Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

The Foreign Affairs Ministry expects to complete construction on its first training institute for local diplomats in the next 18 months, officials said Monday. Foreign Affairs Ministry spokes-man Chum Sounry said work on the National Institute for Diplomatic and Relations of International Study began in December. ...

Thai officials will next month waive fees at border gates to allow workers from Cambodia to return home for the New Year. The Cambodian embassy in Thailand yesterday confirmed the move to Khmer Times and said the free pass will apply to all Cambodian workers and ...

Foreign Affairs Minister Prak Sokhonn said yesterday that the Cambodian embassies and consulates abroad lack sufficient financial resources, with Prime Minister Hun Sen immediately promising $2 million for the ministry to upgrade embassies’ motor pools – albeit within reason, he cautioned. ...

With 10 days remaining until a government-imposed deadline for the U.N.’s human rights office to either sign a new agreement to operate in the country or close down, there is no sign that the two sides have come any closer to reaching a deal. ...

The United Kingdom’s bilateral trade dealing with Cambodia will remain unchanged in light of ongoing negotiations on the UK’s position within the European Union, a senior British trade official said yesterday. ...

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been asked to investigate cases of mistreatment of Cambodian migrant workers imprisoned in foreign jails, the Foreign Ministry announced this week. ...

Minister in Charge of Border Affairs Var Kimhong yesterday moved to quash the latest outbreak of rumours that National Assembly President Heng Samrin’s native village of Thlok Trach would be given to Vietnam in a land swap. ...

Police patrolling the Thai border yesterday stopped close to 160 Cambodians who were attempting to illegally cross into Thailand from Banteay Meanchey province to work. Chan Mab, the police chief in O’bey Chorn district, told Khmer Times that his men were tipped off that 157 Cambodians ...

In the first nine months of the year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cambodian embassies abroad have helped nearly 600 Cambodians who went to live and work abroad, legally or illegally, to return home. Foreign Ministry spokesman Chum Sounry said yesterday that the ministry and ...

Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn defended the government before the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Saturday, saying that the ruling party was being held to unrealistic expectations of a “perfect democracy” while the opposition was “committing very serious crimes.” Delivering his first major address to ...

The National Election Committee (NEC) and all political parties should urge citizens – including those overseas – to register to vote, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday, even as a prominent opposition lawmaker accused the government of offering “nothing” to enfranchise Cambodia’s thousands of migrant workers. ...

Foreign Affairs Minister Prak Sokhonn will attend the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) next week where he will join Asean foreign ministers, UN officials and heads of delegations from various countries, according to a statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen is slated to travel to Vietnam soon to meet with senior officials, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced, a trip that will follow a meeting on border affairs between the two states that concluded without reaching an accord in Phnom ...

The Vietnamese government distanced itself on Wednesday from angry posts its citizens made on Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Facebook page, saying the platform should not be used to inflame tensions between “good neighbors.” The statement from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stopped short, however, ...

Ten migrant workers, including four women, were repatriated to Cambodia this week after being arrested and imprisoned in Malaysia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday. They join six others who were also repatriated from a Malaysian prison earlier this month. The ministry issued a statement ...

Zaman school officials and parents yesterday urged the Cambodian government not to shutter the schools as the Turkish Ambassador to Cambodia Ilhan Tug has requested, saying students will ultimately suffer. The Turkish Embassy has repeatedly called for the schools’ closure in recent weeks, citing their links ...

The number of Cambodian women now thought to be caught in Saudi Arabia’s sex industry after being trafficked in the past year has risen to more than 20, officials said on Wednesday. However, the government remained tight-lipped about its efforts to rescue the women, while two ...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Monday that it was reviewing a diplomatic request from Turkey to close Zaman-operated schools in Phnom Penh because of their alleged ties to an organization being blamed for last month’s failed coup in the country. ...

Announcing that more than 160,000 immigrants are living in Cambodia without proper documentation, the Interior Ministry on Friday said it would give the majority of the group an opportunity to stay in the country, while the opposition pushed for a blanket deportation. ...

The Foreign Affairs Ministry on Tuesday refuted the claims of two women who say they saw inmates at a Malaysian detention depot fatally beaten by guards earlier this year, including fellow Cambodians.   ...

Cambodia’s development “could not be detached” from Chinese aid, Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong said on Monday, joining a chorus of officials from both parties praising a relationship that appears to be deepening over similar stances on the South China Sea.   ...

 Cambodia’s foreign minister, Prak Sokhon, has said that the country is working behind the scenes to mediate disputes between its ally China and partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations over the South China Sea. ...

Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon defended Cambodia’s position on the South China Sea issue during a press conference at the Foreign Ministry yesterday, denying accusations that the Kingdom’s opposition to any joint Asean statement in support of the Philippines was tied to large loans and grants ...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday issued a statement reiterating government policy laid out expressly by Prime Minister Hun Sen in recent speeches, saying Cambodia will not support Tuesday’s expected arbitration decision at the Hague in the South China Sea territorial dispute between China ...