The Phnom Penh Post
Kandal locals ask for government intervention as lake filled in
More than 300 families briefly blocked the entrance to the Kandal Provincial Hall on Monday morning to ask the governor to intervene in a land dispute with well-connected conglomerate ING Holdings, which they say has built a fence around Boeung Chi Po, one of multiple ...
Soth Koemsoeun
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kandal-locals-ask-government-intervention-lake-filled
China’s sway clear at Mekong summit
China’s ever increasing influence over the Mekong River Basin was apparent on the first day of a Mekong River Commission (MRC) summit on Monday, where cooperation between the MRC and the Chinese-backed Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) mechanism was floated. ...
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/chinas-sway-clear-mekong-summit
Two charged in Kampong Speu for illegal forest clearing
The director of Kampong Speu’s protected Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary and his predecessor have been charged with illegally clearing forest in a case dating back to 2013, and have been summoned to court for questioning. ...
Phak Seangly
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/two-charged-kampong-speu-illegal-forest-clearing
Cambodia, Thailand agree to open international border checkpoint mid-May
Cambodia and Thailand plan to officially open a new international border checkpoint in mid-May, an official confirmed on Sunday. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cambodia-thailand-agree-open-international-border-checkpoint-mid-may
Mekong summit sees $66B worth of projects agreed to
Six countries pledged to enact $66 billion worth of projects over the next five years at the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit in Hanoi on Saturday, with Cambodia-specific projects scheduled to receive the least amount of funding of any participant. ...
Robin Spiess
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/mekong-summit-sees-66b-worth-projects-agreed
Kratie officials seize bulldozer involved in clearing state forest
Kratie’s Prek Prasap district authorities on Friday confiscated a bulldozer in connection with the clearing of 10 hectares of forestland near the protected Prey Lang forest, officials said on Sunday. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kratie-officials-seize-bulldozer-involved-clearing-state-forest
Kingdom’s disease burden shifting
Cambodia is facing the double burden of infectious and noncommunicable diseases, experts say, but the country can still prevent the problem from becoming “catastrophic” by implementing adequate measures and funnelling appropriate funding to tackle chronic illnesses. ...
Yesenia Amaro and Kong Meta
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdoms-disease-burden-shifting
NBC warns against unlicensed deposit schemes
The National Bank of Cambodia issued a letter on Wednesday clarifying that only seven microfinance institutions (MFIs) are licensed to accept deposits from the public. The notification came after the central bank noticed several “rural credit operators” – institutions smaller than a typical MFI that ...
Hor Kimsay
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/nbc-warns-against-unlicensed-deposit-schemes
Preah Vihear villagers petition PM over razing
Around 20 people representing 250 villagers from Preah Vihear’s Choam Ksan district petitioned Prime Minister Hun Sen for a solution to the razing of their village in 2012, which was done under instructions from current provincial CPP lawmaker Suos Yara and local officials. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/preah-vihear-villagers-petition-pm-over-razing
EU to probe exports of rice
The European Commission has found sufficient evidence to launch an investigation into whether Cambodian rice exported to the EU puts an unfair burden on European rice farmers, potentially imperiling the Kingdom’s tariff-free exports to the bloc. ...
Cheng Sokhorng and Brendan O’Byrne
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/eu-probe-exports-rice
Golden Dragon military exercises end with bang
Amid a hail of 20,000 bullets, the thud of eight helicopters, a hostage rescue demonstration and choreographed martial arts performances, the joint Chinese-Cambodian Golden Dragon military exercises concluded yesterday as officials from both sides praised the expanding relationship between the two countries. ...
Ben Sokhean and Daphne Chen
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/golden-dragon-military-exercises-end-bang
Local journalists lead police to Pursat timber stockpile
Environmental officials in Pursat are questioning rangers over how a group of local journalists discovered nearly 100 logs of luxury timber inside a wildlife sanctuary. After receiving a tip, the journalists, representing 24 small online media outlets, teamed up with five local policemen on Tuesday ...
