Ministries and other national bodies

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. ...

The floodgates of the largest and most controversial dam project in the country’s history officially closed yesterday at an inauguration ceremony presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who took aim at environmentalists, ambassadors and NGOs in a wide-ranging speech. ...

The Interior Ministry on Friday announced it had stricken critical environmental NGO Mother Nature from its registry, effective immediately, with the group saying it had requested the move and would continue to investigate sand dredging and export violations in the country’s southwest despite the de-registration. ...

US-based energy giant General Electric (GE) hopes to finalise an agreement with the Ministry of Mines and Energy by November that would see the Kingdom’s coal and gas plants using emissions-monitoring technology for the first time, company executives said yesterday. ...

A small community in Siem Reap province’s Chong Kneas commune is adamant about getting global recognition for their unique fermented fish paste, or prahoc, after the government endorsed a national standard for the most distinctive ingredient in Khmer cooking. ...

Stung Treng provincial authorities held a meeting with the Mines and Energy Ministry on Wednesday to find ways to convince people refusing to leave their homes near the Lower Sesan II hydropower dam to accept compensation and vacate their land before Prime Minister Hun Sen ...

The Transport Ministry has asked all transportation companies not to hike fees over the Pchum Ben festival next week. The request was accompanied by a plea for all drivers to obey the rules of the road over the festival, which sees thousands of Cambodians return to ...

For the city’s homeless, Phnom Penh’s busy intersections, pagodas, markets and tourist sites are places of work, where many beg for money, and often lay their heads. Others drag carts or bags around the capital, collecting recyclable waste and scrap materials to sell. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen hit back yesterday in response to United States visa sanctions by saying Cambodia would no longer assist in finding and repatriating the remains of American soldiers who lost their lives during the Vietnam War. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen returned from a three-day trip to China yesterday, all but confirming in a statement what observers have long theorised: that Cambodia now sees China’s backing as a bulwark against Western criticisms over its rights record. ...

A Ministry of Interior directive requiring provincial approval for work done on commune halls prompted a thinly veiled threat from a ministry spokesman yesterday that a popular opposition commune chief could be arrested if she didn’t comply. ...

Despite a diplomatic row with the United States, the trade relationship between Cambodia and the US remains normal, said the Ministry of Commerce’s spokesperson yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Agriculture signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese agricultural company to provide technical assistance in developing pig production in Cambodia. ...

Kep and Pursat provinces were granted Asean environmental awards in Brunei on Tuesday evening, a first for Cambodia. According to the Environment Ministry, a committee consisting of all Asean member countries evaluated and chose Kep for the Asean Environmentally Sustainable Cities Award, while Pursat was granted ...

The United States yesterday banned business and tourist visas for Cambodian Foreign Ministry officials and their families in response to the Kingdom’s refusal to accept “inhumane” deportations of Cambodian citizens convicted of felonies in the US. ...

Former opposition leader Sam Rainsy announced yesterday that he plans to create a France-based NGO called the Association for Democracy in Cambodia, though he declined to give a detailed account of the structure and goals of the organisation. ...

Two large cement plants are expected to begin operations by the end of the year, according to a state official, who said the Kingdom has reached its limit for domestic cement production and the government will stop issuing new licences in order to protect dwindling ...

The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), together with the Ministry of Commerce and the Agriculture Ministry’s fisheries administration, yesterday launched a booklet titled “Fostering Fisheries Value Chain Growth and Competitiveness”. ...