Chantrea drags an electric fan the size of a large door into the airless chamber where she works every day.
It is her only respite from the heat inside the brick kiln that looks more like a dimly-lit tomb.
“It’s like working inside a burning prison,” the 47-year-old says as she stacks the dried bricks, which will be moved to a warehouse. “I have asked the owners to provide us with more fans. But they won’t because it will cost more money.”
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Wednesday (Jan 31) ordered the permanent closure of all private shooting ranges in the coastal province of Preah Sihanouk.
Speaking at the launching event of a special programme to boost investment in the province, Hun Manet said the move was to enhance security, safety and public order for local people, tourists and investors in the province.
“I think that tourists to Preah Sihanouk province do not want to learn how to shoot a gun, but they want to see the beauty of our islands, so shut down all those private shooting ranges and don’t allow them to be reopened,” he said.
The Thai government is grappling with a dilemma on how to deal with an unresolved maritime border issue with Cambodia amid political pressure at home, while also pursuing joint development of the abundant crude oil and gas reserves in an area of the Gulf of Thailand over which the two have overlapping claims.
The two issues will be high on the agenda when Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet makes his first official visit to Thailand on February 7 since taking over from his father, Hun Sen, as the country’s premier.
Cambodian farmers Nuoy and Nangkek were both in their late 20s when they took out their first microloan in 2018 for around $600 to help grow their crops. Today, the couple owe more than $10,000 to two financial institutions charging 18% annual interest.
Like many borrowers in a country with one of the highest rates of microloans per capita, the couple spiraled deeper into debt as they borrowed more money to keep up with monthly payments on existing loans. Nuoy and Nangek also resorted to borrowing from several neighborhood lenders who charged even higher interest.
Poor cashew harvests brought by heavy rains destroyed much of the only source of income the two had, forcing them last year to migrate to another part of the country to work in a car parts factory. The debt and stress have mounted.
Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha launched his appeal against a 27-year sentence for treason and attempting to stage a color revolution on Tuesday amid tight security and a ban on journalists who intended to cover the trial.
RELATED
The leader of the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) was charged in September 2017 with colluding with a foreign power after a video shot in Melbourne showed him talking with supporters about his strategy to win power with the help of experts from the United States.
He was convicted and sentenced in March. His arrest also followed widespread anti-government demonstrations amid claims the 2013 election — when the CNRP went tantalizingly close to winning the popular vote — was rigged.
In full: https://www.ucanews.com/news/cambodian-opposition-leader-appeals-27-year-sentence/103991
A passenger on board a Cambodia Airways flight to Singapore decided to rummage through his fellow passengers’ bags in search of things to steal, but did not know a police officer was watching his every move.
When confronted by the police officer, Yi Huaichun, a Chinese national, claimed that he was searching for his bag, but managed to locate his bag immediately when asked to produce his passport.
Exactly 37 days before Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet was due to fly to Bangkok on Feb 7 for a one-day official visit, Cambodia extended Thai border pass access to Siem Reap, where Angkor Wat is located. This was an act of goodwill as the proposal has been on the table for discussions since Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s visit to Phnom Penh in September — his first official foreign destination after being elected Thai leader.
Previously, residents of seven Thai provinces — Trat, Chanthaburi, Sa Kaeo, Buriram, Surin, Si Sa Ket, and Ubon Ratchathani — had been able to cross the border to adjacent Cambodian territory without any passport. Similarly, the residents of seven Cambodian provinces — Koh Kong, Pursat, Battambang, Pailin, Banteay Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear — could cross into Thailand.
In full: https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2732910
A Cambodian physician who ran a medical clinic in the capital has been charged by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court with trafficking human kidneys and organs and defrauding 18 victims out of about US$1 million.
The alleged victims were diagnosed with kidney disease, told they would need a transplant to be undertaken in India and billed for costs, but police intervened following complaints before the operations could take place.
In full: https://www.ucanews.com/news/cambodian-doctor-charged-with-human-organ-trafficking/103978
Cambodia has launched its first car brand and is about to commence manufacturing a line-up of so-called “affordable” cars for local customers in the South-East Asian country.
GTV Motor claims its inaugural factory – which was commissioned in mid-2022 – is about to commence full-time production of five new models for local sale: the Krusar dual-cab pick-up, Soben-P minivan, and three SUVs, badged Kain, Caesar and Soben.
However all five models appear to be rebadges of existing cars from Chinese manufacturers.
