The Phnom Penh Post
Tractor tax abolished, but farmers still stuck in a rut
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s announcement on Facebook yesterday that the annual tax on vehicles used by limited-income families, including tractors, would be abolished was met with indifference by small-scale farmers, who said high interest rates on loan were a concern, not the negligible tax assessed ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/tractor-tax-abolished-farmers-still-stuck-rut
Child protection in schools under review
The Ministry of Education is working with NGOs to draft a policy document to protect schoolchildren from abuse at the hands of educators and fellow students, an NGO specialist told the Post yesterday.More than 40 government and non-government representatives gathered in the capital on Friday ...
Igor Kossov
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/child-protection-schools-under-review
PPSEZ plans bookbuild for scaled-back IPO
Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (PPSEZ), the private firm that operates Cambodia’s most developed industrial park, will hold a bookbuild for investors later this month for an initial public offering it hopes will raise up to $11.6 million for expansion and debt repayment, according to ...
Cam McGrath
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/ppsez-plans-bookbuild-scaled-back-ipo
Assembly passes budget as CNRP boycotts vote
The ruling Cambodian People’s Party passed the government’s $4.3 billion budget for 2016 unopposed yesterday as Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers followed through on a pledge to sit out the National Assembly session if concerns for their members’ safety were not addressed. ...
Vong Sokheng and Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/assembly-passes-budget-cnrp-boycotts-vote
‘Busy’ CPP pols in no rush to meet with CNRP
Reversing a statement he made on Sunday, CPP lawmaker and spokesman Sok Eysan said a tentatively scheduled meeting between party leaders, including Interior Minister and senior CPP official Sar Kheng and CNRP acting president Kem Sokha, set for either yesterday or today had been cancelled ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/busy-cpp-pols-no-rush-meet-cnrp
Sok Hour loses appeal
The Appeal Court yesterday rejected a bid by Hong Sok Hour’s lawyer to secure the imprisoned opposition senator’s freedom and avoid being forced to hand over further evidence, including the lawmaker’s laptop. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sok-hour-loses-appeal
Kingdom's mine targets ‘out of reach’
Cambodia is likely to come under scrutiny as parties to the UN’s anti-landmine convention gather in Geneva this week, with a recent report saying the Kingdom is unlikely to hit its mine clearance targets, even under an already-extended deadline.The 14th meeting of states parties to ...
Zoe Holman
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdoms-mine-targets-out-reach
Massage workers strike in Siem Reap
More than 70 workers from a Korean-owned massage centre in the tourist hub of Siem Reap protested in front of their workplace yesterday, demanding a basic wage of $177 per month and a $100 yearly health bonus.Workers from the Alaska Massage Center have been on ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/massage-workers-strike-siem-reap
Gov't denies factory closure rumours
The Ministry of Labour has urged the arrest of the “mastermind” behind an apparently spurious rumour spreading across shop floors that garment factories would close their doors for the entire month of December. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/govt-denies-factory-closure-rumours
Rape victims failed by corrupt system: report
Countless rape victims, many of them children, have been failed by widespread flaws in Cambodia’s justice system, which have led to a “disturbingly low” number of convictions, a new study by the rights group Licadho has found.In its report, Getting Away With It: The Treatment ...
Alice Cuddy and Taing Vida
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rape-victims-failed-corrupt-system-report
Prince Ranariddh tells Rainsy not to ‘block aid’
Prince Norodom Ranariddh, leader of the royalist Funcinpec party, has called on opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party president Sam Rainsy not to “block aid” to Cambodia following a resolution passed by the European Parliament last week that suggested aid could be slashed if an arrest ...
