News
Posing for ‘poverty porn’: The murky ethics of NGO fundraising ‘hero shots’

The young girl in Sunrise Cambodia’s recent fundraising campaign has been labelled a “sex worker” in glossy typeface. Her face is smeared with dirt. She is accompanied by a “trafficked kid” and a “homeless teen” on the page. “Just because it raises money, it doesn’t ...
Government will start chipping away at protected areas
Between 2009 and 2012, the Ministry of Environment went on nationwide leasing spree, signing over vast swaths of the country’s nominally protected areas to private companies for rubber plantations and other agribusiness ventures. A new map of Cambodia’s protected areas shows the 36,000-hectare concession controlled by ...
Details of Kingdom’s first double taxation agreement released
In what could be Cambodia’s biggest step forward into the ASEAN Economic Community in terms of taxation deals and fiscal transparency, details on Cambodia’s first bilateral double taxation agreement (DTA) with Singapore have been released. Mey Vann, director of financial industry at the Ministry of Economy ...
Drought relief campaign over: PM

The government’s emergency campaign to distribute water to some 2.5 million people affected by drought is over, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen declared on 25 May, though for development partners and humanitarian groups, drought relief efforts continue. Humanitarian and disaster reduction manager for Save the Children ...
New firm seeks to enter gold trading
Golden FX Link (Cambodia) has joined in the running to become a legally licensed firm to trade derivatives. With a registered capital of $5 million, Lawrence Kook, Director of Golden FX Link, said that the company received a license in principle from the Securities and ...
Sand dredging licences secretly soaring

Despite the government’s vow to be more transparent with regulations and the issuing of sand-dredging licences, Cambodia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy has granted nearly 70 new such licences without holding public auctions or requiring companies to disclose environmental impact assessments results to the public, according ...
Ministry findings hint at illegal gold mining in Ratanakkiri
An investigating team from the Ministry of Mines and Energy has concluded that evidence at Chhay Ching Heang Group’s operations in Cambodia’s Ratanakkiri province seemingly points to illegal gold mining, though lab results from minerals extracted by the company are still pending, according to a ...
Sihanoukville is top choice for Russia flight plan

Regularly scheduled direct flights between Cambodia and Russia proposed by Prime Minister Hun Sen last week in Moscow might land in the coastal town of Sihanoukville, an official said on 23 May. “In the meeting, the Russian prime minister pushed for a direct flight from Russia ...
Entrepreneurs want help to boost local goods

The central message delivered to the ministry at launch of the “Buy Khmer Products” campaign in Phnom Penh on 23 May was to take concrete actions to get Cambodian products to the front of supermarket and mart displays. President of Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association Ms Keo ...
Health Ministry will levy fines for public smoking offenders

People smoking tobacco in offices, restaurants and other public spaces will have to indulge their habit in clearly demarcated smoking areas or both the smoker and establishment owner will face fines, Cambodia’s Ministry of Health announced. Following the government’s approval in March of a sub-decree banning ...