The American University of Phnom Penh

Capstone:

Topic: Cambodia’s National Development Strategy

“ To what extent does the National Strategies Development Plan contribute as a significant

mechanism to accelerating Cambodia's development? ”

Thavann THAI

(2019081)

Course: GBLA 490

Professor: Dr. Sarah Rose-Jensen

Date: 12/Dec/2022
Introduction

Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern

portion of Southeast Asia. It is complicated to know about the development process and how this

country is making reforms internally. A major problem that would definitely impact is the

transition of regimes. It appears that Cambodia is one of the countries that has been through a lot

of regimes. The transition from one regime to another is quite fast. It happens in just a short period

of time, which is really impactful, and actually not given enough time for the government itself to

work on the development process such as law enforcement, the implementation. Within this, it is

not going to benefit them instead it will lead to the ruin and weakening of their institutions and

overall government performance.

With these aspects, it is basically hard for Cambodia to take a big step towards reshaping

itself out of this background that the world sees this country as the least developed country

including the high rate of poverty, pervasive corruption, low human resources, weak institutions,

and many more aspects. However, it is considered that the Cambodian government's efficient

policies or successful implementation could play a critical and true aspect in transforming the

country into a developed country in the near future. The National Strategic Development Plan is a

major strategic development plan that Cambodia's government has focused on the most by

researching, analyzing, and hoping to initiate the advancement of Cambodia. It has a lot of key

policy and development initiatives, including the Rectangular Strategies, and Sustainable

Development Millennium Goals. Meanwhile, this paper will actually demonstrate how the

country’s Development Strategic Plan is really essential to its development path, along with the

research question: to what extent does the National Strategies Development Plan contribute as a

significant mechanism to accelerating Cambodia's development? including a literature review,

methodology, results, and discussion, which is a very essential part that lists the following pieces

of information to back and support the argument of the role of national development policies

covering from data collection to data analysis.

Theory and Background:

Interestingly, Cambodia’s government has been facing a hard time and plenty of obstacles

that have been screwing up the pathway of development, which is slowing down the process of

development in the country. Regarding these issues, the government is trying to find key solutions

that will be effective for them to overcome those problems in order to enhance their development

process faster and more effectively, especially way to becoming high middle income by 2050. That

is why the RGC (Royal Government of Cambodia) cooperated with the aligned Cambodian

constitution and all related ministries trying to structure and seek to implement the strategy that

aims for growth, employment, and efficiency in the country. A country without a strategic plan is

a country without ambitions. The National Strategic Development Plan is inevitable for all nations,

including Cambodia, if they are to develop within their own territories. There are numerous major

development plans in Cambodia, while this research paper will primarily focus on the Rectangular

Strategies, which commonly have four phases, as the Cambodian government is currently

implementing the fourth phase since 2018, which is believed to be the most recent version of the

Rectangular Strategies with more effective and doable policies.

Many key points and aspects are listed in the rectangular strategy and the Cambodian

constitution. All of it is really important and it is a key element that keeps Cambodia moving in

the right direction as it strives to improve citizens' standard of living and the efficiency and

effectiveness of public service in order to assist with present and future socioeconomic
developments, improving the delivery of public services, transparency, and accountability to

respond to citizens' needs, sustaining stable and strong institutions, and continuing to pursue better

education, welfare services, and especially, good governance. Notably, transparency and

accountability are necessary since they are critically required by civil society or the citizens. In the

sense that the authority or government is willing to show their honesty and acquire the trust of the

people. For example, the government's annual revenue from taxation from citizens should be used

and performed accurately, and there should be transparency for their people so that the people

exactly know the cash flow, where it goes, and how it is spent. This will make them believe in and

continuously give legitimacy to their government, and they will not hesitate to support or pay

future taxes to their local authorities. On the other hand, the contribution of civil society is also the

most important factor in promoting the nation's growth. in the sense of togetherness, it is quite the

same as ASEAN 2022’s theme "Addressing Challenges Together". The government and civil

society should rely on each other, fulfill their goals and help each other to achieve them. It is the

social contract between the authorities and citizens, but before that happens, the government

should increase its legitimacy from its people. If there are barriers between them as their people

not trusting their authorities, then there is no point in introducing and implementing policies

successfully.

