News

Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn on Sunday criticised the United States government for allegedly failing to recognise Khmer Rouge-perpetrated genocide until recently, accusing the US of suppressing criticism of the Pol Pot regime. ...

More than 5,000 sugar palm trees will be planted at an ancient historical site in Kampong Cham province’s Srei Santhor district in an effort to turn the area into a tourist attraction. ...

Construction began yesterday on a $2 million Vietnamese-funded market located in Tbong Khmum province’s Memot district, about 1 kilometre from the nearest border crossing between Cambodia and Vietnam. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng publicly chided the Transportation Ministry yesterday over the poor quality of National Road 8 and the ministry’s failure to maintain the eastbound highway that cuts across Prey Veng province, where Kheng is the head of the ruling CPP’s working group. ...

The report, “Freedom in the World 2018”, released on January 16, found that 2017 was the 12th consecutive year of decline in freedom globally, with 71 of the 195 countries included in the report suffering declines, including Cambodia. ...

Following robust growth in cargo shipments, total revenue for state-owned Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP), the second largest harbor in Cambodia, increased by 14 percent in 2017, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. ...

With the bidding process for the project coming to an end, the construction of a new seaport for tourist vessels in Kampot will begin in March, a representative of Kampot’s tourism department told Khmer Times. ...

Labour Minister Ith Samheng said yesterday said he plans to increase the number of Cambodian trainees being sent to Japan for study and part-time work, noting that about 6,000 have been working in the country since 2007. ...

The Ministry of Education is to expand literacy classes for garment workers to more than 12 provinces where factories are located this year, with more classes planed for the whole nation by 2020. ...

The Cambodia Trucking Association has suggested the Ministry of Public Works and Transport open the kingdom’s first heavy truck driver training school. ...

The government plans to reduce its foreign debt and raise capital through the issuance of bonds, a representative of the Ministry of Economy and Finance has unveiled. “Increasing local borrowing instead of foreign borrowing will improve the country’s trade balance and current account,” said Vong Seyvisoth, ...

Borei Keila residents have continued to reject compensation in exchange for leaving their land, claiming the latest offer was inadequate. Two of the remaining 11 families met with the 7 Makara district governor in Phnom Penh yesterday to discuss compensation. ...

Official within the Grassroots Democracy Party threatened to pull out of the national elections in July, demanding a more positive atmosphere after ruling party officials allegedly removed GDP billboards in Battambang and Phnom Penh. ...

The royalist Funcinpec party yesterday denied local media reports that it had appointed a Chinese national as vice president. ...

Both unionists and private sector representatives are unhappy with draft amendments to Cambodia’s Labour Law, which would overhaul the regulations surrounding worker contracts and guaranteed employee protections. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday expressed support for the waterway transport system from Prek Phnov to Phnom Penh and to Takhmao city, which will be launched before Khmer New Year. ...

Foreign-based members of Cambodia’s dissolved opposition party have launched a movement to demand the release of its detained leader and to call for free and fair elections and possibly protests. ...

The government has created a new interministerial committee to manage the activities of international NGOs, with an Interior Ministry official yesterday saying the body was intended to monitor organisations’ compliance with the controversial NGO Law. ...

The Cambodian government has approved plans to build one of the world’s largest airports in Kandal province, though key actors have yet to work out the details and one economist noted yesterday that the current proposal may be short-sighted. ...

Li’s visit comes at a time when Cambodia’s government, under Prime Minister Hun Sen, is facing rising pressure from the United States and the European Union over its human rights record. Both have threatened sanctions in response to a ruling by the nation’s top court ...

Sea Resources Pty Ltd and its subsidiary Sovann Resources Co., Ltd recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Australia-based Medusa Mining on exploration rights in the Prek Kampi district in Kratie province. ...

Eight Vietnamese nationals were sent to pre-trial detention on Saturday after being arrested last week for allegedly illegally logging on behalf of a local firm in Mondulkiri province. The eight were arrested last Wednesday clearing land in Pech Chreada district near the Sre Pok Wildlife ...

Nearly 300 chickens and ducks were culled after a new case of H5N1, or bird flu, was found in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district last week, officials said. Seang Borin, director of the municipal agriculture department, said yesterday that 292 chickens and ducks were killed in ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen marked 33 years in power yesterday, claiming he had maintained his tight grip on power through democratic, not dictatorial, means – while also lamenting that he was unable to step down due to the Kingdom’s needs. ...