Government
Comfrel denies links to anti-government plot
The Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia has denied accusations that its election activities were connected to attempts to foment a popular uprising or “colour revolution”. ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5088192/comfrel-denies-links-anti-government-plot/
Government proposes $6B budget for 2018
The Council of Ministers on Friday approved a national budget for next year that calls for more than $6 billion in spending, the largest increase ever proposed for the Kingdom, with big boosts for education, defence and the arts. ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-proposes-6b-budget-2018
Japan gives $3.2 million for school breakfasts
The Japanese government on Friday granted $3.2 million to Cambodia through the World Food Programme to provide meals to students in vulnerable communities. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5088219/japan-gives-3-2-million-school-breakfasts/
Minister lays out Sihanoukville tourism plans
The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has announced plans to strengthen the image of Sihanoukville’s coast as a tourism destination, with authorities expecting the province to surpass the two-million mark in tourist arrivals in 2017. ...
Sum Manet
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5088047/minister-lays-sihanoukville-tourism-plans/
High feed costs driving people away from snakehead farming
One year after lifting a decade-old ban on snakehead fish farming, the number of aquatic farms growing the fish remains surprisingly low, with the high cost of feeding them driving many away from what could otherwise be a very lucrative business. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5088049/high-feed-costs-driving-people-away-snakehead-farming/
Japan promises to support 2018 polls
Japan has pledged to continue providing aid to Cambodia, including support to prepare for the general election next year. Foreign Affairs Minister Prak Sokhonn yesterday met with Iwao Horii, the Japanese vice-minister of foreign affairs. ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5088011/japan-promises-support-2018-polls/
Employers under disabled job scrutiny
Employers – public and private – which do not meet their obligations to take on disabled people are to face cash penalties, the Social Affairs Ministry says. Ministry secretary of state Sem Sokha said yesterday that for the first time the government had prepared guidance on ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087987/employers-disabled-job-scrutiny/
Forest clearing ‘rampant’ in Prey Lang
Illegal logging within the Prey Lang protected forest decreased significantly year-on-year over a six-month period ending in February, collected data show, though forest-clearing in the area remains rampant. ...
Phak Seangly and Leonie Kijewski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/forest-clearing-rampant-prey-lang
Government may approve $5.86b for next year’s budget
The cabinet will hold a debate on Friday and is expected to approve the 2018 budget of $5.86 billion, an increase of 16.2 percent from last year’s $5.04 billion, according to a government document seen by Khmer Times yesterday. ...
Khmer Times staff
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087902/government-may-approve-5-86b-next-years-budget/
PM calls CNRP a ‘terrorist network’
Prime Minister Hun Sen branded the opposition party a “terrorist network” yesterday, while vowing to “cut the arms and legs” of the alleged operation and its purported attempt at “colour revolution” after the disputed 2013 national election. ...
Ben Sokhean and Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-calls-cnrp-terrorist-network
King signs off on amended election laws allowing CNRP seat redistribution
King Norodom Sihamoni signed off on four sets of controversial amendments to Cambodia’s electoral laws yesterday, officially approving provisions that will allow the opposition CNRP’s seats to be redistributed in the event of its dissolution. ...
Mech Dara and Andrew Nachemson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/king-signs-amended-election-laws-allowing-cnrp-seat-redistribution
Money laundering fight stepped up
The Anti-Corruption Unit is to launch a 15-month campaign against money laundering to keep Cambodia off an international blacklist. The ACU held a workshop yesterday on ways to fight money laundering with 48 of its own officials, along with police and court officials. ...
Sen David
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087807/money-laundering-fight-stepped/
Japan to open elder care training centre
A new centre will launch in April 2018 to train Cambodian migrant workers to work with elderly people in Japan. On Tuesday, Minister of Labour Ith Samheng said the Japanese company Procast Asia would establish the centre. ...
Sen David
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087827/japan-open-elder-care-training-centre/
New MoU with Korea for tech centre
The Ministry of Industry and Handicraft will cooperate with two South Korean high-tech companies to establish a technology centre with the aim of facilitating the exchange of information on the development of optic cable technology. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087660/new-mou-korea-tech-centre/
PM sues Lay Sreng for ‘defamation’ over phone call comments
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s lawyer yesterday filed a lawsuit against former Deputy Prime Minister Lu Lay Sreng for defamation over comments made during a private phone conversation leaked to social media. ...
Niem Chheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-sues-lay-sreng-defamation-over-phone-call-comments
US Senator Ted Cruz warns Hun Sen of bans over Sokha arrest
United States Senator Ted Cruz issued an ultimatum to Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday, pledging to work to ban top officials from travelling to the US unless jailed opposition leader Kem Sokha is released. ...
Daphne Chen
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/us-senator-ted-cruz-warns-hun-sen-bans-over-sokha-arrest
Loaded with lizards
Military Police officials apprehended two suspects in Takeo province’s Angkor Borei district on Monday for attempting to transport around 1 tonne of wildlife, including turtles, birds and rare snakes, to Vietnam. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/loaded-lizards
Yuan use gains traction as trade link with China grows
With trade and investment between Cambodia and China steadily increasing, Chinese currency-backed settlements for cross-border commerce have sharply taken off as the Kingdom continues to deepen its economic dependency on the northern giant, a central bank official said yesterday. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/yuan-use-gains-traction-trade-link-china-grows
Government ups plot accusations with new video linking CNRP and US groups to ‘colour revolutions’
In the latest attempt to push its narrative of an impending “colour revolution”, the Press and Quick Reaction Unit released a sweeping, nearly hourlong video, broadcast on multiple television stations on Monday night, attempting to link the opposition’s activities to protest movements in the Middle ...
Mech Dara and Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-ups-plot-accusations-new-video-linking-cnrp-and-us-groups-colour-revolutions
Tea Banh defends recent crackdown
Defence Minister General Tea Banh yesterday told Asean member states and eight other countries how the recent government crackdown on media outlets and NGOs was legal and justified. ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087602/tea-banh-defends-recent-crackdown/
Six sanctuaries proposed
The Environment Ministry is to request the creation of six new protected areas to safeguard biodiversity and boost conservation in the country. Tim Sitha, deputy director of the general department of conservation, said the ministry has been studying the potential to establish the new areas. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087603/six-sanctuaries-proposed/
Firms lose land rights
The government had reclassified four economic land concessions as state property, reclaiming almost 20,000 hectares earlier handed to private firms to use for rubber plantations. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087586/firms-lose-land-rights/
Council greenlights controversial election laws changes
The Constitutional Council yesterday approved four sets of controversial amendments to Cambodia’s election laws, greenlighting changes that will pave the way for the main opposition party’s parliamentary seats to be redistributed in the event of its dissolution. ...
Mech Dara and Andrew Nachemson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/council-greenlights-controversial-election-laws-changes
NBC tests mechanism to link Kingdom’s major banks
The central bank officially held a soft launch last Friday for its central shared switch mechanism, which connects account records of three of the Kingdom’s leading financial institutions, allowing them to operate ATM and point-of-sale (POS) terminals in tandem. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/nbc-tests-mechanism-link-kingdoms-major-banks