Literature Review:

Countries use national development strategies as the foundation for developing and

planning. It aims to stimulate sustainable and stable development of the country and improve

people's quality of life. All of these factors lead to proving the purpose of the study on the national

development strategy (Rectangular Strategy) of Cambodia and how the implementation of it will
be a significant factor that contributes to accelerating the state's capacity and development. This

section of the literature review will go through and illustrate perspectives from all of the articles

that demonstrate how the national development strategy (the Rectangular Strategy) is remarkably

effective and essential as a guideline that keeps the nation progressing on the right path to pursue

the country's development, ranging from social to economic development.

I. Cambodia’s National Development Strategy “The Rectangular Strategy”

Without a doubt, Cambodia's government intends to adopt and implement national

development strategies to eliminate all harmful elements that hinder development growth such as

population vulnerability (poverty), unemployment issues, ineffective governance, corruption, and

other social problems. (Royal Government of Cambodia, 2018, p.1). Instead of these, the national

development plan will be a catalyst to move Cambodia forward, particularly in terms of economic

development, as an effective mechanism to strive for economic reform, job creation, education,

social service and welfare, good governance, and a developmental state. For the last three phases

of the National Developmental Strategies of Rectangular Strategy, the Royal Government of

Cambodia did a really good job with their implementation along with the theme (Growth,

Employment, Equity, and Efficiency). Throughout all of these efforts, Cambodia has transformed

itself from a dangerous minefield and a politically and economically isolated country to a country

known for rapid economic growth and development as well as peace and prosperity. (RGC, 2018,

p.1).

The RGC (Royal Government of Cambodia) has attempted to reform itself through

decentralization as part of strategy implementation. Decentralization has been a significant

component of Cambodian development efforts, with a focus on establishing a capable government

as well as creating stronger accountability between civil society and the state, which simply brings
the government and the people closer together and keeps them in touch. (Kimchoeun et al., 2007,

p.21). The government needs citizens to collaborate to make things happen (implementation, the

concept of governance, and feedback, as they needed inputs for the outputs. Living in the same

society means relying on each other to achieve goals. Citizens rely on the government to meet their

basic needs, such as service, protection, and achieving social prosperity. (Kimchoeun et al., 2007,

p.21, 22). Not to mention, in order for the people to fully legitimize the government, the

government must then be fully committed and have a strong capability and long-term vision to

fulfill the country's interest in helping develop the country and to prove their civil society through

their performance.

The Cambodian government has recognized its four Rectangular Strategy, Phase IV key

areas: competitiveness and economic diversification, human capital, inclusive and sustainable

development, and governance. Cambodia's government hopes that the country will retain its

internal improvement momentum. In this regard, it genuinely inspired the RGC to adopt its

national development strategy to improve and strengthen government performance and

accountability. Governments continue to focus on improving public service delivery, transparency,

and accountability in order to meet the needs of citizens. Service delivery and Responsiveness are

really important for the receiver (citizen). It requires the government to pay attention and their

efforts via listening to concerns, has enough ability to respond back, and also provide for the needs

of citizens. It is remarkable to depict service delivery while it seems like it is limited or slowed

mostly in underdeveloped or developing countries by difficulties of coordination, governance,

financing, and capability. (Avis, 2016). Governments play an essential function in service delivery,

regulation, facilitation, and collaboration at all levels, national and sub-national, with institutions

and civil society to ensure the services are delivered effectively. Poor levels of service,
interruptions, and low coverage are among the problems that undermine the quality of life and

erode trust in local government. Actually, "better basic service government" doesn't somehow

indicate that the government must necessarily deliver all services; alternatively, it must ensure that

the poor receive access to the necessary services. It is related to the strengthening and capacity of

the government. It depends on the performance of how they govern the country. But if the

government has no sharp visions or effective strategies, it leads to creating social gaps, wealth

disparity, and public service serving only those who can afford it. It is true when it comes to the

lack of government performance because it doesn't really have enough capabilities to strengthen

or serve its people. (Avis, 2016).

