The Phnom Penh Post
Environmental NGO Mother Nature dissolved
The Interior Ministry on Friday announced it had stricken critical environmental NGO Mother Nature from its registry, effective immediately, with the group saying it had requested the move and would continue to investigate sand dredging and export violations in the country’s southwest despite the de-registration. ...
Mech Dara and Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/environmental-ngo-mother-nature-dissolved
Hun Sen amps up attacks on US
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday ratcheted up his attacks on the United States, announcing that he had instructed the Immigration Department to check for American “spies” and suggesting the US Embassy pull out its Peace Corps volunteers. ...
Mech Dara and Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hun-sen-amps-attacks-us
Eyes on Sokha not welcome: lawyers
Jailed opposition leader Kem Sokha’s lawyers have said that they are under surveillance during meetings with their client in Tbong Khmum’s Trapaing Thlong prison, which they yesterday called a violation of their rights ensuring client-attorney conversations are confidential. ...
Chhay Channyda and Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/eyes-sokha-not-welcome-lawyers
GE looks to deal with government on coal plants
US-based energy giant General Electric (GE) hopes to finalise an agreement with the Ministry of Mines and Energy by November that would see the Kingdom’s coal and gas plants using emissions-monitoring technology for the first time, company executives said yesterday. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/ge-looks-deal-government-coal-plants
Voter registration slow: NEC
The National Election Committee yesterday said voter registration was progressing slower than expected, largely due to migrant workers not registering – an issue that advocates have urged the electoral body to remedy for months. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/voter-registration-slow-nec
Remains hostage in spat with US
Prime Minister Hun Sen hit back yesterday in response to United States visa sanctions by saying Cambodia would no longer assist in finding and repatriating the remains of American soldiers who lost their lives during the Vietnam War. ...
ម៉ិច ដារ៉ា និង Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/remains-hostage-spat-us
CDC official thanks China for investment
The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) heaped praise upon China yesterday for its continual support of the Kingdom, claiming that without its investment the local economy would never have managed to take off. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cdc-official-thanks-china-investment
PM praises China after trip
Prime Minister Hun Sen returned from a three-day trip to China yesterday, all but confirming in a statement what observers have long theorised: that Cambodia now sees China’s backing as a bulwark against Western criticisms over its rights record. ...
Andrew Nachemson and Ben Sokhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-praises-china-after-trip
Threat follows Interior directive
A Ministry of Interior directive requiring provincial approval for work done on commune halls prompted a thinly veiled threat from a ministry spokesman yesterday that a popular opposition commune chief could be arrested if she didn’t comply. ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/threat-follows-interior-directive
Koh Kong activists charged
Two Mother Nature activists arrested after filming suspected sand-bearing vessels have been charged with incitement and making unauthorised recordings of a person in “a private place” – an offence that drew skepticism yesterday, given they were in their own boat in the open ocean when ...
Phak Seangly and Shaun Turton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/koh-kong-activists-charged
Heng Pov asks for fast appeal
Disgraced former Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Heng Pov yesterday called for a speedy appeal trial before the Supreme Court in two of his cases – which relate to the possession of fake currency and to the illegal detention of a suspect – despite lamenting ...
Kim Sarom
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/heng-pov-asks-fast-appeal
Kingdom’s biggest SEZ to get even bigger
he Kingdom’s biggest industrial park is moving beyond its initial development stage and looking to attract nearly 200 new tenants in the next five years as it doubles its footprint. ...
Cam McGrath
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/kingdoms-biggest-sez-get-even-bigger
Cambodia gets low marks in ‘human capital’ report
A recent report by the World Economic Forum underscored the Kingdom’s poor performance in educating and training its citizens in order to develop a competitive workforce and put their skills to productive use, ranking it for the first time in its annual review as the ...
Cam McGrath
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cambodia-gets-low-marks-human-capital-report
Ministry of Foreign Affairs targeted by US visa ban, in retaliation for government's deportee stance
The United States yesterday banned business and tourist visas for Cambodian Foreign Ministry officials and their families in response to the Kingdom’s refusal to accept “inhumane” deportations of Cambodian citizens convicted of felonies in the US. ...
Erin Handley and Niem Chheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministry-foreign-affairs-targeted-us-visa-ban-retaliation-governments-deportee-stance
CNRP unifies message on 2018
CNRP chief whip Son Chhay sought to lay down a unified party line yesterday, saying the opposition would push through the current political upheaval and contest next year’s critical national election, setting straight conflicting statements coming from various party officials. ...
Niem Chheng, Ananth Baliga and Ben Sokhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp-unifies-message-2018
Rainsy announces plan to create overseas NGO
Former opposition leader Sam Rainsy announced yesterday that he plans to create a France-based NGO called the Association for Democracy in Cambodia, though he declined to give a detailed account of the structure and goals of the organisation. ...
Andrew Nachemson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rainsy-announces-plan-create-overseas-ngo
New cement plants to max out production capacity
Two large cement plants are expected to begin operations by the end of the year, according to a state official, who said the Kingdom has reached its limit for domestic cement production and the government will stop issuing new licences in order to protect dwindling ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/new-cement-plants-max-out-production-capacity
US envoy calls government claims ‘absurd’
United States Ambassador William Heidt yesterday said allegations of US interference in Cambodia’s internal affairs were “absurd” and made without a “shred of serious or credible evidence”, but stopped short of speculating on any potential repercussions from the superpower. ...
Ananth Baliga and Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/us-envoy-calls-government-claims-absurd
Cambodia has sole objective for US
Cambodia intends to submit a petition to the United States government to extend the duty-free privileges of its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) scheme to include footwear, giving local manufacturers a competitive advantage in the world’s biggest consumer market. But hopes are dimming as the ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cambodia-has-sole-objective-us
Fresh sand ‘fraud’, claims NGO Mother Nature, as sand numbers between Taiwan and the government appear to be off by more than 1.5M tonnes
More than $30 million in Cambodian sand exports registered by Taiwan appear to be missing from Cambodia’s customs records, according to data from both governments, marking yet another large-scale discrepancy in the Kingdom’s figures on the trade. ...
Phak Seangly and Shaun Turton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/fresh-sand-fraud-claims-ngo-mother-nature-sand-numbers-between-taiwan-and-government-appear
Sok Touch spins ‘revolt’ theory
University researcher Sok Touch yesterday took the government’s oft-used “colour revolution” narrative one step further by characterising practically every major political development since the 2013 post-election protests as part of one concerted attempt to foment insurrection in the Kingdom. ...
Ananth Baliga and Ben Sokhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sok-touch-spins-revolt-theory
Hello, deer
Four endangered hog deer, once thought to be extinct in Cambodia, were caught on camera in Kratie province for the first time in a decade, according to the World Wildlife Fund. ...
Andrew Nachemson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hello-deer
Cambodia lags Asean peers in eliminating tariffs
More than 96 percent of tariffs in Asean have been eliminated, but certain parts of the 10-nation economic bloc including Cambodia lag behind others in full implementation of the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement (Atiga), the Ministry of Commerce said in a Facebook post yesterday. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cambodia-lags-asean-peers-eliminating-tariffs
UN urges government to protect rights
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights yesterday urged the Cambodian government to guarantee all political and civil rights ahead of next year’s election, while the government’s Human Rights Committee dismissed allegations of wrongdoing. ...
Leonie Kijewski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/un-urges-government-protect-rights