Cambodia Vision 2030: An Assessment of Cambodia’s Upper-middle-income Target for Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Growth

Project Objective

The Cambodia 2030 research seeks to understand the implications of the evolving post-pandemic global economic dynamics and Cambodia’s structural transformation on her medium and long-term development outcomes. The core objective of this study is thus to evaluate Cambodia’s long-term growth potential, with a specific focus on its aspiration to attain upper middle-income status by 2030. Through this research, we aim to identify policy options that can bolster Cambodia’s journey toward sustainable, inclusive, and resilient economic growth as well as high-quality development.

Project Description

Inspired by the high and sustained economic growth of the past decades that lifted disposable income and pulled millions of people out of poverty, the Cambodian government has set its ambitious target of becoming an upper middle-income country by 2030 and further a high-income country by 2050. This aspiration terms as ‘Cambodia’s Vision 2030’ represent the government’s long-term socio-economic blueprint, guiding strategic framework and policy implementations to fulfill this vision.

However, since this vision’s inception, the landscape has evolved considerably at domestic, regional and global scales, influencing the government’s ambition. Historically, Cambodia’s high and sustained economic growth was fueled by progressive domestic reforms, economic liberalization, and a global economic environment that promoted trade, investment and global production sharing. Key sectors like garments, textiles, and footwear exports, consistent growth in tourism, and a surge in real estate and construction have been the primary growth drivers. Yet, this growth model now faces challenges, given the significant shift in the regional and global economic landscape, accentuated by the social and economic disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.