II. Cambodia’s Government Accountability and Service Delivering

Even governments in other nations that appear to be strong in capability and ability to rule

their society with impressive performance and have attained a high level of social service delivery

are yet still continuously under pressure to improve. It normally requires consistent work and

commitment over time. Government accountability has become an important aspect that every

nation wishes to have. Cambodia’s government is seeking good government accountability first

and foremost in the National plan. In the sense that the implementation of rectangle strategies

strives to continually enhance public service delivery, transparency, and accountability in order to

respond to people's requirements. However, government capacity, including the ability,

motivation, and productivity of civil employees, is a crucial indicator of its ability to effectively

implement policies. (WorldBank, 2020). Failures in accountability and transparency hinder and

block progress toward effective governance. Poor governance weakens the state's capacity to

provide basic public goods including social services and public goods that are marked as important
to the poor. The poor are most vulnerable to corruption, and they suffer the most from physical

insecurity and a lack of access to justice. The Royal Government highlights the significance of

developing Human Resources instilling the concept of "transparency, meritocracy, and

performance-based" for further improving the state's institution capability in the Rectangular plan

and addressing corruption issues through the implementation of Anti-Corruption Law which takes

concrete actions to attack the root cause of corruption in the society. (WorldBank, 2004, p.4-11).

Human resources are a critical component that every nation needs, thus meritocracy, and

performance-based governance is other concepts that the government must have in the government

system at both the national and sub-national levels. It is a significant portion that could help to

improve the country's development and strengthen either private or public institutions to reach a

standard that is recruiting for a quality civil servant with sufficient ability and real potential to

work and assist the government in seeking solutions to improve the state's capacity. Interestingly,

it is thought to be an important factor that the Royal Government of Cambodia is searching for and

attempting to strengthen good governance. The government system reforms ensure that the state

has strong institutions and that citizens have a reliable government that provides responsive service

delivery, as depicted in the national strategy (Rectangular Strategy), the state with good

governance will perform effectively and efficiently to pursue the interests and management of the

country, particularly in reducing poverty and corruption. (WorldBank 2004, p.10-13).

III. Cambodia’s Economic Development

Cambodia aspires and is willing to become a knowledge economy with the vision of

achieving upper middle-income country status by 2030 and aiming for high-income country status

by 2050 including energy, transportation infrastructure, urban development, and education and
skills development to enable growth, employment, equity, and efficiency. Accelerating

governance changes, including enhancing the legal and regulatory framework and also institutions,

was indeed key to the government's plan. (ADB, 2019, p.8). With the strong ambition of being

developed and the commitment to shift out of the status of a least-developed country. It would not

be possible for the country to develop without national development strategies as the primary

driving force. Within the national development strategies, especially the rectangular strategies,

Industrial development policy and SMEs policy, which promote SMEs and entrepreneurship, are

regarded as key for long-term economic diversification and sustainable growth. (Narin, n.d.). Also

striving to enhance regional capacity includes: (1) improving logistics systems, energy, and digital

connectivity; (2) developing new main sources of growth; (3) preparing and getting ready for the

shift to a digital economy and the fourth industrial revolution; and (4) promoting the banking sector

that are expected to improve their competitiveness and production capacity in order to reach their

full potential in the long run and contribute effectively to country's economic growth. (Sopheak,

Khantey, & Sothy, 2022, p. 195). Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) development is

among the primary aspects that the Cambodian government tries to stimulate in order to achieve

greater development. As it is crucial to Cambodia's long-term and fair economic growth. It is often

seen as a potential influence that drives economic progress as when SMEs grow, they boost the

country's economic capacity and provide job opportunities. Throughout the Royal Government of

Cambodia's strategic development plan, they believed that SMEs would need to improve and

develop in order to compete with imports. Creating a fair playing field and fostering SME growth

would allow Cambodian SMEs to compete effectively in their domestic market while also paving

the road for greater involvement in exporting. (Baily, 2008, p.1-14).

