The Phnom Penh Post

Cambodia’s economic productivity is in trouble, struggling with an inability to turn a youthful population into a skilled workforce and stunted by an over-reliance on agriculture, according to a new World Bank report. In Cambodia and Vietnam, diversification of labour from the farming sector contributed to ...

Hundreds of prisoners will be pardoned or see their sentences reduced on Tuesday following a request by the Ministry of Interior to the King. The royal pardons and sentence reductions, which benefit 339 inmates, coincide with Pisak Bochea Day, a celebration of the Buddha’s birth. ...

A land dispute in the capital’s Tuol Kork district escalated further on Friday when a group of “gangsters” allegedly threatened the life of a human rights worker taking video footage for a documentary on the conflict. “Six men pushed me off the site. One screamed: ‘I ...

A soaring population and increased migration to urban areas will create demand for more than a million new homes by 2030, according to a draft national housing policy. Approved by the Council of Ministers on Friday after a series of revisions, the draft highlights the increasing ...

A trial for two teens charged with intentional violence from a Stung Meanchey riot in November was unfair to the defendants, a statement released yesterday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) says. Calling the trial “deeply flawed”, HRW said the judge in the case showed open hostility ...

Kia Motors opened its first showroom in Cambodia on Friday and the local authorised dealer, A&A Auto Group, says the time is right for the Korean carmaker to join the ranks of those looking to tap the country’s growing middle class. Sin Soveoung, sales manager for ...

Staff at a brewery that produces Angkor Beer returned to work on the weekend after management agreed to a strike-ending $30 raise on Saturday. More than 1,000 workers at Cambrew Ltd in Preah Sihanouk province walked off the job on Thursday after a month of wage-increase ...

A rowdy 8-year-old boy has accused his teacher of hitting him over the head with a small whiteboard during class on Thursday, leaving him with a bloody head wound. Sok Kim Heng said yesterday that he spat on another student and, in return, his teacher whacked ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s 2012 ban on the allocation of economic land concessions was supposed to halt the unpopular practice of turning over large swaths of property to developers. And going by the numbers last year, it worked. But in the vacuum, according to local rights ...

City Hall is turning its focus to Phnom Penh’s “anarchic parking” situation. Phnom Penh Governor Pa Socheatvong yesterday said the municipality plans to cancel old contracts awarding private companies the right to charge for parking in certain parts of the city, and introduce new restrictions on ...

Small food and beverage makers are at risk of being uncertified when the ASEAN economic community takes shape in 2015, with the vast majority far from achieving international quality and safety standards, a government official says. Him Phanith, the deputy director of National Productivity Center, said ...

Cambodia’s banking sector is looking to establish a collective fund to help recoup staff training expenses lost from competitors poaching employees off one another, Grant Knuckey, CEO of ANZ Royal said yesterday. Speaking at the launch of ANZ Royal’s business confidence index in Phnom Penh yesterday, ...

A government spokesman warned yesterday that legal action may be taken against the opposition leaders if their “unlawful” campaign rhetoric incites unrest. Tith Sothea, spokesman for the Council of Ministers’ Press and Quick Reaction Unit, said that the government will consider filing complaints against Cambodia National ...

Despite a large increase in exports during the first quarter, natural rubber producers continue to see declining revenues, as world prices fall further. The latest figures from the Ministry of Commerce show natural rubber exports grew 26 per cent during the first quarter of 2014, compared ...

Vattanac Capital Tower, a long-anticipated gleaming tower that dominates the city’s skyline from Monivong Boulevard, continues to attract tenants to its commercial office space. The most recent tenants to occupy the building are Qatar Airways and investment company One Asia Capital, with Qatar occupying 180 square ...

A ruling party lawmaker yesterday dismissed days of claims by the opposition that this year’s council elections will see a number of secret defections when it comes to the polls. Chheang Vun, a lawmaker with the Cambodian People’s Party, said opposition leader Sam Rainsy had been ...

A day after police in Kampong Speu province arrested six striking workers, the unexpected presence of about 100 military police officers at a garment factory in Takeo province had some union activists fearing the worst. Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW) president Pav Sina yesterday ...

Set to open next year, Cambodia’s first cable-stayed bridge is now more than 70 per cent complete, according the government. Chhim Phalla, director of the Ministry of Public Work’s Department of International Cooperation, which is overseeing the Neak Loeung Bridge and improvements to National Road 1, ...

Three of Cambodia’s most iconic natural products – Thma Koul rice, Kampot durian and Cambodian silk – have been earmarked by the government to obtain the World Trade Organization’s Geographical Indication (GI) status. Speaking to reporters after a press conference on GI registration at the Ministry ...

The well-being of women and children in Cambodia has improved vastly in the past 15 years but still lags internationally, according to a report released by the nonprofit organisation Save the Children this week. ...

The ouster of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra by that country’s Constitutional Court yesterday reverberated throughout the region, raising questions about how a Thailand without Yingluck at the helm would get along with its neighbours. But Cambodian officials and analysts were broadly in agreement that little ...

Two disputes involving a land developer with ties to the highest ranks of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party have once again exposed the lack of justice faced by impoverished communities in the capital, affected residents and rights groups have said. In Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kork district, ...

Growth in the property sector has been slow in Kandal province’s Ta Khmau City, 11 kilometres south of Phnom Penh, but that, industry sources say, is likely to change due to improvements to National Road 1 and the fact that the Ta Khmau Bridge is ...

The latest CBRE Cambodia Market View on the industrial market is upbeat about investment in the Kingdom, despite frequently touted political risks. “Cambodia remains an attractive destination for industrial work and operations, with low inflation rates of 2.9 per cent and comparatively low minimum wages,” says ...