Villagers Told Eviction Is for Obama's Safety
More than 180 families living adjacent to the Phnom Penh International Airport were told yesterday that they must vacate their homes to make was for a security road to ensure the safety of U.S. President Barack Obama, who is expected to visit in November. Var Sarang, deputy href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/villagers-told-eviction-is-for-obamas-safety/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
P Vihear Villagers Protest at National Assembly
More than 350 villagers from Preah Vihear province protested in front of the National Assembly on Friday, asking for support from lawmakers in their dispute with military veterans. The villagers, representing some 370 families in Kulen district’s Srayong commune, said that the land on which they href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/p-vihear-villagers-protest-at-national-assembly/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Don't Envy the Chinese, Gov't Tells Europe
The commerce minister yesterday urged European businesspeople in Phnom Penh to invest more in Cambodia and not to envy the Chinese firms now dominating the foreign investment scene. Speaking at the gathering of the European Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia, Minister of Trade and Commerce Cham href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/dont-envy-the-chinese-govt-tells-europe/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
China ASEN Expo starts on Friday
Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh and 100 Cambodian companies are set to represent the Kingdom at the 9th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, China, which starts tomorrow, according to officials. The expo will include representatives from all 10 ASEAN countries and China itself. Cambodian officials will seek href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/china-asen-expo-starts-on-friday/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Floodwaters Recede in Banteay Meanchey
Floodwaters appeared to be receding in Banteay Meanchey province yesterday, after almost a week of heavy rains saw several communes inundated and over 4,000 families evacuated, provincial authorities said. “The situation is now under control,” said Ngor Mengchroun, governor of Poipet City-one of the worst hit href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/floodwaters-recede-in-banteay-meanchey/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
NGOs Discuss Reforms Ahead of Donor Meeting
At a meeting in Phnom enh to prepare for today’s high-level donor Government-Development Partner Coordinating Committee (GDCC) forum, dozens of mostly local NGOs agreed on their own list of broad reform suggestions for the government. But land disputes took center stage. Today’s GDCC meeting, which the href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/ngos-discuss-reforms-ahead-of-donor-meeting/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Long-Term Impact of Chemical Spill Unclear
The long-term impact of 6 tons of toxic chemicals that spilled into a stream in Kompong Chhnang province on Tuesday, killing several hundred kilograms of fish, is still unclear, the provincial department of environment said on Friday. The chemicals, identified as the cleaning agents Ridoline 560, href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/long-term-impact-of-chemical-spill-unclear/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Slowdown in garment exports from Cambodia
The slump in global markets has depressed demand for Cambodian products, leading to reduced growth forecasts by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for 2012 and 2013. “Falling global demand, especially in Europe and the US, means that the industry sector will grow at a slower pace href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/slowdown-in-garment-exports-from-cambodia/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/apparel-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=116497
More Lao land deals inked
Laos has contracted firms to build and operate another significant hydro-power plant on the Mekong River system, adding to the existing furor over potential effects on downstream countries such as Cambodia from the controversial Xayaburi dam. The contracts, reportedly worth $1 billion, are for a series of three dams making href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/more-lao-land-deals-inked/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012102559403/National-news/more-lao-dam-deals-inked.html
Banking Sector Sees Growth in First 9 Months
Profits at Cambodia’s largest banks continued to grow through the first nine months of the year as loan disbursals across the sector increased by about 30 percent compared to the same period in 2011, bankers said yesterday. Acleda Bank, the largest bank in the country, this week posted href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/banking-sector-sees-growth-in-first-9-months/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Pol Pot-Era Airbase Earmarked as Future Tourist Gateway
Prime Minister Hun Sen said Saturday that in order to manage future tourist numbers, the government will construct a new international airport on the site of the Kampong Chhnang airbase, which was built by slave labor during the Khmer Rouge regime. Mr. Hun Sen said that href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/pol-pot-era-airbase-earmarked-as-future-tourist-gateway/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Stonewalling at Angkor complex’s temple
THIRTY workers involved in the restoration of the Angkor complex’s Ta Prohm temple were barred by their manager from entering the work site yesterday because of their unionism, labour representatives said. The stand-off followed the manager’s announcement that on February 1, he would dismiss the 30 href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/stonewalling-at-angkor-complexs-temple/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012560975/National/stonewalling-at-temple.html
Mobile Operator Beeline Reports Large Drop in Subscribers
The number of subscribers to the mobile operator Beeline plummeted by more than 400,000 in the fourth quarter of last year—the single-largest drop for the carrier since it entered the Cambodian market in mid-2009—while the average revenue per user (ARPU) increased slightly, the company’s quarterly href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/mobile-operator-reports-drop-in-subscribers/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
China Donates $19M During Asean Defense Meet
As the region’s top brass gathered in Phnom Penh for the Sixth Asean Defense Ministers Meeting, it was Beijing that once again stole the show with Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie signing off on nearly $19 million in military aid to Cambodia. In the country on href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/china-donates-19m-during-asean-defense-meet/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
CAMBODIA: Rural poor lose out in land deals
Land governance policies in Asia, especially concessions made to private companies, are leaving the region’s poorest vulnerable to human rights abuses, experts say. “Land-grabbing by the rich and powerful continues,” Suson Bunsak, executive secretary of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee, said at the recent Asia href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/cambodia-rural-poor-lose-out-in-land-deals-2/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Australian Senate Pushes for Fair Elections in Cambodia
The Australian Senate yesterday urged the Cambodian government to run free and fair national elections next year without the “harassment or intimidation” of opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who remains in self-imposed exile avoiding an 11-year jail sentence. The appeal comes only days after the European Parliament href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/australian-senate-pushes-for-fair-elections-in-cambodia/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/australian-senate-pushes-for-fair-elections-in-cambodia-4930/
Families Claim Officials Extort Fees at Checkpoints
More than 30 families living in Pursat province’s Dangkeab village have filed complaints with their village chief against environmental officials, whom they claim extorted money from them to pass illegal checkpoints as they transported firewood from a nearby forest to the village, authorities said yesterday. “Since href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/families-claim-officials-extort-fees-at-checkpoints/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
ADB announces 3-year pipeline to boost develpment in Cambodia
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday unveiled its new three-year assistance plan of 525 million U.S. dollars to Cambodia in order to help the country reduce poverty, promote growth and mitigate climate change, the bank said. The plan for 2013-2015 marked the bank’s strategic focus href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/adb-announces-3-year-pipeline-to-boost-develpment-in-cambodia/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-12/18/c_132048224.htm
Ministry Bans US-Backed Radio Broadcasts for Election Weekend
The Ministry of Information ordered local radio stations not to transmit programs from U.S.-backed broadcasters over the election weekend, an official said. Voice of America (VOA), the U.S. government’s official broadcaster overseas, and Radio Free Asia (RFA), a station funded in part by the U.S. government, href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/ministry-bans-us-backed-radio-broadcasts-for-election-weekend/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...
Hun Sen Calls on Public to Help Protect Tonle Sap Fisheries
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday marked National Fish Day by urging the public to report anyone fishing inside the Tonle Sap conservation area he established earlier this year to help protect and revive the lake’s vital fish stocks. “People have to dare to stand up and href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/hun-sen-calls-on-public-to-help-protect-tonle-sap-fisheries/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...