Government

Royal Government of Cambodia is drawing up strategic plan to promote both the quality and sustainable markets for Cambodia’s pepper. ...

The saga involving the arrest of a politically-irrelevant opposition party’s leader took another twist on Tuesday when the party’s Phnom Penh offices were searched by anti-terrorism police, with a party official claiming it was due to links with a government-branded terrorist. ...

An Economy and Finance Ministry spokesman denied any political motive for investigating NGOs and media outlets over tax payments on Tuesday, saying private enterprises were also under scrutiny. ...

At least three local NGOs have been called for questioning by the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s Taxation Department to clarify their tax payments, amid an aggressive tax collection campaign that has recently gone after media outlets the Cambodia Daily, Voice of America and Radio ...

A senior Vietnamese leader has met with Cambodia’s National Assembly to request the continued acknowledgement of Cambodian-born Vietnamese, Vietnamese investors and to request that young Vietnamese born in the country be allowed to study in Cambodian public schools. ...

About 4,500 observers will be deployed for this year’s National Exam to prevent cheating and to continue reforms to the Education Ministry, the Anti-Corruption Unit said yesterday. ...

Trade between Cambodia and Thailand increased by about 10 percent in the first half of the year to $2.9 billion, up from $2.6 billion in the same period last year, according to figures released by the Thai embassy yesterday. ...

Japanese officials will begin studying possible routes for a skytrain connecting Central Market to Phnom Penh International Airport, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on Monday after securing a loan agreement with Japan last week. ...

Hundreds of villagers from various provinces have occupied an economic land concession in Kampot province’s Chhuk district. The land was granted to Chan Sothea, vice president of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce, and her company First Bio-Tech Agriculture by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries ...

The government announced yesterday that it would “intervene” to support the price that farmers receive for their paddy rice, though without instituting a price floor or direct subsidies that would jeopardise a free market. ...

Lao troops occupying territory south of the Sekong River withdrew on Saturday after Prime Minister Hun Sen gave them a six-day deadline to leave and dispatched two military brigades and members of his personal Bodyguard Unit to the border. ...

Popular media outlets Radio Free Asia and Voice of America have become the latest to draw the attention of the government for allegedly not paying taxes, one week after a letter to the Cambodia Daily demanding more than $6 million in back taxes was leaked. ...

A local television presenter is facing heavy criticism for an inflammatory on-air suggestion that rape victims should not resist their attackers, and should instead accept sexual assault to avoid being killed – a reference to a brutal rape and murder of an 18-year-old woman in ...

Opposition CNRP lawmakers have suggested amendments to a law which would let Cambodian migrant workers register and vote abroad. The amendments were sent to National Assembly President Heng Samrin on Friday. ...

Following multiple protests by local villagers, the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation has announced a halt to a railway project meant to lead to Phnom Penh International Airport.   ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday said troops from neighboring Laos that entered the country in April near a patch of border area must retreat by Wednesday. ...

Spokesmen for the Cambodian and Hong Kong governments are urging agencies not to charge excessive fees to Cambodian domestic helpers wanting to work in Hong Kong and offered reassurance that their rights would be protected. ...

The government and KrisEnergy, a Singapore-listed oil and gas firm, are set to sign a petroleum agreement this month to pave the way for the company to start the groundwork for the extraction of oil from Bloc A, which is expected to start in 2019, ...

The second Greater Mekong Subregion Agriculture Ministers Meeting will be held in Siem Reap province early next month, with agro-food products, exploring new markets for agricultural products and solving issues in the sector expected to be high on the agenda. ...

The government has granted a private company an export licence to transport $15 million worth of illegal timber bought at an auction last year to Vietnam, documents show. ...

The Ministry of Interior has issued new regulations to stamp out corruption at one-window services across the country, where residents go to have public documents certified. The order was signed on Tuesday by Interior Minister Sar Kheng, and is aimed at  ensuring quality, transparency and accountability ...

The Kingdom’s apex rice industry body has been meeting this week to discuss ways of nailing down a potentially massive deal with Bangladesh, which earlier this month inked a memorandum of understanding to purchase 1 million tonnes of Cambodian rice over the next five years. ...

H.E. Ok Boung, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Commerce, held a discussion with H.E. Ms. Pottie Donica, Canadian Ambassador to Cambodia, on bilateral trade relations, mainly in garment sector, at the ministry office on Monday afternoon, said the ministry’s news release. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng said on Wednesday that 100 to 200 Cambodians illegally cross the border with Thailand every day, well under an estimate from a U.N. agency that puts the figure at 3,000 to 4,000. ...