International relations

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday urged China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec Corp, the Asia’s largest oil refining and petrochemical enterprise, to expedite its process to build an oil refinery in Cambodia by 2018, Xinhua reported on October 15, citing a spokesman. ...

France and Australia have congratulated Prime Minister Hun Sen on his official re-election in July’s contested vote, with their endorsement coming as opposition leader Sam Rainsy visits Europe urging donors to suspend ties with the new government. While many other countries—mostly in Asia—were quick to congratulate ...

Cambodia held an inter- ministerial meeting on Monday to discuss and prepare documents for a talk with China in November in order to further enhance bilateral ties and cooperation, officials said. Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Monday’s meeting ...

Developing the Don Sahong dam on the Hou Sahong channel of the Mekong River in Champassak province does not breach the 1995 Mekong Agreement, a senior government official has told local media. Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines, Mr Viraphonh Viravong, made the comment on Thursday, ...

Cambodia planned to set up the first ever Civil Aviation Training Center with South Korean assistance in order to boost development of air transport industry and tourism, a spokesman said Saturday. “South Korea agreed to provide 10.1 million U.S. dollars in grant aid to Cambodia for ...

An increasing number of Cambodians have access to the Internet due to ownership of smartphones, tablets and the expansion of wireless broadband to rural areas of Cambodia, but access does not mean freedom from restrictions, according to a new report by New York-based Freedom House. In ...

Cambodia’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have received a total investment of 1.65 billion US dollars since their inception in 2006, according to a government report released on Friday. Since 2006 to now, the zones have attracted 172 investment projects, mostly from China, South Korea and Japan, ...

In cooperation with UN world tourism organization, Cambodia will host the tourism conference of Asia- Pacific region on tourism development in cultural and natural heritage in November in Siem Reap province. “There will be 40 countries from Asia- pacific region and 200 delegates will participant in ...

A day after the Cambodia National Mekong Committee (CNMC) received impact assessment documents from Laos for their controversial Don Sahong dam, Cambodian and Vietnamese officials criticized Laos’ lack of transparency on the mainstream Mekong dam. Located less than 1 km from the Lao-Cambodian border, the 240-MW ...

The National Assembly of Cambodia on Thursday called on national and international charitable groups to provide emergency reliefs to flood-affected people throughout the country, a statement said. The National Assembly of Cambodia on Thursday called on national and international charitable groups to provide emergency reliefs to ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has asked the Asian Development Bank to suspend funding to Cambodia, whose government he says was not formed legally following the July elections. In a letter to ADB President Takehiko Nakao, Sam Rainsy, president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, said the ...

Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) chief Om Yentieng on Wednesday told donor countries to keep their noses out of how the institution goes about its work while at the same time informing the public that he was powerless to stop the courts from dropping corruption cases. In a ...

Women’s Affairs Minister Ing Kantha Phavi on Tuesday defended the government’s policies on promoting gender equality and preventing discrimination against women, but conceded that challenges remain in achieving principles set out in the U.N.’s convention to stop discrimination against women. Speaking in Geneva to the U.N. ...

Anti-logging activists wrote to the United Nations yesterday to call for the monitoring of a lawsuit in which they accuse hundreds of officials in Kampong Speu province’s Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary of illegal deforestation. The Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organization (NRWPO) listed 241 officials it ...

On the morning of September 23, anti-eviction champion Tep Vanny was grappling with a legion of security guards blocking the entrance of the Daun Penh district offices while fellow protesters dismantled a razor-wire barricade nearby. The next day, she was on a plane to Washington ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen left Monday to attend the 23rd ASEAN summit as well as other related meetings in Brunei, said Srey Thamrong, a minister attached to Hun Sen. The summits held from October 9-10 will include the 23rd ASEAN Summit, 16th ASEAN-Japan Summit, 16th ...

The two-way trade between Cambodia and Japan has hit $503 million in the first eight months this year, up 24 percent over the same period last year, the figures from the Japan External Trade Organization said Tuesday. Cambodian exports to Japan rose 39 percent to $358 ...

Rights groups on Monday shared their concerns about the treatment of women in Cambodia with member states of the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in Geneva. Cambodia last updated the committee—which meets three times a year to assess how member states ...

While fears have been raised over the imminent construction of the Don Sahong dam in Laos, environmentalists on Monday said Cambodia should not forget that it has a project of its own that would be equally as disastrous to the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands ...

Cambodia’s GDP growth was projected to reach 7 percent in equivalent to 15.65 billion U.S. dollars in 2013 despite a challenging global economic environment, the World Bank said Monday. Overall macroeconomic outlook remains positive, having sustained agricultural growth, continued strong performance of the tourism sector, a ...

The World Bank said Monday that the impact of Cambodia’s political uncertainty was “unclear” but left its growth forecasts unchanged for this year and next year.  “The Cambodian economy remains robust amidst a challenging global economic environment,” the bank said in its East Asia and Pacific ...

The World Wildlife Fund, one of the biggest conservation groups, has called for an emergency meeting with the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in the wake of Laos’ decision to proceed with a second dam on the river. There are fears that this move will seriously undermine ...

A move by the International Labour Organization to name and shame garment producers in Cambodia that flout workers’ rights and safety standards could damage the industry’s reputation and result in a drastic reduction in orders from buyers abroad, according to a senior manufacturing official. Last week, ...

Laos has notified the Mekong River Commission (MRC) that it will go ahead with the construction of the Don Sahong Dam, which environmentalists say could threaten the ecosystem of the Lower Mainstream Mekong and have a severe impact on the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands ...