News
Minister says floods affect 90,303 families
Flooding has affected 90,303 families and flooded 83,007 houses nationwide, while 13,402 families have been evacuated so far from inundated areas, Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said Monday. Citing data from the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), Mr Kanharith also said in a posting to ...
As pig imports grow, price of pork drops
A rise in pig imports from Thailand and Vietnam has driven down pork prices by as much as 33 percent in the past month, leaving farmers here worried that an oversupply in the market will cut into profits. Prathna Preap, a swine market expert at USAID, ...
Economists contest Moody's downgrades
In the past month, ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded its outlook for two of Cambodia’s largest commercial banks. On September 2, Acleda Bank’s performance outlook went from “stable” to “negative” due to risks associated with rapid credit growth and a drain on local currency by depositors. ...
Visitors to Cambodia up 14.1% through July
The number of foreign visitors arriving in Cambodia jumped 14.1 percent to about 16.2 million in the first seven months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to data released Friday by the Tourism Ministry. Vietnam accounted for the largest number of ...
Court sentences recruitment agency manager
Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday sentenced the manager of job recruitment agency VC Manpower to 13 months in prison for ilegally detaining underage recruits at a Phnom Penh training center, while the firm’s foreign director was convicted in absentia to eight years’ imprisonment General Manager ...
Emergency cabinet meeting called over floods
An emergency cabinet meeting has been called for today to discuss disaster response and prevention in the face of severe flooding that has hit many parts of the country. More than 132,000 hectares of rice paddy field have been inundated with water since flooding began earlier ...
Boosting of resin production a way to increase rural incomes
Environmental groups that gathered at the Himawari Hotel in Phnom Penh on Friday said that tens of thousands of rural Cambodians could benefit from the development of the country’s resin industry. At a conference held by the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Program for South and Southeast ...
Relocation, cash offered to make way for bridge
More than 144 families threatened with eviction from Daun Penh district’s Srah Chak commune to make way for a new $27.5 million Chinese-Cambodian Friendship Bridge attended a meeting on Friday to discuss an offer of relocation and compensation, an official said The meeting with Deputy District ...
Flooding has killed 62, displaced thousands
Continuing flooding along the Mekong River and around the Tonle Sap lake is taking a severe toll on local communities, government officials said Friday, as they released preliminary figures showing that 62 people had been killed in the floods, 5,000 families had been displaced, and ...
Calls for Kingdom to join transparency group
A new US commitment to oil and mining transparency may push the Kingdom closer to a similar agreement, Cambodian experts have said. US President Barack Obama announced earlier this week that the US would join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative as an implementing country, according to ...
Port sees revenue increase this year
Sihanoukville Autonomous Port revenues increased more than 16 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of 2011, according to port officials. Cambodia’s largest port generated US$21 million in revenues between January and August, up from $18 million in the same period last year, SAP Director General ...
Oil-claims talks 'highly likely'
Thailand is reportedly preparing to re-enter negotiations with Cambodia on the Overlapping Claims Area after officials from the two countries talked this week at the ASEAN Energy Business Forum in Brunei. Thai Energy Minister Pichai Naripthaphan said yesterday that he met informally with Ministry of Industry ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011092351817/Business/oil-claims-talks-highly-likely.html
Union members 'dismissed'
A garment factory hit by two mass fainting incidents last month has been accused of trying to get rid of workers who subsequently joined the Free Trade Union to push for better working conditions at the facility in Kampong Chhnang province. Free Trade Union President Chea ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011092351820/National-news/union-members-dismissed.html
Residents concerned over low land price
At least 22 families living in the capital’s Chamkarmon district say they are being forced to sell their land at below market value to Thailand’s Bun Roong Company in order to make way for a housing development. Village representative Chhim Veasna said on Wednesday that the ...
Victim of police beating files court complaint
An opposition Sam Rainsy Party activist who was badly beaten on September 16 by riot police during a protest against the demolition of homes at Boeng Kak lake filed a complaint yesterday with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court against developer Shukaku Inc and the officers ...
ADB can't confirm authenticity of letter
The Asian Development Bank yesterday said it had never authenticated a June 17 letter from Finance Minister Keat Chhon that claimed an ADB consultant urged the government to target advocacy groups critical of an ADB-funded railway project. In a copy of the letter obtained earlier this ...
Revenues from trade inspection climbing
Camcontrol Directorate General revenue from goods inspections during the first half of the year increased by more than 32 percent compared to the same period last year, according to Ministry of Commerce data. Camcontrol, or the Cambodia Import-Export Inspection and Fraud Repression Directorate General, which regulates ...
Sickles brought to protest
Armed villagers from Kratie province’s Snoul district protested yesterday against district officials and a Vietnamese company they believe wants to cheat them out of their farmland. The rights to 300 hectares of land around Sre Cha commune’s Meanchey village have been highly disputed since 2008, when ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011092251800/National-news/sickles-brought-to-protest.html
World Bank highlights wage gains
The wages and working conditions of garment factory workers in Cambodia are at or above the national average, a report from the World Bank has found The minimum wage for garment workers in Cambodia rose to US$61 for regular workers in June 2010 and in March ...
Fainting factory goes on sick-leave strike
More than 100 workers at a garment factory hit by a mass fainting incident in late July went on strike yesterday to demand the dismissal of a supervisor they accused of denying them the right to take sick leave. The strike at Hung Wah (Cambodia) Garment ...
500 hectares of sanctuary granted to rubber company
Five hundred hectares of Mondolkiri land inside a protected wildlife sanctuary have been granted to a rubber company, sparking concerns among indigenous minorities who rely on the forest. According to a sub-decree dated August 31 and signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen, the government approved an ...
Evictees urge ministry to take action
Eight families whose homes were demolished at Boeng Kak lake last week have called on the Ministry of Interior to take action against the private construction firm – Shukaku Inc, owned by ruling party senator Lao Meng Khin – and district officials who ordered the ...
IMF says GDP will grow to 6.7 percent this year
The International Monetary Fund yesterday estimated that economic growth in Cambodia would reach 6.7 percent this year, though it warned that a slowdown in the US and Europe could lead to a dip in the economy. In its world economic outlook, the IMF also predicted that ...
Bank unaffected by partner's suspension
The senior manager of Tomato Specialized Bank yesterday said the bank would continue to operate in Cambodia despite a decision by South Korea’s financial regulator to suspend one of its partners. Korea’s Financial Services Commission on Sunday announced that seven banks, including the Tomato Savings Bank, ...