The study assesses current and future demand for and supply of digital and ICT skills and investigates the challenges firms of all sizes, universities, and TVET institutions face in preparing themselves and their students for digital technology adoption under the framework of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). A mixed-methods approach of quantitative and qualitative analyses is used. The quantitative analysis relies on two survey datasets: firms and students/graduates. The following findings were observed: Businesses in information and communication technology and […]

Industrial development is central to Cambodia’s economic development as it plans to upgrade the country’s status to an upper-middle-income country by 2030 and to a high-income country by 2050. Equipping the workforce with the skills and competencies that match industrial needs requires a great deal of continuous efforts and resources. In this regard, this paper aims to look into the linkage between skills and transformation based on employers’ perspectives. It explores insights into how companies perceive and use the skills […]

Street food vending is a vital part of the urban economy, and the poor, in particular, rely on it to earn their living. We examine their socio-economic dimension, especially their backgrounds and business operations and challenges, as well as the perspectives on life satisfaction among different income earners. Importantly, we looked at the marginalisation and vulnerability of street vendors in Phnom Penh. We mapped 1141 street food vendors in nine districts and we randomly selected 553 respondents in Phnom Penh. […]

Digitalisation in Cambodia is rapidly taking place but has had different results and provided varying opportunities across varying economic sectors. While digitalisation assists in advancing economic and social terms in Cambodia, public and private sectors, as well as different economic classes are receiving unequal benefits from improvements in digital technology. For example, evidence gathered through firm-level case studies shows that while payment systems significantly reduce transaction costs, urban (middle-class) consumers benefit more from these reductions in cost than other income […]

In recognition of the importance of a well-trained workforce for socioeconomic development, the Rectangular Strategy Phase IV has put human resource development at the forefront of the Royal Government of Cambodia’s (RGC’s) development priorities (RGC 2018). The Industrial Development Policy (IDP) 2015-2025 was adopted as a guide to advance Cambodia’s manufacturing industry as a key economic sector for sustainable and inclusive high economic growth, and to overcome the skills gaps and shortages in skilled labour that are purportedly a bottleneck […]

More than two thirds of Cambodia’s manufacturing companies have experienced growth and transformation over the past five years. This increase in complexity and sophistication requires high-skilled workers and vocational skills development (VSD) programmes play important roles in the transformation of companies in Cambodia. Pre-employment VSD programmes can be a prerequisite for entry-level high-skilled jobs because fresh Cambodian graduates usually have no industry-specific working experience, while in-employment VSD programmes are mostly related to industry-specific skills. Unfortunately, most VSD programmes are not […]

This paper maps Cambodia’s participation in Electronic and Electrical (E&E) value chains using trade statistics. It also conducts SWOT analysis based on both qualitative and quantitative data from a E&E firm survey, from which three major conclusions are drawn. This paper argues that E&E production in Cambodia has expanded rapidly with countries in different development levels featuring coordinated and complex production networks. Companies in Cambodia have joined E&E value chains since 2005; yet the scale, scope, and depth of production […]