The Phnom Penh Post
Manhattan workers on strike again
More than 1,000 workers at the Manhattan (Cambodia) Co Ltd garment factory in Kampong Cham province are striking in the wake of factory management’s reaction to their last strike action. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/manhattan-workers-strike-again
Strike action still on table, unions say
Leaders of unions that declared a nationwide garment worker strike said the work stoppage and protests, which they temporarily suspended, will resume unless government officials renegotiate the industry’s minimum wage. The announcement was their first since authorities cracked down on strike demonstrations on January 2 and ...
Sean Teehan and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/strike-action-still-table-unions-say
Slow year for Japanese investment
The Japanese embassy is reporting a $280 million drop in Japanese investment last year, but officials were quick to say that the numbers don’t necessarily reflect slumping investor confidence in Cambodia. Japanese investment in the Kingdom reached about $47.5 million in 2013, compared to $328 million ...
Hor Kimsay and Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/slow-year-japanese-investment
Land dispute results in shooting
A Japanese national is being accused by a Preah Sihanouk farmer of shooting him over a logging dispute in Kampong Seila district, the alleged victim and a rights monitor said yesterday. Kanha Phan, 32, is alleging that Peter Ly, 39, shot him in the waist after ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/land-dispute-results-shooting
Housing loans up in 2013, growth expected to continue in ’14
Last year across Cambodia’s cities, more and more people decided to take the plunge and invest in housing. This should be obvious to anyone who lived in Cambodia last year. The sounds of construction or renovation were more noticeable than before in cities across the Kingdom. Data ...
Sum Manet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/housing-loans-2013-growth-expected-continue-%E2%80%9914
Despite illness, no bail for labour activist
Labour activist Vorn Pov, who is facing serious health issues while being held in pre-trial detention in Kampong Cham’s Correctional Centre 3 prison, has been denied bail by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. His NGO-provided lawyer, San Sokunthear, immediately filed an appeal against the bail denial ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/despite-illness-no-bail-labour-activist
Villagers seek $275k payout
Villagers living in Mondulkiri’s Sen Monorom district are demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation for the loss of thousands of protected resin trees, alleging that a land concessionaire company has been illegally razing community forest since 2012. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/villagers-seek-275k-payout
The Sihanoukville option
As property prices in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap continue to push upwards, many investors are quickly being priced out of these first-tier markets. Looking at second-tier cities around the Kingdom, Sihanoukville in particular stands out as an investment destination worth serious consideration. Named after the ...
Chris Horton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/sihanoukville-option
Activists to be questioned in meddling suit
Ten land activists are set to be questioned today by Preah Vihear provincial court over their involvement in halting the drilling of a well in a community forest in November last year, rights monitors said yesterday. Lor Chhan, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, told the Post the ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/activists-be-questioned-meddling-suit
Official busted for alleged graft
An official at the Takeo provincial department of labour was arrested on Friday and charged for allegedly embezzling more than $310,000 from vocational teachers, the ACU and a prosecutor said yesterday. ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/official-busted-alleged-graft
Economic freedom low: report
Economic freedom in Cambodia worsened over the past year, according to the latest report from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in the US. Cambodia is ranked 108 out of 178 countries surveyed, with an overall score of 57.4, a 1.1-point dip from ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/economic-freedom-low-report
Villagers allege illicit mining by Chinese, Vietnamese firms
More than 600 families of ethnic Tumpuon villagers from Taveng district on Monday filed complaints with Ratanakkiri authorities and rights group Adhoc seeking a halt to illegal mining of gold by two companies. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/villagers-allege-illicit-mining-chinese-vietnamese-firms
No union for workers in food biz
After the Ministry of Labour denied a food service union official registration, a union official is crying foul, asserting that authorities are discriminating against her group – a charge the government denies. The Cambodian Food and Service Worker Federation (CFSWF), a 4,000-member union representing workers in ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/no-union-workers-food-biz
Lon Nol-era explosives found
An unscheduled bathroom break led to the discovery of 27 pieces of unexploded ordnance in Kampong Speu’s Samrong Tong district on Monday, military police said yesterday. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/lon-nol-era-explosives-found
Vinamilk deal to go ahead
Vietnam Dairy Product Joint-Stock Co, better-known to milk lovers as Vinamilk, was granted a licence on Monday to open a $23 million processing facility in Phnom Penh’s Special Economic Zone. A statement to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange released by the dairy giant on Monday ...
Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/vinamilk-deal-go-ahead
Staffers walk at tech NGO
More than 100 work-study participants employed by NGO Digital Divide Data (DDD) in the capitol’s Chamkarmon district jumped on the strike bandwagon on Monday, demanding the same monthly wage garment workers are calling for, a union representative said yesterday. Employees are charged with transforming physical documents ...
Chhay Channyda and Amelia Woodside
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/staffers-walk-tech-ngo
Amnesty idea floated during talks: report
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy and Prime Minister Hun Sen discussed the possibility of offering amnesty to senior government officials in order to allow for “an honourable exit of the leaders”, Rainsy was quoted as saying to the French newspaper La Libération last week. Rainsy reportedly said in the ...
Stuart White
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/amnesty-idea-floated-during-talks-report
Mondulkiri police question Adhoc
Three rights monitors were called in for questioning by Mondulkiri provincial police after they filed an attempted murder lawsuit against a land concessionaire employee last week, claiming they were violently denied access to an area under investigation for forest crimes, Adhoc said yesterday. Adhoc provincial coordinator ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mondulkiri-police-question-adhoc
PM praises VN involvement
In his first public remarks of the year, Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday took pains to recount his experience under the Khmer Rouge and thanked Vietnam for overthrowing the brutal communist regime. Speaking at the inauguration of a Vietnamese hospital, in the presence of visiting Vietnamese ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-praises-vn-involvement
Political deal on horizon
Secret negotiations between the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and the opposition are close to reaching a solution to the political stalemate that has gripped Cambodia since July’s general election, according to sources privy to the discussions. Officials from both parties yesterday denied that talks had occurred, ...
Kevin Ponniah and Daniel Pye
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/political-deal-horizon
Truck ban for bamboo collectors
More than 50 villagers who collect bamboo and rattan in the forests of Kampot’s Teuk Chhou district called on Kampot provincial hall for intervention yesterday after their trucks were banned from the area. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/truck-ban-bamboo-collectors
NGOs push for more international pressure
Civil society groups yesterday urged the international community to put more pressure on the government to ensure the safety of prisoners arrested in recent crackdowns and to prevent further police and military violence against civilians. At a press conference yesterday morning, images of soldiers beating and ...
Sean Teehan and May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ngos-push-more-international-pressure
Vietnam’s investment skyrockets
Political instability has done little to dampen Vietnam’s appetite for investment in Cambodia, the latest figures revealed yesterday by Prime Minister Hun Sen show. Last year, Vietnamese investment reached $302 million, up 250 per cent from $86 million in 2012, according to the prime minister, who ...
Hor Kimsay and Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/vietnam%E2%80%99s-investment-skyrockets
Mixed results for local dealerships
The new year has brought with it a mixed outlook for the vehicle market, as dealers post both positive and negative sales figures for 2013. Pily Wong, chief executive of Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen distributor Hung Hiep (Cambodia), said sales had been seriously affected by the Kingdom’s ...
Chan Muy Hong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/mixed-results-local-dealerships