Abstract/Summary

In late 2011 the Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI) was commissioned by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) to produce a Cambodia country background paper for the ASEAN 2030: Growing Together for Economic Prosperity—The Challenges study. The study, conducted in collaboration with the ASEAN Secretariat and the ADB’s South-East Asia Department, was part of a wider study on the transformation brought about by the emergence of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), China and India as major global economic players. The highlights of this study, under the title ASEAN 2030: Towards a Borderless Economic Community, were published by the ADBI in 2012 to coincide with the 2012 ASEAN Summit in Cambodia. They are accessible at www.adbi.org.

After several revisions, the final draft of the CDRI Cambodia paper was submitted to the ADBI in July 2013. It was also over this period fed into the consultation processes between the Cambodian government, its development partners and the research community, in the drafting of the government’s broad development policy statement for 2014-18, the Rectangular Strategy Phase III, which provides the policy framework for Cambodia’s 2014-18 National Strategic Development Plan.

This paper was a collaborative effort within CDRI involving researchers in the Economy, Trade and Regional Cooperation programme—Hing Vutha, Khieng Sothy, Lun Pide, Saing Chan Hang and CDRI’s executive director, Larry Strange. Since its submission to the ADBI, it has been further revised and updated to reflect more recent statistical and analytical material from the Cambodian government and development agencies such as the World Bank, for publication in CDRI’s working papers series. It should be read in conjunction with another recent CDRI research publication, Cambodia’s Development Dynamics: Past Performance and Emerging Priorities, which analyses many facets of Cambodia’s development over the last two decades, including some useful comparisons with other developing economies, and identifies development priorities, strategies and policy options for the future. Published in September 2013, this is accessible via CDRI’s website at www.cdri.org.kh. CDRI wishes to express its appreciation to the ADBI for the opportunity to be involved in this important project.