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Cambodia:
Country Report
Cambodia: A Struggle for Freedom
Following Japanese occupation in World War II, Cambodia gained
full independence from France in 1953. Freedom, however, was short
lived and in April of 1975, after a five -year struggle, Communist Khmer
Rouge forces captured Phnom Penh (the Capitol and largest city in
Cambodia). They immediatel y evacuated all cities and towns. At least 1.5
million Cambodians died from execution, forced hardships, or starvation
during the Khmer Rouge regime under POL POT. This numbe r is equal to
the population of current day Phnom Penh. 13 years of civil war ended
when in December of 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge
into the countryside, beginning a 10 -year Vietnamese occupation. Conflict
started back however for another decade. The United Nations finall y
intervened in 1991 with the Paris Peace Accords, which was not full y
respected by the Khmer Rouge. UN -sponsored elections in 1993 helped
restore some semblance of normalcy under a coalition government
however conflict s till persisted. Due to factional fighting and the fact the
country was still in crisis, Cambodia’s elections ended up in Coalition
governments in 1993 and 1997. Major success came in 1999 when the
Khmer Rouge officiall y surrendered. 1 Over the past 13 years since 1999
the country has been fighting for growth and development.
1 CIA World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html February 21, 2016
Economic Indicators
The Cambodian econom y has grown rapidly over the past decade. It is,
however, important to note that the economy was among the world ’s worst
when growth began thu s making their current world rank relativel y low.
Cambodia has an average annual rate of over 8% between 2000 and 2010 and
at least 7% since 2011, driven largel y by an expansion in the garment
sector, construction, agriculture, and tourism. The Cambodian g overnment
is working with bilateral and multilateral donors, including the World
Bank and IMF, to address the country's many pressing needs. 2
 Population: Cambodia has an estimated population of 15,708,756
people. Ninet y percent of Cambodia’s population is of Khmer origin
and speak the Khmer language.
The major economic challenge for Cambodia over the next decade
will be fashioning an economic environment in which the private
sector can create enough jobs to handle Cambodia's demographic
imbalance. More than 50% of the population is less than 25 years
old. The population lacks education and productive skills,
particularl y in the povert y-ridden countryside, which suffers from
an almost total lack of basic infrastructure. 3
 GDP: With an annual GDP (purchasing po wer parit y) of $54.14
billion, Cambodia is ranked 107 t h in the world. However their GDP
real growth rate is 6.9%, which ranks them 17 t h in this category. 4
 Currency/ GDP: The Riel (KHR) is the Cambodian currency. The
UN peacekeeping operation of 1993 inject ed a large quantit y of
U.S. dollars into the local econom y. As a result, the dollar has
become the country’s common currency. 5
2 CIA World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html
3 CIA World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html
4 CIA World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html
5 International Economies http://intl.econ.cuhk.edu.hk/exchange_rate_regime/index.php?cid=13
G ra p h c o ur t e s y o f : www.tradingeconomics.com
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6
GDP (pc): Little of this money has trickled down to the citizen s as
GDP per capita is merel y $3,500, ranking the country 179 t h out of
230. 7
Income Inequalit y: Income inequalit y is sloping downward. The
Gini coefficient (which measures inequality - 0 being perfect
equalit y and 1 being absolute inequalit y) has moved decreased from
0.43 in 2007 to 0.31 in 2012. In a long-term development, however,
remains a challenge. As of 2012, approximately 2.66 million people
live on less than $1.20 per day, and 37% of Cambodian children under
the age of 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition. More than 50 % of the
population is less than 25 years old. The population lacks education
and productive skills, particularly in the impoverished countryside,
which also lacks basic infrastructure. 8
Sectors of Econom y: Services is the primary economic sector of
Cambodia accounting for 43.6% of the GDP and consists of about
31.5% of the labor force. Agriculture, which was the highest sector
of the econom y, now accounts for onl y 28.6% of the GDP but
occupies 48.7% of the labor force. Cambodia primaril y produces
rice, rubber, corn, vegetables, cashews, cassava (manioc), and silk.
Industry accounts for the r est of the labor force and GDP. 9
6 Invest Phnom Penh http://www.investphnompenh.com/invest-cambodia/ February 21, 2016
7 CIA World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html February 21, 2016
8 The World Bank http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI February 21, 2016
9 CIA World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html 14 June 2012
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Unemployment Rate: Another promising indicator of growth is
Cambodia’s low unemployment rate of just 0.3% (2013 est.). 10
U.S. Assistance to Cambodia: Cambodia relies heavily on foreign assistance—
between 30 and 40 percent of the central government’s budget depends on donor
aid. U.S. assistance makes significant contributions to the country’s development.
In 2014, U.S. foreign assistance for programs in health, education, governance,
economic growth, and demining of unexploded ordnance totaled over $77.6
million.11
Political Considerations
Cambodia is a multipart y democracy under a constitutional monarchy. The
Cambodian People’s Part y is th e major ruling part y in Cambodia.
