A senior government official has highlighted the importance of increasing the speed of Cambodia’s economic diversification is essential to achieving its 2050 vision of becoming a high-income country. To achieve this vision, the current seventh-mandate government is focusing on five key sectors, one of which is diversification.

Sun Chanthol, first vice-president of The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), addressed a high-level workshop titled “Cambodia's Economic Diversification Pathways - Insights from International Experience” in Phnom Penh on February 20.

He emphasised that increasing the speed of economic diversification is necessary to reach Cambodia's vision for 2050, particularly highlighting current policies that promote foreign direct investment (FDI), which has evolved significantly since 1994. 

He noted that Cambodia has been working hard to accelerate its economic diversification through the creation of the CDC, the introduction of new investment laws, legal reforms and the introduction of other new strategies.

One of the main strategies is the “Economic Diversification and Enhancing Competitiveness” strategy, which focuses on setting clear strategic goals and prioritising measures related to improving the business and investment environment.

Chanthol highlighted some of the Kingdom’s competitive advantages, including a young, energetic labour force, government support for the growth of the private sector through public-private partnerships, flexible and favourable investment policies and the promotion of digital transformation in public services. 

One example of digital progress is the implementation of Cambodia's Investment Project Management System (cdcIPM), which facilitates investment applications online, allowing investors to apply anytime and anywhere via the internet.

Lor Vichet, vice-president of the Cambodia-Chinese Commerce Association (CCCA), told The Post on February 21 that the garment and textile sector is one of the key industries where the government will focus on economic diversification.

“In the past, Cambodia’s exports were largely based on the garment, footwear, bags and travel goods (GFT) sector. When we talk about economic diversification, it starts with the GFT sector,” he said.

“Now, we also export other products like rice. This is part of the diversification process. Soon we will diversify into exporting cashew nuts, which is making progress. We cannot rely solely on the GFT sector,” he added.

Vichet noted that achieving the 2030 and 2050 visions would depend on the strength of domestic enterprises and whether they adopt modern technology to reduce production costs to competitive levels.

“To respond to the government’s vision, our labour force must move from low skilled to medium, then to high. This way, we will attract investment in modern technology like chip production, mobile phone manufacturing and computers,” he explained.

“This depends on two factors. First, human resources, and second, attracting FDI,” he continued.