Government
National government
Turmoil marks year in labour
When unions and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) signed a memorandum of understanding in October last year, both sides were confident strikes in the Kingdom’s biggest export sector could be kept to a minimum. Not counting December, GMAC has recorded 131 strikes this ...
Shane Worrell
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/turmoil-marks-year-labour
Keep striking for $160, Rainsy urges
Ahead of today’s Ministry of Labour announcement of a minimum wage increase for Cambodia’s apparel sector, opposition leader Sam Rainsy yesterday urged striking workers in Svay Rieng province to hold out until their monthly salary is raised to $160. “[Garment] workers should not return to work ...
Mom Kunthear, Sean Teehan and James Hall
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/keep-striking-160-rainsy-urges
ACU asks Global Fund for evidence in probe
Cambodia’s Anti-corruption Unit has criticised the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for not sending them the findings of its investigation into widespread corruption in health grants. Chhay Savuth, vice-president of the Anti-Corruption Unit, said he had contacted the Global Fund to request evidence ...
Mom Kunthear and Daniel Pye
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/acu-asks-global-fund-evidence-probe
Barges Impounded for Breaking Sand Dredging Ban in Kandal
The Ministry of Water Resources impounded five barges in Kandal province on Saturday for flouting a government ban on sand dredging on the Mekong River, an official said Sunday. Chan Youttha, cabinet chief for Water Resources Minister Lim Kean Hor, said the minister personally led a ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/barges-impounded-for-breaking-sand-dredging-ban-in-kandal-49567/
Council of Ministers Nullifies Telecom Law
The Council of Ministers has nullified a 2009 law that set minimum prices on telephone calls, paving the way for regulators to reset the country’s telecommunications prices, which industry executives say are too high. The law, Prakas 232, which has been widely flouted, set a minimum ...
Hul Reaksmey and Joshua Wilwohl -
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/council-of-ministers-nullifies-telecom-law-49573/
No End in Sight for Svay Rieng SEZ Strikes
A union official at the center of a strike that started last Monday and involves an estimated 30,000 workers from two special economic zones (SEZs) in Svay Rieng province said Sunday that he has no control over the strikers, and does not know when or ...
Aun Pheap and Alex Willemyns
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/no-end-in-sight-for-svay-rieng-sez-strikes-49560/
Cambodia new ministry on oil, gas
Cambodian lawmakers on Friday endorsed the setting up of a new ministry specifically in charge of mines and energy, in the hope that oil and gas production will finally get under way in the next couple of years. The new Ministry of Mines and Energy will ...
Bangkok Post News Staff
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/386021/cambodia-sets-up-new-ministery-in-charge-of-oil-gas-production
CPP Parliament Approves Two Ministers, 2014 Budget
CPP lawmakers including Prime Minister Hun Sen unanimously voted Friday for their party members, Suy Sem and Cham Prasidh, to become heads of the newly created Ministry of Mines and Energy, and the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts, respectively. The 67 ruling-party parliamentarians present also approved ...
Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cpp-parliament-approves-two-ministers-2014-budget-49542/
Prime Minister sister nominated as under-secretary
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s younger sister, Hun Sinath, has been nominated to the position of Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of National Assembly-Senate Relations and Inspection. She was nominated, at the age of 57, by King Norodom Sihamoni on December 9, 2013. .. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=YWY5ODM4YzAxMjN
Four alleged loggers shot by Thai soldiers
At least four people were injured, one seriously, after Thai soldiers shot them as they allegedly illegally logged the Thai side of the Preah Vihear border on Wednesday. The injured men were part of a group of eight from Preah Vihear province’s Choam Ksan district, provincial ...
Sen David and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/four-alleged-loggers-shot-thai-soldiers
Budget to share the wealth: official
The amount of money to be allocated to commune-, district- and province-level governments is slated to rise next year in accordance with the government’s long-gestating attempts at decentralising its power. Provincial- and capital-level funding will rise to about 640.8 billion riel, with 237.2 billion riel ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/budget-share-wealth-official
Fund playing hardball
The Global Fund has threatened to suspend or reduce health grants to Cambodia totalling more than $100 million if the Ministry of Health, the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STD (NCHADS) and NGO umbrella group MEDiCAM fail to meet a 30-day deadline to return ...
