Cambodia's Economic Dynamics: Export Recovery and Trade Transformation, Along with Strengthening the Education System

Key Chapter Title List

1. Recent Economic Development and Outlook
2. Export Recovery and Trade Market Shifts
3. Manufacturing Employment and Foreign Direct Investment Dynamics
4. Real Estate and Construction Sector Trends
5. Agricultural Exports and Related Industry Development
6. Business Environment Challenges and Optimization Directions
7. Consumption, Inflation, and Balance of Payments
8. Money Supply, Interest Rates, and Credit Structure Adjustment
9. Fiscal Revenue and Expenditure, and Public Debt Status
10. Current State of the Education System: Access and Equity
11. Analysis of the Link Between Education Expenditure and Learning Outcomes
12. Teacher Effectiveness and Education Reform Recommendations

Document Introduction

This report is based on the Cambodia Economic Update data released by the World Bank in June 2024, focusing on the core dynamics of the country's critical phase of economic recovery and its long-term development support systems. In the first quarter of 2024, Cambodia's economic activity accelerated, with goods and services exports becoming the primary growth engine, while domestic demand remained weak due to a sluggish real estate market and tightening financial conditions, presenting a recovery pattern of "strong external, weak internal."

The report systematically analyzes the significant transformation in Cambodia's trade structure: Garment, Travel Goods, and Footwear (GTF) exports are recovering towards the US and EU markets, while ASEAN has surpassed the EU to become the second-largest export market, accounting for 28.0% in Q1 2024. The export growth of agricultural commodities to regional markets is particularly notable. As one of the world's top nine rice-producing countries, Cambodia's agricultural exports have nearly quadrupled over the past decade. In Q1 2024, agricultural product exports reached USD 1.1 billion, accounting for 17.4% of total goods exports, becoming a key growth pole.

In the fiscal and financial sectors, the report points out that domestic credit growth has slowed significantly to a 20-year low, with credit resources shifting from real estate to trade and agricultural sectors. The public debt-to-GDP ratio remains at a relatively low level of 35.5%, but the fiscal deficit has widened, putting pressure on tax administration. Foreign direct investment remains robust in trade-related sectors, with approved Qualified Investment Project (QIP) amounts increasing by 149.8% year-on-year, but real estate development activities continue to be sluggish.

The education system, as a core pillar for future growth, is analyzed in a dedicated section of the report: Cambodia has made progress in improving enrollment rates, but issues such as declining pre-primary education participation, significant urban-rural and wealth-based education disparities, and poor learning outcomes are prominent. Uneven teacher distribution, an imperfect training system, and an imbalanced structure of education expenditure constrain the efficiency of human capital accumulation, which is a key bottleneck for Cambodia's transition to a middle-income country.

Based on comprehensive data analysis, the report proposes multi-dimensional policy recommendations: including optimizing tax policies to restore fiscal space, strengthening financial supervision to prevent non-performing loan risks, simplifying business processes to enhance market efficiency, increasing investment in education infrastructure and teacher capacity building, and improving infrastructure to reduce logistics costs. These provide decision-making references for Cambodia to achieve its 2030 middle-income goal and 2050 high-income vision.

The report's data sources encompass Cambodian government statistical data, World Bank enterprise surveys, national accounts, and balance of payments statistics. The analytical methods combine macroeconomic modeling, sectoral comparative analysis, and policy effectiveness evaluation to ensure the objectivity and relevance of the conclusions.