សំឡេងសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិក (VOA)
World Bank Urged To Review Policies in Places Like Cambodia
The World Bank is under pressure to review some of its policies around the world to ensure that in countries like Cambodia it is not funding the wrong projects. In a discussion at George Washington University this week, panelists said the World Bank is needed for ...
Cambodia Lacks Research Enough To Tackle Its Problems, Analysts Say
Not enough priority is given to research in Cambodia, threatening its long term development, economists and other experts say. Larry Strange, executive director of the Cambodian Development Research Institute, says the country cannot plan for major reform, build its economy, or reduce poverty without proper analysis ...
Development Could Mean Loss of EU Trade Preference, Ambassador Says
Cambodia could see less preferential economic treatment by Europe in coming years, as it graduates as a more developed country, the EU’s ambassador to Cambodia says. In an interview with VOA Khmer in Phnom Penh, Ambassador Jean-Francois Cautain said Cambodia currently enjoys tariff exemptions under a ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/development-could-mean-loss-of-eu-trade-preference/1631336.html
Government Denies Reports on Mining Corruption and Hun Sen
The Cambodian government on Thursday dismissed media reports in Australia linking Prime Minister Hun Sen to a mining company under investigation there for corruption. Earlier this week, The Age newspaper reported on Australian documents that described officials from BHP Billiton seeking a special meeting with Hun ...
In Washington, ‘Mekong Days’ Puts River in Focus
Advocacy groups, environmentalists and policy-makers have wrapped up five days of events surrounding Mekong River issues in Washington. “Mekong Days,” a series of talks, films and other forums that ended Tuesday, highlighted issues in the region, where some 60 million people live. The Mekong River, a major ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/in-washington-mekong-days-puts-river-in-focus/1630640.html
Documentary Looks at Impact of Mekong Dams
An updated documentary, “Where Have All the Fish Gone?,” examines the impacts of hydroelectric dams on the Mekong River. The Xayaburi dam, which would produce hydropower for market, has become a divisive issue among Mekong River countries. Critics say it could severely damage ecosystems on which ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/documentary-looks-at-impact-of-mekong-dams/1626779.html
Multiple Skills Needed To Compete in a Future Asean, Economist Says
Young Cambodians must develop diverse workplace skills if they are to compete in an integrated Asean, a leading economist and adviser to the government says. “We have to make sure we are able to do multiple things if others are able to do just one,” the ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/multiple-skills-needed-for-asean-competition/1603984.html
Investment Figures Show Billions of Dollars from China
China has become Cambodia’s biggest investor, putting some $8.8 billion into the country over nearly two decades, according to online data from the government’s lead investment agency. Those investment numbers, from the Council for the Development of Cambodia, from 1994 to 2011, do not take into ...
Real Estate Market Showing Signs of Recovery
Land prices in Cambodia continued to recover in the last half of 2012, especially in urban areas, following a collapse of the market in 2008, real estate investors say. Keuk Narin, vice president of Asia Real Estate Cambodia, told VOA Khmer that commercial land prices ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/real-estate-market-showing-signs-of-recovery/1580588.html
Fired Phone Company Workers File Complaint
One of Cambodia’s most active unions has filed a complaint against a Thai mobile phone provider, claiming it laid off more than 50 staff members without warning and without compensation. The complaint was filed with the Ministry of Labor against Mfone, a company that belongs to ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/fired-phone-company-workers-file-complaint/1579895.html
US Congressional Budget Compromise a Good Lesson for Cambodia, Observers Say
The US Congress has averted the “fiscal cliff” by passing a number of budget agreements, and Cambodian politicians and observers say the experience is a good example of compromise between two sides. Cheam Yiep, a lawmaker for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and head of ...
US Seeks Stronger Ties After Obama Visit
The United States is looking forward to making sure the US-Cambodian relations grow stronger after the visit of US President Barack Obama to Cambodia in November, according to US Embassy spokesman Sean McIntosh. In a recent interview with VOA Khmer, McIntosh said Obama has decided to ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/us-seeks-stronger-ties-after-obama-visit/1577161.html
With Election on the Horizon, Politicians Defend Land Policies
Cambodian politicians have begun a public campaign to defend their records on land policies, as they prepare for the run-up to July elections. Politicians from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, as well as the opposition Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties, have said they will give ...
City Orders Removal of a Dozen Newspaper Stands
Phnom Penh authorities have ordered 12 newspaper kiosks to leave a major road in the capital, saying they need them to relocate for 12 months for construction but giving them no other place to go. Owners of the kiosks, which are popular in the sale of ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/city-orders-removal-of-a-dozen-newspaper-stands/1575403.html
Regional Workers Need More Protection, Advocate Says
With Thailand threatening to oust undocumented workers, Asean must do more as a region to protect its migrant workers, a leading rights advocate says. More and more workers are crossing the borders between Asean countries, and the region looking to lower trade barriers, so workers need ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/regional-workers-need-more-protection-advocate-says/1574026.html
Social Media Changing Cambodia’s Information Landscape
Changes in demography and technology have altered the behavior of Cambodian media consumers, with youth increasingly using social media platforms to share news and information. Pen Sophal, a graduate student in media management at Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology, says print and electronic media outlets in ...
Illegal Cambodian Workers in Thailand Could Be Deported
Thailand is warning it will expel 1.5 million illegal workers from the country, a move that could affect around 160,000 Cambodians. Rights workers in Cambodia say the migrant laborers deserve assistance from both Thai and Cambodian authorities to help them work and travel legally. ...
Major Gap Emerging Between Labor Market and Job Seekers
PHNOM PENH – As more and more Cambodians enter the job market, with a growing population of young people, there still remain plenty of job opportunities with foreign investors at home, according to a new study by the Ministry of Labor. But people either don’t ...
One Safe, Three Missing in Hydrodam Accident
PHNOM PENH – Authorities are searching for three missing construction workers at a Chinese hydroelectric dam in Pursat province, after pipes burst there on Saturday, causing a flash flood. One man, who had been fishing nearby and was thought missing, has been found “safe and alive” ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/one-safe-three-missing-in-hydrodam-accident/1557685.html
Mounting Foreign Concerns as 2013 Budget Plans Under Way
WASHINGTON DC – Seven opposition lawmakers say they have found new ways to reduce the national debt and are requesting that the National Assembly’s finance committee meet with them before drafting the 2013 national budget. The lawmakers, from the Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties, say ...
Cambodian Appeals Court Upholds Detention of Land Activists
Two land activists from forced evictions in Phnom Penh will not be released on bail as they await trial on incitement charges widely seen as an attack on free speech. The two women, Yorm Bopha and Tim Sak Mony, were arrested in early September and accused ...
Villagers along Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake Livelihood Threatened
Villagers on Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, who depend on fishing for subsistence, say their livelihoods are threatened by illegal commercial fishing, which continues after a government ban. And they say authorities in charge of enforcing the ban are being bribed to look the other ...
Third Taiwanese Bank Slated To Open in Cambodia
The Taiwan Cooperative Bank will become the third bank from Taiwan, which has no diplomatic relations with Cambodia under the “one-China” policy. National Bank of Cambodia officials say the bank has been provisionally approved, but that the central bank needs time to look over the fine ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/third-taiwanese-bank-slated-to-open-in-cambodia/1522678.html
European Anti-Corruption Law Could Reach Cambodia’s Oil, Forestry Sectors
New European legislation passed last month could help transparency in the extractive industries, by forcing companies to declare payments to foreign governments rich in resources For resource-rich countries like Cambodia, that means much more transparency, she said. More than 95 percent of the world’s major extractive ...