Ministries and other national bodies

Union negotiators on the minimum wage for garment, textile and footwear workers have lowered their claim from $176.26 per month to $175 while the employers have increased their offer from $161 to $161.50. ...

Cambodia slid further down the rankings of global competitiveness on this year’s Global Competitiveness Report, which showed the Kingdom dropping five notches on the annual index to hold its position as the second least competitive country in Asean after Laos. ...

Cambodia and Bangladesh have finalised terms on a massive rice deal that could see up to 1 million tonnes of rice purchased from the Kingdom over the next five years, with the first shipment due to begin by November, a source close to the deal ...

The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) will begin removal next week of two chemical bombs found in Svay Rieng in January, as Prime Minister Hun Sen again took aim yesterday at the United States for allegedly not shouldering the burden of its war legacy. ...

Representatives for 15 families involved in a long-standing land dispute in Koh Kong province complained that authorities failed to find a resolution for them, despite providing compensation for 170 other families in the same area. ...

A senoir Justice Ministry official said a pilot project to increase bail approvals and community service sentencing for small-time offenders would be impossible, weeks after the project was announced during the visit of a United Nations human rights official. ...

Cambodia’s foreign minister last week launched a scathing attack on Western democracies, labeling them hypocritical and only interested in promoting human rights and democracy when it was in their own self-interest. ...

The Ministry of Interior yesterday ordered the temporary suspension of land rights NGO Equitable Cambodia for allegedly violating its own by-laws and the controversial law regulating NGOs passed in 2015. ...

Financial literacy as a school subject to increase students’ knowledge about money will be introduced nationwide through the first phase of the Cambodian School Curriculum Project, with the Ministry of Education collaborating with the National Bank of Cambodia, Asian Development Bank, Good Return and the ...

The Ministry of Interior yesterday launched its new television station NICE TV that will focus on broadcasts related to crime crackdowns and government achievements. NICE TV is a joint establishment between the Ministry of Interior and a Chinese firm, NICE Culture Investment Group. ...

Just two days after they first went up, some of the Cambodia National Rescue Party banners demanding the release of jailed party leader Kem Sokha are already coming down amid government objections. ...

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and the People’s Bank of China in the autonomous Guangxi region of southern China have launched an official yuan-riel exchange rate that allows businesses and individuals to conduct trade settlement activities without using the US dollar as an intermediary ...

The government through the Ministry of Tourism is set to give a major boost to the country’s tourism sector to bolster the economy, said Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday. ...

The central bank announced yesterday that it was close to finalising a new academic curriculum to promote financial literacy with the aim of incorporating it into schools nationwide by the start of the 2019 academic year. ...

Employers must allow all Muslim women to wear headscarves and traditional clothing to work, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday. Addressing workers in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district, Mr Hun Sen said he met Muslim women on a recent visit to Kampong Cham, who told him they ...

Much of the country could face flooding due to heavy rainfall until Wednesday, the Water Resources and Meteorology Ministry has warned. According to a ministry announcement yesterday, the country will be affected by a low pressure system that will cause heavy rainfall nationwide. ...

The Prime Minister yesterday urged the US to assist Cambodia in removing unexploded bombs that its forces dropped on the country during the Vietnam War, rather than focusing on finding the remains of missing American soldiers. ...

n a speech to 65 senior government officials yesterday, Cambodia’s acting foreign affairs minister said this month had been “the worst” so far in the history of Cambodia-US relations. “Our relationship seems to be difficult,” said Ouch Borith, who is second-in-command at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. ...

USAID Cambodia officially launched its Feed the Future Cambodia Harvest II project yesterday, a five-year initiative that aims to promote commercial horticulture in four Cambodian provinces and help smallholder farmers gain access to markets, reducing the country’s high dependence on imported fruits and vegetables. ...

The government spent far less than half of its approved $5 billion budget for expenditures in 2017 during the first six months of the year, according to a new report by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). ...

The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) announced yesterday that it plans to support the growth of NGO-backed community saving groups in a move to help members of these currently unregulated groups establish funding pools that can be accessed without the need for collateral. ...

Government mouthpiece Fresh News yesterday launched a new internet radio service, appearing poised to move into the gap left by a government crackdown on independent broadcasters over the last six weeks. ...

A centre to improve the standard and quality of agricultural products, especially vegetables, will be set up in Kandal province soon, the director of the provincial agriculture department said yesterday. ...

Cambodia and Bangladesh are seeking to strengthen cooperation on trade and enhance and expand trade and business partnerships via a deal which will be signed in October. ...