Government

The central bank announced yesterday that it was close to finalising a new academic curriculum to promote financial literacy with the aim of incorporating it into schools nationwide by the start of the 2019 academic year. ...

Employers must allow all Muslim women to wear headscarves and traditional clothing to work, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday. Addressing workers in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district, Mr Hun Sen said he met Muslim women on a recent visit to Kampong Cham, who told him they ...

Senior government officials yesterday gathered to celebrate the 24th anniversary of the adoption of the Kingdom’s Constitution, lavishing praise on the Constitutional Council – while simultaneously appearing to threaten legal action against those who question the body’s independence or decisions. ...

Much of the country could face flooding due to heavy rainfall until Wednesday, the Water Resources and Meteorology Ministry has warned. According to a ministry announcement yesterday, the country will be affected by a low pressure system that will cause heavy rainfall nationwide. ...

The Prime Minister yesterday urged the US to assist Cambodia in removing unexploded bombs that its forces dropped on the country during the Vietnam War, rather than focusing on finding the remains of missing American soldiers. ...

n a speech to 65 senior government officials yesterday, Cambodia’s acting foreign affairs minister said this month had been “the worst” so far in the history of Cambodia-US relations. “Our relationship seems to be difficult,” said Ouch Borith, who is second-in-command at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. ...

USAID Cambodia officially launched its Feed the Future Cambodia Harvest II project yesterday, a five-year initiative that aims to promote commercial horticulture in four Cambodian provinces and help smallholder farmers gain access to markets, reducing the country’s high dependence on imported fruits and vegetables. ...

Former opposition leader Sam Rainsy met with government officials in Australia and New Zealand this week, requesting that the two nations issue visa bans against Cambodian People’s Party officials and their families in response to the arrest of opposition head Kem Sokha for treason. ...

The government spent far less than half of its approved $5 billion budget for expenditures in 2017 during the first six months of the year, according to a new report by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). ...

The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) announced yesterday that it plans to support the growth of NGO-backed community saving groups in a move to help members of these currently unregulated groups establish funding pools that can be accessed without the need for collateral. ...

Government mouthpiece Fresh News yesterday launched a new internet radio service, appearing poised to move into the gap left by a government crackdown on independent broadcasters over the last six weeks. ...

The Court of Appeal yesterday ruled that the ongoing detention of opposition leader Kem Sokha was legal, despite claims his parliamentary immunity had been violated – and in spite of the fact that neither the accused nor his representatives were present. ...

Business confidence among EuroCham Cambodia’s predominantly European member companies fell this year as a result of a lack of positive reforms and uncertainty surrounding upcoming elections, according to a survey released yesterday. ...

Since the widely condemned arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha on “treason” charges this month, at least a dozen Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers have left the country, though a senior party official yesterday insisted they would “return soon”. ...

A centre to improve the standard and quality of agricultural products, especially vegetables, will be set up in Kandal province soon, the director of the provincial agriculture department said yesterday. ...

Cambodia and Bangladesh are seeking to strengthen cooperation on trade and enhance and expand trade and business partnerships via a deal which will be signed in October. ...

Cambodia as a member of the six-nation Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) endorsed a five-year action plan framework that includes $64 billion in projects to help the sub-region achieve inclusive growth and sustainable development. ...

The floodgates of the largest and most controversial dam project in the country’s history officially closed yesterday at an inauguration ceremony presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who took aim at environmentalists, ambassadors and NGOs in a wide-ranging speech. ...

Cambodia and China reached here yesterday six memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in order to further tighten and expand the cooperation between the two countries. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen and visiting H.E. Liu Yunshan, ...

A group of eight U.S. congressmen has called on the State Department to continue its public condemnation of the continuing crackdown on dissent and arrest of the leader of the opposition in Cambodia. ...

The Interior Ministry on Friday announced it had stricken critical environmental NGO Mother Nature from its registry, effective immediately, with the group saying it had requested the move and would continue to investigate sand dredging and export violations in the country’s southwest despite the de-registration. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday ratcheted up his attacks on the United States, announcing that he had instructed the Immigration Department to check for American “spies” and suggesting the US Embassy pull out its Peace Corps volunteers. ...

US-based energy giant General Electric (GE) hopes to finalise an agreement with the Ministry of Mines and Energy by November that would see the Kingdom’s coal and gas plants using emissions-monitoring technology for the first time, company executives said yesterday. ...

The National Election Committee yesterday said voter registration was progressing slower than expected, largely due to migrant workers not registering – an issue that advocates have urged the electoral body to remedy for months. ...