Overview
Cambodia is a South-East Asian country, with a population of just over 17 million people. 75% of its people live in rural areas and 50% are under 30. In the past few decades, Cambodia has achieved significant socio-economic progress but the social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic were significant. It is therefore crucial to maintain sustainable socio-economic growth, reduce vulnerability and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Cambodia is one of the 10 member states of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Our partnership
The EU is committed to assisting Cambodia in realising sustainable and inclusive growth, aligned with the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) for 2024-2028, the accompanying Pentagonal Strategy-Phase 1 for the same period, as well as the EU’s Global Gateway and Indo-Pacific Strategies. Our initiatives are designed to support Cambodia's goal of advancing from a lower-middle-income to an upper-middle-income country by 2030, with the aspiration of achieving high-income status by 2050.
Team Europe in Cambodia brings together the European Union (including the European Investment Bank), Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The second Joint European Development Cooperation Strategy (JES) for 2021-2027 establishes a comprehensive framework for European cooperation in Cambodia. Within this strategic framework, the EU has allocated €155 million and a further € 80 million for the 2025-2027 period to bolster Cambodia's integration into ASEAN. This financial support aims to foster green growth and create decent job opportunities, thereby enhancing Cambodia's economic recovery and strengthening its resilience in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, investments are being mobilised through the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), further amplifying the impact of these efforts.
EU-Cambodia partnership documents can be found in the 'Related documents' section below.
Our key initiatives
- Green growth and decent jobs
EU cooperation with Cambodia on green growth spans a wide range of issues from resource management to improving Cambodia’s internal connectivity. Specific actions include:
- Promoting investment in sustainable production practices and supporting Cambodia’s switch to a sustainable agri-food system that meets safety standards.
- Enhancing overall agricultural productivity, including by investing in Cambodian infrastructure, value chains, and skills trainings.
- Helping Cambodia improve its aquaculture and fisheries.
- Boosting sustainable food packing and plastic waste management.
- Helping Cambodia shift to clean energy, sustainable energy practices, and a modernised electric grid.
- Helping produce an action plan for more circular practices in industry and public procurement.
- Investing in operationalising the Bakheng water treatment plant, along with scholarships for the professionals able to man it.
- Investing in rural road rehabilitation, canal rehabilitation, and civil aviation.
- Supporting Cambodia’s trade and private sector, including through:
- access to finance for sustainable value chains.
- support for institutions with strengthened regulations.
- Harmonising Cambodia’s intellectual property practices with the rest of ASEAN.
- Strengthening ASEAN’s digital policies and regulations.
- Cooperating on port safety.
- Including Cambodia in EU-Asian cooperation on competition and subsidies control.
- Education and skills development
Education and skills remain a strong priority for EU intervention in Cambodia for the 2024-2027 period. The EU-Cambodia Education Partnership in Education for Green and Digital Jobs brings investments to produce the middle- to high-level technicians the country needs to implement its industrial policy, in the short- and medium-long terms.
The current work focuses on:
- Reducing gender barriers to accessing secondary and tertiary education, with an emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects to better prepare students for careers in climate-change adaptation and mitigation, hand-in-hand with digitalisation.
- Promoting peer-to-peer exchanges with European teachers and civil servants, focusing on improving the curriculum and teacher training to implement a European-inspired, Cambodian-adapted Work-Based Learning, in line with private sector needs.
- Including a total of 500 university scholarships in STEM in the national budget.
The EU flagship Erasmus+ programme continues financing exchange programmes for students and lecturers between Team Europe and Cambodia. Cambodia is the fifth country in Asia to receive funds for Capacity Building in Higher Education. Annually, the EU organises a Study in Europe Fair to showcase to Cambodian students the value-for-money quality opportunities of pursuing higher education in Europe.
- Good governance
The EU has worked with Cambodia in support of the Public Finance reform since 2005. In coordination with other donors, the EU leads the Public Finance Management (PFM) policy dialogue with the government.
Key actions included:
- Providing more than €50 million since 2015 in financial support to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, as well as additional technical assistance support.
- Ensuring support for continued public finance management reforms until 2028.
- Supporting the introduction of a new Financial Management Information System to increase and modernisation of domestic revenue mobilisation, as well as to increase budget transparency and competitiveness in public procurement.
- Empowering Cambodian civil society organisations to hold their government accountable and to promote transparency, particularly on topics such as land rights, environmental conservation, labour rights, gender equality, education and rural development.
