A representAtive of A fActory thAt produces clothing for internAtionAl clothing brAnds H&Amp;M, GAp And Levi StrAuss wArned yesterdAy thAt its buyers will plAce orders elsewhere if the strike for higher wAges And benefits in its two fActories continues. An officiAl At the AmericAn Center for <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/km/news/fActory-sAys-buyers-will-go-to-burmA-if-protests-continue/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Forestry officials on Monday confiscated nearly two-and-a-half cubic meters of luxury grade Thnong wood in Stung Treng province from a military truck emblazoned with the insignia of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Bodyguard Unit, forestry officials said yesterday. an additional 100 pieces of luxury grade wood were <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/luxury-wood-seized-from-military-vehicle/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Vietnam and Cambodia have set a target of US$5 billion in bilateral trade by 2015 as the countries’ economic relationship deepens. However, some wonder if such an ambitious goal is realistic, especially given the government’s desire to realize US$5 billion in annual trade with China by 2017. The goal was announced at a June 24 <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/vietnam-and-cambodia-set-ambitious-us5-billion-trade-target/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court has ordered villagers living on disputed land in Sihanoukville to leave the area by Thursday, according to a statement released by th the court yesterday. “We wish to inform people living in Muoy commune’s Phuom Bei village that on august 9, <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/villagers-in-sihanoukville-ordered-off-disputed-land/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Forestry administration officials in Battambang province have stepped in to stop the destruction of a community forest area by military and police, officials said yesterday. Over two past months, soldiers, police and military police have destroyed part of the 1,335-hectare Prey Tralach forest in Rokha Kiri district, which <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/officials-halt-clearance-of-community-forest/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Court of AppeAl yesterdAy dismissed A complAint by the CAnAdiAn-CAmbodiAn shrimp mAnufActurer NAutisco SeAfood MAnufActuring Inc. Alleging thAt the privAte equity firm LeopArd CApitAl hAd purposely indebted the compAny for its own personAl gAin. According to the SihAnoukville-bAsed shrimp compAny’s complAint, LeopArd CApitAl, A pArtner <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/km/news/court-cleArs-leopArd-cApitAl-in-loAn-cAse/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Just two weeks after a journalist’s bludgeoned corpse was discovered in Ratanakkiri province, a human rights group yesterday identified two more recent cases of violence or intimidation against reporters in the northeastern province. The report from adhoc said the pressure from local journalists has occurred alongside an increase <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/more-rkiri-journalists-threatened-amid-illegal-timber-trade/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Representatives of 19 families facing the eviction from their homes in Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district submitted a petition to City Hall yesterday, demanding land as compensation. The families claim that the eviction is doubly bitter because they had been relocated to andong 3 Village, Kouk <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/families-face-re-eviction-submit-city-hall-petition/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Kampong Chhnang villagers who have been hit with a new lawsuit over property that they and the wife of a senior government official both claim said yesterday that coming to court would be impossible, as they did not have a defense lawyer and needed time to locate <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/court-grants-delay-in-k-chhnang-land-dispute/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that he has requested a $140 million loan from China to build a 190 km road that would branch off National Road 5 and allow easier access to Thailand. The request comes just one month after Mr. Hun Sen returned <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/hun-sen-asks-china-for-loan-to-build-new-road/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Workers who were left stranded after protests at three Tai Yang Enterprises garment factories dragged on for months earlier this year were waiting for a long awaited resolution when they attended the arbitration yesterday. The 53 employees of the Kandal provincial factory, which supplies Levi’s and <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/last-tai-yang-strikers-hoping-for-resolution/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The government on Monday re­quested that manufacturers look at raising the minimum wage for garment workers, but only after divided trade unions agree on what that wage should be. “after discussions, those present at the meeting agree in principle to discuss raising the minimum wage <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/government-tells-unions-to-agree-on-minimum-wage-demands/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A CPP lAwmAker sAid yesterdAy the government hAs signed 13 pAyment guArAntees to compAnies constructing coAl-fired power plAnts And hydropower dAms in the country, A move thAt An AsiAn Development BAnk (ADB) officiAl reiterAted wAs risky for the country’s fiscAl future. CPP lAwmAker CheAm YeAp sAid <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/km/news/government-hAs-13-pAyment-guArAntees-for-energy-projects/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Access to finAnce could reduce violence, empower the most vulnerAble in society And improve the livelihoods of CAmbodiA’s poorest people, A conference on community-led funding heArd on WednesdAy. SArAh Sitts, country mAnAger of the internAtionAl NGO PAct, introduced the funding model of sAvings-led micro-finAnce (SLMF). In <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/km/news/striving-to-mAke-finAnce-Accessible/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A MAlAysiAn-bAse[d] energy service group hAs plAns to spend roughly $10 million to build A biomAss power plAnt in CAmbodiA. WAh Seong CorporAtion BerhAd’s plAnt would hAve A production cApAcity of up to 10 megAwAtts, sAid the group’s chief executive, ChAn Cheu Leong, in An Article <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/km/news/mAlAysiAn-firm-plAns-10-mw-biomAss-plAnt/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The parent company behind a firm constructing the Lower Sesan 2 dam in Stung Treng has repeatedly violated Chinese law by building “massive” power projects without prior approval, China’s national auditor has found. State-owned China Huaneng Group, of which Lower Sesan 2 partner Hydrolancang International Energy <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/dam-firm-violated-law/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

As much As $16 billion of investment is needed in CAmbodiA over the next decAde if the country’s infrAstructure is to keep up with the pAce of economic growth, Ac­cording to A regionAl think tAnk. At A seminAr in Phnom Penh on ThuesdAy, JAkArtA-bAsed Economic ReseArch <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/km/news/cAll-for-more-investment-in-infrAstructure/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A yeAr to the dAy since Armed soldiers stormed into the remote villAge of Pro MAr in KrAtie province, killing A 14-yeAr-old girl, Arresting her husbAnd And evicting hundreds of fAmilies, Sreng Pho still hAs nightmAres. “I’m reAlly scAred when I think bAck to thAt dAy <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/km/news/feAr-still-lingers-in-pro-mA/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Blinded, bloodied and barely conscious, two unionists who were nearly beaten to death after passing out pro-union literature in front of a Phnom Penh garment factory remained in their hospital beds yesterday, awaiting a possible transferral to Vietnam. The vicious attack in front of Dayup <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/unionists-remain-in-hospital/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The intervention of the United Nations in two violent clashes between police and protesters on Sunday was as much of a surprise to the opposition party as to bewildered onlookers, a party spokesman said. Officers from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/km/news/un-intervention-twice-quells-violence/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>