News

Prime Minister Hun Sen again addressed recent criticism from [Surya Subedi] the U.N.’s human rights envoy to Cambodia , during a speech yesterday in Bateay Meanchey province that focused on land disputes. Mr. Hun Sen was speaking in Thma Puok district’s Banteay Chhmar commune, where he ...

The country cannot afford to further increase the salaries of civil servants such as teachers and members of the armed forces, as to do so would require tax increases—a move that has already sparked protests across Europe, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday. Speaking at a ...

About 600 Tae Young factory workers are back on the job thanks to a court injunction – and the desire to pocket a little cash in time for Pchum Ben – but the return will only be temporary, workers said yesterday. The decision followed a Kandal ...

The Ministry of Information and Council of Ministers has summoned representatives from US government-funded radio stations for an unprecedented meeting to discuss the stations’ content, goals and level of professionalism, government officials said yesterday. In a letter dated Monday and signed by Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith, Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Voice ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen mockingly declared that opposition pledges to increase the salaries of civil servants marked the arrival of “the season of promises” ahead of next year’s elections, during a speech yesterday. The premier deemed boosting salaries by reducing tax losses attributed to graft unfeasible  because ...

The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court has summonsed for questioning Kim Seanglay, a military policeman who was the subject of one of slain journalist Hang Serei Oudom’s articles on the illegal timber trade, Chhay Thi, an investigator for the rights group Adhoc, said yesterday. According to their ...

The IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) forecasts that uncertainty surrounding growth in advanced economies will slightly affect the growth of some ASEAN nations, particularly low-income countries such as Cambodia. A senior IMF official told reporters on the sidelines of the fund’s annual meeting yesterday that some ASEAN economies relying heavily ...

Officials from Prime Minister’s Hun Sen’s cabinet yesterday accepted the petition of 110 Preah Vihear villager representatives seeking intervention in a land dispute with defunct NGO DARPO. Hun Sen cabinet member Nov Ra told villagers who protested in front of the prime minister’s house to return ...

Four years after they began fighting the well-connected concessionaire DM Group, members of the ethnic Tampuon who remain in Svay Sor village are exhausted. While the DM Group has seen its complaints against villagers and activists routinely heard at court, those filed by the affected families ...

Cambodia’s service sector has seen significant growth in recent years, but the sector remains hampered by challenges, according to a report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) However, inadequate supporting infrastructure, such as transport and basic utilities, the high cost of electricity and inadequate implementations of ...

The import flow of bicycles (excluding e-bikes) into the European Union is changing rapidly between countries What is in particular striking is the massive upswing in imports from Cambodia. In 2011 the European Union imported 366,000 bikes from Cambodia which took the country to the 9th ...

Economic growth in the East Asia and Pacific region – covering 14 countries, including Thailand – may slow by a full percentage point to 7.2 per cent this year, before recovering to 7.6 per cent next year, according to a World Bank report Excluding China, the ...

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 ...

Cambodians are starting to learn about insurance, thanks to Canadian company Manulife, which held a press conference on the topic on Friday. Low awareness and a limited pool of skilled talent are challenges facing insurers in Cambodia according Prudential representative Pankaj Banerjee. Despite this, he said Prudential ...

An expected verdict in the unintentional murder case of the man accused of shooting slain environmentalist Chut Wutty’s killer was delayed at Koh Kong Provincial Court yesterday because the presiding judge was ill. Neang Boratino, Koh Kong provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said a ...

Evictees wearing small model houses on their heads to symbolize their struggles marched to the National Assembly yesterday to ask authorities to intervene to stop more forced evictions. About 400 representatives of 40 communities across the capital joined human rights activists at the former Dey Krahorm eviction site ...

Cambodia’s service sector has seen significant growth in recent years, but the sector remains hampered by challenges, according to a report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The service sector’s real GDP share has expanded to 39 per cent in 2011, compared to 23.7 per cent ...

The effects of the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 on the Cambodian economy showed how perilous having a narrow economic base can be. Since the Kingdom’s economy is dependent on a few “pillars”-garments, construction, tourism and agriculture-downturns in any of those sectors can ...

The Ministry of Labor on Sunday launched an educational campaign aimed at preventing further mass faintings in garment factories, a ministry official said yesterday. Meng Hong, director of the ministry’s inspection and legal affairs department, said that the campaign would target more than 30,000 garment workers ...

The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court yesterday questioned four people- including a military police official and a police officer- in relation to the killing of journalist Hang Serei Odom, whose body was discovered hacked to death last month in the trunk of his car,a court official and ...

Members of the Association of Democrats, the group led by jailed activist and Beehive Radio owner Mam Sonando, rallied in front of the Royal Palace yesterday to deliver petitions appealing for his release. Huon Phannary, the deputy secretary-general of the association, said yesterday that nearly 100 ...

The Koh Kong Provincial Court had postponed until October 22 the verdict of Rann Boroth, the man charged with the accidental killing of a military police officer who allegedly killed environmental activist Chut Wutty in the Cardamom Mountains in April. Though rights groups have criticized the ...

The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court yesterday questioned one of three human rights workers charged-alongside a journalist-with inciting ethnic minority villagers to protest violently against a powerful agro-industry firm during a 2009 land dispute. A representative of the villagers said yesterday that about 500 of them are planning to gather ...

Education garment workers and their bosses on how to avoiding fainting is the latest strategy the Ministry of Labor is using to address a problem that has plagued the industry in the past two years, a ministry official said yesterday. Labor Ministry Secretary of State Oum Mean said he ...