 Executive Branch: Chief of State is King Norodom S IHAMONI
(since 29 October 2004). Head of government is Prime Minister
HUN SEN (since 14 January 1985). Elections for the king are
chosen by a Royal Throne Council from amo ng all eligible males of
royal decent. 12
 Legislative Branch: The legislature is a bicameral system. The
Senate (61 seats; 2 members appointed by the monarch, 2 elected by
the National Assembly, and 57 elected by parliamentarians and
commune councils; member s serve five-year terms) and the
National Assembl y (123 seats; members elected by popular vote to
serve five-year terms). 13
 Judiciary: Supreme Court system established in 1997 in the
constitution. 14 The system is o ften criticized by international
organizations like the UN Humans Rights Council who have been
quoted as saying “the nation still has too many shortcomings in its
justice system”. 15
 Level of Freedom: On a scale of 0 -7 with 0 being the weakest and 7
the strongest, Cambodia’s freedom rankings range bet ween 2-4
(Accountabilit y and Public Voice: 3.28, Civil Liberties: 3.33, Rule
10 CIA World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html 14 June 2012
11 U.S Department of State http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2732.htm 7 June 2012
12 CIA World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html 14 June 2012
13 U.S Department of State http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2732.htm 7 June 2012
14 CIA World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html 14 June 2012
15 United Nations http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=35052&Cr=cambodia&Cr1 6 June 2012
of Law: 2.22, Anticorruption and Transparency: 2.46). 16 Freedom
House, like the UN, sees Rule of Law and the Judiciary S ystem to
be a serious problem.
Crisis & UN Involvement
In response to the Khmer Rouge and the atrocities under Pol Pot the UN
intervened in 1991 with Paris Peace Accords. Immediatel y following the
peace agreements , the UN Securit y Council enacted UNTAC under
resolution 745 in 1992. At the mission’s height, ther e were 15,547 -armed
troops, 893-military observers, 3,500 -civilian police, with over 100 UN
officer deaths, and over $1 .6 billion (U.S dollars) spent. The two main
goals of UNTAC were to hold free and fair elections leading to a new
constitution, and to “kick-start” the rehabilitation of the country. 17
The UN simultaneousl y ran UNTAC with a program of humanitarian
assistance to the Cambodian People. Funded by UN member states,
humanitarian aid consisted of three major locations – the operations in
Cambodia, at the border, and within Thailand. UNHCR (UN High Refugee
Agency), a subsidiary organ of the Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC) provided much assistance for refugees crossing the border.
UNBRO (UN Border Relief Operations) was set up in 1982 to help co ntrol
borders. 18
A major step towards normalization
occurred with the elections of May
1993. Twent y parties took part in
the elections. UNTAC oversaw the
electoral campaign and registration
of voters, as well as the elections
themselves and over 90% of the
population casted their ballots to
elect a Constituent Assembl y. In
September, the Constitution was
proclaimed and a new government,
led by two prime ministers, was
inaugurated. After the withdrawal
Image Courtesy
of: Cacombodia.org25
16 Freedom
House http://www.freedomhouse.org/country/cambodia
9 June 2012
17 United Nations http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/untacbackgr1.html 9 June 2012
18 United Nations http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/untacbackgr1.html 9 June 2012
of UNTAC, the UN remained in the country to support d evelopment.
19
Current Day Cambodia
Cambodia still lacks democracy. Although there are now elections and
violence is on the decline, there are still many problem areas when it
comes to the ruling Cambodian People’s Part y. The CCP controls the
lower and uppers chambers of parliament and it is clear that political
suppression persists. Instead of using physical violence, the ruling CCP
has employed the subordinate judiciary to suppress the media from
criticizing the government, to prevent civil societ y orga nizations from
protecting the poor and articulating alternation discourses, and opposition
parties from voicing their opinions. Once again we find the judiciary
branch to be a major problem in the Cambodian government. 20
There are, however, many promisin g aspects to present day Cambodia
especiall y in regards to their econom y. The tourism, garment, construction
and real estate, and agriculture sectors accounted for the bulk of growth.
Around 600,000 people, the majority of whom are women, are employed in
the garment and footwear sector. An additional 500,000 Cambodians are
employed in the tourism sector, and a further 50,000 people in construction.
The tourism industry has continued to grow rapidly with foreign arrivals
exceeding 2 million per year since 20 07 and reaching around 4.5 million
visitors in 2014. Mining also is attracting some investor interest and the
government has touted opportunities for mining bauxite, gold, iron and gems.
21
The qualit y of health care in Cambodia is also on the rise. As of 2015, the
life expectancy was 61.69 years for males and 66.7 years for females, a
major improvement since 1999 when the average life expectancy was 49.8
and 48.8 respectivel y. 22
Acknowledgements:
19 United Nations http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/untacbackgr1.html 9 June 2012
20 Kheang Un http://ips.sagepub.com.libdatabase.newpaltz.edu/content/32/5/546.full.pdf+html 9 June 2012
21 CIA World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html February 21, 2016
22 Embassy of Cambodia http://www.embassyofcambodia.org.nz/cambodia.htm 13 June 2012
25 Cambodia Election Baseline Survey http://www.cascambodia.org/baselinesurvey.htm 13 June 2012
Research and Data Development Provided by: John Speedling and Nancy Welch, updated by
Jared Martin, Research Assistants, under the Supervision and Coordination of Dr. Gerard
Janco, President of Eurasia Center.