News
Government suspends sending maids to Malaysia
Following repeated reports of abuse and illegal activity, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday ordered recruitment agencies to indefinitely stop sending Cambodian domestic workers to Malaysia, officials said Friday. Secretary of State for the Labor Ministry Oum Mean said that he had received unofficial information about ...
Skirmish as factory strike continues
MORE than 4,000 workers at M&V Manufacturing International’s garment factory in Kampong Chhnang province continued to strike for a fourth day yesterday, as a union president urged Prime Minister Hun Sen to force the company to reinstate 20 fired workers. Free Trade Union president Chea Mony ...
ADB meets wall of silence
Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon has failed to respond to a request made almost two months ago about the authenticity of a letter in which he allegedly urged Prime Minister Hun Sen to ban foreign NGOs from doing advocacy work in Cambodia, the Asian Development ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011093051889/National-news/adb-meets-wall-of-silence.html
500 hectares of sanctuary granted to rubber company
Five hundred hectares of Mondolkiri land inside a protected wildlife sanctuary have been granted to a rubber company, sparking concerns among indigenous minorities who rely on the forest. According to a sub-decree dated August 31 and signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen, the government approved an ...
Chinese bank to enter country's banking fold
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) will enter Cambodia’s banking sector in November to become the country’s 30th commercial bank to date, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. The report said that ICBC president Yang Kaisheng had met with Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday ...
Officials mum on 'advocacy' NGO missive
Top government officials yesterday either declined to comment or said they had no knowledge of a letter from Finance Minister Keat Chhon to Prime Minister Hun Sen proposing to bar all foreign NGOs from “advocacy” work in the country, as well as stopping foreigners from ...
PM talks gas and oil with Thai assembly head
Prime Minister Hun Sen held talks with President of the Thai National Assembly Somsak Kiatsuranot in the capital yesterday, paving the way for the extraction of contested oil and gas reserves in the Gulf of Thailand Yesterday’s talks between Hun Sen and Somsak focused on restoring ...
Rights group urges halt to Boeng Kak evictions
Amnesty International has called on the government to halt forced evictions at Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak lake, and urged the authorities to punish the police officials responsible for the beating of an opposition Sam Rainsy Party member and Boeng Kak residents during a protest at ...
Letter reveals minister's ire with NGOs
Prime Minister Hun Sen received a proposal from Finance Minister Keat Chhon in June seeking to bar “foreign NGOs” from advocacy work in Cambodia, as well as preventing foreigners from working with local advocacy groups because of activism around the rehabilitation of the nation’s railway, ...
Building Boom Causes Asian Sand Smugglers to Expand
Singapore’s decades-long effort to reclaim land from the ocean has expanded the nation’s coastline and fueled its building boom. But it has also depleted its supply of sand. In recent years, the massive sand shortage has been worsened by export bans by neighboring countries, driving ...
Thaksin gives government some friendly economic advice
Hours after arriving for his latest visit to the country, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Saturday urged Cambodia to increase state spending in infrastructure and education and to modernize the country’s financial system, according to media reports. Local reporters were quickly ushered out of ...
Boeng Kak residents beaten back as homes razed
Excavators flattened eight houses and shops at the north end of Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak lake on Friday as baton-wielding riot police pushed back distraught residents and badly beat one protestor who was among hundreds of locals who rallied against the latest round of demolitions. The ...
Boeng Kak families reach out to embassies, EU
Members of 34 families facing eviction from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak community yesterday called on five foreign embassies and the European Union to pressure the government into granting them land titles. They are among the 46 poor and untitled families living in Boeng Kak who have ...
Premier predicts high growth
Cambodia’s economic growth could surpass previous estimates and hit 8.7% this year, Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a speech yesterday. Earlier government forecasts estimated growth of 6% for 2011, though increasing garment exports and a strong recovery in the tourism sector have stimulated the economy ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011091351608/Business/premier-predicts-high-growth.html
Bokor Resort to Open for Visitors for Late 2011
Mount Borkor Resort, the highest location in Cambodia, located near the coastline, will be inaugurated to welcome tourists from all destinations by the end of 2011, while the road climbing to the plateau’s peak and other tourism structures are about to be completed So far, the ...
Land for Rubber Farms to Nearly Double by 2020
Cambodia expects to almost double the amount of land used to cultivate rubber between now and 2020, a move that rights groups say could result in more evictions across Cambodia. Ly Phalla, director general of General Directorate of Rubber Plantations, said yesterday that there are ...
Mining Firm Hit With Fines for Illegal Exports
A mining company owned by the wife of RCAF Major General Nim Meng has been ordered by the government to pay fines and unpaid taxes after the firm was found to have illegally exported minerals from Cambodia, a report released yesterday by the Cambodian Investment ...
Labour draft law revamped
The government has dropped controversial criminal penalties targeting unionists in its latest draft of the union law, Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said yesterday. Addressing a meeting of representatives of international apparel brands, including Nike, Adidas and PUMA, unions, government officials and the International Labour Organisation, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011090751499/National-news/labour-draft-law-revamped.html
Land-grabbing letter hits nerve
The government yesterday lashed out at a letter sent by opposition lawmakers to the World Bank that urged the bank to increase pressure on the government to end forced evictions, land grabbing and threats against community members involved in land disputes with well-connected companies. Council ...
Land disputes in Siem Reap
More than 1,000 families from four districts in Siem Reap province involved in ongoing land disputes released a joint statement on Friday asking for intervention from government officials. Villagers involved in six separate land disputes with various private companies in four districts claim a total ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011090551447/National-news/land-disputes-in-siem-reap.html
U.S.-Cambodia Looking for Investment Possibilities to Boost Economic Ties
Phnom Penh– A group of U.S. investors from the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council on Thursday visited Cambodia to observe investment opportunities and to boost trade and investment ties between U.S. and ASEAN member countries. The group consisted of 11 U.S. firms led by Frances Zwenig, the Counselor ...
‘Rice Dubai 2011’ Sees Dubai as Thriving Re-export Market
DUBAI — The Founding Committee of Rice Dubai 2011 is led by a businessman in Dubai, Dr Faisal Ali Mousa who will lead a core delegation to Cambodia in the first week of September to explore the possibilities of the Royal Government of Cambodia entering ...
Suthep Denies Secret Talks With P. Penh Negotiations Stalled Over Marine Oil, Gas
Democrat MP for Surat Thani Suthep Thaugsuban denies he held secret talks with Cambodian officials about oil and gas interests in the overlapping marine area during the tenure of the Democrat-led government. Mr Suthep, a former deputy prime minister, conceded yesterday he met Cambodian Deputy Prime ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/254429/suthep-denies-secret-talks-with-p-penh
Huge swaths of flooded forest protected by decree
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. ...