Kevin Ponniah and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/fund-playing-hardball
CAMBODIA: Better Factories programme renewed
The Better Factories Cambodia programme has been renewed after a new, three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was agreed. The new agreement, aimed at furthering the initiative’s mission to improve working conditions in Cambodian garment factories, was signed by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Cambodian Ministry ...
Richard Woodard
http://www.just-style.com/news/better-factories-programme-renewed_id120127.aspx
Yearender: Cambodia's economy remains strong in 2013 despite political row, flood havoc: officials
Cambodia’s economy is expected to maintain the robust growth of over 7 percent this year even though the country is still trapped in political dispute and recovering from the aftermath of recent floods, senior officials and bankers said. But some analysts predicted that political trouble, coupled ...
Nguon Sovan and Wang Qibing
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-12/19/c_132979125.htm
Labor Unions agree to one time hike in wage
Around 40 Labor Unions in Cambodia have all agreed to pursue the third formula given by the Ministry of Labor, of a one time hike in minimum wage for footwear and garment factory employees in 2014. The Labor Unions agreed to pursue the hike in salary ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=MWNmYzg4Yjc2YjJ
Despite Ban, Operators Offer Bonuses
Two of the country’s largest mobile phone operators are again offering attractive deals on calls, despite the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia’s (TRC) recent order to mobile operators to follow the government’s minimum prices for calls and to scale back customer promotions. On Sunday, Smart, which is ...
Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/despite-ban-operators-offer-bonuses-49483/
Three New Districts in Phnom Penh Approved
The Ministry of Interior has approved the creation of three new districts in Phnom Penh following a proposal from City Hall to create five new districts before district and city council elections are held in May. Sak Setha, secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior, ...
Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/three-new-districts-in-phnom-penh-approved-49424/
Putting hospitals on lockdown
The government plans to extend the country’s still-limited capacity to treat ailing prisoners by building more secure rooms inside provincial hospitals. As part of the General Department of Prisons’ 2014-2018 strategic plan, the Ministry of Interior hopes to have rooms specifically designated for prisoners in each ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/putting-hospitals-lockdown
Garment workers’ patience wearing thin
Taking part in daily demonstrations outside the shuttered factory where she once worked is beginning to weigh on Bou Narith and her co-workers. Government officials this morning will sit down with representatives of employees and a representative from USA Fully Field (Cambodia) Garment factory, which, ...
Mom Kunthear and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/garment-workers%E2%80%99-patience-wearing-thin
Government Proposes 100% Hike in Minimum Wage by 2018
The government proposed doubling the minimum wage for garment workers—from $80 to $160—within five years during a meeting with labor unions and garment manufacturers on Monday at the Ministry of Labor. “We have a plan to raise the minimum wage up to $160 for garment workers, ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-proposes-100-hike-in-minimum-wage-by-2018-49396/
CPP to Inform King, NEC of Opposition’s Assembly Boycott
National Assembly President Heng Samrin will in the coming days send the National Election Committee (NEC) an official letter informing it of the opposition party’s boycott of parliament, according to local media, possibly the first step in the ruling party’s plan to have the opposition’s ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cpp-to-inform-king-nec-of-oppositions-assembly-boycott-49348/
ILO hails better protection for Cambodian migrant workers
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic for is pleased to support the official launch of measures to better protect Cambodian migrant workers. On 16 December 2013, ahead of International Migrants Day on 18 December, the Cambodian Ministry ...
Fibre2Fashion News Staff
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/apparel-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=157264
Cambodian garment manufacturers, trade unionists talk over pay rise with no agreement
Cambodia’s garment manufacturers and trade unionists on Monday began a negotiation on pay rise for garment workers in 2014 but reached no any agreement because the union representatives demanded to double the current wage. The talk was made between the employers represented by Nang Sothy, co-chair ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-12/16/c_132972280.htm
Factory Owners Slam Government Over Handling of Strikes
Members of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) said during a conference Sunday that they are “fed up” with the government for not controlling strikes by labor unions. “All of us have the same issue: illegal strikes,” Van Porphin, a member of GMAC’s executive committee, ...
Colin Meyn and Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factory-owners-slam-government-over-handling-of-strikes-49352/