Rubber plantation protest in fourth day
In Svay Rieng province villagers are in their fourth day of protests after authorities refused to meet with them to discuss a land concession that Metapheap Company has received in order to open a rubber plantation. The company was granted a 1,230 hectare land concession ...
Workers urge Angkor boycott
Angkor beer workers have been handing out flyers calling for a protest of the brand owned by Cambrew Ltd as the beer promoter strike entered its second day. International NGOs are being urged by the Cambodian Food Service Workers’ Federation to support the strikers by ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011072750661/National-news/workers-urge-angkor-boycott.html
About 400 Chickens Inspected for Bird Flu
About 400 chickens suspected of being infected with bird flu were culled Friday in Banteay Meanchey province’s Monkol Borei district after a died of the virus less than two weeks ago, officials said. Meanwhile, last week the Agriculture Ministry reported that H5N1, or avian influenza, ...
Newly Paved Road Expected to Up M’kiri Trade
With the paving of the road from Sen Monorom City to a planned international border crossing with Vietnam recently completed, cross-border trade in the area is expected to rise, officials said. Chinese-owned company Roch China Construction finished paving the 32-km road last month using a ...
Workers face contract woes
The use of short-term contracts by employers in the Kingdom’s garment industry is threatening workers’ rights and could lead to decreased productivity in the sector, researchers said at a meeting yesterday. Following the release of a report by Yale Law School last week based on ...
Svay Rieng dredging destroying farmland
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 ...
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
Thai rail link back on track
Representatives from Cambodia and Thailand yesterday agreed to a 2013 completion date for a railway link from Phnom Penh across the Cambodia-Thailand border crossing at Poipet. Outdated agreements had delayed the project, Thai officials said. Insiders have also said disagreements over cross-border trade have kept the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011121353318/Business/thai-rail-link-back-on-track.html
ILO program pushes dialogue
In the wake of several violent garment-factory protests last week, the International Labour Office yesterday launched a five-year, US$5 million Decent Work Country Program in Cambodia to focus on improving industrial relations. “[This] marks the beginning of a new body of work for the ILO in ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012030254818/National-news/ilo-program-pushes-dialogue.html
Journalists Trade Blows Over Cash From Wood Smugglers
Two journalists fought it out over cash being paid to them by a wood smuggler along National Road 7 in Kratie province’s Snuol district, landing one of them in the hospital with a head injury on Wednesday morning, a provincial police official said. Kong Sa Im, ...
Court again frustrates locals in KDC
KDC International, which is owned by Chea Kheng the wife of Industry Minister Suy Sem has been accused of grabbing 145 hectares of land in the Kampong Chhnang province. The villagers who claim the land have filed objects individually, after having been told to do ...
Beer girls brew Angkor strike
60 some Angkor beer promoters are going to hold a strike outside of the company’s Phnom Penh offices in order to draw attention to the labor violations and discrimination they’ve suffered. The strike is planned to be loud and colorful according to Cham Rong, the ...
Cambodia eyes solar future for rural power
Cambodian officials yesterday touted the potential for green energy to meet its goal of bringing electricity to 100 percent of households by 2020. The Kingdom was looking to develop solar energy, small-scale hydropower and biomass-fuelled power to meet the target, said Ministry of Industry, Mines and ...
Evictees Miss Second Season of Rice Farming
Villagers who were evicted by security personnel in order to make way for Tan Bien-Kompong Thom Rubber Company have missed another growing season as they have not been given land original promised by the government. They were original promised one hectare of land each before ...
Two more banks setting up shop
The National Bank of Cambodia has issued a commercial banking licence to a Taiwanese bank, while another banking licence is pending approval for a Chinese-Cambodian joint venture, central bank Director General and Spokeswoman Ngoun Sokha said yesterday. The central bank had licensed Taiwan’s Mega International ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011083051333/Business/two-more-banks-setting-up-shop.html
Officials Move to Bring Unruly Garment Subcontractors in Line
Citing a government investigation that revealed factories colluding with unlicensed subcontractors to use unethical labor sources including prisoners, Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh has asked the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia to urge adherence to labor law. Rehabilitation programs meant to teach vocational skills such ...
SMEs call for better loan rates
The Kingdom’s small and medium enterprises have called on commercial banks and micro-finance institutions to lower interest rates on loans, as insiders have said they hamper SMEs’ potential for growth. Many Cambodian SMEs are concerned that the high interest rates offered by banks reduce productivity, according ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011092151765/Business/smes-call-for-better-loan-rates.html
ADB can't confirm authenticity of letter
The Asian Development Bank yesterday said it had never authenticated a June 17 letter from Finance Minister Keat Chhon that claimed an ADB consultant urged the government to target advocacy groups critical of an ADB-funded railway project. In a copy of the letter obtained earlier this ...
CSX trading postponed again until next year
Trading on the Cambodia Securities Exchange will be delayed once again until the beginning of 2012, Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon said yesterday. He blamed an incomplete regulatory regime and the public’s lack of confidence in the stock market as reasons for the delay, ...
Cash crop deal to aid Kingdom
A Malaysian firm on Saturday signed a joint agricultural agreement with property development company Paragon Corporation Cambodia worth a potential US$2 billion in exports of corn, rubber, coffee and other cash crops. Penned by Paragon Corporation Cambodia and Markmore Group Malaysia, the joint development project will ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011101752151/Business/cash-crop-deal-to-aid-kingdom.html