Phak Seangly
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/local-journalists-lead-police-pursat-timber-stockpile
Authorities call for increased surveillance of unions, NGOs
Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Chuon Sovann on Wednesday ordered authorities in Phnom Penh to tighten their grip on a broad cross-section of groups, including civil society organisations and communities with “opposition tendencies”, that attempt to cause “social instability” and “political turmoil”. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/authorities-call-increased-surveillance-unions-ngos
Environment Ministry rolls out plastic bag fee
Customers at shopping centres and supermarkets will be charged 400 riel per plastic bag beginning April 10. Heng Nareth, the director of environmental protection at the Ministry of Environment, said the aim is to reduce wasteful use of plastic bags. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Daphne Chen
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/environment-ministry-rolls-out-plastic-bag-fee
Four villagers called to court over land dispute
A complaint filed at the Preah Vihear Provincial Court accuses four Kuoy ethnic villagers of goading some 70 others into confiscating tractors being used to clear community land by a subsidiary of the Chinese sugar company Rui Feng, which has been involved in a series ...
Phak Seangly
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/four-villagers-called-court-over-land-dispute
UN data show nearly half of Kingdom’s rice exports undocumented
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is forecasting that 44 percent of Cambodia’s total rice exports will be smuggled out of the country through informal channels this year, a persistent problem that weighs down profits and threatens to cripple the industry. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/un-data-show-nearly-half-kingdoms-rice-exports-undocumented
Ministry sees strong growth for Kingdom
Cambodia should continue to see steady economic growth at about 7 percent this year despite potential investor caution that could arise ahead of July’s national election, officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) said on Wednesday. ...
Hor Kimsay
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/ministry-sees-strong-growth-kingdom
Village protests halt Phan Imex land clearing in Kandal
A 20-year-old land dispute in Kandal province between residents of Por Miev village and the Phan Imex construction company hit a new snag on Wednesday when villagers discovered that workers had brought excavation equipment to a parcel of land that borders communal property at the ...
Soth Koemsoeun
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/village-protests-halt-phan-imex-land-clearing-kandal
Hun Sen: No one negotiates better than me in 'history of world leaders'
In a boast reminiscent of US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Hun Sen went on a tangent on Wednesday before thousands of garment workers in Por Sen Chey district extolling his negotiating prowess, calling himself one of the top negotiators in the “history of world ...
Ben Sokhean and Quinn Libson
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hun-sen-no-one-negotiates-better-me-history-world-leaders
Villagers continue land protest in Banteay Meanchey
Some 80 villagers embroiled in a long-running land dispute vowed on Tuesday to continue to protest outside the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court until the release of their community representative, who was arrested on Monday for allegedly “affecting private ownership”. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/villagers-continue-land-protest-banteay-meanchey
Germany-led meet seeks to get produce to China
Germany’s international development agency (GIZ) held a workshop on Tuesday that promoted Cambodian agricultural exports to China, focusing on the necessary export guidelines and the sanitation standards that are often lacking in the Kingdom’s agricultural value chains. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/germany-led-meet-seeks-get-produce-china
Government timber figures belie ‘ban’ on Vietnam trade
A series of quarterly reports from the National Bank of Cambodia raises questions about the government’s ban on timber exports, as they show that last year, more than $5 million in sawn timber was exported from the Kingdom. The latest report, released earlier this month ...
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-timber-figures-belie-ban-exports
‘Cartel’ let off hook by ministry
The Agriculture Ministry last week accused slaughterhouses across Cambodia of conspiring to form a cartel and engaging in price fixing while local authorities turned a blind eye, but has since said it has no plans to punish or even name the alleged perpetrators. ...
Hor Kimsay
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cartel-let-hook-ministry
Hun Sen says Cambodia won’t discuss CNRP with Japan
Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday that a meeting with Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Taro Kono next week would not include discussions of the dissolved CNRP, affirming his commitment to holding this year’s elections while rejecting the possibility of negotiations or pardons for the ...
Ben Sokhean and Leonie Kijewski
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-politics/hun-sen-says-cambodia-wont-discuss-cnrp-japan