The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views or
policies of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), its Board of
Directors, or the governments they represent. ADBI does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this
paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use. Terminology used may not necessarily
be consistent with ADB official terms.

Country Paper Report

on Eco-Industrial Clusters in Cambodia
By H.E. Prof. Dr. CHHUN Vannak, Secretary-General and Member of
National Council on Green Growth,
General Secretariat for Green Growth
National Council on Green Growth
Ministry of Environment
With Certain information about the SMEs from Ms. Sovatha Sok,
Officer of the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy
NATIONAL CONTEXT
General Indicators
Population (2010) and population
density 1
GDP (PPP, US$ 2010) 1

SCP Indicators
14.1 million
and 78.1 people
per km2
$30.4bn

Per-capita material use and material

intensity (2005) 4
Per-capita energy use and energy
intensity (2005) 4

1.8 tonnes/
4.3 kg per
US$
14.82 GJ/
35.71 MJ per
US$

$2,150

Per-capita water use (2007) 5

GDP per capita, constant 2000

US$ (2010) 1

$551

Per-capita GHG emissions (2005) 6

1.5 tonnes

Gini coefficient (2009) 2

40.7

GHG emissions intensity (2005) 6

0.74 kg per
US$

HDI Rank (2010) 3

124

Per-capita CO2 footprint (2008) 7

0.63 tonnes

GDP per capita (PPP, US$), 2010

160 m3

Agricultural land per capita

(2008) 1
Forest cover (2010) 1

0.004 km
57.2%

Number of middle class consumers

(2010) 8

8%

Number of people with income

<$2/day (PPP, US$) (2010) 8

92%

Sources: (1) World Bank (2011), (2) UNDP (2009), (3) UNDP (2010), (4) CSIRO and UNEP (2011),
(5)
FAO (2010); (6) World Bank (2011); (7) Peters et al. (2011); (8) ADB (2010).

According to the General Population Census of Cambodia 2008 report (2009) during the
1998-2008 decade, Cambodias urban demography has recorded 24.77 of percentage
decadal growth rate, and 2.21 percent for annual growth rate, compared to the rural with
only 1.3 percent annually. The rapid demographic growth in the urban areas exerts
pressure on the state of environment and increases demand for water and energy
consumption. The Population Census report also shows that almost 47 percent of
households in Cambodia have access to improved water sources for 2008, relative to 21

percent in 1998. Further, based on the 2008 Census, 76% of the total population had
access to improved water supply in urban areas in 2008, compared to that of 60% in
1998.
In Industry Sector Performance Report 2011, Cambodias industry sector contributing to
GDP has increased from around 5-6% in 1993 to about 26-27% in 2008, and has attracted
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) more than other sector. In 2009, the share of industry
sector to the total FDI attraction reached 36.5%. It created 500,000 jobs in 2008. Such
share came from the garment industry, accounting for about 75% of total large scale
industry, while the small and medium size industries are only to do with food processing.
In fact the growth in food, beverage and tobacco sector rose doubly from 3% in 2007 to
6% in 2008.
The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has comprehensive policies to create an
enabling environment for macroeconomic stability through private-public partnership,
and conducive framework for the growth of small and medium enterprises with ecoindustrial policy and enhance low carbon growth, while mitigating and adapting to
climate change impacts, thereby reducing poverty nationwide and quickly achieving the
Millennium Development Goals. The RGCs policies prioritize environmental
sustainability and eco-industry as a core of national sustainable economic growth and
development and balancing ecological conservation and safety with the sustained socioeconomic development of the country.
The RGCs focused policies include the implementation of simultaneous mitigation and
adaption policies, a high priority on forest conservation, efficient energy generation,
renewable energy, green growth, sustainable integrated water resources management and
agriculture development, as well as development of the private sector and facilitation of
small and medium enterprises. The RGC also ensures the implementation of a principle
of Doing More with Less and Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns for
resource efficiency, to decouple the countrys economic growth from environmental
degradation.
In Rectangular Strategy III (2013-2018) of the Fifth mandate of the Royal Government
of Cambodia, good governance still serves as the core of achieving social justice and
sustainable and equitable socio-economic development of the country. In achieving this,
key reform programs are highly committed to (1) the fight against corruption; (2) legal
and judicial reform; (3) public administration reform; and (4)reform of armed forces, as
well as other reform programs, i.e. public financial management reform, land reform, and
forestry and fisheries reform.
The Rectangular Strategy in Phase I, II and III remains targeting at assuring Growth,
Employment, Equity and Efficiency. In that regard, the Government pursues and
strengthens long-term sustainable development to arrive at comprehensively inclusive
growth and green growth through the promotion of economic growth, jobs creation,
equitable and fair distribution of growth, and effectiveness of public institutions and

