Resilient Development - A Strategy to Diversify Cambodia’s Growth Model - Cambodia Country Economic Memorandum - Executive Summary

Jul 19, 2026

A World Bank Cambodia Country Economic Memorandum outlines a resilient development strategy aimed at diversifying Cambodia’s growth model. It synthesizes findings from earlier work on firm-level productivity, services export diversification, and financing the next phase of growth. The document frames constraints on productivity—weak human capital and low total factor productivity—while emphasizing incomplete structural transformation, flatter within-sector productivity, and policy recommendations across exports and investment financing.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages140

Reading Time5 h 53 min

Contents

Executive Summary

Overview

Enable productive firms and workers

Diversify exports

Harness domestic investments

Cambodia’s Resilient Development Policy Matrix

Chapter 1: Improving Cambodia’s Productivity Performance

Chapter 2: Economic Transformation Through Exports

Chapter 3: Financing the Next Phase of Growth

References

Annex

Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT A STRATEGY TO DIVERSIFY CAMBODIA’S GROWTH MODEL Cambodia Country Economic Memorandum Pub lic Disclosure Authorized Pub lic Disclosure Authorized RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT A STRATEGY TO DIVERSIFY CAMBODIA’S GROWTH MODEL Cambodia Country Economic Memorandum December 2021 Contents Currency Equivalents iv Acronyms iv Acknowledgments v List of Boxes, Figures, and Tables vi Executive Summary ix Overview xi Enable productive firms and workers xv Diversify exports xviii Harness domestic investments xxi Cambodia’s Resilient Development Policy Matrix xxv Chapter 1: Improving Cambodia’s Productivity Performance 1 Labor productivity is constrained by weak human capital and low total factor productivity 2 Structural transformation has contributed to productivity growth but is incomplete 4 Within-sector productivity growth has been flat 5 Policy recommendations for productivity improvements 12 Chapter 2: Economic Transformation Through Exports 20 Economic upgrading through GVC participation in manufacturing 22 Value addition in Cambodian agriculture 32 Increasing competitiveness to export modern services 40 Chapter 3: Financing the Next Phase of Growth 66 Two options for obtaining finance 67 Analysis of Cambodia’s savings situation 74 Policy recommendations for raising finance 88 References 96 Annex 101 Empirical approach and data for firm-level productivity analysis 101 Currency Equivalents Exchange rate effective December 1, 2021 Currency Unit=Cambodian Riels (KHR) US$1=KHR4,069 Acronyms ASEAN ASYCUDACSES DFS EAP EU FDI FTA GATS GDP GNI GVC HCI ICT IMF IPR KHR Lao PDRLDC MDI MFI NTM OECD PIM PTA RGC SME SPS TFP UN US US$ VAT WTO Association of Southeast Asian Nations Automated System for Customs Data Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey Digital financial services East Asia and Pacific European Union Foreign direct investment Free trade agreement General Agreement on Trade in Services Gross domestic product Gross national income Global value chain Human Capital Index Information and communication technologies International Monetary Fund Intellectual property rights Cambodian riel Lao People’s Democratic Republic Least developed country Microfinance deposit taking institution Microfinance institution Non-tariff measure Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Public investment management Preferential trade agreement Royal Government of Cambodia Small and medium enterprise Sanitary and phytosanitary standards Total factor productivity United Nations United States US dollar Value-added tax World Trade Organization | Regional Vice Presidents | Victoria Kwakwa, Manuela Ferro | | --- | --- | | Regional Director | Hassan Zaman | | Country Director | Mariam Sherman | | Practice Managers | Deepak Mishra, Sebastian Eckardt | | Team Task Leader | Claire H. Hollweg | iv RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT: A STRATEGY TO DIVERSIFY CAMBODIA’S GROWTH MODEL Acknowledgements The report was written by a World Bank team led by Claire H. Hollweg. The team included Bradley Larson, Mikel Tenllado, Laura Gomez-Mera (Chapter 1); Roberto Echandi, Luis Rubalcaba, Martha Soprana (Chapter 2); Rishabh Sinha, Kimsun Tong, Wendy Karamba, Clarence Tsimpo Nkengne, Nikola Kojucharov, Ratchada Anantavrasilpa, and Sodeth Ly (Chapter 3) . The team worked under the close supervision of Deepak Mishra and Sebastian Eckardt. The World Bank’s Cambodia Economic Diversification Study (World Bank 2019a) led by Miguel Eduardo Sánchez Martín was written as Part I of the Cambodia Country Economic Memorandum. This earlier study was subsequently extended in the areas of (i) firm-level productivity, (ii) services export diversification, and (iii) financing the next phase of growth as Part II of the Cambodia Country Economic Memorandum. This

FAQs

What is the purpose of this Cambodia Country Economic Memorandum?

It presents a resilient development strategy to diversify Cambodia’s growth model, synthesizing key findings and recommendations across productivity, exports, and financing the next growth phase.

Which main productivity constraints does the report highlight?

Labor productivity is constrained by weak human capital and low total factor productivity, with structural transformation contributing to growth but remaining incomplete.

How does the report propose supporting the next phase of growth?

It focuses on financing options by analyzing Cambodia’s savings situation and providing policy recommendations to raise finance, alongside measures to enable firms and workers and diversify exports.

Jul 19, 2026

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