 Due to technological innovations, the global industrial revolution has caused a remarkable

change in socio-economic status, and the world is now focusing on a new phase, notably the fourth

industrial revolution. This necessitates the Royal Government being able to seize opportunities

and respond to challenges created by new economic sectors, SME development, agricultural

productivity, efficiency enhancement, health system improvement, and capacity and capability

enhancement to deal with unforeseen problems that happen to occur or have an impact on the

country's industrial development. (RCG, 2018, p. 29). For example, the quality of Cambodia's

labor force is recognized as a factor that may impede the country's development due to the

relationship between labor quality and productivity, which means that the poor quality and

performance of Cambodia's labor force leads to a slowdown and low productivity within its

industry. In that sense, it keeps hindering and stagnating further development and attracting foreign

direct investment beyond their main garment and textile industries. According to the research,

approximately eighty-five percent of Cambodia's total labor force did not complete the education

level required by the government. (Sopheak, Khantey, & Sothy, 2022, p. 195). Those eighty-five

percents are more likely to work on things they have experience with, are used to, or are familiar

with. With the industry's transformation to "industrial 4.0," or the shift to a modern economic

structure where is more intense competition for those workers who lack of skills, the majority of

them will struggle to keep their jobs, as jobs become more knowledge-intensive and the labor

market becomes more tight and competitive for those who are unskilled and do not achieve the

required education level. (Sopheak, Khantey, & Sothy, 2022, p. 195). In this case, industrial 4.0 is

crucial due to the adoption of technologies that aim to improve business and market performance.

It allows for more innovation, an increase in productivity, improved resource allocation, and
strengthened competitiveness, which are significant tools that help expand market shares and

improve profitability.

IV. Connectivity and Regional Development

To achieve sustainable and fair growth, the government is adopting consistent

macroeconomic policies and financial stability instruments with the ongoing growth in foreign

direct investment, greater local demand, and enhanced international commerce.. The government

requested help for enhancing logistics, mobilizing infrastructure funding, and increasing the ability

to plan investment projects in order to boost industrial competitiveness and economic

diversification. (Baily, 2008, p.18). On the other hand, by combining their national strategy with

regional development strategies, the Cambodian government hopes to maintain connectedness

through the strategic plan that they adopted with their regional neighbors for mutual benefit.

Cambodia cannot progress without engagement and reliance on regional cooperation.

Cambodia now benefits from interaction with regional development initiatives and

interconnection policies of its neighbors, such as the National Strategic Development Plan,

commerce, transportation, tourism development, infrastructure, and other programs. According to

the Rectangular Strategy's approach (Phase Four), Cambodia sees integration into the regional and

global economies as a critical strategy for economic growth. The Royal Government's major

achievements include its membership in the "ASEAN Economic Community," a free trade zone

with a total population of 622 million, and as a signatory to free trade deals between ASEAN and

partner countries or regions; enhanced physical and non-physical infrastructure connectivity with

countries in the region; consistent improvement throughout regulatory and institutional

frameworks; advancement of digital innovation; improvement in governance; and market

diversification, which the government strongly believes will support, promote, and expand

Cambodia's economic capacity. (Sothearith & Sotheara, 2019, p.149-150).

