Government

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is being pressed to ensure that democratic reforms and human rights are at the top of the agenda when he meets here Tuesday with Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, leader of the ruling Cambodia People’s Party (CPP). ...

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng has sent a new set of procedures to local authorities aimed at speeding up the sluggish process of issuing new IDs. ...

The Interior Ministry has warned 140 of its employees to stop skipping work or risk being fired. It is one of the first government ministries to penalize “ghost workers” – the thousands of bureaucrats, police officers, and other civil servants who are on the government ...

The Ministry of Labour on Saturday issued a 12-point set of standards for recruitment agencies sending workers abroad, warning operators they have just over a month to comply. ...

Driver’s licence and vehicle inspection fees have been cut nearly in half, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation announced late last week. ...

Ahead of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s planned visit to Cambodia this week, local and international NGOs have urged Mr. Kerry not to sign any new bilateral agreements unless Cambodia vows to improve its human rights and democracy efforts. ...

The number of ships coming through the port rose 17 percent year to year, and cruise ships rose from 25 to 36. ...

Cambodia must tackle the skills gap to boost the productivity of its labor force in order to grow its economy, according to the latest report. ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy generated a four-fold increase in non-tax revenues from extractive industries last year, collecting just over $17 million, a ministry official said yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation in an announcement yesterday warned that action would be taken against those who illegally construct on the shoulders of, or fill in canals along, National Road 4 between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. ...

The U.S. and Cambodia have so far forged a good relationship, but there is room for improvement, a Cambodian lawmaker said Wednesday. Hun Many, who spoke at the U.S.-Korean Institute under Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies, said Cambodia needs more friends than ...

The National Election Committee (NEC) is confronting challenges this week regarding new voter registration, paying particularly close attention to problems arising from the dissemination of new voter ID cards and allowing better access to monks who wish to obtain them. ...

A trade facilitation manual aimed at increasing the size of Cambodia’s seafood products will be ready by April and looks to help producers and exporters improve their export readiness and take advantage of ASEAN integration. ...

About 300 vendors from the Tumnup market in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district protested in front of the municipal court on Wednesday to demand that two of their colleagues who were arrested amid a dispute over market fees be released. ...

The Ministry of Rural Development, UNICEF and NGO Plan International Cambodia on Monday launched a new project to improve access to sanitation for 2,000 families in Ratanakkiri province. ...

As Cambodia prepares for an official visit from US Secretary of State John Kerry next week, the country’s US ambassador says it would consider joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership. ...

The government cancelled two concessions for offshore oil – Block B and Block F – held by two foreign companies last year because they failed to comply with the terms of their agreements, senior officials from Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) told Khmer Times ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday announced the creation of a committee tasked with putting an end to the rampant illegal logging and cross-border timber smug­­gling taking place in the country’s northeast.   លោកនាយករដ្ឋម ន្រ្តីហ៊ុនសែន នៅថ្ងៃសុក្រនេះ បានប្រកាស ការបង្កើតនៃ គណៈកម្មាធិ ការបញ្ចប់ ការកាប់ឈើខុសច្បាប់ ទោរទន់ រត់ពន្ធ និងជាកន្លែង ទទួលយក ឈើ ...

In an effort to standardise wedding rituals, Cambodia’s achars, or laymen who carry out Buddhist rites of passage, have been invited to a 10-day training course next month in the capital, the Ministry of Cults and Religion announced last week. ...

Cambodia signed an agreement with Vietnam and Laos during a meeting on Thursday to enhance efforts to fight human trafficking—with Vietnam reporting at the meeting that police discovered nearly 90 human trafficking rings along its border with Cambodia last year. ...

Cambodia has been invited to join the Washington-brokered Transpacific Trade Partnership (TPP), which has been described as a deal that will create the largest free-trade zone in the world if it is implemented, a senior official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance said. ...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will pay an official visit to Cambodia later this month to boost bilateral ties, Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday.   ...

The government has announced several amendments to the troubled Traffic Law which, according to National Police spokesman Kirt Chantharith, will be fully enforced starting March 15. ...

The National Assembly on Thursday passed an accounting and auditing law that aims to bring financial reporting procedures for the government, NGOs and the private sector in line with international standards. ...