The industry body representing the Kingdom’s myriad microfinance institutions (MFIs) threw down the gauntlet yesterday, announcing that its members had categorically rejected a government directive that orders them to charge a value-added tax (VAT) on financial services fees and would not apply it. ...

The Ministry of Defence will today hold an emergency meeting on what to do with two tear gas barrel bombs found in Svay Rieng province.​ The bombs are believed to have been dropped by the United States during the Vietnam War. ...

Pen Sovann, Cambodia’s first prime minister after the Vietnamese invasion in January 1979 that swept the Khmer Rouge from power and a serving opposition member of parliament, passed away at his home in Takeo province’s Duan Keo town on Saturday evening aged 80. ...

Japan has signed a three-year deal to help train government officials on attracting environmentally friendly investment. The Environment Ministry and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) yesterday signed the agreement to educate officials about how to use environmental impact assessments and enforce pollution controls. ...

Numerous members of the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), the body tasked with lobbying on the sectors behalf, have stopped paying membership dues and export fees, claiming that they cannot afford to as the industry continues to struggle with high production costs and regional export competition. ...

Turning away from the traditional tools of providing information about weather forecasts, people now can access real-time weather alerts on their smartphones and mobile phones via SMS and voice messages to better help them prepare to avert disasters caused by severe climatic events. ...

Following the recent agreement to increase the minimum wage in the garment sector, a productivity fair is due to start on Friday in Phnom Penh, organised by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MoLVT) and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC). ...

City Hall yesterday renewed a call to enforce a ban on vendors occupying public streets and parks in the capital, with a group of nearly 40 sellers based near the Council of Ministers headquarters responding with a petition to the municipality opposing the move. ...

Cambodia on Friday inaugurated a food industry laboratory with Chinese aid, aiming at assisting food quality improvement, research and technology development, officials said. The China-Cambodia Food Industry Laboratory is situated in the complex of the Industrial Laboratory Center of Cambodia in Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district. ...

The first Banking Careers Forum, organised on Friday by CamEd Business School with the support of leading banks and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), attracted hundreds of students –  the majority of them studying accounting and banking – to participate and find job opportunities in the ...

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong met with Senator Jim Webb, of Virginia, this week, to discuss how Cambodia might be Forgiven war-era debt to the US or find a better way to pay it off. Cambodia owes nearly $450 million on pre-Khmer Rouge borrowing. ...

Three males attempting to smuggle luxury wood on Saturday evening were thwarted by authorities in Mondulkiri’s Keo Seima district, provincial forestry officials confirmed yesterday. The suspects now being detained at the provincial police station are Vor Vanser, 16, Le Fy, 16, and Cheurng Vanseurn, 18. ...

The Chinese government on Thursday donated 203,000 U.S.dollars to the Chinese Association in Cambodia to support schools offering Chinese language courses in Cambodia. Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Bu Jianguo handed over the money to Duong Chhiv, the president of the Chinese Association in Cambodia. ...

Seven people were injured Monday when opposition lawmaker-elect Mu Sochua clashed with security forces outside Freedom Park in the Phnom Penh. Mu Sochua is leading a non-violent campaign by attempting to enter the park in protest of the government’s current ban on public gatherings. ...

Environmentalists have expressed disappointment at the outcome of the second Mekong River Commission (MRC) summit, which wrapped up yesterday. International Rivers, an environmental and human rights organisation, yesterday released a statement slamming regional leaders’ failure to address concerns over the proliferation of dams on the mainstream ...

Hundreds of prisoners will be pardoned or see their sentences reduced on Tuesday following a request by the Ministry of Interior to the King. The royal pardons and sentence reductions, which benefit 339 inmates, coincide with Pisak Bochea Day, a celebration of the Buddha’s birth. ...

Mobile network operator Beeline announced on Monday that it will launch a 4G service by the end of the year. Hout Vanthan, the chairman of parent company Sotelco, said the 4G network will be available in Phnom Penh by the fourth quarter of 2014. ...

In a government directive signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday, provincial staff were ordered to submit their lists of military and civil service pensioners to the ministries of Finance and Social Affairs by the second week of each month to ensure timely delivery ...

A five-month protest aimed at a Phnom Penh bus company came to an end on Thursday when Sorya Transportation Company reinstated three of 17 drivers it fired in April. ...

European diplomats called on Interior Minister Sar Kheng yesterday to express their concerns about the recent spate of activists’ arrests, with the minister reportedly saying that he believed a one-year sentence speedily handed down to seven Boeung Kak lake protesters last week was rather “heavy”. ...