Methodology:

This research paper will be conducted with mixed methods research, which is a

combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. As it consists of collecting and analyzing

data through in-depth interviews. This method generally helps us a lot in answering the research

question as it has the ability to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches, which allows us

to observe and discover many points of view, especially when we can compare and contrast those

perspectives. However, I will utilize the structured interview approach with some of the topic-

related questions along the process since I truly believe it is essential to achieving my research

objective. Without a doubt, interviews are one of the most significant and crucial ways to obtain

advanced knowledge from various backgrounds, as they allow us to fundamentally discover and

understand people's perspectives, particularly to collect in-depth information from interviewees

that are believed to support the research question.

As I intend to conduct 4 interviews. The first interview will be with people who are

currently working or have relevant experience in government. The second interview will conduct

with the official from the non-governmental organization who is currently working in the related

field. The third and fourth interviews will be with individuals from civil society. The data

collection was conducted during the weekend or day off to ensure that the conduction of the

interview will not impact the interviewee's time. The collecting of data through interviews will

first be needed to ask for permission to make sure the data is collectible and the interview will
likely take around ten to fifteen minutes to ensure the interviewee has an amble time to depict and

answer the questionnaire survey completely. During the interview, there will be a tea break to

ensure that the responders are relaxed and not under pressure. At the same time, there are no

restrictions, the interviewee can skip or respond as much as they wish, and they have the right to

quit at any point in time. Choosing three diverse backgrounds of interviewees (a Government

official, a Non-Governmental Organization official, and a Civil Society) is critical for data

collecting. As an outcome, it is essential to gather distinct perspectives from various backgrounds.

People from diverse palaces, and notably occupations, have distinct concepts and ways to represent

their thoughts. Furthermore, this will be an incredible alternative and means to obtain that

information, allowing us to essentially progress to observe each of their views and concerns.

I foresee that this interview will provide me with an incredible chance to study from all of

those different backgrounds' perspectives, as it will lead to broadening my thoughts through

analyzing all of the information that the interviewees mention in search of the similarities of their

perspectives and expectations on Cambodia National development strategies leads to foster

Cambodia development and how it is so effectively works to strengthen the state capacity in each

of every aspect ranging from law enforcement, political structure to economic reformation in seeks

of higher growth, notably the Rectangular Strategies that the government is now working on to

achieve its goals, all of the offered material will be real evidence to support this research study.

Furthermore, the use of the literature review as a review method may effectively help to increase

comprehension and integrate the surrounding knowledge from those academic professionals,

academic journals' viewpoints, or international organizations. The analysis will determine the

notion from the selected texts' points of view by integrating them for synthesizing the theme.
Ethics and Safety:

Governmental questions are likely to be sensitive. Talking about the government system is

rather sensitive, especially when it relates to a career. Because while discussing the government,

it must consider both the positive and negative aspects. In certain societies, people are afraid to

voice their opinions openly, particularly when they are opposing the government or the dark side.

To protect and respect the interviewee, their name will not be exposed and will not be mentioned

in any form to avoid interruption to their personal life and work life or unforeseen problems that

may happen to the interviewee. Instead, I will replace their name with an anonymous or a make-

up name to guarantee safety. Furthermore, interviewees have the right to discontinue the interview

at any point or to respond to the interview questions. Importantly, the meeting will be held in a

private or suitable place, and all information will be confidential. If the interviewee does not

approve, no information will be used or shared.

Discussion and Limitation:

The purpose of this paper is to narrow down the topic so that it is more concise, clear, and

straightforward, rather than discussing random related topics that will make it broad and confusing

at points. The rectangular strategy phase IV must be focused, as the government has lately

concentrated on enforcing and executing it. The article will gather viewpoints from academics for

the discussion by analyzing their literatures and perspectives, including the conduct of four

interviews that are seen to be necessary key instruments to further the study of the research

question. This will broaden the views and understanding about the issue from several perspectives.

Interviewing different person from different places or occupations will provides an unique
perspective because different people have different perspectives or concepts of thinking, one

person may believe that the government is currently on the right track, whereas another person

may believe that the government is not on the right track; additionally, they may have left some

inputs that could be a great perspective for analyzing and deeply discussing in this paper.

