The Phnom Penh Post
ACU donations in spotlight
Lawyers have called on Cambodia’s Anti-Corruption Unit to implement transparent reporting on monetary donations it receives from individual politicians and government groups. During an anti-corruption training session on Friday, they pointed out the incapacitating influence the ACU would face if it tried to investigate a ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062556994/National-news/acu-donations.html
Inspiring tech entrepreneurship
The arrival of Startup Weekend in Cambodia marked a new beginning for high-tech entrepreneurship as more than 80 people worked on all kinds of new business ideas all weekend at Yellow Tower across the Tonle Sap from The Riverside. Chief Marketing Officer Joey Pomerenke of Startup ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062556987/Business/tech-entrepreneurship.html
Villagers, Soldiers Tussle Over Land
Villagers from Chum Kiri commune in Banteay Meanchey province appealed to Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday to intervene in a land dispute concerning roughly 30 hectares of land they say was taken by district soldiers. Doeu Chay, a representative of 25 local families, said that land ...
Cambodia's consumer prices decline
Consumer prices decreased month-on-month in May for the first time since statistics were available, Cambodia’s National Institute of Statistics (NIS) data showed. The 1.1 per cent drop, driven largely by lower food and gasoline prices, would be a relief to businesses and shoppers after a period ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062556991/Business/consumer-prices-decline.html
Prisoners 'utilised' in violent eviction
Twenty convicts in Preah Sihanouk Provincial Prison were employed by military and local authorities to tear apart a nearby village on land slated for a second prison compound, villagers and rights groups alleged yesterday. However, prison authorities denied that any incarcerated people were involved in the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062557001/National-news/prisoners-in-eviction.html
Hun Sen grants four economic land concessions
Prime Minister Hun Sen has signed off on four more economic land concessions (ELCs), all in protected areas, despite placing a moratorium on granting such leases on May 7. Since the May 7 sub-decree, the premier has now signed off on seven concessions totalling 56,586 hectares ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062557006/National-news/hun-sen-grants-elcs.html
Massive strike nearing: union
The Free Trade Union has vowed to stage a mass strike in the garment and footwear industries if its demands for an extra US$30 per month of bonuses for workers are not met, union president Chea Mony said yesterday. The union sent a letter to Minister ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062556997/National-news/massive-strike-nearing.html
Mining firm expects quick silver exploits
A mining outfit in Battambang province will begin copper and silver extraction within two years, the company’s chief executive said yesterday. Wild Bull Resources, an Australian firm partnering with local miner Angkor Thumopich Resources (ATR), would join a small group of companies claiming a quick turnaround ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062556990/Business/mining-silver-exploits.html
Soldiers cry foul over ‘land grabbing’
About 1,500 representatives of military families in Oddar Meanchey province are planning to file a complaint directly to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s office accusing a high-ranking Royal Cambodian Armed Forces general of selling a large chunk of their land to two Vietnamese rubber companies. The soldiers, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062557004/National-news/soldiers-land-grabbed.html
‘Beaten, unfed’ teen maid dies
A 16-year-old died at Calmette hospital in Phnom Penh yesterday morning after succumbing to an illness she contracted while working in virtual slavery as a maid in Malaysia, her family said. Toch Srey Neth signed up to go to Malaysia as a maid through the now-defunct ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062557002/National-news/teen-maid-dies.html
Cambodia Life takes long view approach
A new, government-owned life insurance company aims to provide a safety net for Cambodian families, according to In Meatra, director-general of the Cambodia Life Insurance Company Plc. Located on the 21st floor of Canadia Tower, Cambodia Life opened on May 21 and has 23 employees. “Cambodia ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062256944/Business/cambodia-life-takes-long-view.html
Halal food exports could boost trade
Cambodia could attract an increasing number of Malaysian investors interested in food production and global export if moves to create a halal food recognition body were implemented, Malaysian ambassador Mond Tahir Nasruddin said yesterday. Officials were working together to establish the halal food product recognition ...
TNS launches new office in Cambodia
International market- research company TNS has announced the opening of the company’s first office in Cambodia, and has joined forces with MSD, a Cambodian market and social research firm that is a “long-standing partner”, an official company statement said. Ralf Matthaes has been appointed regional managing ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062256943/Business/tns-new-office-cambodia.html
Garment workers' strikes pay off
The determination of 3,000 garment factory workers in Kampong Chhnang province’s M&V factory has finally paid off. Workers will return to the factory floor today after management finally agreed to their four-point list of demands yesterday, after initially refusing to budge. Noun Sam Ol, deputy president of ...
Factories still skimping: ILO
Cambodia’s garment exports exceeded US$1 billion during the first quarter of 2012, yet many factories are failing to pay workers proper maternity leave benefits or address issues of fainting, a labour report says. The International Labour Organization-Better Factories Cambodia’s Twenty Eighth Synthesis Report on Working Conditions ...
Local oil prices fall slowly
The current volatility of oil prices on the global market is bringing cuts in prices at Cambodia’s five main petroleum retailers. However, some observers say the current fall in prices is too limited. Data from the Ministry of Commerce showed that super oil retailed at 5,200 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062156925/Business/cambodia-oil-prices-fall.html
Proof of residency required
The Phnom Penh municipal authority has called on Borei Keila residents evicted on January 3 to present official documents proving they are eligible for housing. City Hall’s request came as part of a statement criticising NGOs and political parties that encouraged “poor” residents, who were not ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062156928/National-news/borei-keila-residency.html
Relocation Woes Persist: Australia
The Australian Embassy conceded that problems have plagued the relocation process of about 160 families moved to Trapeang Anhchanh on the outskirts of Phnom Penh last September. The families were moved for a railway rehabilitation project partially funded by the Australian government’s AusAID. “We agree on the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062156934/National-news/relocation-woes-australia.html
Korean College for Siem Reap
Cheju Halla, a Korean university, plans to build a university of tourism and hospitality in Siem Reap next year, Tourism Minister Thong Khon told reporters yesterday at a meeting with Han Soo Kim, the new South Korean ambassador to Cambodia. The Ministry of Tourism has requested ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062156924/Business/korean-college-siem-reap.html
Bo Xilai accomplice's location uncertain
Patrick Devillers, the French national and associate of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai, seemed to be putting down roots in Cambodia. The architect – whose shadowy presence has been on the fringes of one of modern China’s largest political scandals – owned land and a restaurant ...
Fear accompanies summons over land disputes
Less than a week after Prime Minister Hun Sen called for land to be returned to villagers embroiled in land disputes, a Pursat province villager has been summonsed by the court in a scenario many see as all too common in these disputes. Kuch Veng, a ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062056901/National-news/fear-accompanies-summons.html
Border crime in Interpol’s sights
An ASEAN-first Interpol database tracking transnational crime between Cambodia and Vietnam was launched in Phnom Penh yesterday. Keo Vannthan, head of Cambodia’s Interpol Bureau at the Ministry of Interior, said the European Union had pledged almost US$800,000 to the pilot EU-ASEAN Migration Border Management Program project ...
Cambodian worker alleges Thai police of humiliating treatment, abuse
A Cambodian migrant worker has alleged that he and dozens of fellow migrants were arrested, beaten, stripped naked and shaved bald by Thai police, who then extorted money from them just because they did not have the correct location on their working visas. The allegation is ...
Bo Xilai associate arrested in Phnom Penh
Cambodian authorities yesterday arrested French architect Patrick Devillers – friend and business associate of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai – and may be moving to extradite him to China to face unspecified charges there, police said. Phnom Penh Police Commissioner Touch Naroth confirmed the arrest to ...