Ministries and other national bodies

Child sex tourism is continuing to damage the lives of young Cambodians, while the internet is enabling perpetrators to carry out abuse, the Justice Minister has warned.​ ...

Activists and a fisherman yesterday claimed that a company has started sand dredging within a wildlife sanctuary in Koh Kong, despite a standing ban on sand exports from companies operating in coastal areas. ...

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said yesterday that next month’s Grade 12 high school exams will largely follow the same process as the past few years, though a spokesman noted that new subject “experts” will be introduced to help spot grading errors. ...

Speed Pay Plc, a newly licensed electronic payments service provider (PSP), is gearing up to join the ranks of mobile platforms tapping into Cambodia’s nascent digital payment sector. ...

Minister of Labour Ith Samheng yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with his Japanese counterparts to make it easier for Cambodian trainees to find work in Japan. ...

The Sambor Prei Kuk archaeological site, a cluster of ancient brick temples scat-tered in the forest in Kampong Thom province, was listed as a World Heritage Site of Unesco on Saturday. ...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has officially instructed the Cambodian Embassy in Malaysia to investigate agencies that ask for exorbitant passport renewal fees for workers there, according to a statement released on Friday, though some sources said corruption in the Passport Department itself is part ...

China is expected to purchase 300,000 tonnes of rubber from Cambodia in 2018, according to a commerce ministry statement.​ ...

The Ministry of Labour has announced plans of a month-long research campaign into the living standards of garment and footwear factory workers prior to setting a minimum wage in 2018. ...

The Thai government has agreed to set up stations across Thailand where Cambodian illegal migrant workers can register for documents that will allow them to stay and work in the country, Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng said at a news conference on Thursday. ...

Anti-economic crime police from the Interior Ministry yesterday seized more than four tonnes of illegal medicine in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district.​ ...

The Ministry of Tourism is to collaborate with Yunnan’s Tourism and Vocational Training Institution to develop human resources in tourism and seek the methodology to attract more Chinese tourists to visit Cambodia. ...

Cambodian workers continue to fear arrest and deportation amid an ongoing crackdown on undocumented migrant workers in Malaysia, with local media reporting that 2,000 migrants have been arrested since the beginning of the month as of yesterday.   ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng took aim at civil society on Tuesday night, warning NGOs to comply with the law or face legal action, at the same time the ministry ordered the ad hoc election monitoring group the Situation Room to cease any future monitoring activities. ...

Despite the Thai government’s temporary backtracking on its harsh punishments of undocumented migrant workers, hundreds of Cambodians working in Thailand continued to pour back into their home country yesterday. ...

The Preah Vihear Provincial Agriculture Department on Monday ordered its staff to help farmers by buying up invasive golden apple snails that are currently destroying their rice fields, according to the head of the department. ...

The industry body representing the Kingdom’s myriad microfinance institutions (MFIs) threw down the gauntlet yesterday, announcing that its members had categorically rejected a government directive that orders them to charge a value-added tax (VAT) on financial services fees and would not apply it. ...

The Environment Ministry plans to plant 500,000 trees in protected areas across the country this year, to boost forest cover and improve the livelihoods of communities. ...

Cambodia’s economic growth is expected to remain stable this year with inflation rising slightly on increases in the costs of global fuel and food prices, the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) concluded following its annual consultation visit to the Kingdom. ...

he Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Environment expect to complete a national draft eco-tourism policy by August to coincide with the second National Forum on the Protection and Conservation of Natural Resources, an environment official said yesterday. ...

Mondulkiri’s provincial police chief has been removed from his post less than two weeks after he spearheaded an investigation into military and police officials accused of involvement in illegal timber smuggling to Vietnam. ...

The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) organised a consultation workshop yesterday to gather information and comments from agriculture sector stakeholders to assist in the preparation of a 2018 national budget that would better support to the sector. ...

A private sector task force set up by Cambodia’s pig farmers to monitor live swine imports and investigate reports of illicit smuggling has been disbanded after receiving a cold reception from government officials, the initiative’s leader said yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Interior has issued a warning to election watchdogs Comfrel and Nicfec, ordering them to halt their activities that allegedly violate their NGO obligation of neutrality. ...