Result:

The vast majority of Cambodians see that under the umbrella of Cambodia's national

development plan, particularly the most visible nation's plan, the rectangular strategy which

contained four pillars (Growth, Employment, Equity, and Efficiency) that were truly known as a

notion and principle ideas that brought Cambodia to keep changing its face. Transforming from an

unfamiliar country on the international stage to a country recognized by the globe as remarkably

developed, with vibrant economic development and tremendous social development.

Each interviewee, from a different background, highlighted how the national development

strategy is significant and ideally suited to strengthen the state's capability and economic

development in Cambodia's situation. Somehow, the widespread of Covid-19 virus remains a

contentious issue, with each of them constantly trying to depict and convey how it is wrecking and

negatively impacting the country's development, thereby slowing the process of achieving the

government's goals of becoming a middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by

2050.

I. The Impact of Rectangular Strategy Phase IV

 Throughout the four interviews I conducted, it was evident that each respondent was

inclined to portray and support the government. The majority of them indicate how government

functions act as a vital engine in guiding the country toward peace and prosperity. As a Ministry

of Foreign Affairs official, this interviewee expressed his great support and acknowledgement of

the hard work of executing the policies plan that had been enacted to promote the nation's interest.

Specifically, he stated that the government is trying to apply rectangular strategies to increase

bureaucratic effectiveness through the deployment of transparency and the performance-based

concept, which it believes would be an important factor in enhancing government accountability.

On the other hand, initiating the reform process internally would assist the government in

eradicating infectious or harmful elements in the governance system. He also stated that, according

to Prime Minister Hun Sen, he strives to implement the strategy plan through five approaches of

"taking a bath, looking into the mirror, scrubbing away the dirt, treating wounds, and conducting

surgery," which is deeply meaningful and reflects the entire process of being transparent for the

entire country to take action to cure the governance system in order to pursue good governance

and continuously strengthen governance performance.

While another interviewee, as an official from one of the non-governmental organizations,

recognized that all national development strategies bring and create the path for Cambodia to grow

in terms of social and economic development. He also mentioned that the Rectangular strategy is

the current dominating strategy plan that the Cambodian government is concentrating on, as it

assists Cambodia in achieving the achievement of beneficial in the prosperous of Cambodia's

economic development. In his perspective, the change from phase to phase is due to the

government accomplishing their objectives but also wishing to expand on the target with their

strong ambitions, concentrating more on the aspects that they believe Cambodia is lacking on, such
as the economic development, public service and inclusiveness of service delivering,

industrialization 4.0, education, and infrastructure. With the plans, they hope to restructure the

government system, aiming to ensure that issues at the subnational and national levels are expected

to tackles with ease, and to strengthen the aspects they highlighted in the strategy. However,

Industrialization is one of the remarkable approaches that could bring Cambodia's economic

market to be more advanced and competiveness with the ideals of openess. As it introduces and

shapes the Cambodian economy for more exclusivity, effectiveness, and efficiency.

Furthermore, another two interviewees (Civil Society) from the local village had the same

viewpoint on how government acts are critical to maintaining and stabilizing peace and prosperity

for development in society. They depict how current progress within the national development

strategy "the Rectangular Strategy" are shifting the country to be more advanced and

industrialized, including education, economy, and especially fighting corruption problems, which

are extraordinary a complicated issues that concern not only Cambodia but also the rest of the

world are dealing with. This problem must be addressed further in order to identify and treat the

root cause. It seems like the rectangular strategy is proving to be the remedy for problems such as

economic, political, environmental, and social issues that appear to be hindering the country's

development.

Somehow, education is one of the aspects that we simply cannot deny; good education

produces human resources, and human capital are the backbone of the country, the source that

ensures the nation continues to expand to its peak. In term of Economic aspect, Strengthening

competitiveness and promoting economic diversity are not just essential factors in guaranteeing

Cambodia's long-term development approach, but also a fundamental framework for creating high-

quality employment, increasing income, and improving people's livelihoods across the country.
Economic development is seen as a key player actor in the emergence of the nation ’s development.