sound management of natural resources as well as full development of small and medium
enterprises.
The Government reinforces the Rectangular Strategy implementation by assuring
macroeconomic stability with the private sector as the locomotive of growth, job
opportunity and land sufficient for farmers and ensuring the forest conservation.
Obviously, the strategy is mainly focused on the achievement of sustainable
development, taking environmental sustainability as a core principle of broad
development. These days, national economic growth centers on agriculture, agroindustry, tourism, garment, small medium enterprises (SMEs) and construction. In
ensuring effectiveness of the strategy, agricultural development is struck with balance to
sound forestry management and land for farmers and agro-industry for the countrys
overall socio-economic growth, aiming at poverty eradication and sustainable
development.
In assuring inclusive green growth for the poverty eradication and sustainable
development, Cambodia has very high political commitment to green growth as a means
for poverty reduction, social progress, environmental sustainability and economic
prosperity.
In following a Global Green New Deal for socio-economic development, Cambodia has
achieved the following:
-Through cooperation with UNESCAP, KOICA and line ministries, in 2010, Cambodia
established National Green Growth Road with focuses on 7 Accesses:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Access to water resources management and sanitation;

Access to food security (agriculture) and nonchemical products;
Access to sustainable landuse;
Access to renewable energy and energy efficiency;
Access to information and knowledge;
Access to means for better mobility and
Access to finance and investments.

-In March 2011, Cambodia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Green Growth

Cooperation, represented by Ministry of Environment with Global Green Growth
Institute (GGGI or 3GI) then represented by the Republic of Korea. On 20 June 2012,it
signed an Agreement on the Establishment of Global Green Growth Institute as an
international organization during the Rio+20 Earth Summit. In February 2013, it ratified
a Law on Allowing Cambodia a Membership to the Agreement on the Establishment of
Global Green Growth Institute.
Green Growth Institutionalization:
-In September 2012, Government established National Council on Green Growth and
General Secretariat for Green Growth. Its primary roles are to coordinate implementation
of green growth activities, formulate law, policy, strategy, action plan and programs;

implement the Road Map, green growth policy and strategy and the ratified Law on
Allowing Cambodia a membership to the GGGI.
Through the green institutions, Green Growth in Cambodia is focused on a WinWin Approach among four pillars: Economy, Environment, Society and Culture.
Balanced and inclusive Green Growth is a direction and target of the government,
focused on coherently integrating the greening of economic activities into the
overall development of the country with the right balance to environmental
sustainability, social progress, poverty alleviation and cultural heritage
conservation.
Following the United Nations Resolution 65 Harmony with Nature and Resolution on
the Rio+20 Outcome on the Future We Want, Cambodia in March 2013 established
National Policy on Green Growth and National Strategic Plan on Green Growth 20132030.
Green Growth Policy is:
To strike balance of economic development with environment, society, culture
and sustainable use of natural resources through integration, matching, adaption,
as well as harmonization between a green growth principle and national policy.
To enhance the well-being and livelihood of all people in harmonization with
ecological safety, based on green economy, blue economy, environment
protection, social safety net system, and preservation of national cultural identity.
Green Growth Strategy has 9 Strategies:
1. Green investment and green jobs creation;
2. Green economy management in balance with environment;
3. Blue economy development with sustainability
4. Green environment and natural resources management
5. Human resources development and green education;
6. Effective green technology management;
7. Promotion of a green social safety system
8. Uphold and preservation of green cultural heritage and national identity;
9. Good governance on green growth.
In a process of implementing National Green Growth Policy and Strategy, the concerned
Line Ministries and Institutions greatly engage in protecting environment, whereby
each line ministry has taken an environmental area as a core strategy in planning their
development, according to the seven accesses, and implements their development
projects in accordance with their concerned fields. For examples, Ministry of Tourism is
carrying out the movement of good urban and good recreation centers, and increasing
eco-tourist places, which really illustrates its full participation in environmental
protection and biodiversity conservation. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery is
promoting non-chemical products through the use of organic fertilizers. The Ministry of
Industry, Mines and Energy is producing renewable energy, especially bio-gas and other
natural gas (Methane, Biomass) and solar energy. The Ministry of Water Resources and
Meteorology leads management and conservation of water sources and water resources.

