Ministries and other national bodies

Cambodia has rejected a U.S.- based Human Rights Watch’s “labor abuse” report, saying the report is groundless, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Labor late on Friday. ...

A representative of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cabinet yesterday advised 163 families involved in a 6-year land dispute with a businesswoman in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district to seek the Justice Ministry’s expertise after the Agriculture Ministry said on Wednesday it had swapped the contested ...

In 2001, Australia’s then-Conservative government first introduced its “Pacific Solution” as a way of stopping an influx of asylum seekers attempting to reach its shores by boat—and as a way of winning votes during an election defined by wedge politics. ...

The impending visit of First Lady Michelle Obama to Cambodia will serve as an opportunity for people and officials to revisit their attitude towards girls’ education, a lawmaker says. ...

Keo Chkriya was pregnant when she was sentenced to prison, on charges of drug distribution. By the time she left, she had been caring for her son in a cell for nearly two years. ...

Feasibility studies on achieving Geographical Indication status for Thma Koul rice, Kampot durian and Cambodian golden silk have been completed, officials said yesterday. Ouk Prachea, secretary of state at the Ministry of Commerce, said the ministry was waiting for the results of the studies done by ...

An eight-member troupe of China’s Fujian puppetry practitioners performed the show here on Wednesday. Held at the Chinese Cultural Mansion in Cambodia, the show drew dozens of viewers, including Cambodian Culture and Fine Arts Secretary of State Samraing Kamsan, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Bu Jianguo and ...

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong met with Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton on Thursday to further discuss a refugee resettlement plan following an agreement struck by the two countries in September. ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy is in the early stages of developing a national oil company, a ministry spokesman said Wednesday. Meng Saktheara, who is also a secretary of state, said his ministry had been working with the Finance Ministry to assess the risks of ...

With thousands of fans expected to fill the stands at Phnom Penh’s Old Stadium Thursday afternoon to watch Cambodia kick off its improbable bid to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in a match against Macau, coach Lee Tae-hoon isn’t sure his side is ready. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday began questioning members of a suspected drug smuggling ring who are accused of trafficking crystal methamphetamine into the country from Laos, according to a police official. ...

High school and university students, considered particularly at risk of road accidents, may soon be taking lessons on the new traffic law if a proposal from the Transport Ministry comes to fruition. Tram Iv Tek, minister of public works and transport, yesterday said that the government ...

The Kingdom’s telecom regulator announced this week that it would transfer telco operator revenues it traditionally receives to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications as part of government reforms on revenue collection. ...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries yesterday cancelled an import permit for a Cambodian company after it came to light that “natural fertilizer” it had ordered from Ukraine was composed largely of cigarette butts, a ministry statement said. ...

The first Singapore patent has been granted protection and recognised in Cambodia, less than two months after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and Cambodia’s Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts (MIH). ...

Police arrested four men in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district on Sunday on suspicion of smuggling drugs from Laos, confiscating more than half a kilogram of crystal methamphetamine in the bust, officials said Monday. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen last week issued a directive ordering all government bodies to hold off on new hires for the rest of the year except to fill existing positions being vacated, in an apparent bid to keep spending in line with the current state ...

The Ministry of Environment is set to join the Ministry of Labour in the monitoring of garment factory workplaces, after creating a working group that will probe the environmental safety of all plants in Cambodia. At a press conference at the ministry yesterday, Minister of Environment ...

The National Assembly’s Seventh Commission, which oversees tourism and culture, summoned four government ministers to answer questions yesterday regarding the development and future of Kampot province’s Bokor Mountain. ...

A four-story crack in the south-facing side of Phnom Penh’s aging “White Building”—which first appeared in early February as a pile driver broke up earth inside an adjacent construction site—widened over the weekend, shortly after a meeting between worried tenants and the firms behind a ...

Environment Minister Say Sam Al on Monday said that more than 9,000 hectares granted to companies as economic land concessions (ELCs) were recently taken back from the owners because local villagers had been farming the land first, and announced that 14 companies had been put ...

In the coming weeks, a task force composed of officials from the ministries of tourism, religion, culture and education will lead an expedition to a remote patch of forest on Kampot province’s Bokor Mountain where Vietnamese tourists pray, the education minister said Monday. ...

Due to a lack of funding, the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts has delayed publishing guidelines that are meant to increase clarity on inspection procedures for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). ...

The Transport Ministry is speeding up work on a joint plan for bus services that would link the far South and Malaysia to meet the needs of commuters between the two countries. Thailand also plans to hold talks with Cambodian authorities this month over increasing ...