News
ASEAN, EU may resume free-trade talks: report
ASEAN and the European Union (EU) are set to explore the possible resumption of talks on a free-trade agreement (FTA) after the ASEAN Economic Community comes into effect this year, Malaysia’s Bernama news agency reported Sunday. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://bit.ly/1bv0CYh
Three major cities to be divided into zones
Phnom Penh, Siem Reap City and Sihanoukville will each be divided into 10 zones to allow for easier management, according to the Ministry of Land Management. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/three-major-cities-to-be-divided-into-zones-82667/
NEC says Japan, EU to aid election reforms
A spokesman for the newly reconstituted National Election Committee (NEC) said Friday that Japan and the European Union (E.U.) have agreed to send experts to Cambodia next month to look for ways to improve the country’s flawed voter lists and to better educate voters. ...
Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/nec-says-japan-eu-to-aid-election-reforms-82659/
China, Cambodia further cement relations
Prime Minister Hun Sen met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 60th Asian-African Conference Commemoration in Bandung, Indonesia, on Thursday, announcing further cooperation between the two countries, local media reported Friday. ...
Sek Odom and Maria Paula Brito
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/china-cambodia-further-cement-relations-82669/
Hun Sen shutters two firms in Siem Reap tour boat trade
Two companies collecting commission from tourist-boat operators on the Tonle Sap lake in Siem Reap province have been closed down on orders from Prime Minister Hun Sen, according to the provincial governor. ...
Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-shutters-two%e2%80%88firms-in-siem-reap-tour-boat-trade-82661/
Woman jailed in land dispute wins release
After five months in jail, a woman whose family is embroiled in a bitter land dispute with tycoon Khun Sear was released on bail from Prey Sar prison on Friday, though the fight between the two parties remains unresolved. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/woman-jailed-in-land-dispute-wins-release-82655/
Hun Sen, Rainsy host joint event abroad
Amid the latest rapprochement between Prime Minister Hun Sen and opposition CNRP leader Sam Rainsy, the two men are scheduled to team up in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday as hosts at a reception for Cambodians working in Malaysia. ...
Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-rainsy-host-joint-event-abroad-82651/
Hun Sen, Sam Rainsy to meet Cambodians abroad together
Prime Minister Hun Sen and opposition leader Sam Rainsy will meet together with Cambodian people living in Malaysia this weekend, Sam Rainsy posted in his Facebook page. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://bit.ly/1I2WVFT
Laos looks to balance China’s growing economic influence
China’s growing influence in Laos, marked by expanded investment and trade, has led some international agencies to warn Laos about an unhealthy financial dependence on China. Analysts say Laos is looking to balance China’s influence by drawing support from longstanding backer Vietnam as well as ...
Ron Corben
http://bit.ly/1QyDHM5
IOM raising funds to return rescued fishermen
As 58 Cambodian fishermen rescued from slavery in Indonesia await their travel documents to return home, the intergovernmental body organizing their return is attempting to raise money to pay for their travel because the Cambodian government is not offering any funds for their repatriation. ...
Alex Consiglio and Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/iom-raising-funds-to-return-rescued-fishermen-82532/
Prince calls for 3-party coalition
Funcinpec party president Prince Norodom Ranariddh has called on the opposition and ruling parties to form a tripartite coalition with the royalists after Cambodia National Rescue Party president Sam Rainsy and Prime Minister Hun Sen embarked on a “honeymoon” after years spent at each others’ ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/prince-calls-3-party-coalition
Government spokesman says Kem Sokha is a communist
A spokesman for the government on Thursday released a 20-minute video monologue accusing deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha of secretly harboring a “communist” tendency, only days after Mr. Sokha used the same word to describe the ruling CPP. ...
Mech Dara and Alex Willemyns
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-spokesman-says-kem-sokha-is-a-communist-82548/
Prison refuses to release woman despite order from court
Despite an order from the Supreme Court, officials at Prey Sar prison Thursday refused to release a woman on bail who has been jailed since November as part of a bitter land dispute with tycoon Khun Sear, her lawyer said. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/prison-refuses-to-release-woman-despite-order-from-court-82544/
Appeal court delays decision on Doroshenko’s bail request
Russian businessman Nikolai Doroshenko, who was jailed in March on fraud charges relating to a dispute with his former investment partner, Sergei Polonsky, will on Monday receive a decision from the Appeal Court about his latest request to be freed on bail. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/appeal-court-delays-decision-on-doroshenkos-bail-request-82552/
New plan for low-cost housing
Cambodia’s Ministry of Land Management is in the initial phase of a project to build affordable housing for the Kingdom’s low-income population. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/new-plan-low-cost-housing
Court questions general over tycoon’s murder
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday resumed its questioning of Major General Thong Sarath, a Defense Ministry official charged with orchestrating the murder of tycoon Ung Meng Chue in November. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/court-questions-general-over-tycoons-murder-82534/
Prison officials ‘ignoring’ bail order
Officials at Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison have ignored a Supreme Court order permitting the bail of activist Ly Seav Minh, whose family is embroiled in a long-running land dispute with a politically connected company, her lawyer said yesterday. ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/prison-officials-ignoring-bail-order
Gov’t mulls green incentives
The Ministry of Environment said it is working to make eco-friendly and green technologies tax-free, in order to reduce the cost barriers associated with importing and implementing these technologies, such as the use of solar panels. Speaking at EuroCham’s Green Business Forum in Phnom Penh, Environment ...
Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/govt-mulls-green-incentives
New election body to meet Japanese, European Union diplomats
Less than two weeks after it was established, the reformed National Election Committee (NEC) will formally convene today for the first time to meet with delegations from Japan and the European Union (E.U.), two of the biggest past contributors to electoral reform in Cambodia. ...
Kuch Naren and Alex Willemyns
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/new-election-body-to-meet-japanese-european-union-diplomats-82546/
Graft may grow with trade: TI
A new report issued today by Transparency International calls for the establishment of an ASEAN Integrity Community (AIC) to combat corruption, warning that economic integration could otherwise deepen the graft that taints the region. “If economic integration is not built on a strong foundation of transparency, ...
Charles Parkinson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/graft-may-grow-trade-ti
Union asks Japanese to examine ‘assaults’
A Cambodian labour union this week sent a letter to the Japanese Embassy, asking for help dealing with reported violence against workers at a Japanese-owned garment factory in Kampong Speu province. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/union-asks-japanese-examine-assaults
Families renew call for help in land dispute
Representatives of 29 families involved in a land dispute with the Defense Ministry in Phnom Penh visited the National Assembly on Thursday, seeking a response to a petition they submitted last month asking for intervention. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/families-renew-call-for-help-in-land-dispute-82538/
Union asks embassy to investigate factory
The Free Trade Union on Thursday submitted a letter to the Japanese Embassy in Phnom Penh requesting that embassy officials investigate a Japanese-owned garment factory in Kompong Speu province that it claims tried to intimidate a union representative late last year. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/union-asks-embassy-to-investigate-factory-82542/
In coverage of land dispute, a publisher’s interests served
In this sparsely populated area along the eastern fringe of Bokor National Park in Chhuk district, villagers are scrambling to claim sandy, arid land as an international company surges ahead with its palm oil plantation. As in many of the hundreds of unresolved land disputes playing ...
Matt Blomberg and Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/in-coverage-of-land-dispute-a-publishers-interests-served-82523/