In full: https://www.drive.com.au/news/cambodia-launches-its-first-car-brand-sort-of/
By Jayant Menon
Cambodia aims to become an upper middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050. To realise these ambitions, Cambodia must address various constraints to achieving more inclusive, sustainable and resilient growth. Growth will need to be driven by, and generate, decent paying and sustainable jobs in the formal and informal sectors. This includes decent returns for small-scale farmers and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
To do this Cambodia needs to enter a new phase of structural transformation. So far, the limited diversification of its economy has not affected its rapid pace of growth — only its quality and inclusiveness. Cambodia’s average growth rate exceeded 7 per cent in the decade prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by unilateral trade preferences, tourism centred on Angkor Wat and large capital inflows to infrastructure and real estate.
With its graduation from least developed country status expected this decade, Cambodia will become a victim of its own success as trade preferences and aid flows diminish. It will need to pursue new drivers of growth, which will require a new type of diversification.
Cambodia’s initial phase of structural transformation involving rural–urban migration from agriculture into industry and services may be reaching its limit. The horizontal shift into sectors producing higher-value products and services generated a one-off increase in productivity that raised incomes and living standards, but this increase is not sustainable.
Future increases in Cambodia’s productivity will have to come from intra-sectoral diversification. This involves a vertical shift into higher value-added products and activities within each sector.
Cambodia must address two sets of constraints to enable greater intra-sectoral diversification for more inclusive growth. These are its limited human capital and the high cost of doing business. For this new type of growth to continue, Cambodia must also address constraints that limit resilience and sustainability. Policy reforms and public and private investment are required to address these constraints.
There is an urgent need to improve the quality of primary and secondary schooling. Technical and vocational training and tertiary education can succeed only if students have a strong foundation. The World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey ranked Cambodia 100th out of 130 countries for quality of primary education in 2017. This needs to be accompanied by measures to improve access and retention rates, which are currently low.
With a stronger foundation, vocational and tertiary education can succeed if they align their curriculums more closely with the needs of the private sector. This foundation is required before Cambodia can focus on science and engineering at the tertiary level, a process that has borne fruit in Vietnam.
For companies, the high cost of doing business in Cambodia stems from limited physical and logistics infrastructure and expensive energy and finance. With widespread infrastructure deficits, Cambodia needs to prioritise investment in the transportation sector. For instance, upgrading rural roads should take priority over high-speed rail links.
The high cost of electricity limits vertical upgrades from labour-intensive assembly activities to higher value-added and energy-intensive production of components in electronics and automotive supply chains. Cambodia needs to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency to reduce costs and reliance on coal and oil in electricity generation.
The high cost of finance, especially for small-scale farmers and MSMEs, perpetuates poverty. Their limited access to formal avenues of finance raises costs. The potential for digital innovation, including in fintech and blockchain technology, presents significant opportunities for Cambodia’s financial sector to enhance financial inclusion.
Cambodia should also increase its versatility in managing and responding to shocks and improve its capacity to ensure sustainable growth.
Climate change threatens the livelihoods of millions, especially poor and vulnerable rural communities reliant on agriculture. The Asian Development Bank estimates that Cambodia’s GDP could be 10 per cent lower in 2050 due to lost labour productivity from climate change.
Economic growth and environmental protection are often considered trade-offs, but there can be complementarity. The intersection between the two is green growth, which fosters ecologically sustainable economic growth with low carbon emissions and socially inclusive development. Reducing deforestation and adopting more sustainable agricultural and fishing practices will be critical to protecting Cambodia’s environment and ensuring the prospects of these industries.
Cambodia also needs to reduce the risk of shocks emanating from its financial sector following the proliferation of banks, non-bank financial institutions and shadow banking. Resilience is enhanced by improved regulatory and supervisory frameworks, asset quality and risk management practices.
Government spending on healthcare must be significantly increased. Cambodia has 0.7 hospital beds per 1000 people, compared to 2.1 and 2.6 in Thailand and Vietnam respectively. This was a major limitation for Cambodia in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, as it necessitated more stringent mobility restrictions than countries with more robust healthcare systems.
Cambodia’s acceleration towards a digital economy will produce many benefits but will also create new challenges. Many low- and medium-skilled jobs may initially be lost. Redeploying displaced workers will require substantive reskilling and retraining.
While the COVID-19 pandemic may have dashed Cambodia’s hopes of realising its vision of upper middle-income status by 2030, addressing constraints to inclusive, resilient, and sustainable growth is critical. This may involve a lower rate of growth, but the journey is as important as the destination as it will be shaped by it.
Jayant Menon is Senior Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
A version of this article was first published here in Fulcrum.
Source: https://eastasiaforum.org/2024/01/30/overcoming-constraints-to-inclusive-growth-in-cambodia/
A men’s T20 international match was conceded after the batting side refused to play amid allegations of home umpires “making huge mistakes”.
