Sam Rainsy, former president of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was sentenced on December 30 to four years in jail after being found guilty of insulting Interior Minister Sar Kheng over a claim that the Cambodian government killed former national police chief Hok Lungdy in 2008.
The recently-signed Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade pact are expected to be a key driver to reboot Cambodia's economic growth in the post-COVID-19 era.
Cambodia has begun extracting crude oil from fields in its waters off the southwestern coast of Sihanoukville, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on December 29.
The Cambodian government on December 24 announced a seventh round of stimulus measures for the aviation and tourism sectors, aiming to boost their business activities and ease their financial burden in the face of severe challenges stemming from the spread of COVID-19.
Thai authorities announced on December 20 that the country will begin to test tens of thousands of people for coronavirus and extend curbs on movement, after a record daily surge in coronavirus cases to over 500.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on December 6 ordered local authorities to strictly examine business facilities, and require the facilities to carry out COVID-19 prevention measures after the nation documented one new community transmission case.
Cambodia’s Health Ministry on November 29 confirmed seven new COVID-19 cases, including a Cambodian-American woman who arrived in Cambodia on November 27 from the US via the Republic of Korea with other 56 passengers.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on November 10 signed a loan agreement with the Cambodian government to provide a Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan of about 240 million USD for the COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan, JICA said in a statement on November 18.
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An on November 4 presented 500 million VND (some 21,570 USD) to aid disaster-hit people in Vietnam’s central region.
The Cambodian government has approved more than 830 million USD worth of electricity infrastructure projects, which consist of a 150MW hydropower dam, a 265MW coal-fired power station, and three transmission lines.
Vietnamese agricultural projects in Cambodia have continued to serve as a driving force for local economies over the last five months and created stable jobs for Cambodians of Vietnamese origin living near Tonle Sap.
The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) High-level Dialogue on Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment amid the COVID-19 Pandemic opened on October 12 in the form of video conference, bringing together nearly 130 delegates from 41 ASEM member countries and seven international and regional organisations.
Cambodia’s poverty rate could nearly double to 17.6 percent and unemployment could rise to 4.8 percent, according to a policy brief that assesses the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in Cambodia released by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on October 8.
Vietnamese agricultural projects in Cambodia continued to serve as a driving force for local economies in the last five months and create stable jobs for Cambodians of Vietnamese origin living near Tonle Sap.
Various holidays in the last two months prompted a decline in Cambodia’s exports of agricultural produce within the last two months, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon has said.
Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen has suggested that the deadline of 2030 to achieve the goals of sustainable development (SDGs) might need to be reset because the progress of the agenda has been affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cambodia will charge only 100 USD from foreigners for each of the required two COVID-19 tests and the rest of their deposit will be returned to them, the Health Ministry announced on September 2.
The Cambodian Government has formed a COVID-19 Health Insurance Coalition charged with covering treatment costs for all foreign travellers who enter Cambodia amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Khmer Times