Government
National government
Tourist numbers surge nationwide over new year
The number of tourists visiting provinces during the four days of Khmer New Year jumped 7.6 percent from last year as infrastructure, transport links and the number of nature resorts rise. ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23912/tourist-numbers-surge-nationwide-over-new-year/
Culture ministry bans film on forest activist Chut Wutty
The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has banned a screening of a documentary film about murdered environmentalist Chut Wutty and threatened “strong action” against the venue if films continue to be shown without first being cleared by the government. ...
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon and Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/culture-ministry-bans-film-forest-activist-chut-wutty
Offshore holdings are up for grabs, justice minister jokes
Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana quipped over the weekend that anyone who can find his offshore financial holdings—revealed earlier this month as part of the “Panama Papers” leak—can keep the money, according to Information Minister Khieu Kanharith. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/offshore-holdings-are-up-for-grabs-justice-minister-jokes-111464/
Finance Ministry Denies Sovereign Bond Reports
The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) has denied media reports the government will issue dollar-denominated sovereign bonds using Bangkok-based Twin Pine Consulting as advisers to raise more money and reduce reliance on foreign loans. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23913/finance-ministry-denies-sovereign-bond-reports/
In Phnom Penh, a looming sewage crisis
Renderings of Casa Meridian, a new condominium complex, suggest that its wealthy buyers are investing in a glistening 414-unit skyscraper overlooking a placid, ocean-blue body of water surrounding Koh Pich island, which is sprouting a number of luxury towers developed by the Overseas Cambodian Investment ...
Ben Paviour
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/111364-111364/
In Cambodia, calls for Panama papers probe
Civil society groups and anti-corruption experts have urged Cambodia’s government to open an investigation into why Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana was named in the so-called Panama Papers. ...
Neou Vannarin
http://www.voanews.com/content/cambodia-panama-papers-probe-justice-minister-ang-vong-vathana/3280296.html
Government mulls online driver’s license registration
Less than a week after taking over the Transport Ministry, Sun Chanthol has established a committee to move more services online, including the process for applying for driver’s licenses, officials said on Monday. ...
Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-mulls-online-drivers-license-registration-111222/
New year pardons delayed to Visak Bochea day
The Ministry of Justice has announced that Royal pardons and reductions of prison sentences have been pushed back to Visak Bochea Day in May, as a result of prisons not offering enough information about potential candidates. ...
Ros Chanveasna
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23812/new-year-pardons-delayed-to-visak-bochea-day/
Royal group in talks with China, Indonesia on proposed oil pipeline
Cambodian conglomerate the Royal Group is in talks with two foreign state-owned petroleum companies to conduct feasibility studies for an oil pipeline that would run from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh, a government official has confirmed. ...
Kali Kotoski and Sor Chandara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/royal-group-talks-china-indonesia-proposed-oil-pipeline
New group set up to tackle land disputes
The newly appointed minister of land management and urban planning, Chea Sophara, has announced a working group to handle petitions and complaints lodged by land dispute victims. ...
Lay Samean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/new-group-set-tackle-land-disputes
Kingdom's judiciary perceived as most corrupt: UNDP
The judiciary is perceived as the most corrupt government institution in the Kingdom, according to a United Nations Development Programme global survey of corruption in the judiciary released on Friday. ...
Chhin Malin
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdoms-judiciary-perceived-most-corrupt-undp
China, Southeast Asian countries to improve anti-terror cooperation
China and Southeast Asian countries decided to improve their cooperation in security and anti-terrorism during a meeting in Beijing on Thursday. The two sides will take action to improve multilateral and bilateral cooperation against terrorism, said senior Chinese official Meng Jianzhu. ...
Tian Shaohui
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-04/07/c_135259290.htm
Teachers’ homes to be made of illegal timber
Houses will be built for school teachers from illegally-felled timber seized by authorities, the Ministry of Education has announced, but before work can start on the new structures officials from the ministry have been asked to gather information on which schools need the houses the ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23767/teachers----homes-to-be-made-of-illegal-timber/
Probe into justice minister possible, ACU chief says
The Anti-Corruption Unit has not yet opened an investigation into Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana’s secretive offshore holdings, but the unit’s chairman said on Thursday that a future probe could not be ruled out. ...
Ben Sokhean and Taylor O'Connell
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/probe-into-justice-minister-possible-acu-chief-says-110998/
New transport minister unveils 100-day plan
Sun Chanthol, the newly-appointed Minister of Public Works and Transport, revealed his plan to improve the ministry’s efficiency and transparency by overhauling its internal operations within his first 100 days in office during a speech yesterday. ...
Ros Chanveasna
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23768/new-transport-minister-unveils-100-day-plan/
Stormy start to 2016: ministry
Five people died and more than 200 houses in eight provinces were damaged by natural disasters in the first quarter of this year, a senior official of the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) said yesterday. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23763/stormy-start-to-2016--ministry/
New protected forests test overstretched ministry
The nearly 1 million hectares of newly protected forests the Environment Ministry wants to create by the end of the year will add nearly a third more land to the portfolio of an agency already struggling to manage the 3.2 million hectares it has. And ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/111001-111001/
$6M to be spent on staff security over New Year
Prime Minister Hun Sen made an appeal to public safety yesterday, announcing $6 million in bonuses for soldiers and law enforcement in anticipation of the Khmer New Year. ...
Vong Sokheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/6m-be-spent-staff-security-over-new-year
‘Very slow’ ministers move out
The two ministers who were publicly scolded for their “very slow” work by Prime Minister Hun Sen in February both gave up control to their successors at a pair of handover ceremonies in Phnom Penh on Wednesday as part of a cabinet reshuffle approved by ...
Aun Pheap and Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/very-slow-ministers-move-out-110957/
Doctors to be on standby during new year
The Ministry of Health has ordered provincial health department directors to organize officials and doctors to work during the four days of Khmer New Year so hospitals and health centers are able to respond to traffic accidents and other issues. ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23703/doctors-to-be-on-standby-during-new-year/
Environmental code aims to safeguard natural resources
A new plan to protect the environment started taking shape yesterday when the Environment Ministry held a workshop to discuss ideas on how to convert numerous laws into a single code to govern the county’s natural resources. It is expected the process will take two years ...
Ros Chanveasna
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23704/environmental-code-aims-to-safeguard-natural-resources/
Gov’t urges petroleum firms to keep exploring
Oil and gas exploration companies operating in Cambodia must follow the schedule of their concession contracts or face fines and risk having their contracts revoked, a state official warned yesterday. ...
Sor Chandara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/govt-urges-petroleum-firms-keep-exploring
Tigers to be reintroduced to Cambodia in 2019
Eight tigers will be released into the Cambodian wild in an unprecedented plan projected to cost between $20 and $50 million, the Ministry of Agriculture and WWF-Cambodia announced at an event in Phnom Penh on Wednesday. ...
Kang Sothear and Peter Ford
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/tigers-to-be-reintroduced-to-cambodia-in-2019-110954/
Detained migrant workers get Thai work permits
More than 20 Cambodian migrants who had been working at two pig farms in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province have been given work permits and allowed to remain in the country after they were found to have been working without proper documents. The move followed intervention from ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23701/detained-migrant-workers-get-thai-work-permits/