Government
Veggie farming to trim kingdom’s import bill
Government officials, economists and businesses discussed the implementation of a draft program to invigorate vegetable farming in the Kingdom and cut imports from neighbouring countries in half by 2018. ...
Ayanna Runcie
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/veggie-farming-trim-kingdoms-import-bill
Two Cambodian merchants denied bail in Thai court
The two Cambodian merchants arrested at Rong Kluea Market during a Thai Department of Special Investigation (DSI) raid that turned violent earlier this month were denied bail on Friday by the Thai Court of Appeals, according to a statement released by the Cambodian Foreign Affairs ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21374/two-cambodian-merchants-denied-bail-in-thai-court/
Minister decries fake journo licence plates
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith took to Facebook on Saturday to remind drivers of vehicles with illegal “press” licence plates that “it will not be a fine, but prison” if police catch them. ...
Lay Samean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/minister-decries-fake-journo-licence-plates
Ministry makes it easier for the little guys to dig
It will get easier for small, rural mining operations to register with the government this month, thanks to a change in the Ministry of Energy and Mines’ policy of issuing licenses, according to a ministry statement released last week. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21376/ministry-makes-it-easier-for-the-little-guys-to-dig/
Sokha vows neutrality in Cambodia’s civil service
Cambodia’s civil servants and security forces must be politically neutral, and will be if the Cambodia National Rescue Party takes power after the 2018 election, acting opposition leader Kem Sokha told supporters in Banteay Meanchey on Saturday. ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sokha-vows-neutrality-cambodias-civil-service
Hun Sen heads to US for ASEAN summit
After weeks of build up—including threats of protests in the U.S. and counterprotests at home—Prime Minister Hun Sen will join regional leaders today for the U.S.-Asean Summit in Rancho Mirage, California. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-heads-to-us-for-asean-summit-108438/
Saudis sign MOU on maids
Cambodia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding to begin work on opening a pipeline for Cambodians to work in the gulf nation, which has been routinely criticised for failing to protect migrant domestic workers from abysmal treatment and slave-like conditions. ...
Chhay Channyda and Shaun Turton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/saudis-sign-mou-maids
Appeal court to hear ‘insurrection’ case next month
Eleven opposition activists who have been jailed since 2014 for supposedly participating in an “insurrection” will have their appeal against their conviction heard on March 17, their lawyer said on Friday. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/108429-108429/
ASEAN market watch: Cambodian corruption, telecoms bidding in Myanmar, and increasing Philippine trade deficits
Transparency International’s 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks Cambodia as the ‘Most Corrupt’ country in Southeast Asia. Cambodia score was 21 out a possible 100 points, which is the same as the country’s score in 2014. ...
Montagnards ‘to be processed’
Immigration officials yesterday sought to dial back public remarks by Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak, who on Wednesday appeared to tell reporters that the more than 100 Montagnard asylum seekers currently waiting to have their claims assessed would be summarily deported. ...
Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/montagnards-be-processed
Japanese, Chinese navies to visit Cambodia days apart
The final two weeks of February will feature visits to Sihanoukville from both the Japanese and Chinese navies to conduct goodwill and training exercises, as the two powers vie for influence and allies in Southeast Asia amid increasing Asian nautical tensions. ...
Peter Ford and Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/japanese-chinese-navies-to-visit-cambodia-days-apart-108270/
Japan lobbies for joint meeting with ASEAN ministers of defense
A high official from the Japanese Defense Ministry (JDM) has lobbied for Cambodia and another ASEAN members to support the creation of a meeting between their defense ministers and the JDM to be held next year in Laos, according to officials at a meeting at ...
Ban Sokrith and Phun Chan Ousaphea
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21309/japan-lobbies-for-joint-meeting-with-asean-ministers-of-defense/
Journalist detained over logging story
A journalist who accused a military police commander of accepting bribes from illegal loggers in Mondolkiri province was arrested and briefly detained on Thursday on the commander’s orders, a move that was criticized by the Ministry of Information. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/journalist-detained-over-logging-story-108258/
National police force hires more than 4,500 officer
The National Police has hired more than 4,500 new officials into its ranks, according to a sub-decree dated Wednesday. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/national-police-force-hires-more-than-4500-officer-108298/
Postal service delivers new partner
Kerry Express, a subsidiary of WorldBridge International (Cambodia), yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with state-owned Cambodia Post to expand delivery services in the Kingdom, executives and officials said after signing the MoU yesterday. ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21220/postal-service-delivers-new-partner/
Government targets foreign retirees with new policy
The government is planning to boost Cambodia’s attractiveness as a second-home tourist destination for foreign retirees, according to a draft policy obtained from the Ministry of Tourism Wednesday. ...
Kang Sothear and Tej Parikh
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-targets-foreign-retirees-with-new-policy-108126/
Remaining montagnards not refugees, ministry says
Less than a month after the government announced that more than 170 Montagnard asylum seekers would have their refugee applications processed, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday that the group had not met the criteria for refugee status and would be returned to Vietnam. ...
Khuon Narim and George Wright
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/remaining-montagnards-not-refugees-ministry-says-108113/
EU to provide 10 million euros for election reform, NEC still needs more
The European Union pledged €10 million in preparation of the upcoming 2017 and 2018 elections yesterday, which the National Election Committee (NEC) hopes to add to in a new budget they will be submitting to the government, according to NEC officials. ...
Chea Takihiro
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21238/eu-to-provide-10-million-euros-for-election-reform--nec-still-needs-more/
US weighs in on anti-Hun Sen protest
Amid fears of a potential reprise of anti-opposition violence that flared in October, a US Embassy spokesman yesterday called on the government “to ensure that no one is threatened, punished, or harmed in Cambodia” if a planned anti-Hun Sen rally takes place as scheduled next ...
Brent Crane
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/us-weighs-anti-hun-sen-protest
‘Second-home Policy’ aims to entice more tourists
With a surge in visitors from the world’s most populous nation, the government is preparing a “second-home policy” to encourage more Chinese tourists to visit and stay longer, and for those who have already visited to do so more often, Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon ...
Sum Manet
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21219/---second-home-policy----aims-to-entice-more-tourists/
US, ASEAN urged to push rights in Cambodia
Twelve civil society organizations submitted a joint statement asking the US government and heads of democratic ASEAN members to raise issues of human rights violations in Cambodia and the misuse of courts to stifle the opposition at next week’s US-ASEAN Summit in California, in order ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21239/us--asean-urged-to-push-rights-in-cambodia/
Cambodia still controls ‘three rocks’: scholar
An academic tasked with researching the country’s border with Vietnam visited the latest flashpoint of political tension—the “Three Rocks” village in Takeo province—on Wednesday and determined that the boulders were still under Cambodian control. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cambodia-still-controls-three-rocks-scholar-108123/
Departments of Forestry and Fisheries to decentralize
The Ministry of Agriculture’s departments of Forestry and Fisheries will be placed under the control of the provincial agricultural administrations, according to an official letter released by Agricultural Minister Ouk Rabun on Monday. The move is part of an effort to decentralize government responsibilities and ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21232/departments-of-forestry-and-fisheries-to-decentralize/
Fumes from toilets lead to mass faintings at factory
More than 30 workers fainted at a garment factory in Kandal province over the past two days after inhaling noxious fumes circulated by a ventilation fan located near the facility’s toilets, an official said. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/fumes-from-toilets-lead-to-mass-faintings-at-factory-107996/