Vong Sokheng and Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/prince-ranariddh-tells-rainsy-not-block-aid
Youths call for faster passage of alcohol law
A Cambodian youth group has urged the government to end its foot dragging over a law to impose an age limit on consuming and buying alcohol and other restrictions aimed at reducing drinking. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/youths-call-faster-passage-alcohol-law
Ethnic villagers reject Mega First cash offer
An ethnic community in Mondulkiri province has rejected a cash offer from a company that wants to clear thousands of hectares of forest locals claim as their own, saying they value the land more than money. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ethnic-villagers-reject-mega-first-cash-offer
Shift in Aeon tenant mix as high-end brands replaced by cheaper options
Concerns are that, while the middle class is growing, Cambodia’s consumer base is not yet able to support premium retailersThe throngs of Cambodian families streaming into Aeon Mall over the Water Festival holiday made it clear that Phnom Penh’s poshest mall has successfully positioned itself ...
Ayanna Runcie
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/shift-aeon-tenant-mix-high-end-brands-replaced-cheaper-options
Kingdom shows narrow but strong FDI growth
Foreign direct investment flows continued to see strong growth across the 10-member ASEAN bloc in 2014, with most countries in the Lower Mekong region reporting higher levels of inflows given their rising infrastructure needs and manufacturing activities, according to a new report jointly produced by ...
Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/kingdom-shows-narrow-strong-fdi-growth
Migrants abused in Thai poultry industry
Cambodian migrants working in Thailand to process chicken for European consumers are forced into debt bondage and subjected to a range of rights violations, according to a new report.Trapped in the Kitchen of the World, which was released on Wednesday by European NGOs Swedwatch and ...
Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/migrants-abused-thai-poultry-industry
Star Vegas casino turns profit as VIPs chip in
A new VIP gambling room at the Star Vegas Resort and Club casino in Poipet raked in nearly $700,000 in revenue during its first full month of operation, its management announced yesterday.Joey Lim, managing director of Australian casino operator Donaco International Ltd, said the new ...
Cam McGrath
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/star-vegas-casino-turns-profit-vips-chip
Timber seizure nabs 30-plus cubic metres in Ratanakkiri
An estimated 30 to 40 cubic metres of protected luxury timber was intercepted in Ratanakkiri province on Wednesday night while being hauled to Vietnam, according to local officials. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/timber-seizure-nabs-30-plus-cubic-metres-ratanakkiri
North Korea-funded museum set to open in Siem Reap
An Angkor-themed museum funded and operated by North Korea, but located in Siem Reap, is finally set to open after years of delays.The vast Grand Panorama museum, set on a 4-hectare site just 3 kilometres from the temple complex, is due to open on December ...
Jamie Elliott
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/north-korea-funded-museum-set-open-siem-reap
Mekong yields first giant catfish of year
One of the largest and rarest freshwater fish in the world was netted by local fishermen near Phnom Penh earlier this month.A two-metre Mekong giant catfish, weighing an estimated 90 to 114 kilos, one of only a handful left of a species that faces extinction, ...
Jamie Elliott
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mekong-yields-first-giant-catfish-year
Kingdom at high risk of natural disasters
A report released on Monday by the United Nations and the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) shows that Cambodia’s population is among the world’s 10 most affected by natural disasters. ...
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdom-high-risk-natural-disasters
Chinese firm intends to list on CSX in 2016
Hong Kong-based developer Eastland Development (HK) Ltd has expressed interest in listing on Cambodia’s stock exchange within a year.Sam Yang, the company’s chief executive, said during a recent company promotional event that Eastland is working with a local underwriter to prepare to float shares on ...
Sor Chandara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/chinese-firm-intends-list-csx-2016
Cambodia and Laos to team up over border
The Defence Ministry is establishing a Cambodian-Lao border commission in the interest of combating cross-border crime and facilitating frontier demarcation between the two countries. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cambodia-and-laos-team-over-border
Loggers return home after Thai prison time
Four Cambodians have been released and deported by the Thai authorities after they were detained for three months on charges of illegally entering the country to log rosewood, border officials announced yesterday. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/loggers-return-home-after-thai-prison-time