The Phnom Penh Post
Frequency of criticism
Officials from four government bodies along with a personal adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday urged two US government-funded radio stations to be more professional and law-abiding during a closed-door meeting at the Council of Ministers. While little information was forthcoming regarding the content of ...
Offshore refueling on the horizon
Danish marine fuel company Go4 Bunker Denmark yesterday launched the first company in Cambodia to supply ship fuel to vessels traveling through Cambodia’s waters, according to officials. The launch ceremony for the newly established Go4 Bunker Cambodia Co Ltd yesterday was presided over by Danish Princess ...
Migrant worker policy set to change: ministry
The Cambodian government has developed six prakases related to a controversial sub-decree that regulates the recruitment of migrant workers, but it cannot yet release the details, a Labor Ministry official said yesterday. On the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting in Siem Reap aimed at curtailing migrant worker abuses, Seng Sakada, ...
PM defends Sonando verdict
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday lashed out at critics of the Mam Sonando verdict, saying outsiders shouldn’t be seeking the release of a prisoner. Speaking to hundreds of villagers at a land title ceremony held in Chhuok district of Kampot province, Hun Sen defended the guilty verdict handed ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012101159243/National-news/pm-defends-sonando-verdict.html
Holiday blues hit factories
Tens of thousands of garment workers will enjoy an early start to the Pchum Ben holiday today as they trek back to their homeland. Their excitement, however, is not shared by their bosses, who will be left to rue a week-long halt in production. Enterprise and establishment ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012101159238/National-news/holiday-blues-hit-factories.html
Renewable energy used for rice milling
The Federation of Cambodian Rice Millers Association in Battambang province will establish a biomass-generated electricity plant in Battambang, an insider said. The plant will cost up to US$10 million and generate 10 megawatts of electricity. Phou Puy, president of the Federation of Cambodian Rice Millers Association (CRMA) and the ...
Local goods market doubles
Cambodia’s branded Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) market might double in value to US$1 billion over the next seven years, according to Unilever Indochina. Factors influencing this are the increasing urbanization of Cambodian society and the desire for more choice, said Maks Mukundan, Unilever Indochina’s managing director. Cambodia’s open ...
Cambodia to get more energy from Thailand
Thailand has committed to supplying additional energy to provinces on the Thai-Cambodia border, an official says. Tun Lean, director of the General Energy Department at the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, said on Monday its Thai counterpart would supply an additional 40 megawatts of energy. For ...
Strike takes Pchum Ben break
About 600 Tae Young factory workers are back on the job thanks to a court injunction – and the desire to pocket a little cash in time for Pchum Ben – but the return will only be temporary, workers said yesterday. The decision followed a Kandal ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012101059202/National-news/strike-takes-pchum-ben-break.html
Govt wants word with VOA, RFA
The Ministry of Information and Council of Ministers has summoned representatives from US government-funded radio stations for an unprecedented meeting to discuss the stations’ content, goals and level of professionalism, government officials said yesterday. In a letter dated Monday and signed by Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith, Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Voice ...
PM mocks pay-rise promises
Prime Minister Hun Sen mockingly declared that opposition pledges to increase the salaries of civil servants marked the arrival of “the season of promises” ahead of next year’s elections, during a speech yesterday. The premier deemed boosting salaries by reducing tax losses attributed to graft unfeasible because ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012101059220/National-news/pm-mocks-pay-rise-promises.html
More questioned in journo slaying
The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court has summonsed for questioning Kim Seanglay, a military policeman who was the subject of one of slain journalist Hang Serei Oudom’s articles on the illegal timber trade, Chhay Thi, an investigator for the rights group Adhoc, said yesterday. According to their ...
ASEAN affected by slowdown
The IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) forecasts that uncertainty surrounding growth in advanced economies will slightly affect the growth of some ASEAN nations, particularly low-income countries such as Cambodia. A senior IMF official told reporters on the sidelines of the fund’s annual meeting yesterday that some ASEAN economies relying heavily ...
Protesting villagers ordered home
Officials from Prime Minister’s Hun Sen’s cabinet yesterday accepted the petition of 110 Preah Vihear villager representatives seeking intervention in a land dispute with defunct NGO DARPO. Hun Sen cabinet member Nov Ra told villagers who protested in front of the prime minister’s house to return ...
Living with the enemy
Four years after they began fighting the well-connected concessionaire DM Group, members of the ethnic Tampuon who remain in Svay Sor village are exhausted. While the DM Group has seen its complaints against villagers and activists routinely heard at court, those filed by the affected families ...
Insurance becomes next emerging market
Cambodians are starting to learn about insurance, thanks to Canadian company Manulife, which held a press conference on the topic on Friday. Low awareness and a limited pool of skilled talent are challenges facing insurers in Cambodia according Prudential representative Pankaj Banerjee. Despite this, he said Prudential ...
Verdict in Wutty case delayed
An expected verdict in the unintentional murder case of the man accused of shooting slain environmentalist Chut Wutty’s killer was delayed at Koh Kong Provincial Court yesterday because the presiding judge was ill. Neang Boratino, Koh Kong provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said a ...
Habitat Day Marked by capital's evictees
Evictees wearing small model houses on their heads to symbolize their struggles marched to the National Assembly yesterday to ask authorities to intervene to stop more forced evictions. About 400 representatives of 40 communities across the capital joined human rights activists at the former Dey Krahorm eviction site ...
Growth in Cambodian service sector, says ADB
Cambodia’s service sector has seen significant growth in recent years, but the sector remains hampered by challenges, according to a report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The service sector’s real GDP share has expanded to 39 per cent in 2011, compared to 23.7 per cent ...
Backers ask King to set Sonando free
Members of the Association of Democrats, the group led by jailed activist and Beehive Radio owner Mam Sonando, rallied in front of the Royal Palace yesterday to deliver petitions appealing for his release. Huon Phannary, the deputy secretary-general of the association, said yesterday that nearly 100 ...
Workers given lesson in how not to faint
Education garment workers and their bosses on how to avoiding fainting is the latest strategy the Ministry of Labor is using to address a problem that has plagued the industry in the past two years, a ministry official said yesterday. Labor Ministry Secretary of State Oum Mean said he ...
Relocated families appeal to Oz
Thirty families uprooted by Cambodia’s railway rehabilitation project have filed a complaint with Australia’s highest human rights body, alleging rights abuses as a result of the partially AusAid-funded rail project. The complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission was made on behalf of the families by NGOs Equitable Cambodia and Inclusive ...
Trade show starts on Wednesday
After a two-year hiatus, the CamBuild, CamFood and CamHotel exhibitions are back at Diamond Island this week, starting on Wednesday and going through to Friday. Andrew Siow, director of the Kuala Lumpur-headquartered AMB Exhibitions, says the three industry shows at the same time should attract more ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012100859159/Business/trade-show-starts-on-wednesday.html
Education ushers women into workforce
Gender inequality in education is still palpable in Cambodia, causing women to be undervalued in the workplace and their potential to be untapped, the Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs said during the celebration of the United Nations International Day of the ...