Government

Despite the government’s vow to be more transparent with regulations and the issuing of sand-dredging licences, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) has granted nearly 70 new such licences without holding public auctions or requiring companies to disclose environmental impact assessments (EIA) results to ...

Next year’s commune council elections will be held on June 4, according to a decision signed on Tuesday by Prime Minister Hun Sen, marking the first nationwide ballot since the 2013 election that led to the reform of the National Election Committee (NEC). ...

An investigating team from the Ministry of Mines and Energy has concluded that evidence at Chhay Ching Heang Group’s operations in Ratanakkiri province seemingly points to illegal gold mining, though lab results from minerals extracted by the company are still pending, according to a ministry ...

The Cambodian and Russian governments have signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) to help build a nuclear power plant in the Kingdom, despite previous statements saying the opposite and with no timeline as to when such a plant would be built, according to the Ministry ...

The Phnom Penh health department has announced an investigation into the death of a newborn who allegedly choked while being fed by staff at the privately owned VIP Sorphea Maternity Hospital.   ...

Regularly scheduled direct flights between Cambodia and Russia proposed by Prime Minister Hun Sen last week in Moscow might land in the coastal town of Sihanoukville, an official said yesterday. ...

Russia is looking to expand its crude oil exports to ASEAN countries – including Cambodia – despite the Kingdom being years away from having refinery capabilities. ...

Russia has agreed to import agricultural products from Cambodia, while the leaders of the two countries pledged to boost bilateral trade during meetings between the two countries’ senior officials in the past week. ...

The Interior Ministry has made tentative plans to send a delegation of three people to the South Pacific island of Nauru next month to meet and vet two more refugees who have volunteered to resettle in Cambodia.   ...

Vietnam will host its seventh annual trade fair in Cambodia during the second week of October of this year, the Department of Economics in the Vietnam Ministry of National Defense (MOD) announced in Ho Chi Minh City last week.   ...

Alan Doss, executive director of former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s eponymous foundation, met with officials from the CPP, CNRP and National Election Committee (NEC) on Monday as the first step in the body’s efforts to help election reform here.   ...

Officials at the Ministry of Justice will join members of the Labor Ministry, local authorities, police and provincial governors on the Committee for the Settlement of Strikes and Demonstrations after a union leader requested they be included. ...

About 200 Cham Muslims turned out to the Al-Serkal Mosque near the old Boeng Kak lake in Phnom Penh on Friday to protest a controversial road that the government plans to build through the mosque’s land. ...

Cambodia’s election body has called for regular meetings with political parties, journalists and civil society organisations (CSOs) in a bid to stave off suspicions of bias as two of its non-CPP aligned officials face prosecution. ...

The developer of the controversial Gold Tower 42, which has sat idle for years, has been refused permission to restart development and finish off the hulking, half-built concrete shell. ...

Cambodian soldiers stationed at Preah Vihear temple said relations with their Thai counterparts have remained friendly despite reports that a controversial replica temple built by the Thai military could be reopened. ...

People smoking tobacco in offices, restaurants and other public spaces will have to indulge their habit in clearly demarcated smoking areas or both the smoker and establishment owner will face fines, the Ministry of Health announced. ...

Defence Minister Tea Banh will lead a delegation of about 10 other senior military officials to Vientiane, Laos, to attend the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting from May 24 to 27, which will focus on regional cooperation in defence technology and natural-disaster response. ...

Cambodia dispatched a group of 45 troops to take part in the 2016 multinational peacekeeping exercise in Mongolia late on Thursday. ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy signed joint prakas with the Ministry of Environment to simplifying the environmental impact assessment (EIA) requirements for artisanal and small-scale mining practices.   ...

A military officer convicted of fraud and sentenced to one year in prison in October is still em­ployed by the National Defense Uni­versity (NDU), the school con­firmed this week, despite the fact that the officer’s co-conspirator is now behind bars.   ...

Any appointments to the National Election Committee (NEC) to replace CNRP-appointed Rong Chhun, who now faces a criminal trial for “intentional violence,” would have to be approved by the ruling CPP under current laws, a lawmaker said on Thursday. ...

Cambodia’s tourist arrivals registered an increase of 2.6% during January to March, this year, according to the Statistics and Tourist Information Department. ...

Khmer Specialized Bank, a subsidiary of Khmer Holding Group, was officially inaugurated to offer financial services to Cambodians yesterday, with $21 million worth of investment capital and becoming the 13th specialized bank in Cambodia. ...