Khmer Times

Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Cambodia is expected to diversify into finance and banking in the near term, offering microlending services to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), said Peter Wong, Southeast Asia and South Asia regional director at the Hong Kong Trade Development ...

The Ministry of Tourism has begun discussions with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) over a $30-million loan to fund infrastructure in coastal provinces that would support tourism development. The government has announced plans to use the money to build two seaports in Preah Sihanouk province – ...

The Environment Ministry is urging people, especially youth, to take part in the protection of forests and natural resources as the government is lacking manpower and equipment. Kong Siek Ly, director of the community living department at the ministry, said on Saturday that a total ...

Authorities in Kratie province’s Chhloung district yesterday ordered villagers not to build houses and to remove those already built along the riverbank after five houses collapsed into the river on Tuesday. District governor Heng Sitha yesterday said that the authorities have banned the construction of ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng is monitoring the progress of a draft law aimed at addressing the problem of surrogacy in the Kingdom, which is now being debated at the inter-ministerial level. Mr Kheng on Tuesday evening briefed Donica Pottie, Canada’s Ambassador to the Kingdom, on the ...

An indigenous minority group living in the eastern province of Ratanakkiri is expressing concerns regarding the use of an illegal chemical in fertilisers by some companies who were granted Economic Land Concessions by the government. The Cambodian Centre for Independent Media conducted a field survey ...

Officials, scientists and conservationists from six countries yesterday gathered for a three-day conference in the capital to share their experience in conserving the endangered Eld’s deer. About 50 people from Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, where the species is found, will share their ...

Kandal provincial authorities and six unnamed companies in Kandal Stung district are handing out money to thousands of families locked in a 400-hectare land dispute in a bid to quell protests. Those who accept the money must relinquish their claim and cease from gathering in public ...

There is no security need for Cambodia to have a foreign military base. Although sovereignty disputes and border tensions between Cambodia and its neighbors remain unresolved and sometimes violence occurs, Cambodia will never seek to use force or threaten to use force against its neighbours, ...

A request from the Khmer Vietnamese Association for the Interior Ministry to delay the relocation of Vietnamese familes living on the Tonle Sap river in Kampong Chhnang province has been rejected. The KVA’s letter, submitted last week, asked the ministry to intervene in the relocation of ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng has blamed local officials posted along the Cambodian-Thai border for failing to curb the flow of illegal loggers sneaking across the border to cut down trees in Thailand. Mr Kheng said on Saturday in Oddar Meanchey province that up to 100 Cambodian ...

The Centre for Policy Studies yesterday urged the government to consider reducing tax on some imported agriculture equipment to support farmers and increase the rate of modernisation. CPS director Chan Sophal said during a Cross Talk discussion with Khmer Times yesterday that recently the agriculture ...

Government officials and private sector leaders on Friday reiterated their calls for all small and medium-sized enterprises to join the regulatory fold. Public officials and representatives of employers’ organisations assured business owners that the recently announced tax incentives are not a “trap” and that registering ...

Representatives of about 400 families locked in a 670-hectare land dispute with NK Venture in Svay Rieng province’s Romeas Haek district have warned that protestors will return to Phnom Penh if negotiations with local authorities fail to yield results. ...

The potential cancellation of the Everything-but-arms (EBA) scheme will not have an impact on development projects in Cambodia funded by the European Union, according to George Edgar, the EU Ambassador to Cambodia. ...

A farming family has agreed to receive $3,000 in compensation from the Wildlife Alliance after it cleared the family’s fruit trees in Koh Kong province’s Koh Kong district. Yorng Tay, the wife of farmer Seng Thet, said by phone yesterday that Wildlife Alliance agreed to ...

Ratanakkiri provincial health department officials are testing blood samples to find out why nearly 200 villagers came down with food poisoning at a funeral in Ou Chum district on Friday. ...

The Manpower Association of Cambodia and the Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Thai-Cambodian Relation Association to protect migrant workers in Thailand. ...

The government earned $6.6 million in revenue from economic land concessions (ELCs), despite the fact that less than half of the firms granted the concessions paid rental fees, according to a report presented to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights. ...

The government has reclassified 35 hectares of state land in Phnom Penh as state-private land to be developed by a private company, a sub-decree seen by Khmer Times showed yesterday. In accordance with the sub-decree, signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen in September, the government converted ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng on Wednesday instructed police officials and local authorities to collaborate with registered NGOs to ensure that their work is carried out without disturbance or restriction. Mr Kheng said in a statement that registered NGOs are authorised to carry out their activities ...

The General Department of Taxation (GDT) has announced that it aims to increase revenue from tax collection by 19 percent with a new strategy for the next four years based on sustainability and fair competition in the private sector. ...

City hall is requesting the Japanese government for help in constructing an additional water treatment facility in Phnom Penh, an official said yesterday. Deputy Governor Nuon Pharoth said during a press conference yesterday that he led a delegation to Japan last week to discuss the ...

The TEST programme, which aims to fight the effects of climate change by helping corporations adopt efficient and environmentally friendly processes, was launched yesterday in Phnom Penh. ‘TEST’ stands for ‘transfer of environmentally sound technology’. ...