The Phnom Penh Post

Cambodia’s national debt stood at $5.8 billion at the end of 2016, totalling nearly a third of GDP, according to the latest debt bulletin released by the Ministry and Economy and Finance earlier this month. ...

The Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organization, a conservation organisation in Kampong Speu, pledged yesterday to file a letter of complaint to authorities after learning that 6 hectares of protected forestland were cleared illegally. ...

Angkor Sangkranta, Siem Reap’s largest cultural festival held over Khmer New Year, raked in a total income of $95 million on the back of 1.6 million domestic and international visitors, a 23 percent year-on-year increase, state news agency AKP said yesterday. ...

Cambodian rice exports declined dramatically in March, causing the average export growth of the Kingdom’s dominant cash crop to increase by only 3 percent during the first quarter of this year, nearly wiping out the double-digit growth seen in January and February. ...

Officials and foreign donors yesterday sought to play down concerns over the security of the National Election Committee’s voter list, after anonymous leaker “Thleay” released a video appearing to show manipulation of the database and the NEC confirmed it had been hacked.​ ...

In another sign of Cambodia’s deepening affinity with China, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s book on governance, which showcases the leader’s ruling philosophy, has been translated into Khmer to be used as a guide for the Kingdom, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced yesterday. ...

Work by military engineers on a contentious road skirting Cambodia’s border with Laos – which has prompted a military stand-off in the area – has quietly resumed, local officials say, even as run-ins between Cambodian and Lao military patrols in the disputed area have further ...

The Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday issued a scathing and wide-ranging rebuttal to longstanding accusations of human rights violations and political persecution, calling these allegations a campaign of misinformation led by foreign governments and institutions, particularly the United States, bent on regime change. ...

The vast majority of local companies lack corporate governance standards and provide insufficient business information, requiring investors and regulators to do heavy due diligence work that stops businesses from tapping into additional funding sources, officials said yesterday. ...

Nasdaq-listed Entertainment Gaming Asia (EGA) reported a net loss of $6.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2016, compared with a loss of $2.7 million in the same time in 2015 largely due to the cancellation of its operations in Cambodia, the company said in ...

With the interest rate cap of 18 percent in full force for all new and restructured microfinance loans after the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) issued a populist measure to curb high interest rates, microfinance institutions (MFIs) are starting to give predictions for lower profits ...

Villagers involved in a long-running land dispute in Kratie province’s Sambor district have prevented soldiers from building a fence around disputed land that the army intends to use as a sniper training ground. ...

Twenty-nine bus companies have agreed not to raise ticket prices on the eve of the upcoming Khmer New Year holiday after a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport yesterday morning. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has reaffirmed the country’s commitment to supporting Beijing’s One China policy during a meeting with a Chinese official, a stance one expert called “obsequious”. ...

After a rampage that destroyed homes and terrified villagers, a rogue elephant was shot by police in Mondulkiri early on Friday morning, with one local mahout saying the unfortunate killing was an outgrowth of a changing way of life that has seen elephants’ traditional work ...

The National Election Committee (NEC) on Friday launched a radio campaign to educate Cambodians about upcoming commune elections and to counter misinformation about the June 4 poll. ...

The Cambodian arm of anti-corruption group Transparency International aims to get greater grassroots support for its work and turn itself into a “social movement” by opening up to individual and group memberships. ...

Malaysian-owned power infrastructure provider Pestech (Cambodia) Ltd has been awarded a contract to build a 230-kilovolt transmission line valued at $100 million to connect Koh Kong province’s Stung Tatai hydropower dam to Phnom Penh, according to a filing on the Malaysian stock exchange. ...

Representatives from global ride-hailing behemoth Uber confirmed the company’s interest in starting operations in Cambodia during a meeting this week with Transportation Minister Sun Chanthol, according to one of the minister’s aides. ...

Two separate groups of international parliamentarians this week raised concerns over the state of democracy in Cambodia, seeing threats to pluralism and human rights in harassment of opposition politicians, trade unions and civil society activists. ...

A day before Land Management Minister Chea Sophara was scheduled to meet residents of Phnom Penh’s iconic White Building, the locale’s village chiefs promised to find a quick solution to the residents’ impending eviction – if the ruling Cambodian People’s Party fared well in the ...

Experts from the Institute of Standards of Cambodia (ISC) inspected Chinese-owned Rui Feng sugar company’s factory this week after suspicions that its runoff had caused last month’s mass fish deaths in Preah Vihear. ...

Cambodia’s economic growth remained strong last year though the Kingdom must now address major systemic challenges to build on its ascension into lower-middle income status in order to maintain healthy levels of development, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in its annual report yesterday. ...

South Korea is pushing forward with discussions to hammer out a double taxation agreement (DTA) with the Kingdom that would provide an additional incentive for Korean businesses to set up shop and increase fiscal transparency while shielding individuals and corporations from being taxed twice. ...