Ministries and other national bodies

After Cambodian rice exports declined dramatically in March, caused by what millers claimed was a stricter enforcement of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures by the Chinese government, the Ministry of Agriculture announced yesterday that it would lobby on the sector’s behalf to allow more millers ...

Mines and Energy minister Suy Sem has contacted city and provincial governors and ordered them to immediately close down any operation which does not have safety certificates. ...

Land Minister Chea Sophara has told two firms to reopen a public road they fenced off without permission. The order came after 127 families affected by the closure complained about Phanimex and Heng​ Ly companies in August last year. ...

The Ministry of Social Affairs has decided to reintegrate more than 3,000 children in orphanages back into families after discovering the abysmal conditions of many facilities, with some having reported sexual abuse. ...

A new law on a national minimum wage for all workers will come into force by the end of the year, the Labor Minister said, after union and employer representatives met officials to discuss the issue yesterday. ...

Via the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the Ministry of Tourism, the government is progressing with a set of relevant documents as a proposal to UNESCO to induct Battambang city, Kampot city and Kratie city on to the United Nations arm’s World Heritage ...

Investment capital in Cambodia’s construction industry is off to a dwindling start this year, falling 22.1 percent at the end of the first quarter compared with the same period last year. ...

Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An has ordered the Industry Ministry to be stricter in its implementation and monitoring of industry and technical standards to ensure the safety of workers involved.   ...

The rainy season will start in the first week of May, with heavy rain, storms and thunder, the Water Resources and Meteorology Ministry predicts. Some areas on the plains face high risks from heavy rain in the middle of the season. ...

The Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday issued a scathing and wide-ranging rebuttal to longstanding accusations of human rights violations and political persecution, calling these allegations a campaign of misinformation led by foreign governments and institutions, particularly the United States, bent on regime change. ...

Land Management Minister Chea Sophara on Friday reminded more than 200 residents and soon-to-be evictees of Phnom Penh’s iconic White Building to “help us back” by voting in upcoming elections in return for the government negotiating compensation for their properties. ...

The Labor Ministry proclaimed yesterday that unemployment was nearly eradicated in Cambodia after a recent study showed that less than one percent of citizens remained without jobs. ...

If you’re planning to get away next week for Khmer New Year, it might be wise to keep an umbrella on hand. According to the government’s weather authority, the country can expect the lowest holiday temperatures for the past decade amid unseasonal lashings of rain. ...

The Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts (MIH) has started a laboratory and a department to check on the quality and safety of local products to be exported, state news agency AKP reported yesterday.   ...

The Ministry of Transport collected more than three hundred million riel ($75,000) last month in the form of fines on more than 140 overloaded trucks.​   ...

State-owned Cambodia Post plans to launch a new e-commerce company in a move to latch onto the growth of online transactions in the Kingdom and diversify its revenue streams, a company executive said yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts yesterday announced that they have submitted the Khmer martial art Bokator, as well as Lakhon Khol – the traditional masked dance theatre – to be considered for recognition on UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list. ...

The Preah Sihanouk province land management committee is in the process of issuing land titles for 82 families in a recently converted forest area, as well as from an economic land concession (ELC) belonging to the Mong Reththy Group. ...

The state-run Cambodia Post generated about $9 million in income in 2016, according to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication, thanks to increasing foreign tourists and foreign investment.   ...

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology has predicted that the unseasonable storms will continue until this Sunday. ...

Though the export of cassava from Cambodia to foreign markets increased by more than 50 percent in 2016, compared with previous years, export earnings were still low due to below-market-prices offered by buyers in Thailand and Vietnam.   ...

The Tax Department has announced a one-month extension to its traditional March 31 deadline for companies to submit their annual corporate tax filings – an unprecedented last-minute move that some legal experts argue could be sending the wrong message to taxpayers. ...

Opposition lawmakers yesterday left a meeting at the Interior Ministry exasperated, as officials from the latter continued to deem the presidency of their leader, Kem Sokha, and the vice presidency of three senior lawmakers, illegitimate, but offered no clear path to a resolution. ...

In its first two months of regular operation Cambodia’s first civil aviation training centre has provided certificates to dozens of aviation officials and airport staff, helping to raise the skill level of personnel in the Kingdom’s fast-expanding aviation sector. ...