The Phnom Penh Post
Plans take root for cassava processor
A Chinese-based investment firm has announced plans to begin construction on the first of 10 cassava processing plants next month, with a total planned investment of $150 million, according to Agriculture Minister Veng Sokhon. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/plans-take-root-cassava-processor
PM Hun Sen questions Vietnam’s loyalty, accuses Sam Rainsy of treason
In an unusual reversal of rhetoric, Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly questioned the loyalty of long-time ally Vietnam on Wednesday, while ordering the interior and justice ministries to thoroughly investigate former opposition leader Sam Rainsy for treason for allegedly colluding with the Kingdom’s eastern neighbour. ...
Ben Sokhean and Andrew Nachemson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-hun-sen-questions-vietnams-loyalty-accuses-sam-rainsy-treason
Land activists submit petition for release of leader Tep Vanny
Boeung Kak activists and family members of jailed protest leader Tep Vanny submitted a petition to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet on Tuesday asking for her release or a reduction in her sentence. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/land-activists-submit-petition-release-leader-tep-vanny
Villagers claim forest illegally sold in Mondulkiri
An ethnic Phnong community near Mondulkiri’s Sen Monorom town on Monday claimed that at least 80 hectares of forestland, which they have long depended on for their livelihoods, were covertly sold, with local authorities allegedly signing off on the sale. While the Phnong villagers from ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/villagers-claim-forest-illegally-sold-mondulkiri
Mondulkiri villages to get REDD+ funds
Twenty villages in Mondulkiri province are set to receive at least $10,000 each as a result of the $2.6 million carbon credit purchase by the Walt Disney Company in 2016, under a scheme meant to protect the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, officials said yesterday.This would ...
Yesenia Amaro and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mondulkiri-villages-get-redd-funds
Hun Sen complains about $500M Lon Nol-era debt
Prime Minister Hun Sen revisited a wedge issue between Cambodia and the US on Tuesday, complaining about the approximately $500 million in Vietnam War-era debt accumulated under the Lon Nol regime still owed to the superpower. ...
Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hun-sen-complains-about-500m-lon-nol-era-debt
Green funding will be first for Kingdom: ADB
The Asian Development Bank’s recent announcement of $40 million in funding for Cambodia marks the first funds from the Green Climate Fund that were earmarked for the Kingdom, according to ADB officials. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/green-funding-will-be-first-kingdom-adb
Siem Reap stops clearing of protected wetlands
Authorities in Siem Reap province on Monday stopped the clearing of protected wetlands within the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, halting the work of a team that had already cleared one hectare of flooded forest.The authorities found nine vehicles, including bulldozers, excavators and trucks, and seven ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/siem-reap-stops-clearing-protected-wetlands
Discrepancy among ministries over garment data
Annual reports from two ministries released on Monday appear to show significantly different numbers of factories, enterprises and garment factory workers in Cambodia last year, and officials at the two ministries contacted yesterday did not explain the contradictory data. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/discrepancy-among-ministries-over-garment-data
UN human rights envoy raises CNRP dissolution in meeting with National Assembly president
UN Special Rapporteur Rhona Smith raised the forced dissolution of the CNRP and the redistribution of its legislative seats, as well as the government’s frequent legal action against sitting parliamentarians, during her visit on Tuesday with National Assembly President Heng Samrin. ...
Hacks a ‘wakeup call’ to telecom security weaknesses: gov’t
Telecommunications officials have raised the possibility that a series of hacks against government officials and ministries could have been so-called SS7 attacks, a recently discovered hacking method that involves taking over a person’s cellphone number. At a meeting with local cell companies on Tuesday, officials ...
Hor Kimsay and Daphne Chen
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hacks-wakeup-call-telecom-security-weaknesses-govt
Kingdom’s list of certifications grows to 868
The Institute of Standards of Cambodia developed 63 new standards last year, bringing the total number of certifications available from the government to 868, though one industry representative said the system still needed improvement in order to facilitate exports. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/kingdoms-list-certifications-grows-868
Early data show decline in garment sector growth
The labour minister said on Monday that Cambodia’s garment sector grew by 4 percent last year to reach $7.6 billion, which would mark a slowdown in the growth rate compared to previous years. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/early-data-show-decline-garment-sector-growth
CSX aims to boost awareness with deal
The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) signed a partnership agreement with a business development company on Monday in an attempt to increase awareness about the country’s stock market among entrepreneurs. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/csx-aims-boost-awareness-deal
Petitioners bring years-long land disputes to ministry
Some 300 villagers representing over 6,800 families delivered a slew of petitions to the Council of Ministers and Ministry of Land Management on Monday demanding resolution to longstanding land disputes affecting about 19,000 hectares over four provinces. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/petitioners-bring-years-long-land-disputes-ministry
Strikes down, but advocates, officials differ on significance
Strikes in Cambodia plummeted by more than half last year, according to the Ministry of Labour’s annual report – a statistic lauded by the government as evidence that worker conditions had improved but rejected by labour advocates as a sign that dissent was being suppressed. ...
Yon Sineat and Daphne Chen
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/strikes-down-advocates-officials-differ-significance
Eight charged in Kratie protest
The Kratie Provincial Court on Monday released on bail the eight villagers arrested after security forces fired on protesters there last week, but preliminarily charged them with using violence against officials, blocking a road and damaging property. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/eight-charged-kratie-protest
Workers fired after trying to unionise
For Peng Phalla, a sewing machine repairman by trade, the beginning of the end was December 8 – the day he filed the paperwork to form a union. Phalla had spent the past two years helping a factory in Kampong Cham province churn out baby ...
Yon Sineat and Daphne Chen
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/workers-fired-after-trying-unionise
Mother Nature turns to puppets to protect its activists
Environment NGO Mother Nature on Saturday debuted a new video about threatened mangroves in Koh Kong province featuring an unlikely spokesperson, or rather, spokes-puppet. The video is about a plot of mangrove forest inside the Peam Krasaop Wildlife Sanctuary that was illegally filled in with sand, ...
Yesenia Amaro
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mother-nature-turns-puppets-protect-its-activists
Hun Sen lauds US-North Korea talks
Prime Minister Hun Sen applauded the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday, offering his congratulations to the odd couple at the fourth annual River Festival in Kandal province. ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hun-sen-lauds-us-north-korea-talks
Cambodia to get $40M from ADB’s green fund
The Asian Development Bank has announced an additional $30 million in grants and $10 million in loans to Cambodia as part of the organization’s Green Climate Fund. ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cambodia-get-40m-adbs-green-fund
Battambang cement factory set to start production
A new cement factory in Battambang province will come online on Friday with an annual production capacity of 1.7 million tonnes of cement, according to Mines and Energy Minister Suy Sem. “We will have finished four cement factories that can produce nearly 7 million tones ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/battambang-cement-factory-set-start-production
Prospect of another Koh Kong dam raised
The government is forming an interministerial committee to review an application from a Chinese firm to build another hydropower dam in Koh Kong province, according to a spokesman from the Mines and Energy Ministry. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/prospect-another-koh-kong-dam-raised
Preliminary negotiations over Block D exploration begin
A Chinese-based oil exploration company and a Canadian partner have entered into preliminary negotiations with the government to obtain an exploration license in Block D in the Gulf of Thailand, according to a government spokesman. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/preliminary-negotiations-over-block-d-exploration-begin