News

The military’s ongoing clearing of community forests in Oddar Meanchey province risks derailing Cambodia’s first forest-based carbon trading scheme backed by the U.N., according to the latest assessment of the project. Community forest groups, who stand to earn millions from the project, said on Wednesday that ...

Minister of Posts and Telecommunications So Khun said Wednesday that the government’s decision last week to order all mobile phone firms to stop offering generous top-up bonuses came after one of the market’s competitors complained to the ministry. Ian Watson, CEO of Mobitel, denied complaining ...

In diversifing its holiday attractions, Cambodia’s tourism industry should focus on three key areas – the country’s northeastern region, the coasts and the vicinity around Siem Reap – but efforts to promote these destinations are still lacking, an industry leader says. Statistics from the Ministry ...

About 5,000 Cambodian workers took to the street on Wednesday to mark the International Labor Day, calling for pay rise, better labor conditions and decrease in petrol prices, a union representative said. Marchers, mostly garment workers, held banners and walked from the Freedom Park near the ...

The French Development Agency (AFD) said yesterday it is discussing an approximately 50 million euro ($65 million) loan to extend electricity transmission lines, and said it plans to provide more loans for vocational training in the Kingdom. “We are discussing [the] loan . . . that ...

When activists Mom Sakin and Sorn Siyan took a stand against illegal logging in Kratie province last month, they were allegedly threatened with violence and lawsuits from officials. “Powerful people who wanted to intimidate us shot their guns into the air to prevent us from going ...

About a decade ago, global manufacturing firms staged a mass exodus to Asia in search of low-cost alternatives to increasing domestic wage demands and operational costs. The consensus was the continued development of a regional supply chain that had formed in countries like Vietnam and Indonesia, ...

With competition rife in Cambodia’s telecommunication market, two of the country’s largest mobile phone operators have engaged in a battle over prices and are at odds over the tactics being used to gain market share. On Friday, the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) ordered all mobile ...

The government’s abuse of land rights and indigenous minorities were among the top concerns raised Tuesday by non-governmental groups at a workshop in Phnom Penh on Cambodia’s progress toward achieving a long list of U.N. human rights recommendations. As part of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s ...

Police at border checkpoints have in the past weeks stopped more than 2,200 people in Banteay Meanchey province from crossing into Thailand to look for better paid work, officials said yesterday. The focus on Cambodian workers migrating to Thailand-many illegally-comes amid a shortage of labor at ...

Jarai minority villagers in Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district protested in two locations yesterday against a Vietnamese company that community leaders say has been clearing their protected land and forcing villagers to accept inadequate compensation. Community leader Sev Hem said 30 angry villagers directly confronted five Company 72 ...

The Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) is calling all mobile phone operators to attend a meeting next week in order to reconsider the costs for within-and across-network calls, after disputes over bonus promotions in Cambodia’s crowded telecoms market. TRC director Mao Chakrya said that for the ...

Illegal border movements, illegal logging, drug trafficking, illegal fishing and unofficial cross border trade are among the issues being confronted by Laos and Cambodia along their shared border at the moment. The report was made during a meeting held between Champassak provincial authorities from Laos and ...

Japan agreed Tuesday to provide a loan package of 90 million U.S. dollars to Cambodia for the improvement of a stretch of the national road No. 5 and two bypasses in northwestern provinces, according to a statement from Japanese Embassy to Cambodia. The statement said ...

Hotel transaction volumes in Asia hit US$620 million (Bt18.18 billion) in the first quarter, up 190 per cent from the same period last year, and properties in Southeast Asia are attracting investor attention, according to real-estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle. “Rising visitor arrivals, robust trading ...

Senior government officials yesterday were promoting the development of the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector in the Kingdom, particularly the concept of digital empowerment among young people. Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who presided over the opening of ITU Asia-Pacific Regional Development Forum, held in ...

Three families protesting the fencing–off of the Phnom Penh building in which they have lived for decades were assured yesterday by City Hall-which “swapped” the property and the land on which it is built earlier this month-that they will not be evicted from the building ...

An online trading firm based in the tax haven of Cyprus is planning to open a subsidiary in Cambodia, an account manager at IronFX’s headquarters in Cyprus said yesterday. “We are on the planning stage in Cambodia. We are now studying law and regulations in the ...

The Court of Appeal yesterday heard the case of a land dispute between a 70-year old woman from Kompong Chhang province and a company owned by the wife of the Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy over a 3,000 square meter parcel of land. In May ...

After the fourth Joint Trade Commission (JTC) recently, Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom said that Thailand and Cambodia had the potential to drive two-way trade up by 30 per cent, due to strong growth in 2012. Last year, bilateral trade grew by 40.5 per cent year on ...

Bilateral trade between Cambodia and Thailand went down by 2.3 percent during the first quarter of this year, according to the statistics released by [the] Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh on Monday. Officials said the drop was due to “Thai baht appreciation, not ongoing border conflict” ...

Thailand and Cambodia are on a path towards the setting up of a special trade zone that will see the two neighbors actively trade cassava and corn. Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom revealed on Monday that the 4th Thailand-Cambodia Joint Trade Committee meeting, held last week, saw ...

Half a year after the first Cambodian domestic workers network formed, Cambodian activists for maids’ rights are turning to workers in other sectors and international organisations for solidarity and support. Long lacking organised representation, Cambodian domestic workers this Wednesday will join workers in other industries in ...

The government on Friday released a draft of a new public policy guide on the county’s contentious land sector, a move that was welcomed by NGOs, who also called for the government to hold further consultations on the draft. Local rights groups have singled out ...