Ministries and other national bodies

Cambodia’s Ministry of Land Management is acting in accordance with the country’s laws and making an effort to respect citizens’ rights, a ministry official said Tuesday, rejecting comments by a U.S. congressman that people in the Southeast Asian country are denied basic protection from land ...

The value of Cambodia’s international trade increased by about 9 percent in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year, according to the latest data from the Commerce Ministry. ...

The Khmer Kampuchea Krom Buddhist Monk Association has slammed the August 1 arrest and defrocking of two monks, accusing police officials of detaining the pair on baseless and politically motivated charges. ...

Officials in Kratie province are insisting that a small group of families involved in a local land dispute register with the Interior Ministry or be “punished.” ...

Thirty labor unions and associations appealed to the Labor Ministry on Friday to redraft its planned Trade Union Law, which they say will suppress industrial action and facilitate union busting, despite significant concessions in the latest draft. ...

Cambodia’s trade volume with foreign countries was valued at $ 9.75 billion in the first six months of 2015, an increase of 9.5 percent from $ 8.9 billion over the same period last year, according to Chinese News Agency-Xinhua quoted the ministry of commerce’s statistics. ...

Cambodia launched a health strategic plan in 2002, in an effort to improve services to areas that lack medical personnel and resources. But in many rural areas, there has been little progress, and even an awareness of basic hygiene and disease prevention remains considerably low. ...

Draft legislation on trade unions will undermine the hard-won progress of labor unions here as well as violate fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, labor law and UN conventions, labor leaders said yesterday. ...

The Cambodian government is working on an agreement with the Qatari government that would allow Cambodians to join the thousands of migrant workers helping to build the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup. As a safety measure, the Cambodian government has requested that Qatar guarantee ...

The number of Montagnard asylum seekers in Phnom Penh has doubled over the past two months with the U.N. saying Thursday that there are now more than 200 in the capital, but the government’s refugee department again denied knowledge of the group. ...

A Cambodian plan to attract 5 million tourists to the country in 2015 is hanging in the balance despite a rise in the first half of this year. Cambodia set 5 million tourists as the target this year, an increase from 4.5 million last year. ...

The backlash began Wednesday against a new Education Ministry directive that bans political activities and unauthorized associations at academic institutions, with the country’s largest teachers’ union and various youth groups accusing the government of hypocrisy. ...

The National Museum in Phnom Penh has launched a new exhibition called “Photovoice of Cambodian Women in the Past, at Present, and in the Future.” ...

As about 100 fishermen in Koh Kong province on Wednesday resumed their monthslong campaign against a company they accuse of illegal sand dredging, an environmental NGO claimed the firm was now hiring locals as security guards in an attempt to divide the community. ...

A delegation of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong led by its president Richard R. Vuylsteke has been on a visit to Cambodia to study the investment environment in the country, according to state news agency- AKP.​​ ...

The Ministry of Education has issued a directive banning political activism or association at academic institutions, saying it will fine or shut down universities, post-secondary schools and student organizations that have engaged in or promoted political activity. ...

Defense Minister Tea Banh met Malaysia’s army chief, Raja Mohamed Affandi bin Raja Mohamed Noor, yesterday to discuss ways to improve military ties between the two countries. ...

Rights group Licadho has welcomed an announcement from the Interior Ministry that conditions at prisons, social rehabilitation centers and drug rehabs will be improved to ensure that the rights of inmates, patients and others housed or confined at the centers will be respected. ...

A spokesman for the Justice Ministry said Tuesday that the government was considering a request made by the new Thai ambassador to repatriate seven of the country’s nationals serving prison sentences in Cambodia. ...

The country’s anti-corruption czar on Tuesday said the former director of the National Malaria Center must pay back the $351,000 in bribes he took in exchange for mosquito net contracts—effectively admitting the ex-director’s guilt—but that he would not be prosecuted. ...

Civil groups have urged Cambodian authorities to provide places for students to stay during the upcoming national high school graduate exam and prevent hotels and guesthouses from increasing room rates in all cities and provinces. ...

Cambodia attracted about 2.3 million foreign visitors in the first six months of 2015, an increase of 5.6 percent compared with the same period last year, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said Tuesday. ...

With the Grade 12 national high school exam about two weeks away, a group of five NGOs sent a letter to the Ministry of Education on Monday asking the government to prevent guesthouses from hiking their prices for students who have to stay overnight in ...

Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol on Monday asked the World Bank and the European Union to review a trio of new trade agreements with Cambodia’s neighbors to determine what impact the deals would have on the country’s exports. ...