The Cambodia Daily

About 500 Cambodians have registered as observers for the June commune elections, falling well short of the more than 20,000 that civil society groups are hoping for, while not a single foreigner has signed up yet, the National Election Committee (NEC) said on Tuesday.   ...

The Foreign Affairs Ministry expects to complete construction on its first training institute for local diplomats in the next 18 months, officials said Monday. Foreign Affairs Ministry spokes-man Chum Sounry said work on the National Institute for Diplomatic and Relations of International Study began in December. ...

Officials are still investigating an arson attack on a Mondolkiri province community forestry monitoring office by dozens of masked farmers on Friday, in what they suspect was retaliation for preventing the farmers from growing cassava in a protected area. ...

Nearly everyone living in Pann Sopheatra’s village, just across the Mekong River from Phnom Penh, has either taken out a microfinance loan or knows someone who has.   ...

All elected local officials will see their salaries raised next month—just ahead of commune elections in June—after a sub-decree was signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday.   ...

Every Cambodian will be assigned a 10-digit identification number under which information from various government departments, as well as the private sector, will be collected in a central database, Interior Minister Sar Kheng announced on Thursday.   ...

Though some of that control had slipped away in recent years, there are still plenty of state bodies, official roles and chairmanships up for grabs after Sok An died on Wednesday at the age of 66. The most high-profile of those positions, minister in charge ...

Many of the news media’s favorite political analysts aren’t picking up their telephones. They say they are busy with work, traveling abroad or focusing on their studies. ...

The ruling CPP doubled down on Tuesday on its decision to cap interest rates on microfinance loans as a way to help the poor get out of debt, even as analysts called it a political move that would have long-term negative effects on the rural ...

Conservationists remain wary of the government’s recent pledge to sideline construction of the controversial Chhay Areng hydropower dam after finding the project on the Mines and Energy Ministry’s new to-do list.After a February 17 Council of Ministers meeting, the government announced that plans to build ...

The National Bank of Cambodia announced on Monday that it would set an annual interest rate ceiling of 18 percent for all microfinance institutions (MFIs), sparking concerns that lenders would stop offering smaller loans that often keep the most financially vulnerable afloat. ...

The head of Cambodia’s largest demining operator cited Monday’s disposal of a pair of decades-old American bombs as part of the government’s mounting efforts to shame the U.S. into canceling the country’s ballooning war-era debt, which now stands at about $500 million. ...

Four senior officials for rights group Adhoc will remain behind bars after the Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Court of Appeal’s ruling that they should be held in detention while awaiting trial, but gave no reason for the decision. ...

Officials broke ground on Saturday on a new mental health center in Kandal province that will house detainees from the notorious Prey Speu detention center in Phnom Penh, among others, government and city officials said on Sunday. ...

Companies from Europe’s frigid north are taking steps toward moving into the fish and environmental industries in Cambodia’s warmer climes.   ...

For the ruling CPP, the promise was to appoint a woman as governor for one of the country’s 25 provinces. For the opposition CNRP, its boast was having 60 female commune chief candidates—up from fewer than 10—to run in Cambodia’s 1,646 communes for this year’s ...

As part of an ongoing Japan-funded project to reduce congestion in the capital’s clogged streets, City Hall turned on three new traffic lights on Wednesday in Phnom Penh—with two more set to follow today.   ...

Female construction workers earn on average about $2.50 less per day than their male counterparts, are given fewer opportunities to learn new skills and are victims of outdated gender stereotypes, a new report says.   ...

South Korea will manage the replanting of trees on former economic land concessions—with an eye toward eventually entering Cambodia’s logging industry—under a tentative agreement between the two countries, Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon said on Wednesday.   ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s decision to keep four officials from rights group Adhoc imprisoned while the court investigates their case was right “according to the law,” a Supreme Court official said on Monday during an appeal hearing. ...

More than 88,000 candidates will be vying for the 11,572 seats up for grabs in the June 4 commune elections, the National Election Committee (NEC) announced on Monday, following a three-day registration window that closed on Sunday. ...

Nearly 80 international and Cambodian civil society groups have signed a joint statement urging the government to halt its crackdown on activists and release five current and former senior officials of rights group Adhoc who have been awaiting trial since May. ...

With King Norodom Sihamoni out of the country, Senate President and CPP stalwart Say Chhum is set to sign off on controversial new changes to the Law on Political Parties, the last step in what some are calling the final, fatal blow to Cambodia’s democracy. ...

Thousands of students across the country are scanning identification cards and their thumbprints at school as part of a pilot program aimed at encouraging attendance. ...