Essential information and facts about Cambodia: Capital Phnom Penh
Total Area Population Median age Religion
Ethnic Groups Languages
Chief of State
181,
035sq.km 16.89 million 26.4 years
Buddhist (official)
Khmer (95%), Cham, Chinese Khmer (official)
Currency Riels (KHR)
Government type Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
King Norodom Sihamoni (2004)
Head of Government Prime Minister Hun Sen (since 1985)
Elections Monarch chosen by nine member Royal Council of the Trone among eligible males of royal descent. Following elections member of the majority party of majority coalition named Prime Minister
Unemployment 2 per cent Tourism 6.6m (2019)
policy and allow Chinese tourists back into Cambodia. Prior to Covid, Cambodia had more than 200 licensed casinos. Almost all casinos closed down during the pandemic whilst last year 143 of these reapplied for their annual licence – under the new law casinos must renew their licence each year.
Since then the country has been battling with a series of problems and issues. Tere are reports that local workers apparently earn 4.5 times less than their Chinese colleagues. Rising costs of living is making it difficult for locals to survive, whilst there are reports of forced labour, human trafficking and poor working conditions.
Tere are also violations and allegations of forcing builders to work within the construction industry during the Covid outbreak. In 2019, a hotel development in conjunction with a new casino in Sihanoukville collapsed, due to poor construction, killing 28 Cambodians.
In Phnom Penh there have been repeated protests from employees at Naga World over pay, working conditions and redundancies. Laid off workers at the Naga World casino have been protesting since December 2021 over layoffs. Tey claim the Malaysian owned firm is trying to destroy their trade union (the only casino in the country to have union representation).
Many strikes have resulted in police brutality or arrests and court proceedings, whilst a union leader, Chhim Sithar, who had led the strikes for two years, was jailed recently and charged with incitement.
Before mass layoffs in 2020, Naga World employed around 8,300 workers with 1,300 workers selected for termination in 2021 of which 1,100 were union members.
P54 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
NEW BEGINNINGS
But amid all the disastrous news Cambodia is fighting back and there are some significant changes.
In response to the issues in Sihanoukville, the government is drawing up an action plan to address the 400 or so incomplete buildings left deserted in the area whilst there are talks of tripling the one million population with visa- friendly regimes for foreigners and tax incentive schemes for new investors.
Te aim is to develop Sihanoukville into a multi- purpose special economic zone and make Cambodia a high middle-income country by 2030.
Te ministry is also offering legal assistance to settle any issues between landowners and construction companies and new investors although progress is slow and proving difficult.
Te area has more than 1,000 high-rise buildings of which 400 have been left unfinished and abandoned mostly during the Covid lockdowns, whilst a crackdown on illegal gambling has also led to many projects being suspended.
It has been said there were more than 1,600 construction projects in Sihanoukville between 2017 and November 2021 of which 600 were high-rise mostly with Chinese investment.
Te Ministry of Economy and Finance has been instructed to fix the issue and a special committee has now been set up to look at Sihanoukville’s real estate sector.
Te International Monetary Fund predicts a
robust expansion in certain sectors such as export, services, and tourism during the second half of this year. Te World Bank predicts that Cambodia’s economic growth will rank third among the other ASEAN countries with a forecasted growth rate of 5.2 per cent for 2023.
Chinese tourists numbered 2.36 million in 2019 generating $1.8m in revenue whilst Chinese investment in tourism related sectors accounted for 50 per cent of total foreign direct investment. Cambodia wants economic growth to return to pre-Covid levels with investment and tourism from China with plans for infrastructure development too.
Real estate is poised for a surge presenting an ideal opportunity for investors. However, there
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