Ministries and other national bodies

The Ministry of Health this week called for closer oversight of contract employees and acknowledged “inappropriate phenomena” in paperwork filed by mid-level officials, an admission that comes just over a month after evidence came to light of widespread graft at the Kingdom’s National Malaria Centre ...

Private sector companies have expressed interest in building a high-speed railway to connect Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and the Thai border town of Poipet, Transportation Minister Sun Chanthol announced yesterday. ...

The plague of army worms that were eating crops in a dozen provinces last week is now under control, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has reported, with the soybean crops recording the most damage. ...

Cambodia’s dependence on illegal child labor, despite its small population, is endemic compared to neighboring countries, according to Veng Heang, director of the Child Labor Department at the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training. ...

The General Department of Taxation (GDT) announced yesterday that the government will collect annual road tax payments from July 1 until November 30. ...

Cambodia’s cassava growers have been asked to target Thailand as an export market due to the high demand for the starch-tuber in the neighboring country to produce ethanol, animal feed and flour, while little is done at home to stabilize prices and provide assistance to ...

More than 60 percent of rural homes in the Kingdom will have electricity by the end of this month and all villages in the country will no longer be engulfed in pitch darkness at night when they are connected to the national grid by 2020. ...

The government has proposed slugging shoppers 500 riel for plastic bags in a bid to reduce environmental pollution. A draft prakas on plastic bags that would include the fee was reviewed yesterday in a Department of Environment workshop attended by government representatives along with mall and ...

The deadline for the country’s orphanages to register with the Ministry of Social Affairs has been extended once again as the government continues its months-long efforts to begin regulating the residential child care system. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday announced he would be personally helping the families of 100 dead veterans every year and called on others to offer financial help, according to reports. ...

Representatives from communities in four provinces evicted to make way for sugar plantations alleged during a press conference yesterday they were barred from delivering petitions to the Ministry of Land Management. ...

A Vietnamese-owned gold mine in Battambang province’s Phnom Prek district failed to acquire an operating license from the Ministry of Mines and Energy yesterday after failing to meet their guidelines, according to officials. ...

Plans to complete the railway line connecting Phnom Penh to Poipet City—thereby linking Cambodia’s main port in Sihanoukville to Thailand—may not be completed within current time and budget constraints, a Transport Ministry official said on Tuesday. ...

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding  with Wing Limited Specialized Bank to make it easier for the public to pay vehicle registration, inspection and driving license fees. ...

More than 20 thousand hectares of farmland spread over 10 provinces have been affected by armyworms since last week, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy has received $30 million in funding from the Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Low-Income Countries Program (SREP) – an arm of the global Climate Investment Funds initiative – for a solar energy development program that includes home systems, mini-grids ...

While residents of the iconic White Building in Phnom Penh’s Chamkar Mon district welcome a Ministry of Urban Planning and Construction project to develop the pre-Khmer Rouge-era structure, it remains to be seen whether the development will move forward without issues. ...

The Cambodian government has signed off on the Kingdom’s first dedicated marine protection area in a bid to save the Koh Rong Archipelago’s coral reef and sea life. ...

The Kingdom’s petroleum and gas imports fell in the first quarter of this year due to waning consumer and business demands, according to the Ministry of Commerce. However, a large petroleum, lubricants and oil importer said the fall in gas imports was just relative and ...

The total value of exports from the Kingdom’s garment and footwear industry increased sharply this first quarter by 39.1 percent to some $2 billion compared to about $1.5 billion in the same period last year, according to figures released by the Ministry of Commerce. ...

The National Committee for Coastal Management and Development will build 17 sea gates along the coastal areas in Sihanoukville province to protect beaches in the area against sea erosion and boost tourism. ...

Cambodian Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak yesterday urged Turkey’s ambassador to follow through on a plan announced last year to establish direct flights as part of a push to enlarge bilateral trade to $500 million a year by 2020, from the current $108 million, the ministry ...

A new project aimed at reducing violence against women in the Kingdom was launched yesterday at the Hotel Cambodiana. ...

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport is developing an electronic vehicle registration system to be brought in by the end of this year, said Minister Sun Chanthol during the opening of a driver’s licence centre at Aeon Mall yesterday. ...