Cambodia had reached 77 in their sixth T20 against Indonesia when batter Luqman Butt was out caught behind.
Cambodia declined to continue playing and Indonesia were awarded the game by the umpires in a rare example of a concession made during a match.
Standing on the highest platform of Wat Phnom, a temple built on the mythical founding location of the Cambodian capital, a woman holds two munias close to her mouth and murmurs prayers into the birds’ feathers. Then, raising her hands to the sky, she releases her grasp and the birds flap their wings.
Like hundreds of people that day, she is practising “life release”, which involves setting free a captive animal to make merit, atone for one’s sins, right one’s karma. One of the munias makes its way towards Phnom Penh’s busy traffic below while its companion stalls, veers to the left and drops to the ground, breathing but motionless.
Without a glance, the woman turns away and leaves.
Cambodia’s government has lauded new Prime Minister Hun Manet’s trip to France last week for a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron. The visit came hot off Manet’s appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where some media derided him as one of the “bad boys” among leaders gathered at the Swiss ski town.
The Paris trip was seen as a success for Manet, who returned with $235 million in development agreements with France to build energy and drinking water infrastructure and support vocational training in Cambodia and a pledge to work towards a “strategic partnership.”
By Sovinda Po and Christopher Primiano
Since the 1980s, Cambodia’s relations with the United States and China have fundamentally shifted. In 1988, former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen described China as ‘evil’. But in 2016, he described ties as ‘ironclad.’ At the same time, Phnom Penh’s relations with Washington have worsened.
Three main reasons accounting for this pattern are economic, political and security issues. Security — specifically the Cambodian government’s desire to remain in power — is the main reason for improved ties with China and deteriorating links with the United States.
While Cambodia maintains warm ties with China, it seeks to avoid an adversarial relationship with the United States. Demonstrating a preference for amicable ties with the world’s leading power, Cambodia has spent half a million dollars in a public relations effort in Washington to advance its ties with the United States.
As a staunch supporter of Cambodia, China allocates economic funding, political support and ample assistance, particularly in traditional security — weapons and materials for security purposes. China’s comprehensive support aligns with what Phnom Penh seeks.
China’s military assistance advances Cambodia’s security against domestic and international threats. While the United States provides Cambodia with security assistance, it tends to be in areas that are less salient in maintaining regime security. For example, US support has focussed on non-traditional security areas, such as assisting with counter-terrorism measures and people smuggling. Unlike Beijing, Washington does not provide Cambodia with military supplies.
In 2017, military ties between Cambodia and the United States ended due to the contentious relationship. While significant external security factors exist, Cambodia’s evolving relationship with the United States and China was primarily influenced by internal factors in Cambodia.
Chinese economic funding advances Cambodian public and private goods, as it promotes infrastructure as an overall public good and provides kickbacks to elites to support the current government. Ensuring people are content removes a potential threat to the government’s hold on power. Despite investors from Japan, South Korea and the United States seeking to hinder corruption in Cambodia, Chinese actors are less concerned about the issue.
Regarding Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Cambodia, there is ongoing scrutiny, particularly from those who view it negatively. Cambodian public opinion towards China has fluctuated in recent years, with critics arguing that Chinese investments benefit those in power rather than the majority of the Cambodian people.
In contrast, US FDI in Cambodia, provided by the private sector, is very limited, trailing behind Chinese FDI, which is both public and private. US companies are concerned about investing in countries that do not have good ties with the United States. Despite this deficit, the United States is Cambodia’s leading destination for its exports. While the United States has not provided much FDI, the US government has funded education and public health initiatives in Cambodia.
Unlike Beijing, Washington does not provide Cambodia with political support — the United States actively condemns Cambodia’s poor human rights practices. While the United States’ naming and shaming of Cambodia is viewed as a threat to the Cambodian government, the United States is not perceived as a country that will invade Cambodia. The main threat is the potential impact that the United States may have domestically in Cambodia, as Cambodians, who are very supportive of the United States, may seek to remove the government from power. Because China avoids such actions, it is viewed as an easier partner to work with.
With the new government under Hun Sen’s son, Prime Minister Hun Manet, Cambodia’s foreign policy regarding China remains unchanged. Despite Hun Sen leaving office, he remains the Cambodian People’s Party leader and is viewed as yielding considerable power in his son’s government. Hun Manet, reflecting his father’s foreign policy, visited China twice in 2023. During these visits, Hun Manet received much-needed support from China, such as assistance with Cambodia’s new development policy — the Pentagonal Strategy — and signed 23 important agreements regarding Chinese development projects in Cambodia.