The local communities strongly support this and claim it is inevitable, and it is necessary for

Cambodia's government to prioritize in order to preserve economic growth.

Each interviewee expresses their confusion with Cambodia's present growth. Each of them

didn't imagine Cambodia would develop so dramatically; following these, it is grateful to the

National Development Policy Plan for guiding and shaping the growth for more fruitful and lively

development. Cambodia is currently a middle-income nation that is working hard with it immense

ambitions to achieve its goal of becoming a high-middle-income country by 2030, and then a high-

income country by 2050. The government is important, and We certainly feel that they are on the

right track. From the country was at war, the society are fully with corruption and the vulnerable

of poverty, but in contrast to the present time, it's absolutely unbelievable to me. Not to mention,

w ith Cambodia's current situation and growth pace, I believe the government will achieve its aim

of becoming a high-middle income country by 2030 and would achieve their next status of

becoming a high-income country. Our development is accelerating to the point where we, as

citizens, do not believe Cambodia is growing at this pace.

II. The role of Civil Society

Throughout all of the interviewee’s assumptions, civil society has a vital role in ensuring

strong governance performance and overall country development. Civil society refers to those who

live in a society and are willing to participate in and contribute to the progress of the government

and the growth of the state. It is fundamentally critical for Civil Society or citizens to participate

in government work plans. The interconnectedness of civil society and government is extremely

advantageous and is considered as a social contract.The national strategies plan has underlined the
importance of the interaction between civil society and the government, as both must rely on each

other in order to assist and pursue each other's benefit.

For instance, the civil society's function as a contributor to give an input to the government,

in accordance with the process of the reform of law enforcement by the government, they will be

the ones who monitor to see if the implementation is accurate or ineffective. At the same time,

Civil society or citizens will provide input for implementing adjustments, this would be a main

factor for government to continue enhancing their works project especially to strengthening their

law enforcement with the effective and doable implementation. However, this occurs when the

people trust their leader and fully legitimize the government by supporting and believing in its

capabilities. Civil society interaction with the government is always necessary in terms of assisting

each other in sharing, discussing, and making decisions. This component was noted as a crucial

aspect to focus on, and the rectangular strategy also outlines how the government is striving to

enhance the relationships between civil society and each other for the sake of the nation.

III. The Covid-19 Outbreak

However, enormous challenges appear to confront Cambodia's society and government on

the road to development, as previously Cambodia had greatly improved in economic development

that produced, generated, and increased economic growth, public goods, and public services. As a

result, the global COVID-19 outbreak has created an unprecedented challenge for the public sector,

as the pandemic has dramatically disrupted economic and social activity in Cambodia, which will

be a huge blow to the country's economic growth. Throughout the difficult period, Cambodia has

successfully moved away from the impact of COVID quickly and effectively, in tandem with their

government's national strategic plan to restore economic growth.

 IV. The Recommendations

The respondents' expectations are very much focused on economic development, and they

believe that the larger the economic growth, the better for the country to push itself to a high degree

of development. Economic development is critical for all countries; no country can be considered

developed unless its economy is robust and growing rapidly. As a result, Cambodia should pay

more attention and focus on that area at this point. Cambodia is a small country with limited

capabilities and resources; we are not strong enough to export more than we import, but we should

use the opportunity to encourage more foreign investors to invest in Cambodia and pursue better

economic growth. Along with "the win-win policy," Prime Minister Hun Sen has stated: "Small

or big fish, just catch them all, it doesn't matter how small or huge it is, we should consider it as a

great opportunity for us to improve, it is equivalent to economic opportunities as even a small

investment or a big investment, both are Cambodia opportunities to grow, all we do is to continue

to encourage and look for more direct investment that would fullfill the country's development."

