Obama to meet with Cambodia’s longtime ‘strongman’ amid rights concerns, but also growth
President Barack Obama arrives in Cambodia on Monday having just won four more years in office, but that is nothing compared to his host, Hun Sen. The 60-year-old Cambodian prime minister has held power since Ronald Reagan was in the White House, and says he’s ...
Chut Wutty Remembered in Koh Kong Memorial
Mondol Seima district, Koh Kong province – It was a gesture the late conservationist and outspoken anti-logging activist would have appreciated. After blessing the site where Chut Wutty was shot dead just over two weeks ago under still mysterious circumstances in this remote patch of the ...
Ahead of Vote, Hun Sen Breaks Silence to Make Land Promises
Just days ahead of Sunday’s commune elections, Prime Minister Hun Sen again broke his pledge to remain silent during his party’s campaign period and sought to ease the concerns of communities whose livelihoods have been threatened by land disputes. Speaking to villagers through a mobile telephone, ...
Rice federation started
A NEW [sic] organisation for rice exporters was launched in Cambodia this weekend in an effort to transform the industry as it seeks to meet ambitious export targets. The Federation of Cambodian Rice Exporters (FCRE) was inaugurated on Saturday, and says it will gain full authorization ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2012121760310/Business/rice-federation-started.html
Graduates fear career jobs woe
A year from now, 23-year-old Sum Tiara will graduate from the Royal University of Law and Economics with a degree in law. At the moment, however, she needs to earn a living and pay for her studies by working in bars and restaurants in Phnom Penh. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013021261305/Business/graduates-fear-career-jobs-woe.html
Homes Razed to Stop ‘Secession,’ Officials Say
The homes of nearly 200 families living in Pursat province’s Veal Veng district were demolished yesterday and Monday after officials accused the residents of being involved in a secessionist plot, local officials and villagers said. District governor Chhe Chhiv said that authorities had demolished 191 homes ...
Eating locally
The Cambodian governemnt is lobbying the tourism sector to focus more on using local foods, which it says could generate millions of dollars in revenue a year. But hotels and restaurants say quality standards and supplies of local products are often not adequate and businesses ...
Gov't to Award Three Communal Land Titles to Ethnic Bunong
Three ethnic Bunong communities in Mondolkiri province may soon receive long-awaited collective property titles, which would bring to six the total number of communal land titles granted to the country’s indigenous people since the Land Law was created in 2011. And while the possible issuing of the three ...
Single visa test-run
A single visa for Thailand and Cambodia is ready for launch 27 December at all of the countries’ consulates and embassies. It is a test phase of a wider project called ACMECS Single Visa (Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy) involving Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and ...
Indirect trade with India unhealthy
CAMBODIA’S indirect trade and investments with India are possibly worth almost five times more than its direct economic activities, a situation deemed “unfavourable” to the country, an industry expert said yesterday. Direct trade and investments between the two countries hit a record $112 million last ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031461933/Business/indirect-trade-with-india-unhealthy.html
Strongman's hand in BHP deal
A BHP Billiton mining deal being investigated for alleged corruption was personally overseen by Cambodian strongman Hun Sen, diplomatic cables reveal. The miner’s aborted attempt to establish a bauxite mine in Cambodia, and its hospitality program for Chinese officials at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, are at ...
http://www.smh.com.au/national/strongmans-hand-in-bhp-deal-20130325-2gqae.html
Bids called on Cambodia rail link
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) will call an e-auction on April 10 on work to renovate damaged tracks connecting Thailand with Cambodia at the Aranyaprathet-Poipet crossing, Transport Minister Chadchat Suttipan said on Tuesday. The railway agency estimated the project will cost 2.8 billion baht. ...
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/343563/thailand-to-open-bid-to-rebuild-tracks-with-cambodia
Wary of China, Companies Head to Cambodia
Tiffany & Company is quietly building a diamond-polishing factory in Cambodia, a country popularly associated more with killing fields and land mines than baubles. Some of Japan’s biggest manufacturers are also rushing to set up operations in Phnom Penh to make wiring harnesses for cars and ...
Hun Sen Reaches for Ambitious Income Target
Going by the World Bank’s method of grouping nation states by their wealth, Cambodia this year could become a lower-middle income country. Not satisfied, however, with this graduation—a feat in itself from Cambodia’s position of extreme poverty just two decades ago when gross domestic product (GDP) ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/hun-sen-reaches-for-ambitious-income-target-18766/
Cambodia scores high marks for renewable energy
Cambodia’s share of modern biomass in total energy consumption is among the highest in the world, according to a report released Tuesday by the World Bank and the International Energy Agency. The report also found that growth in Cambodia’s dependence on renewable energy excluding traditional biomass ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=15&token=MjRiYTU0NzYyNTR
The price of land development in Cambodia
Phnom Penh, a city once fabled for its stately colonial buildings and boulevards, and its serene riverside setting, is becoming a city of glaring contrasts. An economy left in ruins by the years of war and violent revolution in the 1970s and 80s grew at a ...
Hor Namhong Asks for More Cash for Rail Project
Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong made another appeal to Australia for additional funds to complete a behind-schedule project to rehabilitate the country’s railway network, this time to newly appointed Australian Ambassador Alison Burrows, according to a ministry spokesman. While work on the Southern Line of the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hor-namhong-asks-for-more-cash-for-rail-project-30272/
CPP denies fake Hun Sen recording, vote-rigging
The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has denounced a recording posted on Facebook of Prime Minister Hun Sen saying that his CPP had lost in last month’s fifth parliamentary election. Someone had edited and re-recorded a speech he had performed a few weeks ago, said authorities. The ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=15&token=NGJmZWZmZmQ2OTd
Cambodian Opposition Leader Asks King to Intervene in Election Dispute
Cambodia’s opposition leader Sam Rainsy has called on the country’s king to step in to resolve a political crisis over recent disputed polls as time runs out for legal challenges before officials announce final election results this weekend. The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) president made ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/elections-09042013175946.html
Global Fund Says World Mosquito Net Supplies Not Jeopardized
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Thursday denied reports that its suspension of all contracts with two major mosquito net suppliers found to have bribed Cambodian officials would cause a shortage in the worldwide supply of the critical malaria deterrent, but ...
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/global-fund-says-world-mosquito-net-supplies-not-jeopardized-47676/