mondolkiri province this week seized four trucks transporting luxury-grade timber out of a plantation they accuse of logging outside its government-granted land concession and turned the haul over to local authorities. The ethnic minority Banong villagers accuse Villa Development, which owns a local rubber ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/mkiri-villagers-seize-wood-from-rubber-firm-66002/
Cassava farmers plead for gov’t help
Cassava farmers are calling on the government to standardise prices and help stabilise demand as the market for the root crop continues to prove risky for growers. Cassava exports totalled 226,000 tonnes in the first six months of the year, down 21 per cent from a ...
Chan Muyhong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cassava-farmers-plead-gov%E2%80%99t-help
Government rolls out new agriculture policy
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 ...
Kang Sothear and George Styllis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/government-rolls-out-new-agriculture-policy-65282/
South Korean Embassy defends rubber firm, but villagers want its help
Villagers representing families in Kratie province petitioned the South Korean Embassy for help Tuesday in their dispute with a South Korean agribusiness firm, after hearing that the embassy had lodged a complaint against them. About 200 villagers from Kratie province’s Snuol district are staying at the ...
Aun Pheap and George Wright
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/south-korean-embassy-defends-rubber-firm-but-villagers-want-its-help-65263/
Cambodia's rubber exports up 91 pct in H1
Cambodia has seen a 91 percent rise in dry rubber exports in the first half of 2014 as revenue from the exports increased only 3 percent due to global decline of rubber prices. During the January-June period this year, the country exported 42,190 tons of dry ...
ASEAN-China Center News Staff
http://www.asean-china-center.org/english/2014-07/29/c_133518119.htm
Forestry revenues falling short
Rights groups have called on the government to increase tax rates for logging companies amid the latest domestic revenue figures. According to the Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, timber exports produced $9.4 million in government tax revenue during the first half of the year, up ...
Chan Muyhong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/forestry-revenues-falling-short
Planned dams threaten Cambodia’s food security
The planned construction of 88 hydroelectric dams in the lower Mekong basin by 2030 will cause food security challenges in Cambodia, experts say. “Cambodia is going to pay the highest price for dam development basin-wide, to the point of affecting the food security of its 80 ...
Gant Daily News Staff
http://gantdaily.com/2014/07/28/planned-dams-threaten-cambodias-food-security/
Illicit fishballs to be destroyed after seizure
Economic crimes police on Wednesday arrested a woman and seized 3 tons of low-quality fishballs, claiming she had illegally imported the potentially dangerous meat. Kandal province resident Chan Thea, 37, was stopped in Phnom Penh while en route to Battambang—where police believe she was planning to ...
Ouch Sony
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/illicit-fishballs-to-be-destroyed-after-seizure-64808/
To fight illegal logging, officials seek out saws
Desperate to cut down on illegal logging, Kampong Thom forestry officials are trying out a new strategy: disarming loggers before they can get to the trees by cracking down on chainsaw dealers and other sellers of equipment used to fell trees. On Sunday night, the Baray ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/fight-illegal-logging-officials-seek-out-saws
Cambodia Faces Key Challenges in Effort to Tackle HIV/AIDS
Cambodia’s efforts to tackle HIV/AIDS over the past 15 years have won it praise, and put it well ahead of many other low-income countries. But some of those most involved in the fight against AIDS are worried that an array of challenges could see some of ...
Robert Carmichael
http://www.voanews.com/content/cambodia-faces-key-challenges-in-effort-to-takckle-hiv-aids/1961705.html
Illegal fishing battle heats up
When authorities in Kampong Chhnang province on Friday encountered and pursued the boat of alleged illegal fisherman Chieb Ou, they couldn’t have expected to find themselves being chased instead. But that’s precisely what happened when, rather than surrendering, the 42-year-old suspect turned his boat towards the ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/illegal-fishing-battle-heats
How Cambodia’s secretive timber auctions are fueling the illegal logging trade
In the predawn hours of May 6, a flatbed truck packed with lengths of illegally logged timber sped past a checkpoint in Ratanakkiri province, knocking aside a police car and racing off. Police later tracked down the truck to a house in Banlung City. In the ...
