Environmental impact assessments
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/EIA-1-150x150.jpg)
The primary legal requirements for environmental impact assessments (EIAs) in Cambodia are set out in Content II, Book V of the Environment and Natural Resource Code1, Chapter III of the Law on Environmental Protection and Natural Resource Management 19962(EPNRM Law), and the Sub-Decree no. 72 ...
Water resources
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Net-fishing-from-anchored-boats-in-Tonle-Sap-River-Cambodian-1999-150x150.jpg)
Geographically, Cambodia is rich in rivers and water bodies. These water resources play an important role in economic and social development, particularly in agriculture, industry, environmental protection and tourism sectors. ...
Water policy and administration
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/December-8-2008-Water-Policy-and-administration-150x150.jpg)
In Cambodia, alternate periods of drought and heavy rains bring challenges for water management. The current trends show increasing annual rainfall and temperature throughout Cambodia, with a likelihood that both flooding and droughts will increase in frequency, severity and duration31. Water management involves issues of ...
Civil and commercial litigation
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Civil-Code_ODC-150x150.png)
Since 1993, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has been working to reform the country’s legal framework, and in particular the application of justice, to provide a clear and fixed procedural system to ensure respect for individual rights and equality before the courts.60 In theory, ...
Judiciary and courts
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Suprem-Court_Punwath-150x150.png)
The judiciary is one of the three powers, together with the executive (the Government) and legislative (the National Assembly and the Senate), that constitute the state. 96 Its role is to monitor the application of the law and punish its violation. This power is vested ...
Environment and natural resources
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/11431228924_e93f07fbda_o-150x150.jpg)
Around three quarters of Cambodia’s population depend on agriculture, forest products and fisheries for their livelihoods, so the management of the environment and natural resources is of great importance. Deforestation has occurred on a large scale. Cambodia lost six percent of its remaining primary forest ...
Minerals and mineral products
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Minerals-and-mineral-products-150x150.jpg)
Minerals from Halpern Mineral Collection, San Francisco, Photo by Eric Hunt taken on October 21 2006. License under: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Many of Cambodia’s mineral resources are undeveloped, with most production concentrating on construction materials such as crushed stone, sand, gravel and limestone.174There is currently no ...
Extractive industries policy and administration
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Iron-hill-150x150.jpg)
Cambodia’s extractive industries have traditionally operated on a small scale, mostly mining construction materials, gold or gemstones. While commercial production of minerals or oil has yet to begin on a large scale – these products made up just 0.1% of the country’s exports in 2016186 – ...
SDG 4 Quality education
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/SDG4-min-150x150.png)
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.203 Education supports the achievement of gender equality by empowering women and is crucial to creating ...
SDG 14 Life below water
![sdg-14](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/SDG14-1-150x150.png)
Sustainable Development Goal 14 is primarily about the interactions of humans with the oceans. Specifically, it aims to conserve and manage the use of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.247 A UN General Assembly call for action has been used to clearly articulate ...
Foreign investors
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Phnom-Penh-on-the-top_05-January-2021-150x150.jpg)
Things you should know about Cambodia before investingCambodia has performed well on foreign direct investment (FDI) so far, three times better than predicted, which scored 3.6, becoming the top 25 in the world.319 The FDI reached an all-time high of 14.1% in 2012 and nearly ...
Legal aid policy and regulation
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Cambodian-police-150x150.jpg)
Public policies are a system of laws, regulatory measures, and plans of action implemented by the government to ensure that its functions are performed predictably and consistently.349 Policies typically outline the guiding principles of an operation; meanwhile, regulations set procedural expectations. Currently, there are no ...
Air pollution
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Air-pollution_envt-natural-resources-150x150.jpg)
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, ...
Chinese aid
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Laboratory-construction-by-Chinese-money-150x150.jpg)
Construction of a laboratory funded by Chinese money. Photo by Michael Coghlan, taken on 10 January 2014. Licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0China, while once being at odds with the current government, is now Cambodia’s largest development partner. The two nations have grown increasingly close in recent ...
Business structures and legal registration
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/IMG_6903-3-150x150.jpg)
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 402The country has a strategic position in ...
Land tenure and land titling
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/LandImage37-150x150.jpg)
Land registration and titling of private property has been ongoing for more than a decade. As the Cambodian government works to formally register all private property, there is a dual system of soft possessory rights to be replaced by hard ownership rights through nationally-recognized title. ...
SDG 10 Reduced inequalities
![sgd10](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/SDG10-150x150.png)
The 2030 Agenda was developed to reflect that “the international community has made significant strides towards lifting people out of poverty (). However, inequality still persists and large disparities remain in access to health and education services and other assets”. 410Although the number of people ...
Tourism
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/3142368854_cf3bcabb4c_c-150x150.jpg)
The Royal Government of Cambodia has acknowledged the potential of the tourism industry as a source of Cambodia’s socio-economy growth, including job creation and poverty reduction. Tourism has been considered one of Cambodia’s key economic pillars, both international and domestic. In the early 2000s, the ...
Electricity infrastructure
![](https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2841317738_9086542e7b_b-150x150.jpg)
Rural energy cooperative in Cambodia. Photo by Nomade Moderne, taken on 23 March 2006. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0The electricity distributed in Cambodia is partly generated within the country and partly imported. For many years, local generation was on a relatively small scale, and was ...