In 2023, Hun Manet engaged with US business leaders at the UNGA gathering, signalling efforts to repair relations with the United States. Cambodian interlocutors consulted on the matter view Hun Manet’s West Point experience as an opportunity for improved ties with the United States, pointing to how the United States resumed its US$18 million aid provision to Cambodia.
Washington was scheduled to provide US$18 million to Cambodia but decided to freeze it following the July election, citing concerns about the election’s fairness. After Hun Manet assumed the premiership, the United States seemed to view it as an opportunity to repair relations with Cambodia. The funding was subsequently provided through the United States Agency for International Development.
Under Hun Manet’s leadership, as long as there are no major domestic political threats to his rule, Cambodia will continue to maximise its benefits by further embracing China and repairing ties with the United States. Given that Hun Manet is interested in developing ties with US businesses, there seems to be less of an adversarial relationship between the two countries than during Hun Sen’s leadership.
Christopher Primiano is Assistant Professor at Huntingdon College, Alabama.
Sovinda Po is Director at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Phnom Penh.
Civil society groups have demanded the release of jailed dissidents in Cambodia as authorities continue the drive to round up and prosecute the regime’s critics.
That includes Thach Setha, vice-president of Candlelight Party, whose conviction by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for issuing bad checks was upheld by an Appeal Court on Jan. 23.
He was jailed for 18 months in September after the Candlelight Party was banned from contesting the July election, which enabled the long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) to secure victory and then Prime Minister Hun Sen to transfer power to his eldest son Hun Manet.
In full: https://www.ucanews.com/news/rights-group-urges-release-of-outspoken-cambodian-dissident/103944
Five foreigners were arrested in Cambodia for suspected drug trafficking after local authorities seized more than 1.5 tonnes of drugs during raids.
RELATED
Cambodia’s Anti-Drug Department initially said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Jan 24) that one of the five men arrested was a Singaporean.
However, it edited the post a day later and identified him as a Chinese.
Human Rights Watch urged Cambodian authorities on Wednesday to “immediately release” a government critic arrested earlier this month over a post on social media.
In a statement, HRW said that Ny Nak, who is in pretrial detention, was arrested on Jan. 5 for a post questioning Labor Minister Heng Sour, and was given “politically motivated charges of incitement to discriminate and criminal defamation.”
In full: https://www.laprensalatina.com/hrw-demands-immediate-release-of-jailed-cambodian-govt-critic/
A 59-year-old Singaporean man suspected of drug trafficking offences was among five foreign nationals arrested in Cambodia on Jan 22.
The Cambodian Anti-Drug Department in a statement on Jan 24 said it seized 1.51 tonnes of narcotics, which had been brought into the country from Laos, and meant to be delivered to Taiwan.
Research commissioned by the Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA) and carried out by the M-CRIL ratings agency signals a retreat from the claim that there is a verifiable connection between microfinance lending and poverty reduction.
The availability of microfinance loans, or microcredit, is “a necessary but not a sufficient condition” for reducing poverty, Sanjay Sinha, managing director of India-based M-CRIL, said at the presentation of findings in Phnom Penh on January 19. Cambodia’s rapid economic growth, he said, is the main reason why poverty has been reduced.
The CMA has clearly been working hard to control the content and presentation of the research. Sinha told me a year ago that he aimed to publish it around March 2023, the date at which the research was completed.
The articulated monk-saffron-colored tube winds through Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAM Asian)’s glass hall as part of the “Hybrid Skin, Mythical Presence” exhibit by Anida Yoeu Ali. It is the first time the entire “Buddhist Bug” has ever been shown inside a museum and Ali is the first Cambodian artist to be given a solo show at SAM Asian since their building renovations.
Ali looks upon the Bug and her other creation, “The Red Chador,” as entities in their own right, with fluid gender, and with separate identity from herself, though part of herself. When she talks about the full 100 meters of the Bug winding through the museum, for instance, she says, “The Bug ‘decided’ to take up a lot more space [than usual].” When she talks about the Bug or the Red Chador, Ali calls them “she” and describes, especially the Chador, as having its own life.
“They’re all semi-autobiographical,” Ali explained to the Asian Weekly. “There’s a part of me in them. It’s not separable, but at the same time each one requires an extra layer of courage, or visualizing, before live performance what these personas would do. Yes, Anida the artist is beneath the chador having these experiences, but at the same time, the outside public’s perceiving a much more regal entity larger than life presence of a person that is not just the artist.”
The Cambodia Daily is an independent non-profit digital news service for Cambodia and Cambodians.
Contact us: editor at cambodiadaily dot com
© 2026 The Cambodia Daily LLC