Zsombor Peter and Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/how-cambodias-secretive-timber-auctions-are-fueling-the-illegal-logging-trade-63919/
Italy steps up fight against Cambodian rice
Rice farmers in Italy plan to block four major grain exchanges in the country this week over what they say is the European Union’s failure to keep Italian rice competitive against that of cheaper Asian rivals including Cambodia, which is given duty-free access to European ...
George Styllis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/italy-steps-up-fight-against-cambodian-rice-63945/
Soldier suspected of smuggling wood escapes in hail of bullets
Authorities in Kompong Thom province are searching for a soldier suspected of smuggling rosewood who shot at police while making his getaway through a maze of narrow streets on Saturday morning. Provincial police chief Chou Sam An said his officers received a call from a deputy ...
Companies regrow ‘forests’
More than 100,000 hectares of forest have been replanted across the country since 2008, according to a government report – but about 90 per cent of that amount can be chalked up to private plantations. Produced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the report, ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/companies-regrow-%E2%80%98forests%E2%80%99
As fish stocks vanish, locals flout law to survive
Khan Thea, a subsistence fisherman who lives and works along this sprawling, 7,000-hectare lake fed by the Mekong River, was not having a good day on the water. Struggling to net even a single fish, he finally resorted to a dangerous—and illegal—technique: fishing with electric current. ...
Phorn Bopha and Alex Consiglio
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/as-fish-stocks%E2%80%88vanish-locals-flout-law-to-survive-63567/
EU ban on Cambodian fish remains in place
More than one year after its fish products were banned from Europe, the industry and government has done little to ensure it will be lifted. The ban, instituted in early 2013, has hurt potential fish exports to a potentially lucrative trade partner. But EU officials say Cambodia ...
Suy Heimkhemra
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/eu-ban-on-cambodian-fish-remains-in-place/1952962.html
Companies warned over slow development of ELCs
Provincial government officials in Stung Treng have warned companies granted economic land concessions (ELCs) in the province to fulfil their promised development plans or face losing their rights to the land. Touch Thea, director of the Stung Treng provincial department of agriculture, said the call for ...
Chan Muyhong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/companies-warned-over-slow-development-elcs
Acacia chip exports to receive tax break: PM
The tax imposed on the export of acacia chips is to be abolished to help boost exports of the locally grown raw product, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on Monday. Speaking at the grand opening of Aeon Mall, Hun Sen said that acacia chips exported to ...
Chan Muyhong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/acacia-chip-exports-receive-tax-break-pm
Cambodia's fisheries production rises 6.7 pct in 2013
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Ouk Rabun said Tuesday that Cambodia’s fisheries production rose 6.7 percent from a year earlier to 728,000 tonnes last year. Speaking at a National Fish Day ceremony at Kdol Reservoir in Peam commune in Samaki Meanchey district in Kampong Chhnang province, ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=NDdkYzhiNTdlYzQ
More ministers to be questioned in National Assembly
The National Assembly decided to summon three ministers to answer lawmakers’ questions on the work performance of their respective ministries, a lawmaker said Friday. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=N2U0NDU5NTZmYmI
India’s rice dump may impact local exports
With the Indian government set to inject five million tonnes of rice in to its domestic market, Cambodia’s rice producers fear that any spillover into the global rice trade may impact local exports. David Van, acting secretary-general of a newly established Cambodia Rice Federation, said ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/india%E2%80%99s-rice-dump-may-impact-local-exports
Parliament to summon 3 ministers for questioning
The National Assembly plans to summon three ministers for questioning over compensation to families who will be displaced or harmed by development projects, officials from the National Assembly said Sunday. Cheam Yeap, a senior CPP lawmaker, said the National Assembly would write to Environment Minister Say ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/parliament-to-summon-3-ministers-for-questioning-62093/