The Phnom Penh Post
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
Kampong Thom temples next on UNESCO wish list
Kampong Thom’s Sambor Prei Kuk temple complex will be the next Cambodian site nominated for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An announced yesterday at the 20th Congress of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association (IPPA). The seventh-century complex, which predates Angkor Wat by ...
Stuart White
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kampong-thom-temples-next-unesco-wish-list
Little Paris comes to Koh Pich
Construction on a four-year, $150 million commercial and residential development that will transform 70,000 square metres of land on Koh Pich into Parisian-style apartments with a replica of the Arc de Triomphe at the centre is reportedly scheduled to commence in the coming months. The Élysée, ...
Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/little-paris-comes-koh-pich
Hotel with foreigners in mind set for PPSEZ
A hotel catering to foreign investors and expatriate employees is being built inside the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (PPSEZ), management confirmed yesterday. The project will be constructed through a joint venture between PPSEZ and the Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Tama Home. ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/hotel-foreigners-mind-set-ppsez
Six-tonne timber haul unearthed
Stung Treng province police are searching for suspects after authorities found more than six tonnes of luxury-grade timber buried near a remote home in Siem Pang district last week. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/six-tonne-timber-haul-unearthed
More Oudong questioning
Kandal provincial court will this week summons five suspects held in detention since December 10 last year for a fresh round of questioning over relics stolen from Oudong Mountain last month, even as police said the investigation is now “quiet”. Judge Lim Sokuntha said yesterday that ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/more-oudong-questioning
Rights groups critical of gov’t investigations
The government announced on Friday it would set up two commissions headed by Interior Minister Sar Kheng to investigate clashes between police and protesters early this month that left at least four dead, more than 20 injured and 23 arrested, a move criticised by rights ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rights-groups-critical-gov%E2%80%99t-investigations
Despite bail, 15-year-old still in jail
A juvenile accused of destroying a police car during a violent strike by SL Garment factory workers in November remained in Prey Sar prison yesterday, despite the Court of Appeal having granted him bail. Sary Bothchakrya, a lawyer from the Community Legal Education Center (CLEC) representing ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Daniel Pye
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/despite-bail-15-year-old-still-jail
Freedom Park tune cut short
In keeping with authorities’ indefinite ban on assembly, security forces yesterday morning dispersed a small gathering of nine youth activists who had planned to call for new elections and justice on behalf of recently slain protesters while singing songs about nonviolence in Freedom Park. Hoping to ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/freedom-park-tune-cut-short
Rights group sues ELC staff
Three rights monitors filed an attempted murder lawsuit against a Mondulkiri land concessionaire employee on Wednesday, after he violently denied them access to an area under investigation for forest crimes, Adhoc said yesterday. The stand-off comes on the heels of a second potentially violent confrontation ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rights-group-sues-elc-staff
Svay Rieng garment workers fired, suspended
Factories in Svay Rieng province’s Manhattan Special Economic Zone have fired or suspended at least 50 workers – and are pursuing legal action against some – for participating in a strike last month that saw some 30,000 walk off the job. Heads of the Collective Union ...
Mom Kunthear and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/svay-rieng-garment-workers-fired-suspended