Government

The National Assembly’s anti-corruption commission has asked Suy Sem, the minister of mines and energy, to appear for questioning on December 15, as villagers in Koh Kong province cast doubt on government claims that it had temporarily banned sand mining there. Mr. Sem will answer questions ...

A leading Chinese manufacturer of power transmission and distribution equipment recently visited Cambodia to explore opportunities in the Kingdom’s rapidly growing energy sector, including a proposal for a factory to produce equipment for the electricity sector. ...

Cambodia and Thailand will be linked by a railway by the end of 2016 as planned, according to senior official, but some sections of track from Phnom Penh to Banteay Meanchey province remain unrestored. Minister of Public Works and Transportation Sun Chanthol said this week that ...

The Environment Ministry has started it’s process of recruiting 300 new forest rangers to work in select provinces next year in a bid to fill staff shortages and reduce deforestation.​ Ministry spokesperson Sao Sopheap said yesterday that the existing 960-strong ranger workforce was insufficient to guard ...

Local garment sector stakeholders failed to find common ground at a meeting on supply chain safety protocols, with the government and employers expressing reluctance to take on an additional level of responsibility. ...

Opposition lawmakers have requested Health Minister Mam Bunheng appear at the National Assembly to answer questions over graft, irregularities and poor services within his portfolio, including claims that officials from the National Malaria Centre misappropriated cash from the Global Fund. ...

A railway linking Phnom Penh to its international airport is being planned, with passengers getting the chance to check in baggage and get boarding passes before they get on the train. The line would join the Phnom Penh to Preah Sihanouk track which runs past the ...

The 2017 national budget, with more than $5 billion in expenditures, was passed by the Senate yesterday without any changes despite opposition from the CNRP. Expenditures in the 2017 budget are up 15.6 percent compared with 2016 and include more than $1 billion in foreign loans. ...

Customs authorities should work quickly to adopt an envisioned online registration system for cross-border cargo shipments that would expedite delivery and cut out pesky middlemen who tack on unofficial fees, Transport Minister Sun Chanthol said yesterday. ...

Land Management Minister Chea Sophara led a veritable battalion of ministry officials in a survey of Phnom Penh’s iconic White Building on Saturday morning in preparation for a proposed development project on the site. ...

Freshly pardoned CNRP deputy leader Kem Sokha yesterday claimed the pardon that exonerated him on Friday was made without any conditions or concessions from the opposition party. The acting president of the opposition, who had been under de facto house arrest since May and had been ...

China is considering setting up an industrial zone in Cambodia and says it will announce new areas of cooperation with Asean nations in line with Cambodia’s industrial development policy. The issues were discussed on Saturday when Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak met Xu Ningning, executive president of ...

The Labor Ministry says that it is investigating fresh allegations of widespread child labor at the country’s brick-making factories, but claims to have found no evidence as of yet. The ministry made the announcement on Friday, hours after the release of a new report by local ...

With voter registration wrapping up last week, the National Election Committee over the weekend issued a call for the public to submit their evaluations of the rules that will govern the June 4 commune elections – the first popular ballot since the disputed 2013 national ...

Just under 7.9 million Cambodians enrolled to vote in next year’s commune elections during the registration period that closed on Wednesday, results released yesterday show, with the figure well short of the goal of 9.6 million people older than 18. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday hit back at opposition critics of his efforts to seek French expert help in modernising old colonial maps of Cambodia’s border with Vietnam, rejecting their claims that such an effort would require a constitutional amendment. ...

The National Assembly’s anti-corruption commission will summon Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem to answer questions about an apparent $700 million discrepancy in sand exports to Singapore. ...

The government will offer three-year, multiple-entry visas to Chinese and South Korean investors in an effort to make doing business easier and increase investment in the Kingdom, the premier said during the first Cambodia-China Business and Financial Development Forum in Phnom Penh yesterday. ...

King Norodom Sihamoni ordered last week that the Phnom Penh boundaries be expanded to include portions from neighboring Kandal province in a bid to improve the city’s development. In a royal decree dated November 11, but only released on November 21, King Sihamoni ordered the government ...

Officials from Koh Kong province’s environment department have confirmed that the construction of a yellow vine processing plant has been halted after a directive from the Environment Ministry.​ Department chief Morn Phalla said that while the plant’s construction had ceased, factory equipment was on the site ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has said he believes Prime Minister Hun Sen’s recent push to convert the maps of Cambodia’s border with Vietnam to a scale of 1:50,000 and a UTM-style map projection would not require a constitutional amendment. ...

An official from the National Election Committee said yesterday the body was pleased to have registered more than 80 percent of Cambodia’s estimated 9.6 million eligible voters over the past three months, blaming overzealous estimates of available eligible voters, deaths and the weather for coming ...

Most of the 20 percent of eligible voters who did not register before the deadline yesterday are migrant workers, the National Election Committee  (NEC) concluded, echoing the opposition and civil society groups. ...

More than 50 people representing 253 families from Preah Vihear province’s Choam Ksan district resubmitted a petition to the Interior Ministry yesterday, asking authorities to expedite a resolution of their land dispute. ...