After the first general election in 1993, the government prepared and implemented a comprehensive micro- and macroeconomic policy and structural reform program to integrate Cambodia’s economy into the region and the world as well as stimulate its economic growth.1 In the two decades following that ...

Cambodia has undergone rapid economic development in recent decades, with GDP per capita tripled between 1999 and 2013. However, mainly due to three decades of war and political turmoil which severely damaged the country’s infrastructure, the country still lacks the means required for energy sector ...

Although there are often new discoveries,107 a global lack of up to date data on botanical research makes plants biodiversity hard to assess in Cambodia. Compared to neighboring countries, the number of plant species is low, mostly due to the relative country’s flat landscape.108 Botanical knowledge ...

The smoke and stench blow into the air in Phnom Penh’s huge landfill. Photo by Alan Morgan, taken on 17 September 2011. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Air pollution originates mainly from the burning of fuels such as petroleum, diesel and coal in the transport, household, ...

Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all – focuses on education as a fundamental human right that is necessary for the achievement of all the SDGs.150 Education supports the achievement of gender equality by empowering women and is crucial to creating ...

In 2003, a national sector review for hydropower was prepared by the Ministry for Industry, Mines and Energy (now Ministry of Mines and Energy) and the Cambodian National Mekong Committee (CNMC). This report identified 60 possible sites for hydropower development in Cambodia and estimated the ...

The rights to freedom of association are protected under Cambodia’s laws. Article 36 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia provides that ‘Khmer citizens of both sexes shall have the rights to create unions and participate as its members’. Thus, under the 1997 Labor ...

The total value of Cambodia’s international trade amounted to $35.8 billion in 2020, a 2.5 percent increase on the $34.9 billion in 2019 even after the Covid-19 pandemic slowed global trade, according to Ministry of Commerce (MoC) reports from 2020. The main sources of Cambodia’s ...

Bird eye view of a local market in Phnom Penh. Photo by Roberto Trombetta, taken on 8 May 2015. Photo licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 GenericThe development and administration of Cambodia’s urban areas has struggled to keep pace with urban population growth. For example, ...

Since the 1990s, the Cambodian economy has recorded a substantial expansion led by the tourism, manufacturing and construction sectors. One of the highest economic growth rates in the world allowed Cambodia to become a lower-middle-income country in 2015 302The country has a strategic position in ...

SDG 7 focuses on affordable, reliable and sustainable access to modern energy services. This includes ensuring universal access to energy services (SDG 7.1), increasing the proportion of renewable energy sources used to supply these services (SDG 7.2) and doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvements ...

Construction on a Phnom Penh tower block. Photo by Axel Drainville, taken on 4 May 2011. Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0The construction industry has boomed in Cambodia. From 2000 to November 2018, Cambodia’s Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction approved 43,136 construction projects representing ...

SDG 9 focuses on the development of sustainable and resilient infrastructure and industries, including small-scale enterprises. It encourages scientific research and the upgrade of the technological capabilities of industries. Access to information and communications technology and affordable Internet access are included. The goal has 5 ...

Trash collection in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. Photo taken by David Villa, taken on 12 January 2008. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 DEED.Solid waste is defined as “used things, materials, or products that remain or are generated from human daily activities and livelihood and do ...

In Cambodia, electricity demands have been forecast to grow at 17.9 percent annually from 2012 to 2020.542 Distribution of electricity around the country has been a challenge: according to UN data, 79 percent of people live in rural areas,543 and the entire national population had grown ...

Jatropha, known in Cambodia as “Lhong Kwong”, is commonly grown in the Kingdom. Jatropha mainly grows in the mountainous regions of the north and central parts of Cambodia but is not restricted to those areas. It can be found in Battambong, Pursat, Kampong Speu, Sihanouk, ...

Protected Forests are generally established under individual sub-decrees, specifically for the purpose of protecting biodiversity and conservation. They are home to many endangered or threatened species. ...

Cambodia has the ambition to transform and digitalize the government system and its economy. The overarching determination comes after the country’s ambitious economic goal of 2050, the readiness to keep up with the region’s science and technology development, and the global megatrend, the fourth industrial ...

A trained medical staff listens to the heartbeat of an infant at 16 Makara hospital in Preah Vihear, Cambodia. Photo by The World Bank, taken on 30 January 2013. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.Social development addresses profound social problems,668 especially poverty, unemployment and social exclusion, ...

Forest view. Photo by Open Development Cambodia, taken on 05 December 2021. Under license CC BY-SA 4.0.Cambodia is covered with forest, accounting for around 13.1 million hectares in 1973, and it is had fallen to 8.7 million hectares in 2014.735 However, based on the Ministry ...