News

Tensions with Thailand led to a 10-percent decline in imports from ASEAN members during the first six months of 2011, though Cambodia’s exports to the bloc nearly doubled, according to officials. Cambodia imported US$810.9 million during the six-month period compared to $904.9 million during the period ...

Two airlines plan to begin regular flights between the tourist towns of Siem Reap and Sihanoukville this year, officials said yesterday. Cambodia Angkor Air aims to begin its regular flights by December, though may delay into 2012 if necessary, said Office of the Council of ...

Finance minister Keat Chhon yesterday identified reforming the management of natural resources as a priority in the government’s efforts to reduce poverty.  Keat Chhon also called on wealthier nations to help fund climate change-related projects in developing nations like Cambodia. Minister of Environment Mok Mareth said ...

Almost  650,000 hectares of ecologically-rich flooded forest surrounding the Tonle Sap lake has been protected by a sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday. The 647,406 hectare area spans sections of Kampong Chhnang, Pursat, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap and Kampong Thom provinces. ...

Secret meetings between high-ranking Thai and Cambodian officials to solve the demarcation of disputed offshore petroleum resources took place during the administration of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority revealed yesterday.  In a statement some commentators described as “coordinated attack” by ...

Bangkok–Secretary General to the Foreign Minister Mr. Nawin Boonsert said the negotiation over the overlapping sea area between Thailand and Cambodia would be clarified once the Cabinet was clear on its agenda. Following Cambodia’s Petroleum Organization expressing intention to clarify the demarcation points in the sea ...

Cambodia’s petroleum authority yesterday announced that it would like to renew discussion with Thailand in order to find a solution over disputed waters in the Gulf of Thailand widely believed to hold large quantities of oil and gas. Negotiations over how to split revenue from ...

Poor sanitation costs Cambodia $450 million a year due to health costs resulting from water-borne diseases such as diarrhea, according to a new report by the UN Environment Program. The report follows data released last week by the World Bank that found that 75 percent ...

Businessman Try Pheap, who in recent months received large-scale economic land concessions in Boeng Per Wildlife Sanctuary in Preah Vihear province, has donated $130,000 to the sanctuary’s environmental management and the local CPP office,  officials said yesterday. Recipients of the funds denied that there was ...

The first-ever report on the direct effect of climate change on Cambodia’s population was launched yesterday in Phnom Penh, highlighting significant flaws in the country’s ability to deal with future health, finanace and food supply issues. The UN Development Program’s Cambodia Human Development Report 2011, ...

Hybrid rice producer SL Agritech Corp. plans to set up a plantation in Cambodia via a joint venture instead of shipping out produce from its Philippine farms, a ranking official said last week. “We are looking at starting the shipment of seeds to Cambodia and to ...

The number of foreign tourists visiting Cambodia through July climbed 14 per cent year-on-year, with the most arrivals coming from Vietnam, South Korea and China, according to the latest Ministry of Tourism figures. Improved transportation, greater promotion of the Kingdom to world markets and widely ...

Cambrew yesterday paid the beer promoters who went on strike in late July to demand that the company abide by an Arbitration Council ruling earlier that month that said it owed the women three years of overtime for working on Sundays. The company, which is ...

Dredging operations are causing whole sections of farmland along Svay Rieng’s Toek Vel River to collapse, villagers said in a petition thumb printed by more than 300 affected families. Ros Mov, a chief of Romeas Hek Samiky Land Community, said yesterday 389 families from four ...

Climate change posed a major threat to Cambodia because of its extreme poverty and predominantly rural population, development experts told a conference yesterday. “This is an agrarian economy that depends very much on weather.  And we are among the poorest countries in the world,” Dr ...

The government is drafting a new law that will aim at improving auditing standards and management practices at all of Cambodia’s ports on the coast and rivers and at dry ports inland, officials said yesterday. Speaking at a workshop on port regulation in Phnom Penh, ...

Hong Kong-listed China Oilfield Services Ltd, an offshore services provider for the oil and gas sectors, is looking to start operations in Cambodia, according to an earnings report released by the company last week. “For the overseas market, apart from expanding and strengthening the overseas ...

Destruction of Cambodia’s forests is one of the biggest threats to the country’s ability to effectively deal with the effects of climate change, the UN warned in a new report to be released today. Cambodia is one of the most vulnerable countries in the region ...

Kuala Lumpur–Lion Forest Industries BHD (LFIB) is acquiring 58,000 hectares under an economic land concession (ELC) in Cambodia for US$26.1 million (RM78.3 million) to cultivate oil palm and rubber trees. LFIB said on Monday, Aug 29 the concession would not be less than 70 years under ...

Cambodia may raise fees for planes moving through the Kingdom’s airspace after granting Cambodia Air Traffic Services Company permission to increase the fees by 5.5 percent. Cambodia’s overflight fees are low, and will remain low, compared to other countries in the region, Soy Sokhan, undersecretary ...

The postponed 2nd Thailand Trade Exhibition 2011 will not be reorganised this year due to budget restrictions, according to Jiranan Wongmongkol, commercial counsellor based at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh. The trade fair was originally scheduled for May 19 to 22 at Phnom Penh’s ...

Forty-four garment workers on Friday fainted at the Chim Ly garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Dangkao district, a police official said yesterday. Kambol commune police chief Phan Phoeun said that at first only a few workers fainted, then others followed suit “because they saw other ...

As the creation of Cambodia’s first law on trade unions enters a final phase this week, labor activists and unions said the draft law as it stands is in urgent need of revision, as it would cripple unions and severely undermine collective bargaining rights. They ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday once gain warned owners of economic land concessions to resolve disputes with villagers living on the land or risk having their licenses revoked, according to a statement from the Council of Ministers. The prime minister, following up on similar ...