News

Labor Minister Ith Samheng asked the new Australian ambassador yesterday if her country could take in seasonal workers from Cambodia, prompting disappointment from a number of civil society groups hoping the government would make more of an effort to create jobs here. ...

Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak lobbied his visiting Chinese counterpart, Gao Hucheng, yesterday to consider doubling Cambodia’s annual rice export quota to China while also proposing a host of agricultural trade agreements.   ...

The government launched a campaign yesterday to distribute 3.4 million pieces of reflective tape in an effort to reduce traffic accidents at night, with Prime Minister Hun Sen ordering officials and party members to give the tape out for free and threatening to arrest anyone ...

Thirty-two Vietnamese nationals were arrested during raids by immigration police in Phnom Penh’s Toul Kork district yesterday morning, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Keo Vanthorn.   ...

One of the Kingdom’s largest microfinance institutions (MFI), Prasac MFI, increased its paid up share capital by $29 million in a bid to increase public confidence and comply with the National Bank of Cambodia’s (NBC) requirements. ...

Late last year, in one of his provocative Facebook posts from abroad, opposition leader Sam Rainsy falsely accused Heng Samrin’s 1980s regime of sentencing King Norodom Sihanouk to death. ...

The Kingdom’s once-promising home-grown coffee industry has been laid low by adverse weather and fierce global competition, with the total area under coffee cultivation cut in half over the last three years as desperate farmers switch to other crops, a senior official at the Ministry ...

An industry analyst has issued a dire forecast for Cambodia’s rice sector, claiming the long-grain “white gold” that has been credited with lifting millions of Cambodia’s farmers out of abject poverty, and which seems a natural fit for the Kingdom’s agrarian workforce, is on a ...

Despite repeatedly claiming that China does not dictate Cambodia’s foreign policy, the government yesterday was lauded by Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Bu Jianguo, who said China’s leaders and millions of Chinese people thanked Prime Minister Hun Sen for backing Beijing on the South China Sea ...

Cambodia’s development “could not be detached” from Chinese aid, Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong said on Monday, joining a chorus of officials from both parties praising a relationship that appears to be deepening over similar stances on the South China Sea.   ...

South Korea pledged to strengthen bilateral cooperation with the Kingdom yesterday and also agreed to provide military equipment as they had in the past with the donation of three ships to the Cambodian navy. ...

Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (SAP), the Kingdom’s largest maritime container hub, reported a six percent increase in cargo shipments in the first six months of the year, while tonnage rose by 10 percent in the same period. ...

Timber baron Try Pheap, who has previously been accused of running large-scale illegal timber operations in protected forest areas and making millions off the Kingdom’s natural resources, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Friday to launch a new business venture, PAPA Petroleum Co Ltd. ...

A Chinese agricultural company has agreed to establish a banana plantation in Cambodia, according to a senior government official. ...

China’s Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng, who has been on an official visit to Cambodia, will discuss roads, railways, airport construction, agriculture and other projects with senior government officials in the next few days. ...

Though the Kingdom’s existing salt farms in Kampot and Kep produce enough salt to support domestic consumption, industry experts, however, are worried that a flood of the vital commodity from neighboring countries will spoil the market for Cambodian producers. ...

After eight years in the works, the Agriculture Ministry on Monday circulated the framework for Cambodia’s first law regulating the quality of domestic and imported meat products and livestock. ...

Financial literacy, for students to make effective and informed money management decisions, will now be in the general education curriculum due to joint efforts by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS). ...

The Cambodian government is preparing a tourism policy to manage the increasing numbers of elderly foreign tourists visiting the Kingdom, an official at the Ministry of Tourism said yesterday. ...

A large US-based international hotels and resorts group plans to invest close to $120 million in a multi-resort development project in Preah Sihanouk province. ...

Evidence that a deadly pesticide is being used to kill wildlife at watering holes in two provinces has raised fears of widespread poisoning that could jeopardize biodiversity and the health of rural communities, according to a new report.   ...

Cambodia’s Secretariat of Civil Aviation signed a Memorandum of Understanding, last week, with the Morocco Civil Aviation Authority that technically allows direct flights between the two countries. ...

A female Irrawaddy dolphin and its baby were found dead yesterday morning in Kratie province’s Chet Borei district, though the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said the cause of death is still unknown.   ...

Authorities stopped a truck illegally transporting a load of valuable timber through Kratie province on Saturday, but failed to apprehend the driver and his assistant, who fled on foot, an official said on Sunday.   ...