New species, old threats to wildlife: WWF
From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 126 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. But from forest loss to the construction of major hydropower projects ...
Cambodia's energy costs deter investors
Cambodia’s infrastructure is deterring highly anticipated investment into the production of raw materials to support its rapidly growing garment sector, experts say. While garment exports rose 10.2 per cent to $5.48 billion last year, the increase of raw materials imported to support this growth increased about ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013020761221/Business/cambodia-s-energy-costs-deter-investors.html
Future of Gold Tower 42 in Arbitration Court
The owner of the $240 million Gold Tower 42 project in Phnom Penh has entered into arbitration with the project’s builder, in a bid to get work started again after construction halted on the project in September 2010 due to poor unit sales and cost ...
No Cause for Concern - Experts not worried about decrease in fixed-asset investment
At first glance, the numbers indicate Cambodia’s investment climate has grown a little colder. Conditions appear to be worse than they were a year ago due to a big drop in total fixed assets for approved investment projects. However, economists say the Cambodia outlook is actually ...
Thailand Dam Deal Spurs Court Complaint from Thai Villagers
Villagers belonging to a Thai activist group filed a complaint to Thailand’s Administrative Court yesterday for the cancellation of an agreement form the country’s Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to buy power from a controversial mainstream Mekong dam in Laos, an NGO representative said yesterday. “According ...
H&M slammed over wages
Criticism has mounted against Swedish multinational clothing company H&M in its home country following a documentary released last week that sheds light on wages in its source factories in Cambodia. The episode of Swedish network TV4’s Kalla Fakta, or Cold Facts, focuses mainly on Cambodian garment ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102959442/National-news/ham-slammed-over-wages.html
Sugar company axes child labour
Rulling party Senator Ly Yong Phat’s Phnom Penh Sugar Company announced yesterday that it had amended its hiring policy to forbid contractors from employing children, while at the same time, opposition parliamentarian Mu Sochua made public her plans to visit the company to investigate its ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013011560790/National/sugar-company-axes-child-labour.html
Villagers Petition Against Crematorium’s Removal
More than 1,000 villagers in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district have signed a petition protesting the removal of a crematorium that is currently on land slated for a large development project. According to a letter from the Council of Ministers addressed to the Ministry of Cults ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-petition-against-crematoriums-removal-27487/
Hun Sen Says Water, Power Shortages to Stay
Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that the rapid growth of Phnom Penh’s population coupled with the rampant construction of new property projects means that there would always be a shortage of water and electricity in the capital. Speaking to a crowd of thousands who had ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-says-water-power-shortages-to-stay-29063/
Poipet Vendors Protest Corrupt Border Officials
More than 800 street vendors and drivers of taxis, tuk-tuks and motorcycles working the border area between Banteay Meanchey province and Thailand yesterday marched through Poipet City calling for an end to the rampant corruption being carried out by border officials. Migrant workers who cross ...
Fraud Case Highlights Bribery Around Requests for Citizenship
The Court of Appeal on Monday acquitted a South Korean businessman who allegedly stole $50,000 that was supposed to be used to acquire Cambodian citizenship for his boss in 2007. Koo Bonkwang, the former president of Commerce Central Finance, a microlender, said he paid the money ...
Recovering supply lifts car sales
Thanks to a more stable and undisturbed supply chain, sales of new cars in Cambodia have risen dramatically over the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2012. But the purchases pale in comparison to the country’s thriving second-hand market. Kong ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070466651/Business/recovering-supply-lifts-car-sales.html
Scooter connects to phone
Japan-base Terra Motors said it plans to sell its smartphone-compatible electric scooter in Cambodia by the end of this year. The lithium-battery-powered A4000i, introduced last week in Tokyo, can be connected to an iPhone, delivering live data while driving. “We will start to sell this scooter ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/scooter-connects-phone
Ethnic Jarai villagers defend claim at court
Jarai ethnic minority villagers appeared at Ratanakkiri provincial court yesterday, demanding compensation from a Vietnamese company they say illegally cleared 30 hectares of community land in November last year. Chea Chanrith was granted a licence from the Ministry of Agriculture last year to clear land ...
Logistics and insurance firms driving office market
Increases in Cambodia’s GDP and foreign direct investment (FDI) are helping to drive the supply and demand in the Kingdom’s office sector, according to a new report from global property agents CBRE. Increasingly, international businesses are favouring Cambodia, in particular Phnom Penh, mainly due to ...
Draft of New Public Land Policy Is Released
The government on Friday released a draft of a new public policy guide on the county’s contentious land sector, a move that was welcomed by NGOs, who also called for the government to hold further consultations on the draft. Local rights groups have singled out ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/draft-of-new-public-land-policy-is-released-20672/
Families Left Worse off After Railway Project
Phnom Penh families being pushed to the city’s outskirts to make way for a $142.6 million railway renovation project funded by Australia and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are falling into debt and finding it harder to earn money and access healthcare according to a ...
In Kandal, villager says CPP support is ‘tested’
More than 1,500 Cambodian People’s Party supporters in Kandal province’s Sa’ang district were summonsed by party officials yesterday to be thanked for voting for the party, during a meeting one villager claimed was tacit intimidation. According to a villager speaking on the condition of anonymity, invited ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kandal-villager-says-cpp-support-%E2%80%98tested%E2%80%99
7 Cambodian Workers Arrested at Nike Contractor
Cambodian police clashed Monday with workers at a factory that makes clothing for the U.S. sportswear company Nike, arresting seven, in the latest violence linked to a strike over salaries, union organizers and rights activists said. The protest at the Taiwanese-owned Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing plant ...
Hun Sen Mocks Opposition Request for Donors to Freeze Aid
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday rebuked the opposition for urging foreign donors to refrain from signing any new agreements with the government until after the election and boasted of a new $26 million handed over last week by the European Union (E.U.) E.U. Ambassador ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-mocks-opposition-request-for-donors-to-freeze-aid-31547/