Ministries and other national bodies

The Ministry of Interior on Wednesday said it was standing by its decision to not renew the visa of outspoken environmental activist Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson in the face of mounting pressure from fellow activists, NGOs, unions, students and monks—even opposition leader Sam Rainsy—to reverse course. ...

Responding to parliament’s order to investigate allegations against a recruitment agency with a record of mistreating its workers, the Ministry of Labour dispatched a team today to meet with a group of defrauded labourers. ...

The Ministry of Commerce will lead a series of provincial forums next week aimed at promoting greater awareness of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) among rural businesses. Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol is to talk about both the challenges and opportunities that deeper regional economic integration will ...

Authorities have vowed to seize fireworks and punish anyone caught letting off explosives as Lunar New Year celebrations get under way today. The warning by the Phnom Penh municipality came as the Interior Ministry revealed plans to station more than 20 fire trucks around the city ...

Around 40 Cambodian women in prison with young children were being considered for royal pardons ahead of the Khmer New Year, an official said on Tuesday, amid criticism of their condition. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday has proposed the Supreme Council of Magistracy to take urgent measure on a judge responsible for releasing parents of fugitive Thong Sarath on bail. ...

The European Union on Monday launched the second phase education capacity development project worth 11 million U.S. dollars in Cambodia, aiming at strengthening the skills of educators. ...

CNRP spokesman Yem Ponhearith said on Monday that he plans to summon four government ministers to parliament to determine whether a remote area of Kampot province’s Bokor Mountain used for prayer ceremonies by Vietnamese tourists could be turned into a Cambodian cultural site. ...

Opposition CNRP president Sam Rainsy on Monday weighed in on behalf of environmental activist Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, asking the Interior Ministry to reverse a decision to not renew the Spanish national’s visa over a traffic incident from September. ...

The Svay Rieng provincial labor department on Monday ordered a Taiwanese-owned garment factory to temporarily close and improve its ventilation after more than 100 workers collapsed in two separate mass faintings in recent days. ...

Aiming to address a skills mismatch in the Cambodian economy, the government has put a hold on new licences for higher education courses in the fields of business and finance. In response to a growing need for science and engineering skills, as well as trade-qualified workers, ...

Ahead of hosting the SEA Games the country’s Olympic Committee leader is trying to develop more elite female athletes. This means vaulting a culture barrier that currently keeps many parents from allowing their daughters to play sports. ...

The National Bank of Cambodia ( NBC), which is the regulator of the banking and finance industry, promulgated the Code of Banking Practices on Monday with an aim of further building confidence of the public in the industry, officials said. The sector had received a ...

A group of 56 rangers from the Ministry of Environment last week completed a one-month training course in Phnom Penh run by the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) to help save Cambodia’s protected areas from illegal loggers, a first for the country’s rangers. ...

A group of university students from Phnom Penh opposed to a proposed hydropower dam in Koh Kong province entered the project’s construction site on Sunday for a 10-day study aiming to highlight the area’s alternative potential for ecotourism. ...

Battambang provincial authorities have ordered nine unlicensed doctors to shut down their home-care practices in the province, including six in Sangke district’s Roka commune, where more than 230 residents have tested positive for HIV over the past three months. ...

Cambodia is expected to welcome hundreds of Chinese tourists during the Chinese New Year which starts late next week, Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon said. According to the minister, Cambodia received some 560,000 Chinese tourists in the whole year of 2014, up 20 percent year-on- ...

Three Montagnards, including a 10-year-old girl, arrived yesterday morning at the government’s Refugee Department in Phnom Penh to process their asylum claims. ...

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) yesterday unveiled a $52 million plan to help Cambodia’s government develop policies to assist poor farmers to improve agricultural productivity. ...

Bokor Mountain, Kampot province – Spurred on by social media rumors that Vietnamese tourists are flocking to this colonial-era retreat for elaborate, hidden ceremonies at the graves of their ancestors, CNRP lawmaker Yem Ponhearith on Thursday led about 50 officials here on a fact-finding trek. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng yesterday cast a negative light on Phnom Penh, labelling the capital a hotbed for criminal activity and likening the levels of street crime to the Ho Chi Minh City of yore, where he said it was once unsafe to walk around ...

Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng on Thursday warned officials processing work permits for foreign workers to adhere strictly to all the relevant rules and regulations or risk an unwanted visit from the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU). The government has recently started enforcing a longstanding but largely ignored ...

Thai soldiers shot and killed three Cambodian loggers and seriously injured a fourth last week after the group illegally crossed into Thailand from Preah Vihear province in search of valuable timber, officials said Wednesday. ...

Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng on Wednesday denied recent claims from a group of disgruntled unions that the government was making it nearly impossible to register branches at garment factories, and announced a new push to bring noncompliant factories in line with Cambodia’s labor laws. ...