News

On his first foreign trip since Tuesday’s election, US President Barack Obama is planning a historic visit to encourage reforms in Myanmar – seen as a key success during his first term – and he’ll also go to Thailand and Cambodia. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ...

Multinational consulting and engineering firm Pöyry has signed a contract with the Lao government to supervise construction of the divisive Xayaburi hydropower dam in the country’s north, it announced Friday. This work, carried out by its Energy Business Group, will include reviewing the design and ...

If Cambodia’s oil and gas sector is well managed, and transparent, it could provide the country a golden opportunity for investment, development and poverty reduction, said independent economist Chan Sophal, who spoke at a recent gathering looking at the economies of oil-producing countries. Chan Sophal said ...

Cambodia’s Statistics and Tourist Information Department, Ministry of Tourism, reported arrivals increased 15.7% in September, the lowest growth rate so far for this year based on 242,747 visits during the month. The percentage increase for the nine-month period was pulled down from 24.5% at ...

Viet Nam has urged Laos to continue its research on the environmental impacts of the planned Xayaburi Dam on the Mekong River. Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi made the statement at a regular press briefing in Ha Noi yesterday when answering a question ...

What does Friday’s affirmation of Cambodia’s ‘B’ long and short-term sovereign credit ratings actually mean? In short, it signals that the Kingdom of Cambodia — unlike Greece, for example — “currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments,” according to definitions used by Standard and ...

Delegates attending a forum on investment and cooperation for the Mekong sub region, held in the central highland province of Dak Lak on November 9, all agreed that Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia need to work on common preferential policies to attract lucrative investments for the ...

Thailand and Cambodia are ready to implement a single visa agreement, which would enable tourists to use only one visa for both countries from Nov 21, an immigration bureau chief says. The project comes under the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (Acmecs). Acmecs, which was initiated by ...

The scarcity of sand in the city has forced construction companies to import sand mined from the Mekong River in Cambodia. A consignment of sand from Cambodia has already reached the city. More consignments are likely. The importers are likely to use the sand for ...

Cambodia’s garment exports rose 9.9% to $3.44bn in the first nine months of this year, up from $ 3.13bn a year ago, according to the latest figures from the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce. ...

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will travel to Australia, Thailand and Cambodia next week as part of America’s strategic tilt to the Asia-Pacific, even as crises in the Middle East demand the Pentagon’s attention and resources. In a week-long trip starting Sunday, Panetta will head to ...

Two land activists from forced evictions in Phnom Penh will not be released on bail as they await trial on incitement charges widely seen as an attack on free speech. The two women, Yorm Bopha and Tim Sak Mony, were arrested in early September and accused ...

NagaCorp Ltd. (“NagaCorp” or the “Company”, SEHK stock code: 3918), the largest hotel, gaming and leisure operator in Cambodia, held the official ground breaking ceremony yesterday for Naga2, a large-scale mixed-use expansion that will be completed by 2015. Situated 200 meters from the existing NagaWorld, ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia has called upon Japanese counterpart Yoshihiko Noda for his support in encouraging more investments and tourism from Japan to help strengthen bilateral ties between the two Asian nations. The request was made at a meeting on Monday during the ...

As Asian and European leaders gather for high level meetings this month in Cambodia and Laos, the luxury living quarters and extensive security arrangements made for their arrivals have come at considerable human and environmental expense. Government authorities went on a building spree ahead of this ...

Laos held a “groundbreaking” ceremony on Wednesday for a $3.5 billion hydropower dam on the Mekong River that is opposed by environmentalists and some neighbouring countries because of the possible impact on livelihoods, fisheries and agriculture. But it was unclear when actual construction of the contentious ...

Fourteen Cambodian men jailed in Thailand for drug trafficking or illegal logging have been released in the past week after reaching the end of their sentences, a border official said yesterday. Touch Ra, director of the Chaom Sangam Cambodia-Thailand border checkpoint in Oddar Meanchey province, said ...

The U.K.-based coffee chain Costa Coffee will join the mix of few coffee shops in Phnom Penh when it opens its first branch in Chamcar Mon district next month, representative of the international branch said yesterday. Rami Sharaf, CEO of RMA Cambodia, which represents international brands ...

The US yesterday criticised Laos for announcing it will begin building the 1,285-megawatt Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River today without studying its potential effects on Cambodia and Vietnam. A spokesperson from the US State Department in Washington said the government was concerned construction of the ...

Cambodia Monday reported a 12% rise in rubber latex exports in the first nine months of this year; however, revenues from the exports went down by 27% due to declining rubber prices in the international market. ...

With the recent announcement that two Taiwanese banks plan to open branches in Cambodia, the number of commercial banks in the country will swell to 34 and may even go higher as foreign businesses seriously consider Cambodia an alternative to more costly countries such as ...

A mission trip to Cambodia earlier this year opened Roger Pickett’s eyes to the need to boost the Cambodian home furnishings industry. Now Pickett, president of MurMaid Mattress here, is hoping to help a nonprofit group open a mattress factory in that country and give Cambodians ...

Sketchy details that fail to specify when construction of the Lower Sesan 2 hydro dam will begin, or name the Chinese company involved, have villagers fearing for their future, representatives and environmental groups say. Since the Council of Ministers announced on Friday it had signed off ...

Cambodia, with a total population of 14,952,665 as of July 2010, is located in Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. The country mostly has a tropical climate and covers a total area of 181,035 km2 Cambodia’s key natural resources include ...