Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP)

Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP) is Cambodia’s official state news agency. Established on 3 December 1978, it operates under the Ministry of Information and distributes official information, government statements and general news for domestic and international audiences. AKP remained fully operational in August 2026, publishing continuously through its website and associated digital channels. AKP publishes in Khmer, English, French, Arabic and Chinese. The Chinese-language service was added in early 2026 as part of an expansion of the agency’s international output. Together with National Television of Cambodia (TVK) and National Radio of Cambodia (RNK), AKP is one of the principal state-media institutions operating within the Ministry of Information.

Media assets

News agency: AKP, publishing in Khmer, English, French, Arabic and Chinese

Newspaper: Kampuchea Newspaper, a traditional state print publication relaunched under the Ministry of Information, with current issues also distributed through AKP’s website

Ownership and governance

AKP is state-owned and state-operated under the direct authority of Cambodia’s Ministry of Information. It functions within the government administrative structure rather than as an autonomous public-service corporation; no separate legal personality or independently constituted governing board was identified in the sources reviewed.

The Ministry’s current organisational framework is established by Sub-Decree No. 217 on the Organisation and Functioning of the Ministry of Information, signed and effective on 20 November 2025. The measure reorganised the ministry and expressly includes AKP, National Radio of Cambodia and National Television of Cambodia among its principal state-media units.

Sokmom Nimul is Director General of AKP. She remained in the position in 2026 and presented the agency’s annual review and strategic priorities in January. As the head of an institution operating within the Ministry of Information, the Director General sits within the government administrative structure; no arm’s-length nomination procedure, protected tenure or parliamentary confirmation mechanism was identified.

Neth Pheaktra has served as Minister of Information since August 2023, when Prime Minister Hun Manet’s government took office. Shortly after his appointment, Pheaktra described his objective as modernising the ministry into a public-relations institution of the Royal Government and called on its state-media institutions, including AKP, to take a more proactive role in communicating Cambodia’s policies and activities to domestic and international audiences.

Source of funding and budget

Assessments obtained for State Media Monitor from Cambodian journalists and regional media analysts in March 2024 and March 2025 described AKP as entirely financed through state funds.

AKP publishes no stand-alone audited financial statements or institutional budget reports. Cambodia’s public budget documentation is organised primarily at ministry and programme level, and no separate AKP allocation allowing its total annual expenditure to be independently calculated was identified during this review.

On the State Media Matrix funding test, the condition is met. Although the precise proportion of state funding cannot be independently established from a published AKP audit, SMM source evidence places it above the Matrix threshold, while AKP’s institutional position as a government agency within the Ministry of Information provides additional corroboration.

Editorial independence

AKP’s institutional function is the dissemination of official information, and its output is closely integrated with government communication. The agency describes itself as Cambodia’s official state news agency, while its current coverage consists substantially of the activities and statements of the Prime Minister, Senate President, National Assembly leadership, ministers and other state institutions.

As of August 2026, AKP’s homepage also carried the standing political slogan “Thanks to Peace!”, together with a quotation attributed to Hun Sen concerning Cambodia’s independence and sovereignty. The prominence of such political messaging on the homepage reinforces AKP’s institutional identification with government communication rather than an arm’s-length public-service editorial identity.

No publicly accessible statutory guarantee of editorial independence for AKP journalists was identified. Nor was any independent governing or supervisory body, editorial-independence charter, ombudsman or external complaints mechanism specific to the agency located during this review.

The Ministry of Information also uses AKP explicitly as an instrument for disseminating other ministries’ activities. In July 2024, a memorandum of understanding between the Ministries of Information and Commerce designated AKP, TVK, RNK and other ministry media platforms to communicate the Ministry of Commerce’s activities, mission and achievements to the public.

AI and digital policy

AKP has begun incorporating artificial intelligence into its institutional development strategy. At the agency’s annual review in January 2026, Director General Sokmom Nimul said its priorities for the year included training staff in AI technologies to streamline news production and help offset workforce shortages associated with staff retirements. The same development plan included expansion of foreign-language output, including the new Chinese-language service, and further technological modernisation.

No publicly accessible AKP-specific editorial policy was identified governing the newsroom use of generative AI, synthetic media, automated production, verification of AI-assisted material, human oversight or the disclosure of AI-generated content to audiences. The agency’s AI training and production plans therefore demonstrate operational adoption of the technology but not a formal editorial-governance framework.

Classification rationale

AKP remains classified State-Controlled (SC), meeting all three conditions of the State Media Matrix.

On funding, SMM source evidence describes the agency as entirely state-financed. On ownership and governance, AKP is directly embedded in the Ministry of Information and operates within the government administrative structure. The Ministry’s November 2025 organisational framework expressly includes the agency among its state-media institutions. No independently appointed governing board, separate statutory public-service structure or protected mechanism for appointing its executive leadership was identified. On editorial control, AKP operates as an official government information service rather than an institution structurally insulated from the executive. Its output is dominated by government and state activity; its homepage carries standing political messaging associated with Hun Sen; the Information Minister has explicitly defined the ministry’s state-media role in public-relations terms; and AKP has been formally designated as a vehicle for disseminating the activities and achievements of other government ministries. No statutory guarantee, editorial-independence charter or independent oversight mechanism capable of counteracting this institutional control was identified.

July 2026