Government

The CNRP was forced to hold a downsized version of a seminar for incoming elected officials led by party president Kem Sokha at its headquarters in Kompong Chhnang province on Monday after provincial authorities refused to allow a larger gathering. ...

The National Assembly’s permanent committee on Monday approved further study of amendments to Cambodia’s election law that would allow more than 1 million migrant workers to vote from outside the country’s borders. ...

The education minister’s message for students finishing high school has been heard loud and clear since the reform of the national completion exam four years ago: Merit will buy you a pass grade—not money. ...

Immigration police arrested 22 Vietnamese nationals illegally living and working in Phnom Penh yesterday, an Interior Ministry official said. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen escalated the government’s attacks on media outlets and NGOs yesterday, reiterating in a speech that the Cambodia Daily would have to “pack up their things and leave” if they failed to pay a $6.3 million tax bill, while at the same ...

A controversial universal minimum wage law will be passed this year in order to prevent a repeat of the mass protests over garment sector wages that rocked the country in 2013, Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng said yesterday, despite calls for revisions from independent unions ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday said he has rejected proposals for investment in seaweed plantations in Preah Sihanouk and Kep provinces. ...

A Japanese delegation from Osaka province has expressed its intention to invest in Cambodia’s agriculture sector, after its meeting with Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak. ...

Prominent NGOs yesterday said they are trying to comply with the new law on organisations and will meet the Interior Ministry’s deadline to submit reports by the end of September. ...

The investor in Cambodia’s first large scale marine fish farm project in Preah Sihanouk province, that was approved by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) in April, has been asked to submit an environmental impact assessment study to the Ministry of Environment before ...

Four ministries are pushing local producers, particularly small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), to improve their quality, standards and packaging and to provide proper labels on their products to make them more attractive to supermarkets, restaurants and hotels and to boost recognition of local products ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has decided not to shut down a Christian anti-trafficking charity after its founder issued a “heartfelt apology” yesterday. The apology from Agape International Missions (AIM) CEO Don Brewster is the first public comment he has made since the social media fracas sparked ...

Cambodia’s first large-scale solar power project is still in the trial testing stage, but is expected to be fully operational at the end of this month. ...

Two hundred juvenile specimens of the critically endangered Mekong giant catfish were released by the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Fisheries Administration into freshwater reservoirs on Sunday evening in an effort to help preserve the species – which can grow up to 300 kilograms. ...

A raid on Monday of a woman’s house in Prey Veng province turned up hundreds of animals, dead and alive, set to be sold in the illegal wildlife trade. ...

Phnom Penh capital hall has planned to construct a temporary steel bridge crossing the Tonle Sap River in Phnom Penh to address traffic issue when the Cambodian-Japanese Friendship Bridge is under rehabilitation. ...

Garment and footwear industry workers were promised a range of services from Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday, including free bus rides, a minimum wage hike and health insurance. ...

The government has issued a sub-decree that all civil servants will this year receive about $12 each for the upcoming Pchum Ben festival. ...

Kampot pepper, which received geographical indication (GI) certification from the European Union last year, expects 80 tonnes to go on the export market this year, thanks to demand and increased production. ...

Cambodia’s telecommunications regulator has called on seven mobile network operators to give an assurance by September 1 that they have registered all their subscribers in accordance with a directive from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication and the Ministry of Interior. ...

The U.N.’s human rights envoy to Cambodia condemned the government’s recent violent rhetoric, court action against politicians and attacks against NGOs that have ramped up ahead of a key national election next year, arguing that the country appeared to be “approaching a precipice.” ...

National Assembly President Heng Samrin’s native village is, as map lines go, technically inside of Vietnam, the head of Cambodia’s Royal Academy said at a recent press conference. ...

The central bank announced on Friday that it has fined an unnamed microfinance institution (MFI) $100,000 for engaging in non-transparent lending practices. ...

Refugee advocates have welcomed plans from the United Nations to relocate 36 Montagnard asylum seekers to a third country, but the Cambodian government yesterday remained silent as to why it has so far failed to cooperate. ...