Government

The Kingdom’s total exports to Japan, one of the world’s largest economies, sharply increased in the first nine months of the year, a result of Cambodia’s effort to diversify export markets and preferential trade treatment from Japan. ...

The Ministry of Land Management is to create a committee to plan and review development of Phnom Penh’s iconic White Building. Meanwhile, the sale or transfer of ownership of the building has been blocked temporarily for the committee to collect details of the people living there. ...

The United Kingdom’s bilateral trade dealing with Cambodia will remain unchanged in light of ongoing negotiations on the UK’s position within the European Union, a senior British trade official said yesterday. ...

Cambodian ministries are currently facing a $620 million funding shortfall if they are to implement their climate change adaption action plans by 2018, according to figures announced by NGO Forum at a press conference yesterday. ...

Voter registration has fallen far behind schedule over the past two weeks, with enrolment dropping to just 30,000 a day from a target of 100,000, according to official figures, leaving more than 2 million Cambodians at risk of not registering to vote in time. ...

US presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are now on barnstorming tours across the country, making their final appeals to swing voters ahead of next Tuesday’s election. Democratic candidate Ms. Clinton has received an overwhelming number of endorsements from a variety of places, including French ...

Last month’s purchase by Singapore-listed KrisEnergy of a 42.75 percent working interest in the Block A offshore energy concession made them a majority owner in the project, with an overwhelming control of 95 percent of the stakes. This acquisition is expected to accelerate the development ...

A new customs and immigration terminal is planned at the Poipet International Border Gate in Banteay Meanchey province, on the Cambodian side of the common border with Thailand, to cater to an expected increase of foreign tourists when the railway linking both countries is completed ...

The ban on surrogate pregnancies announced by the health minister on Monday will remain in place until the government drafts a law protecting Cambodian women giving birth to the children of other parents, an official said on Thursday. ...

Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction is preparing to host a construction seminar next week that will discuss the criteria for issuing building permits and also tackle problems related to construction site management. ...

Reduced fees for the loading of containers of milled rice for export, fixed for the next two years, came into effect on Tuesday as part of government efforts to boost the rice sector’s global competitiveness. According to a letter signed by Economy Minister Aun Pornmoniroth, dated ...

The government announced yesterday that it will hold its first public auction for 4G spectrum frequencies, with two licences up for bid on frequencies reassigned after their original licence-holders failed to utilise them. ...

Illegal sand dredging has been eradicated from Cambodia, but reforms are still needed, the Ministry of Mines and Energy said on Wednesday, facing mounting blowback over sand export records that differ by tens of millions of cubic meters from those kept by the U.N. ...

Several of the opposition-led commissions in the National Assembly have plans to summon three ministers to clarify several ongoing issues, including the sand exports to Singapore and the murder of political analyst Kem Ley. During a Tuesday evening press conference at the Cambodia National Rescue Party ...

The health minister has banned surrogate pregnancy arrangements in the country, putting the brakes on what appeared to be a quickly expanding—if controversial—industry. The move comes just days after the justice minister called for the practice to be outlawed. ...

Both Cambodia and Thailand agreed on Tuesday to adopt an approach of nonviolence when dealing with those found illegally crossing the border after a meeting between the two nations’ border authorities. ...

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been asked to investigate cases of mistreatment of Cambodian migrant workers imprisoned in foreign jails, the Foreign Ministry announced this week. ...

Extolling forecasts that Cambodia’s economy will maintain its 7 percent growth rate this year, Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday reiterated a past prediction that the country would reach upper-middle income status by 2030 and become a high-income country in 2050 – though one expert said ...

Agriculture officials and struggling smallholder tobacco farmers are cautiously hopeful that tariff exemptions granted under a new trade agreement with Vietnam will lift sagging demand for their crops. ...

Cambodia is overcoming “ineffective practices” and should not be held to the standards of developed countries, a Commerce Ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday amid renewed calls for the government to investigate over $400 million in unrecorded sand exports to Singapore. ...

Four Cambodian products – Kampot salt, Phnom Srok silk of Banteay Meanchey province, fragrant milled rice from Battambang province and Kampot durian – could be given geographical indication (GI) status by the European Union (EU), said a senior official from the Ministry of Commerce and ...

The first ever smartphone tax app is set to be launched next year in an effort to make tax payments by companies more transparent. The app developed by the General Department of Taxation (GDT) of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, is a platform for individuals ...

As part of ongoing government efforts to modernize and streamline the country’s tax system, 43 tax agent licenses were awarded yesterday. The 43 companies are now legally recognized as offering tax declaration services to the public and private sectors. Eighteen had previously been doing this work ...

American-owned dairy farm Moo Moo Farms is looking to markedly increase production of its raw – unpasteurized – milk and increase its current herd of 25 cows. The farm, located in Kandal province, began operations earlier this year. According to a statement from the Ministry of ...