News
Tide changes at Ocean as factory pays strikers
Ocean Garment, the Phnom Penh-based clothing manufacturer at the centre of sexual harassment claims and an illegal strike that lasted more than two weeks, has agreed to compensate more than 2,500 workers for wages lost during the protests, a move union advocates have highlighted as ...
Dams, climate plague Mekong
Villagers in Kratie province have long feared the proposed Sambor hydroelectric dam and the impact it could have on their subsistence fishing and riverbank agriculture. According to Resilience on the Mekong: A Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment in North-East Cambodia, a report released by the World Wildlife Foundation on Friday, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012091058600/National-news/dams-climate-plague-mekong.html
Cambodia Says No Strings Attached in Recent Chinese Aid
China has done a lot to support Cambodia over the years, with millions of dollars in aid, loans and investment. But after reports last week that China has pledged another $500 million in soft loans and grants-and publicly thanked Cambodia for its support in Southeast ...
Cambodia opening its doors to investment
With GDP growth averaging around 9% for the past decade, Cambodia is certainly attracting interest from potential investors. It has possibly the most investor-friendly environment in Asean with no exchange controls, no restrictions on repatriation of profit, and no discrimination between foreign and local investors. Moreover, ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/311715/cambodia-opening-its-doors-to-investment
Ministry orders Kok An audit
Heng Chheang, the jailed ex-deputy general director of senator Kok An’s Anco Brothers Co, may have been improperly convicted of embezzling more than US$58 million from the tycoon, according to a letter sent to the Supreme Court from the Ministry of Economy and Finance last ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012091058613/National-news/ministry-orders-kok-an-audit.html
South China Sea outlook
The disputes over sovereignty in the South China Sea are approaching a tipping point. As former ASEAN secretary-general Rodolfo Severino said last month: “The disputes cannot be resolved anytime soon, if at all. The most that can be done is to prevent them developing into armed ...
Rights activists concerned about status of human rights under AEC
Despite so much excitement in the run-up to the inception of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, experts and activists on human rights and democracy are ambivalent about what AEC’s repercussions will be on human rights and democracy. They have expressed concerns about AEC’s negative ...
Cambodia: Mandatory Internet Surveillance Cameras
The Cambodian government is enforcing a circular drafted earlier this year which requires internet cafes to set up surveillance cameras and to register callers. Based on an unofficial translation made by Jinja, the government said the circular was made in response to the rising number ...
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/09/09/cambodia-mandatory-internet-surveillance-cameras/
UN Housing Envoy Wants Eviction Activists Freed
The U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Raquel Rolnik, has waded in to the furor surrounding the imprisonment this week of two anti-eviction activists from Boeng Kak and Borei Keila communities, posing with a poster calling for the release of the two women. Yorm Bopha, 32, ...
Japan to Give $840,000 To Demining Projects
Japan signed an agreement Thursday with the Japan Mine Action Service (JMAS) to provide $839,363 to deining projects in Battambang province, which will benefit about 5,500 residents. Together with the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC), which will receive almost half of the donations from Japan, JMAS ...
P Vihear Villagers Protest at National Assembly
More than 350 villagers from Preah Vihear province protested in front of the National Assembly on Friday, asking for support from lawmakers in their dispute with military veterans. The villagers, representing some 370 families in Kulen district’s Srayong commune, said that the land on which they ...
Taiwan Cooperative Bank to open Cambodia branch
Taiwan Cooperative Bank, the banking arm under Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding Co. Ltd., received the green light from Cambodia’s central bank to open a branch in the capital city of Phnom Penh, the bank said Saturday. Cambodia, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ...
http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aECO&ID=201209080024
New Mekong Port to Ease Overloaded Phnom Penh Terminal
With cargo traffic at the Phnom Penh Autonomus Port growing rapidly, a nearly completed container terminal just south of the city on the Mekon River should help ease the congestion. The 30-hectare port, in Kandal province’s Kein Svay district, was completed late last month, though cranes ...
Factory Suspends Operations After Complaints Over Fumes
British American Tobacco (Cambodia) Co. (BAT), which produces the cigarette brand ARA, suspended operations at its re-drying plant in Kandal province’s Takhmao commune yesterday, in order to allow time to redesign its air filtration system following repeated complaints about fumes that were allegedly spewing from ...
Acleda takes out $10 Million
Acleda Bank has signed a $US10 million loan agreement with Proparco, a development finance institution held in part by the Agence Francaise de Développement (AFD), according to a statement released on Wednesday. With the Kingdom’s financial sector expanding rapidly and a growing demand for banking and ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012090758553/Business/acleda-takes-out-10m-loan.html
Garment Workers Continue Tax Deductions Protest
About 600 garment workers of the Top Form factory in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district continued protesting yesterday against new income tax deductions from their pay outside the factory after police blocked them from marching on National Road 5. Workers have been protesting since Friday against ...
UAE, Cambodia look to lift tourism
Cambodia’s tourism ministry and United Arab Emirates officials have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen tourism to the Kingdom, officials said during a press conference at Phnom Penh’s international airport. Tourism Minister Thong Khon said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) would provide more opportunities for ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012090758551/Business/uae-cambodia-look-to-lift-tourism.html
Court Hears Borei Keila Evictees' Complaint
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday questioned three Borei Keila residents about a complaint they filed six month ago against the property development firm Phanimex from evicting them from their land. In March, a group of Borei Keila residents filed their complaint against Phanimex’s owner ...
Cellcard's COO Kay Lot resigns
One of Cambodia’s primary telecommunications companies, Cellcard, announced yesterday that longtime Chief Operating Officer Kay Lot has resigned. The departure of Kay Lot follows the departure of CEO David Spriggs who resigned his position about two months ago. Telecommunications industry insiders say the otherwise healthy and profitable ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012090758552/Business/cellcards-coo-kay-lot-resigns.html
Bra factory workers look to ministry for support
About 300 workers entered their sixth day of strikes yesterday at a bra factory in the capital, which manufactures lingerie supplied to Victoria’s Secret and Valentino, but their hopes of a quick resolution were dashed when a Ministry of Social Affairs official admitted he was ...
Officials deny arrest has links to new loans
The rumour mill has been in overdrive regarding the arrest of The Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg; however, various government officials yesterday shunned the conspiracy theories. Tom Abrahamsson, head of administrative and consular matters at the Swedish Embassy in Phnom Penh, refuted speculation that Svartholm ...
Kingdom and Qatar to form labour watchdog
Cambodia’s next step in allowing workers such as maids and builders to travel to Qatar will be to create a committee with the Arab state to ensure their safety is protected, a senior labour official said yesterday. The Senate on Wednesday supported an agreement between the ...
Land, Borders Reemerge as Top Issues for 2013 Elections
With national elections less than a year away, ruling party officials have begun a publicity campaign to show they are tackling tough issues facing the country, such as border delineation and land grabs, but opposition leaders say the Cambodian People’s Party cannot claim it has ...
Largest hydropower station on Mekong River starts operation
The largest hydropower station on Lancang River in southwest China’s Yunnan Province — known as the Mekong River in southeast Asia — went into operation Thursday with its first power generating unit up and running. The Nuozhadu hydroelectric station, located in the city of Pu’er, is ...