Cambodia

Cambodia’s economy grew at almost 10 percent per year between 1998 and 2008. Although this remarkable growth was interrupted by the global economic downturn in 2008-09, Cambodia staged a strong recovery in 2010 and 2011, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 6.0 percent.  This growth momentum is expected to further increase to 6.5 percent annually in 2012 and 2013, driven by strong exports, private investment, and a solid macroeconomic position. 

The rapid economic growth created employment opportunities which contributed to the decline in poverty headcount from 47.5 percent in 1993-94 to 34.7% in 2004. From 2004-09 Cambodia saw an even steeper decline in poverty rates. The World Bank’s estimates suggest that Cambodia has achieved the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving poverty by 2009. However, despite this remarkable progress, rural poverty remains a challenge, with 92 percent of the poor residing in the country side. 

Cambodia’s progress in meeting the other MDGs is also encouraging. Thanks to a expansion of maternal health and early childhood care and primary education programs in rural areas, particularly strong progress has been made in areas such as child mortality (the under 5 mortality rate has decreased from 124 per 1,000 live births in 1998 to 83 in 2006 to 54 in 2010), primary education (the net primary admission rate increased from 81 in 2001 to 92.4 in 2008); and maternal mortality (the number of deaths per 100,000 live births decreased from 472 in 2005 to 206 in 2010). Cambodia has also been successful in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. As of 2010, 90 percent of people infected with HIV/AIDS in Cambodia have access to antiretroviral treatment, coverage which is among the highest in the developing world.  

However, progress has been lagging in other areas, in particular the effective management of natural resources and environmental sustainability.  In addition, the pursuit of good governance continues to be a challenge. Corruption and poor public services delivery are impeding inclusive development.

Cambodia first borrowed from the World Bank in 1993. Over the last decade, the Bank has been the third largest donor in Cambodia, behind China and Japan. World Bank support has constituted about 10 percent of total aid.

During the early years of World Bank support, the priority was reconstruction of social and economic institutions and physical infrastructure in the wake of decades of war and authoritarian rule. Since 1999, the focus of World Bank support has been on governance reforms, maintaining macroeconomic stability and sustaining economic growth, private sector development, rural development, sustainable natural resource management, improving and expanding health and education services, and investment in infrastructure. 

Projects financed by the World Bank are designed to help achieve Cambodia’s MDGs through implementing the Government’s National Strategic Development Plan for 2006-2011, now extended to 2013. The priority areas for World Bank support as outlined in the Country Assistance Strategy (2005-2008) are: removing governance constraints on growth and poverty reduction, and supporting the strategies and investments needed to achieve Cambodia’s development goals. For more information about the World Bank's portfolio in Cambodia, kindly visit our projects page.

The World Bank has provided no new lending to Cambodia since December 2010. This was in response to the forced evictions by the Government of residents of the Beoung Kak Lake, an area considered part of the World Bank-supported Land Management and Administration Project. The World Bank does not expect to provide any new lending to Cambodia until an agreement is reached between the Government and the residents of Boeung Kak Lake. The Government of Cambodia is continuing to implement existing programs approved by the World Bank prior to December 2010 and the World Bank is working with the Government to ensure that all its obligations under those projects are met.  All World Bank-supported projects must follow World Bank Group established Operational Policies and Safeguard Procedures to ensure that their operations are economically, financially, socially and environmentally sound.

The impact of the partnership between the World Bank Group and the Government of Cambodia spans many sectors.

Education. The Education Sector Support Project expanded educational facilities in poor areas, delivered scholarship programs to poor children, provided training and capacity building at local levels to improve education services, and addressed specific implementation issues. More than 27,000 lower secondary school students (in grades 7-9) received scholarships to complete all nine years of their basic education and over 6,300 primary school teachers (grades 1-6) were trained to become basic education teachers (up to grade 9).  Under the Cambodia- Education for All Fast Track Initiative, which was implemented in 2008 and is still ongoing, 1,270 classrooms have been constructed and 900 early childhood education programs have been established to cover 26,042 children. 11,892 poor primary school students have received scholarships and 11,000 teachers have been trained to improve quality of teaching in reading. 30 district education office buildings have also been constructed.

Health. The Health Sector Support Project support for national disease control programs contributed to reducing dengue fever outbreaks and the fatality rate of tuberculosis and malaria infections. Assistance was also given for dengue fever and sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS programs. In 2008, an estimated 2.3 million poor people were covered by the Health Equity Fund schemes.

Water. Two water supply projects have helped provide 90 percent of Phnom Penh’s residents with a reliable water supply. These expanded the water supply network in Phnom Penh to 1,966 kilometers with 192,000 connections, provided subsidized connections to 3,827 poor households in the city, and built 11 water plants around the country. These also assisted the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) in meeting commercial and industrial standards.

Energy. The World Bank provided technical assistance to develop a model production facility for Neang Kongrey stoves, which are cheap and environmentally-friendly. Women played key roles in this venture as producers, advocates, retailers, and end-users. With the stove, users benefitted by saving money on energy, being able to boost their incomes, save time and enjoying healthier homes.

Read more about the World Bank’s projects in Cambodia.