Brief Background ‘As part of the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) 50" Anniversary celebrations and in commemorating the long-standing partnership between ADB and Cambodia, ADB acknowledged the significance of Youth through a nationwide essay competition on the overarching theme: “ADB's development impact in Cambodia and areas of future cooperation”, The competition was jointly organized with the National University of Management (NUM) in Phnom Penh. Participation in the competition, which commenced on 14 July till 15 September, 2016 was open to all students regardless of which University they were enrolled in. Of the 59 essays received, 39 essays were shortlisted based on relevance and technical compliance to the submission requirements. The ten winning essays were independently selected by 2 panel of judges from ADB, NUM, Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), and Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and were awarded with certificates and a number of gifts during an awards ceremony on 30 November 2016. The ceremony, co-hosted by ADB and the MEF, was officiated by the Senior Minister, Minister of Economy and Finance and ADB Governor in Cambodia, H.£. Dr. Aun Pornmonirath at the Sofitel Hotel, Phnom Penh. More than 200 guests attended from the government, development partners, private sector, civil society organizations, Universities, and current and former ADB staff. The objective of the essay competition was to encourage research and sharing of opinions on the ADB-Cambodia development results to date and how this partnership will evolve into the future, A “text mining" word analysis of the 39 short-listed essays, carried out by the NUM, was a simple but effective tool to show at a glance which development topics and challenges the future leaders of Cambodia have on their minds. Results revealed that education is the most frequently used word, followed by the following words; people, water, rural, infrastructure, poverty, agriculture, government and resources. ADB continues to value the views and opinions of the people of Cambodia and greatly appreciates the level of understanding amongst Cambodian youth on key development concepts such as connectivity, skills, access to markets, social services, rural development, and inclusive growth, and innovative ideas put forward by the participants in this competition. In thisregard, the ADB Cambodia Resident Mission finds it important to shere the three winning essays on this social media platform. Cambodia was a founding member of the ADB in 1966. in 1991, with travel to the country still a challenge after the civil war, ADB was one of the first development institutions to send missions to assess the country’s needs. In 1996 ADB was the first international finance organization to establish an office in Cambodia, Since 1966, ADB has supported Cambodia with $2.84 billion in loans, grants, and technical assistance, with strong focus on transport infrastructure, agriculture, rural development and human capital development. ADB's development strategies, programs and operations for Cambodia have evolved with the country’s progress - from relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in the 1990s to development and growth over the last decade or so. The strategies have been closely aligned with the Government's Rectangular Strategy for Growth, Employment, Equity, and Efficiency Phases 1 - 3 | take this opportunity to acknowledge the close cooperation between the ADB and the Royal Government of Cambodia over the years, and especially between the ADB and the MEF, our first point of contact. Samiuela T. Tukuafu Country Director Cambodia Resident Mission