News
Rice Exports Slow Due to Millers Hoarding
Cambodia exported more than 200,000 tons of milled rice in 2012, the greatest yield on record, though well short of the government target to export 1 million tons by 2015. Speaking at the Ministry of Agriculture’s annual meeting in Phnom Penh, Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said ...
Japanese firms seek business options in Cambodia
Representatives of a dozen large Japanese companies arrived in Phnom Penh on Tuesday looking for business opportunities in the kingdom. Hidetoshi Nishimura, executive director of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, led the delegation, whose members represent firms in industries such as technology, ...
Hun Sen Announces New Tax on Agricultural Land
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday announced that the government would begin levying a tax on agricultural land transfers that are valued at more than $25,000. “The government has decide to tax 4 percent on land that cost more than 100 million riel [about $25,000],” Mr. ...
Volunteers Being Phase 2 Of Land-Titling Program
More than 2,000 student volunteers yesterday were sent to measure land in 19 provinces, starting the second phase of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s nationwide land-titling program. Of the 2,016 volunteers, 1,362 are new and the rest are returning for the second time. ...
Businesses Told to Close for 8 Days for King Father's Funeral
Business owners in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district yesterday said they will not follow a government directive to close their businesses for eight days in observance of the second mourning period for the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk. The order, which was distributed on Sunday to ...
Scrap short-term contracts: CCU
Fixed-duration contracts (FDCs) are in the sights of Cambodian Confederation of Unions president Rong Chhun, who yesterday urged Prime Minister Hun Sen to outlaw their use in the garment and footwear industries. Chhun said the cancellation of such contracts would provide better conditions and job security ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/National/scrap-short-term-contracts-ccu.html
Cambodia prepares to conserve disappearing cyclos
Cambodia is preparing to conserve the capital’s disappearing cyclos or rickshaws, which used to be a popular means of transport during the French colonial rule about 80 years ago. Cyclo is a three-wheeled bicycle with the driver perched on high above the rear wheel, and the ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-01/09/c_132091143.htm
Banteay Meanchey residents protest over land dispute
Thirty residents of Banteay Meanchey province gathered in front of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house Friday to seek intervention over a land dispute. The residents, representing 51 families in Ou Chrov district, said they had sued provincial authorities for seizing their land. ...
Cambodia to spend 21 mln USD for July general election
Cambodia will spend about 21 million U.S. dollars to cover for the [sic] proceedings of the general elections on July 28, a senior official at the National Election Committee (NEC) said Friday. “The budget for the forthcoming elections is about 21 million U.S. dollars, up from ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-01/04/c_132080391.htm
With Election on the Horizon, Politicians Defend Land Policies
Cambodian politicians have begun a public campaign to defend their records on land policies, as they prepare for the run-up to July elections. Politicians from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, as well as the opposition Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties, have said they will give ...
Cambodia’s Economic Challenge
Even as the skyline of Phnom Penh grows with the symbols of modern architecture, Cambodia’s economy still faces a host of challenges. On the surface, Cambodia’s economy is certainly improving. In September, the IMF raised its 2012 GDP growth forecast from 6.3 to 6.5 percent ...
http://thediplomat.com/2013/01/03/cambodias-failed-trickle-down-economy/
Cambodia's unions cry foul on fainting figures
Union reps and government officials are offering significantly different – if both substantial – numbers in their year-end tallies of garment workers who fainted on the job in 2012. The Free Trade Union yesterday announced that the number of workers to faint in factories rose to ...
Factory worker wages to be re-examined
Amid threats of another mass strike in the thriving garment sector, the Ministry of Social Affairs has called a meeting with the industry’s leading players to discuss union demands for a $150-per-month minimum wage, a letter obtained yesterday reveals. At the behest of Prime Minister Hun ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010260589/National/factory-worker-wages-to-be-re-examined.html
Yearender: Hosting ASEAN Summit tops major achievements of Cambodia in 2012
The successful hosting of the 21st Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its related summits here in November was definitely the biggest achievement of Cambodia in 2012 despite some sad events such as the death of the venerated former King Norodom ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2013-01/01/c_132075147.htm
Students Refer Land Dispute to Hun Sen's Son
The chief of 120 students spearheading the government’s land-titling program in Pursat province has filed a report with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s second son, Hun Manith, to find a solution for villagers who say local officials in the area have confiscated their registration documents. ...
Hun Sen says CPP will never tax farmland
Prime Minister Hun Sen has said the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) will never tax farmland. “It would burden our farmers,” he said in Takeo Sunday. “Although national revenue that comes from land taxes is spent on building roads, water systems, hospitals and schools, we still ...
Garment Workers Protest for Higher Wages at Freedom Park
More than 200 garment workers gathered at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park yesterday to protest for higher wages before marching to Wat Botum Park and the National Assembly. The workers from three factories – Cambo Handsome, Best One and Yang Fong – are requesting $150 as their ...
Regional Workers Need More Protection, Advocate Says
With Thailand threatening to oust undocumented workers, Asean must do more as a region to protect its migrant workers, a leading rights advocate says. More and more workers are crossing the borders between Asean countries, and the region looking to lower trade barriers, so workers need ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/regional-workers-need-more-protection-advocate-says/1574026.html
Hun Sen Encourages Cambodians to Emulate Chinese-Style Wealth
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday encouraged Cambodians to strive for Chinese-style millionaire status as he inaugurated a sugar refinery located inside two controversial plantations belonging to CPP Senator Ly Yong Phat and his wife in Kompong Speu province. “I have one clear policy in strengthening the ...
Hun Sen Asks Companies to Invest in Private Fire Trucks, Again
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday appealed to the private sector for the second time to invest in fire trucks instead of depending on the government’s fire departments. “Please try to do two jobs. The first is to get the fire sprinkler systems into the factory ...
Cambodian sugar plant leaves villagers bitter
Though the mood was congratulatory yesterday at the inauguration of ruling party Senator Ly Yong Phat’s sugar company – a gleaming, new facility nestled in between two hills in Kampong Speu province’s Omlaing commune – the mood just a few kilometres away bordered on desperation. Sitting ...
Cambodia opens first largest sugar cane factory with $150 million investment from local company
Cambodia today opened first largest sugar factory in Kampong Speu province, western part of city of Phnom Penh with $ 150 million investment from a local company which employs 2 554 workers. Ly Yong Phat, owner of Sugar factory ( Phnom Penh sugar company) said: his ...
In Koh Kong land fight, volunteers requested
More than 30 representatives of families who claim a dispute piece of land in Koh Kong province went to provincial hall for the second time yesterday and submitted an official request to allow Prime Minister Hun Sen’s youth volunteer corps to measure the area. ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2012122760493/National/in-koh-kong-land-fight-volunteers-requested.html
Residents ask PM to intervene in dispute
Villagers travelled from Poipet to Phnom Penh yesterday to seek the prime minister’s help in ending a land dispute with military police officials. About 30 villagers travelling on behalf of families from Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet town gathered in front of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s home ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2012122760494/National/residents-ask-pm-to-intervene-in-dispute.html