News

China’s dam building spree on the upper Mekong River raises new tensions over water resources Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang obviously had China in mind when he warned recently that tensions over water resources are not only threatening economic growth but presenting a source of conflict Cambodia, ...

Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade will lead a delegation on Monday to Cambodia and Thailand to discuss strengthening trade and investment ties with these countries. The delegation also included officials and representatives from national institutions and companies. ...

The nation is awash with SIM cards, and that is indicative of an industry that, as most observers see it, is simply overcrowded. But [mobile phone] operators, despite their special promotions and a young population in love with phones, are finding themselves squeezed as margins ...

Poor education and a lack of skills are still major challenges for Cambodian women and a recent meeting in Phnom Penh with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the United Nations Development Program set out to validate an action plan on women’s economic empowerment that ...

A total of 11 people have now died due to flooding in the country since mid-September, while the worst affected area, Banteay Meanchey province, continued to suffer amid torrential rain on Thursday night, government officials said on Friday. ...

The long-term impact of 6 tons of toxic chemicals that spilled into a stream in Kompong Chhnang province on Tuesday, killing several hundred kilograms of fish, is still unclear, the provincial department of environment said on Friday. The chemicals, identified as the cleaning agents Ridoline 560, ...

Resources to feed and educate a child, access to shelter and a life free of abuse arc fundamental rights, yet each day millions of Cambodians struggle to meet their basic needs alone. With more than 30% of the population living below the national poverty line of ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday ordered investors in economic land concessions (ELC) to pay tax from the sixth year of their investment in a bid to speed up their agricultural production. The premier decided that investment companies receiving ELCs must pay the land tax ...

The executive committee of the Alliance of Rice Producers and Exporters of Cambodia, ARPEC, decided earlier this month to set up a commercial arm to help members get financing for a variety of rice-related activities. According to ARPEC secretary-general Hun Lak and deputy secretary-general David Van, ...

Vespa, the iconic Italian scooter, is now officially available for purchase in Cambodia-again. Italy-based automobile company Piaggio, in cooperation with the local Narita Group, opened the doors yesterday to the country’s first licensed Vespa dealership. The new Vespas range in price from $2,950 for the ...

In May, the first group of vegetable producers in Cambodia was certified on the basis of COrAA’s “Standards for Chemical-free Crop Production”. The 72 farmers, belonging to the Women Chemical-free vegetable-producing group of the Vegetable Supply Co-operative in Svay Rieng, have been producing healthy vegetables for ...

Several ASEAN countries, including Cambodia, have witnessed a growing demand for organic rice that local producers cannot satisfy, according to Winfried Scheewe, adviser to the Cambodian Organic Agriculture Association (COrAA). Scheewe says demand for organic rice is on the rise, especially in the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, but also ...

A Ministry of Tourism official said they would finalize an inter-ministerial prakas before the end of this year to enhance tourists’ safety, as previous fatal accidents have led to concerns in the tourism sector. Tith Chantha, general director of tourism at the Ministry of Tourism, said task force officials, affiliated with Tourism ...

More than half of Cambodians living in rural areas still do not have access to treated water, about 200 people heard yesterday at a forum at the Phnom Penh Hotel. The event was sponsored by WaterSHED, an NGO funded by USAID’s Regional Development Mission-Asia and the Stone Family Foundation. According ...

Tiger Airways’ first flight from Singapore to Cambodia is scheduled to land at Phnom Penh International Airport on Monday morning, making it the latest airline to offer direct flights to the country. Deborah Yeo, a public relations consultant for Tiger Airways, said that beginning Monday, the ...

Kampong Chhnang villagers who have been hit with a new lawsuit over property that they and the wife of a senior government official both claim said yesterday that coming to court would be impossible, as they did not have a defense lawyer and needed time to locate ...

The Ambassador of African country Kenya, Richard Titus Ekai, told Deputy Prime Minister Sok An on Wednesday that he would like to see direct flights between Phnom Penh and Nairobi. Sok An met Kenyan Ambassador Ekai at his office to discuss the initiative regarding direct flights ...

The Kandal Provincial Court yesterday questioned labor leader Rong Chhun over allegations he incited garment factory workers to stage an illegal strike, a court official said. A director at the Tai Yang garment factory in Ang Snuol district- which supplies apparel to U.S. brands Levi Strauss, ...

An estimated 100 kg of fish were killed and about 1,000 villagers were told not to drink from a stream that was contaminated with 6 tons of an unknown chemical substance in Kompong Chhnang province on Tuesday night, police said. A truck carrying 22 containers of ...

The president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions Rong Chhun appeared in Kandal Provincial Court for nearly three hours yesterday, fielding questions stemming from accusations of incitement and defamation, the union boss said. According to Chhun, his appearance was related to a complaint alleging that he had incited ...

Land conflicts, discrimination, corruption and inequality dominated discussions between citizens and lawmakers at forums across the country this year, according to the U.S.-based organization the National Democratic Institute (NDI). In its annual report, obtained yesterday, the NDI noted “significant consistencies in the concerns facing Cambodians across ...

The new list of reforms approved by the government at a high-level meeting with its foreign donors on Wednesday offer a mixed bag of targets, with some sectors, such as education, given more ambitious goals than before, while others had their ambitions scaled back and old goals ...

It has been more than two years since the Cambodian government issued a rice export policy in June 2010, aiming to export a million tonnes of milled rice by 2015. However, a shortage of capital to buy unmilled rice, known as “paddy”, together with high ...

Newly-appointed Asian Development Bank’s director for Cambodia Eric Sidgwick said Wednesday that promoting inclusive and environmentally sustainable growth that will help improve the quality of life of Cambodians, especially those who are most vulnerable, are his key focus areas. “This is an exciting time to be ...