Including promoting the improvement of the country's infrastructure. Good infrastructure will keep

the country moving forward in any form, through trade, investment, and attracting foreign

investment.

Therefore, they also mentioned the good government and government accountability is first

and foremost aspect that the Cambodia government should reforms. As it is has become an

important aspect that every nation wishes to have. Every state including Cambodia is seeking good

government accountability to promote their state’s development as well as its economic

development. Failures in accountability and transparency hinder and block progress toward

effective governance. Poor governance weakens the state's capacity to provide basic public goods,

including social services and public goods, law enforcement, and the level of implementation of
policies. This is the actual fact that the big states will face the issues that lead to stagnant economic

development if they lack the accountability to fully control their country. The reform should be

carried out from the lowest to the top levels (subnational level to the national level).

Nonetheless, good governance is comprised with their performance and effectiveness

management and completely realized via human capital. Apparently, education is one of the

aspects that we simply cannot deny; good education produces human resources, and human capital

are the backbone of the country, the source that ensures the country continues to expand to its

peak. Especially the youth, also known as the future generation. Youth is seen as a potential human

resource. When human resources reach a sufficient level. There is no hesitation that the country

will not be in this position in the future; human resources will drive the country forward; the rate

of employment and skilled workers will rise, resulting in stronger overall economic growth.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the research is thoroughly analyzing the effectiveness of the national

development plan, particularly "the rectangle strategy" that the Royal Government of Cambodia

has adopted during this decades, from the beginning to the most recent phase (Phase IV). The

Rectangular Strategy is fundamentally critical for Cambodian government objectives to promote

the country's development. It is a policy in which the state reforms the structure from the lower to

the upper levels with the intention of improving productivity and effectiveness. Throughout the

research study, a study of the literature from those scholars is a key idea to explore more on top of

our research to dig down the fundamental information to comprehend more on the basis influential

and impactful of the government policies’ plan as it proven how it is beneficial to help foster and
achieve the overall development's growth. Also interviews will be conducted to gather aspirational

information that will be used to back up and support the research question of how the national

development strategy contributes to accelerating the Cambodia's development. Cambodia strives

and intends to develop a knowledge economy, with the objective of being an upper middle-income

nation by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050. Personally, We believe that the state will reach

its goals by 2050, namely high-income nation status, if the government continues its outstanding

performance and strategy implementation.

References:

1. ADB. (2019). Cambodia, 2019-2023-Inclusive Pathways to a Competitive economy.

Country Strategy framework, pp.8.

2. Avis, W. R. (2016). Key Policy challenges for urban governance. Urban governance, pp

22-40.

3. Baily, P. (2008), ‘Cambodian Small and Medium Sized: Enterprises: Constraints, Policies

and Proposals for Their Development’, in Lim, H. (ed.), SME in Asia and Globalization,

ERIA Research Project Report 2007-5, pp.1-14.

4. Baily, P. (2008), ‘Cambodian Small and Medium Sized: Enterprises: Constraints, Policies

and Proposals for Their Development’, in Lim, H. (ed.), SME in Asia and Globalization,

ERIA Research Project Report 2007-5, pp.18.

5. Chap Sotharith, Chhorn Sotheara (2019). “EEC Development and Transport Facilitation

Measures in Thailand, and the Development Strategies by the Neighboring Countries.

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Murg, OU Virak, Michael Renfrew, Cambodia 2040 Economic Development (pp. 16).

Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

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David Craig. (2007). Accountability's Evolution: Donor Conceptions. In H. V. Pak

Kimchoeun, Accountability and Neo-patrimonialism in Cambodia (p. 21-22). Phnom

Penh: Cambodia Development Resource Institute

8. Royal Government of Cambodia. (2018). Rectangular Strategy for Growth, Employment,

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accountability to reduce Poverty". Cambodia’s Governance and Accountability

Framework, pp 4-11.

13. WorldBank. (2020). Cambodia: Toward Performance-Based Civil Service. Civil Service,

pp 7-8.