News
US president notes election success at ASEAN Summit
The weekend’s ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur put US President Barack Obama and President U Thein Sein together for the first time since the election. While peddling his Asian pivot trade deal at the meeting, Mr Obama took a softer diplomatic tone than usual, lauding the ...
Government spokesman rejects calls for Rohingya citizenship

A spokesperson for President Thein Sein took to social media on 21 November to reject recommendations that Rohingya Muslims be granted a path to citizenship. The minister’s comments were made in the wake of the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review, a comprehensive human rights examination comprising recommendations from ...
Election offers glimmer of hope for Kayan

Among its many victories in the 8 November election, the National League for Democracy won the seat of the minister for ethnic Kayan people in Shan State. The incoming minister, U Khun Aye Maung, says now things are going to change. Known to the world’s tourists ...
Nationalism defeated at the ballot box
Why did self-proclaimed nationalist parties fare so badly in the election? Though the absence of opinion polls and comparable electoral data made it difficult in advance to gauge the extent of support for any party, nationalist candidates appeared to be well-organised and amply funded. The hardline ...
Civil society organisations to hold rally on 10 December
Civil society groups, unions, monks and activists are planning a thousands-strong march in Phnom Penh to deliver petitions to the National Assembly and Ministry of Justice to mark International Human Rights Day on 10 December. Keep reading ...
Cambodian PM urges cooperation on climate problems

Prime Minister Hun Sen on 21 November called for stronger cooperation in implementing the ASEAN-US Joint Statement on Climate Change, noting that the phenomenon is “obviously happening”. The statement, adopted last November, calls on ASEAN members to implement 33 points, such as ratifying Kyoto Protocol goals and ...
Kampot dam tries to restore image

In the wake of mass flooding, the company behind Cambodia’s first major hydropower dam used a government visit last week to distance itself from recent controversies and quell fears about the project’s alleged downsides. In September, Kampot province experienced widespread flooding that left thousands temporarily homeless ...
Cambodian PM urges US to drop tariffs
Prime Minister Hun Sen urged policymakers in Washington to expand its preferential treatment of goods imported from least-developed countries (LDCs) including Cambodia by increasing the amount of goods permitted duty- and quota-free access to the US market. “Cambodia would like to request that the US provide ...
Hundreds of workers faint in Kandal SEZ

Hundreds of people working at six different factories in Kandal province’s 7NG Special Economic Zone fainted on 20 November, with most blaming a pesticide that was believed to have caused a separate mass-fainting incident in the area a day earlier. Un Yong, Khsach Kandal district’s deputy ...
Sunlabob to implement rooftop solar at World Bank office in Laos
Sunlabob Renewable Energy Ltd., a venture-backed company specializing in renewable energy and clean water products, recently finalized a contract to implement a 40 kWp building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) solar system on the roof of the new World Bank office in Vientiane. Keep reading ...