The Phnom Penh Post

The World Wildlife Fund, in cooperation with Mondulkiri government officials, announced a new land-management initiative yesterday aimed at balancing environmental protection with economic development. ...

Communities in Preah Vihear’s Choam Ksan district have alleged that soldiers are involved in the transportation of illegal timber in the protected forests of Kulen Prum Tep Wildlife Sanctuary, an allegation denied yesterday by a local military official. ...

Speakers at a government forum held yesterday on macroeconomic management and the 2017 budget law said Cambodia’s strong economic growth has been largely unscathed by China’s slowdown, though clouds were forming on the horizon. ...

A new study examining the development of health care in post-conflict societies suggests that the influx of NGOs in Cambodia may have weakened the government health sector. ...

Cambodia has become the first Asian country to sign on to the Sustainable Development Investment Partnership (SDIP), a global initiative that aims to unlock the funding of infrastructure projects through public-private sector partnerships. ...

Six months since the central bank launched its FAST payment system, a new scheme to provide instant riel-denominated fund transfers between financial institutions and their clients, the bank recorded a total fund transfer of 10 billion riel ($2.5 million) as of end-2016. ...

A Chinese firm and its local partner have floated a proposal for a $100 million aquaculture project in Cambodia that would include fish farms, a feed mill and a fish processing plant. ...

With the start of the dry harvest season for cassava kicking off, farmers are calling for the government to support the struggling sector with initiatives to address recurring capital shortages and market volatility. ...

Cambodia’s nascent information technology (IT) sector faces an enormous skills gap that is slowing the industry’s development, increasing costs for businesses and affecting the competitiveness of firms in the Kingdom, according to a report released yesterday. ...

Repairs to the Cambodian-Japanese Friendship Bridge, which a City Hall official had said would begin this month, will instead get underway in May, according to representatives from Japan, which is funding the work. ...

Government revenue collected on property transfers and construction services dropped off by 25 percent last year, reflecting a slowdown of the Kingdom’s construction sector despite a surge in the reported value of investment in real estate development projects, according to analysts. ...

Cambodia could reduce its projected carbon emissions by 57 percent over the next 30 years without taking a financial hit if it implements low-carbon development policies in five key sectors, according to a new report in the journal Energy Policy. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen attended a dinner with Swiss company executives in Zurich on Monday, where he invited investors to join the upcoming ASEAN World Economic Forum (WEF), which Cambodia will host for the first time in May. ...

Banking pioneer Pung Kheav Se was appointed yesterday as president of the Association of Khmer-Chinese in Cambodia, succeeding Duong Chhiv, who retired after holding the post for 16 years. ...

Vietnam inked a deal with Cambodia on Friday to provide more than half a million dollars’ worth of training in encryption coding, prompting some to question the wisdom of accepting foreign help to protect state secrets. ...

Forestry officials in Stung Treng province arrested two people and confiscated three SUVs loaded with timber on Saturday night during a raid in Siem Pang district. ...

Minister of Foreign Affairs Prak Sokhonn said yesterday that casualties from landmines plummeted to a record low last year, while praising the ongoing work of Cambodian soldiers who take their demining skills abroad.​ ...

Representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam gathered in Vientiane on Thursday to launch a six-month consultation process on what would be the third mainstream hydropower dam in Laos’s Lower Mekong River.   ...

Efforts to introduce an effective, modern taxation system appear to be paying off as government coffers swelled last year, giving the state more revenue to use for development at a time when donor aid is drying up. ...

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) released its review of 2016 and outlook for 2017 this week, highlighting the continued large growth of the banking sector while warning that the Kingdom was still vulnerable to external economic factors. ...

An activist in Stung Treng province has been hauled before commune authorities, threatened with a defamation suit and allegedly warned he could be beaten to death for exposing land clearing in his native Thala Borivat district. ...

Despite global uncertainty related to political shifts in the West and a continued Chinese economic slowdown, Cambodia showed strong growth prospects for the next several years, according to the World Bank’s latest report. ...

A joint venture between South Korean and Cambodian investors is planning to establish an industrial park on approximately 100 hectares in Kampong Chhnang province with an on-site solar farm to provide cheap electricity for its tenants. ...

Cambodia’s beleaguered rubber industry looks set for a turnaround as international rubber prices continue their strong rebound. Local traders and industry officials said yesterday they were optimistic that rubber prices, which doubled during the course of 2016, would continue to rise as the global economy ...