Ministries and other national bodies

The Interior Ministry yesterday called for Beijing’s cooperation in tackling a ring of Chinese methamphetamine traffickers operating in Cambodia, one day after an annual Interior Ministry report announced that the number of drug busts in 2015 had more than doubled compared to 2014. ...

The National Bank of Cambodia is hosting the National Summit on the Development of the Microfinance Sector in Cambodia next month, marking a decade since the government announced that 2006 was the “Year of Microfinance.” ...

Cambodia’s modest navy is ap­parently a point of sensitivity for its commander, who on Wednesday said he would seek to acquire two warships from China to prevent neigh­boring countries from “looking down” on his fleet. ...

Cambodia on Monday received $124,000 worth of resources from South Korea to speed up the process of restoring ancient artefacts.   ...

In order to aid waterway transport, sand-dredging – largely banned since a 2011 decree – will soon begin reappearing at dozens of locations along the Tonle Bassac river, a spokesman from the Ministry of Mines and Energy confirmed yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Health has appealed to the public to protect itself from the H1N1 swine flu virus in a video posted on Facebook yesterday. ...

A Cambodian Monk in South Korea alleged that there are some officials in the Foreign and Interior Ministries illegally issuing service passports for Cambodian migrants in order to work in South Korea, according to video footage posted by a local media outlet on Monday. The ...

Cambodia passed a key Millennium Development Goal milestone last year with half of rural areas now having access to clean drinking water, according to a Ministry of Rural Development annual report released yesterday. ...

Reported rape cases increased by 12 percent last year compared to 2014, despite an overall drop in crime in 2015, according to an Interior Ministry report released on Tuesday. ...

Kasikornbank, Thailand’s fourth-largest lender by assets, plans to open its first branch in Phnom Penh by August, according to a report from Nikkei Asian Review. ...

The Interior Ministry has struck a deal with China to buy 200 fire­trucks this year, nearly doubling Cam­bodia’s current fleet in a bid to bet­ter serve the country’s rural reach­es, officials said on Monday. ...

Indonesian firm Sri Rejeki signed a $50 million deal with the Min­istry of Interior last week to sup­ply Cambodia’s police and armed forces with new uniforms, ac­cording to the Indonesian Em­bassy and media reports. ...

The Ministry of Labour is eyeing the creation of a draft law that would codify the sometimes-nebulous process that determines the garment industry’s minimum wage, attendees at the ministry’s annual meeting were told last week. ...

Cambodia and Thailand are set to have a new international border crossing on National Road 5, linking Banteay Meanchey province and Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province. ...

Mobile SIM card sales slowed to a crawl in 2015 while the number of new subscribers using mobile internet services leaped by 30 per cent, according to a Ministry of Telecommunications factsheet. ...

The number of fires in Cambodia increased by 14.7 per cent in 2015 compared to the previous year, killing 35 people and consuming almost 600 homes. ...

The Cambodian Embassy in Kuwait successfully rescued a Cambodian woman working as a maid in Saudi Arabia who complained of abusive working conditions, lack of food and of having pay withheld. Him Srey, a Cham Muslim from Kampong Cham province who went to Saudi Arabia ...

The Ministry of Economy and Finance has raised concerns about the rapid growth of credit and real estate sectors, which it says could pose risks to Cambodia’s economic growth, while emphasising that policy measures were being taken to mitigate these risks. ...

Government officials are encouraging Japanese investors to channel more funding into the country’s booming construction and property development market, with the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction rolling out the red carpet for them. ...

As Latin American countries reel from a spike in the number of microcephaly cases, believed to be linked to the mosquito-borne virus Zika, the Cambodian Ministry of Health has urged citizens to take precautions against the spread of the disease here. ...

Telecom operator Smart Axiata Co. Ltd. and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding that will see Smart donate more than $320,000 to build a facility for students at the National Institute of Post, Telecom & ICT (NIPTICT). ...

Royal Cambodian Armed Forces commander-in-chief Pol Saroeun yesterday told hundreds of the Kingdom’s top military brass to be more like Prime Minister Hun Sen and join the information age via smartphones and social media. ...

Authorities say they are cracking down on illegal “press” license plates, threatening imprisonment for the offense. ...

The Ministry of Information says it is working with LGBT rights groups to create a regular radio program that discusses LGBT issues, with the aim of making society more welcoming. ...