The Phnom Penh Post
Battambang farmers protest plummeting rice prices
Attempting to call attention to the havoc low rice prices are wreaking on their livelihoods, hundreds of farmers in Battambang’s Sangke district took to the streets yesterday, symbolically pouring rice onto National Road 5. ...
Lay Samean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/battambang-farmers-protest-plummeting-rice-prices
CNRP pegs 424 voter names as ‘suspicious’
The Cambodia National Rescue Party plans to ask the National Election Committee to investigate the citizenship status of more than 400 people who have recently logged their names in the new digital voter lists. ...
Bun Sengkong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp-pegs-424-voter-names-suspicious
More Chinese FDI on the horizon
China has pledged to increase its investment in Cambodia in return for the Kingdom’s commitment to its regional policies and economic initiatives in Southeast Asia. Wang Lei, secretary-general of the Chinese-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) Secretariat, said on Wednesday that Cambodia had thrown its full support behind China’s ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/more-chinese-fdi-horizon
Activists tell US to step up forest protection efforts
Conservationist Marcus Hardtke yesterday blasted USAID and Winrock for “four years of mismanagement” as the Forest Monitoring Working Group put out a call for “urgent action” from the American bodies. “They’re not addressing the core problem,” Hardtke said, adding that the two groups were ignoring the ...
Andrew Nachemson and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/activists-tell-us-step-forest-protection-efforts
Cintri says it is owed up to $20M by Phnom Penh residents
Phnom Penh’s much-maligned waste-collection firm Cintri yesterday used a meeting with City Hall to ask for help in collecting between $10 million and $20 million in unpaid fees it says it’s owed by residents in the capital. ...
Niem Chheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cintri-says-it-owed-20m-phnom-penh-residents
Plan to certify organic quality
GIZ Cambodia, a branch of Germany’s international development agency, signed an agreement yesterday with local organic food retailer Khmer Organic Cooperative to provide technical support to develop organic vegetable production and to assist the firm in obtaining certification for its products. The agreement calls for the ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/plan-certify-organic-quality
Reptile caper in the bag for border cops
A car filled with a slithering menagerie of reptiles destined to be sold at market in Vietnam was seized by Cambodia-Vietnam border officials in Kandal province on Wednesday night, according to Koh Thom district police. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/reptile-caper-bag-border-cops
Voter registration ahead of schedule: NEC
With almost 2 million voters registered so far, the National Election Committee yesterday declared its roll-out of new digital voter lists to be ahead of schedule, though efforts to organise “free and fair” elections continued to be undermined by the persecution of opposition politicians, an ...
Bun Sengkong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/voter-registration-ahead-schedule-nec
No sign of relief for rice industry
As the harvest season of Cambodia’s most important crop kicks off, a crisis is looming as both rice farmers and millers face crippling capital shortages and a promised industry lifeline has yet to materialise. Industry experts said yesterday that these small farmers desperate to pay their ...
Kali Kotoski and Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/no-sign-relief-rice-industry
Unions, GMAC at the table
Employer representatives and trade unions sat down across from each other for the first time yesterday for head-to-head negotiations over next year’s garment sector minimum wage, with factory owners reluctantly offering a small $2 increase to their earlier proposal of $144.20. ...
Lay Samean and Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/unions-gmac-table
General implicated in Prey Lang logging
Newly declared protected areas in Prey Lang forest are being illegally logged by companies belonging to a three-star general and his sister, according to Goldman Environmental Prize-winning conservationist Ouch Leng and NGOs with which he is working. Leng, along with 15 NGO officers, patrollers and ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/general-implicated-prey-lang-logging
Ministry tells Phnom Penh to put end to digging
In the wake of recent illegal digging in the capital, Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem has called on the Phnom Penh city governor to stop issuing licences allowing businesses to dig soil in the city and to strengthen its enforcement on a longstanding ...
Mech Dara and Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministry-tells-phnom-penh-put-end-digging
Ministries discuss long-promised handicap accessibility
Officials from the ministries of social affairs and urban planning met with the Disability Action Council (DAC) on Monday to discuss issuing a prakas to standardise long-promised handicap accessibility in public buildings, according to a Facebook post by DAC. ...
Andrew Nachemson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministries-discuss-long-promised-handicap-accessibility
Chinese outfit moots two new railway lines
Representatives from Jiangxi International (Cambodia) Ltd met with Transportation Minister Sun Chanthol on Monday and expressed interest in conducting feasibility studies for two new lines – one running from Banteay Meanchey’s Sisophon town to Siem Reap and one from Phnom Penh to Bavet in Svay ...
Kong Meta
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/chinese-outfit-moots-two-new-railway-lines
Creature comforts in demand
In its latest audit of domestic appliance sales for seven countries in Southeast Asia, German-based market research firm GfK found that consumer spending on refrigerators, air conditioning units and washing machines grew by 2 percent during the year ending June 2016, while washing machine sales ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/creature-comforts-demand
First mine licensed to draw gold
In a milestone for Cambodia’s nascent mining industry, the government has issued the first commercial mining licence to Mesco Gold, giving the Indian mining firm a green light to extract and process ore at its gold project in Ratanakkiri province, industry sources said yesterday. The landmark ...
Cam McGrath
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/first-mine-licensed-draw-gold
Sihanoukville beach vendors protest new relocation notice
Vendors along O’Chheuteal Beach yesterday protested against a new Preah Sihanouk provincial project that requires them to build new stalls – set back from their current ones – before the Sea Festival starts on December 17, in order to expand the beach area for tourists. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sihanoukville-beach-vendors-protest-new-relocation-notice
Gov’t, GMAC meet over minimum wage
The Ministry of Labour yesterday met with the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, the industry trade group, to discuss the reasons behind the latter’s proposal of a $144 monthly minimum wage. ...
Lay Samean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/govt-gmac-meet-over-minimum-wage
Palm farmers eye a sweet deal
Palm sugar producers in Kampong Speu province say they are ready to scale up and meet demand as global consumer goods giant Unilever looks to source palm sugar for its products from the Cambodian market. Prak Sereywath, president of the Cambodia Institute for Research and Rural ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/palm-farmers-eye-sweet-deal
Promised Areng road will bring logging: org
Activists from environmental group Mother Nature yesterday cautioned that a proposed road pledged by Prime Minister Hun Sen for the Areng Valley could cause an increase in illegal logging and drug abuse. ...
Lay Samean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/promised-areng-road-will-bring-logging-org
CNRP pledges marches; PM says party ‘absolutely will not be allowed’
The Cambodia National Rescue Party yesterday declared its intention to move forward with nationwide demonstrations in response to what it calls a campaign of state-backed legal harassment, prompting a swift reply from Prime Minister Hun Sen, who warned security forces had been advised to crack ...
Sengkong and Shaun Turton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp-pledges-marches-pm-says-party-absolutely-will-not-be-allowed
Phnom Penh municipality mulls new sky bridge
City Hall is in the midst of conducting preliminary studies to assess the feasibility of building either an overpass or an underground tunnel at the Chaom Chao roundabout in an effort to ease traffic congestion in the area. ...
Touch Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/phnom-penh-municipality-mulls-new-sky-bridge
Ministries eye budget bumps for next year
The Ministry of Economy and Finance finished month-long consultations with key ministries on Thursday in preparation for the drafting of Cambodia’s budget for 2017. ...
Kong Meta
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministries-eye-budget-bumps-next-year
PM in China to discuss trade ties
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday appealed for more Chinese investment in Cambodia and said he hoped the country of more than 1.3 billion would increase its imports of products from the Kingdom. ...
Vong Sokheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-china-discuss-trade-ties