Investment
Cambodia restructured its economy after many years of protracted war and instability. The economy grew strongly following the country’s transition to a free-market economy as it opened to trade and capital flows. Growth was supported by the flow of development assistance, access to the European ...
Agricultural commodities, processing and products
Farmers harvest corn from their farms, Cambodia. Photo by World Bank/Chhor Sokunthea, taken on 17 July 2013. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Key agricultural commodities and products include rice, rubber, corn (maize), vegetables and fruit, and cassava (tapioca). More than 90 percent of Cambodia’s agricultural exports ...
International relations
Cambodia has strong diplomatic links with many countries. Its warmest relationship with a superpower is with the People's Republic of China. The most important economic ties are with China, the United States of America, Thailand and Vietnam. Cambodia is a member of the UN, ASEAN, ...
Multilateral development assistance
Mr Il Oeur, director of Analysing Development Issues Centre (ADIC), a domestic NGO and WorldFish partner in Cambodia, leads a local dialogue session. Photo by WorldFish, taken on 27 June 2013. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Multilateral aid is funding that is funneled between more than ...
Electricity production
In Cambodia, electricity demands have been forecast to grow at 17.9 percent annually from 2012 to 2020.103 Distribution of electricity around the country has been a challenge: according to UN data, 79 percent of people live in rural areas,104 and the entire national population had grown ...
Agriculture and fishing
Rice farmers working in the field, Kandal province, Cambodia. Photo by ILO/ Khem Sovannara, taken on 12 July 2007. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.Agriculture continues to play an important role in Cambodia’s economy, but it provides a livelihood for a smaller proportion of today’s population ...
Extractive industries policy and administration
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 2016194 – ...
Renewable energy production
Renewable sources of energy include biofuels, solar, wind, tidal and geothermal energy. Fossil fuels such as petroleum or coal are not renewable. ...
Climate change
Voice from Cambodia–Time is running out. Photo by Oxfam International, taken on 21 October 2009. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.Climate change is the long-term change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns. While the climate of the earth has always gone through periods of change, modern scientific evidence ...
Government services
List of public services provided by One Window Service office at Rotanak Mondol district hall in Battambang province. Photo by ODC team, taken on 28 February 2020. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.Government services might be perceived as tools in pursuing the country’s development, and assuring ...
Hydropower dams
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 ...
Carbon trading and other Payments for Ecological Services (PES)
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 2014.295 However, based on the Ministry ...
Private non-profit development assistance
Maina Kiai speaking with journalists outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Phnom Penh. Photo by Maina Kiai, taken on 6 February 2014. Licensed under CC BY 2.0The first humanitarian international non-governmental organizations arrived in 1989. After the 1993 election, more and more internal organizations ...
Wild capture commercial fishing and natural fisheries
The fishes on Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia. Photo by llee Wu, taken on 10 September 2010. Licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0The 2006 Fisheries Law classifies fishing activity into three broad categories: family or subsistence, small-scale and commercial.Commercial fishing is allowed only in the open season ...
Fishing policy and administration
Young man fishing with a cast net on Siem Reap river, Cambodia. Photo by Brian Hoffman, taken on 12 January 2015. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.Fisheries management in Cambodia is divided between central and local governments. At the central level, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry ...
Forest products
Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary. Photo by U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh on 09 June 2016. Licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.Cambodia had over 8 million hectares of forest resources in 2020, accounting for 44.7% of the country’s total land area. 437 The state owns the whole forest ...
Terms and definitions
Defining and measuring forests is not an easy business. Definitions that initially sound very similar can turn out to have crucial differences. Understanding the terms is important for understanding forest use, forest cover, forest laws and policies and deforestation. ...
SDG 14 Life below water
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.467 A UN General Assembly call for action has been used to clearly articulate ...
Labor
Garment workers waiting in line to get food. Photo by International Labour Organisation, taken on 14 July 2015. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.Cambodia has the highest labor force participation rate in the Southeast Asia/Pacific region, with 82.7 percent of the working population aged 16-64 employed ...