The Royal Government continues to implement Decentralization and De-concentration

Policy to enhance responsibility of the local and sub-national authorities to actively
participate in development and protection of environment effectively.
The Government also strengthens and recognizes participation rights of the public in the
betterment of their livelihoods and keeping, protecting and managing natural resources
sustainably, as well as promotes communities already established, including: Forestry
Communities, Fishery Communities and Protected Areas Communities, Etc.
According to the Rectangular Strategy III (2013-2018), the Royal Government of
Cambodia is highly committed to create an enabling business environment for small and
medium enterprises through the enhanced regulatory framework, innovation and
technology enhancement, broadened access to finance, efficient support services and
integration of SMEs into global value chain.
Attributed to the conducive business climate for the SMEs established by the
government, industrial development base has expanded to a new range of industries
including machinery assembly, electronics, spare parts, manufacture, agro-processing,
and other manufacturing industries. In 2012, the number of SMEs grew to over 38,00,
thus having created more than185,000 jobs.
To promote the SMEs growth and competitiveness, based on the Rectangular Strategy III,
the Royal Government of Cambodia places top priorities on:
1. Industrial development policy formulation through (1) expansion of industrial
base supported by increased attractiveness of Cambodia to investors and
investment promotion, i.e. modernization of SMEs; and (2) improved connectivity
with regional production networks to integrate with and move up the global value
chains.
2. Science and technology policy formulation to increase research and development
capability of Cambodia.
3. SMEs Development Framework upgrding to be consistent with the industrial
development policy raising competitiveness of the SMEs and form a cluster while
promoting entrepreneurship, productivity, creativity, innovation and
specialization through introduction and implementation of a comprehensive
package of supporting measures, such as clustering, enhanced technology transfer,
increased access to finance, strengthened technical standards, establishment of
business development counseling centers, promotion of one village one
product movement and improvement of regulatory framework as well as
strengthened institutional coordination.
4. Aligning private sector development and investment policies with SME and
industrial development policy especially through full participation by all
stakeholders, i.e. investment in industrial clusters and industrial parks through

promoting the adoption of Law on Special Economic Zones to fit the international
standards.
For Cambodias Growth Pattern of the Small and Medium Enterprises, according to the
report 2005 of the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, microenterprises comprise
fewer than 10 employees, Small enterprises between 11 and 50, Medium between 51 and
100 and Large between 100 or more 500, 0000.
According to Report 2008 of National Institute of Statistics and Report 2011 of
Cambodia Development Research Institute, SMEs constituted a large proportion, 98.3
percent of the 33,195 manufacturing establishments in 2007. The SME start-up growth
rate was at about 3.5 percent between 1998 and 2007 annually, hence having 32,619
establishments in 2007. Among the categories of the SMEs, it was noticed in food,
beverages and tobacco sector as the largest proportion (80.9 percent), followed by
fabricated metal products (8.8 percent) and textile, wearing apparel and leather (4.5
percent) of the total in2007. In the same year, the SMEs employment rose by 8.9 percent
compared to a year earlier, from 87,072 to 94,835. Such increase indicated18.9 percent of
total enterprise employment. Note that the total production of SMEs increased at an
annual rate of 30.2 percent between 1998 and 2007, composed of USD636.2 million in
2007.
In the 2005 SME Development Framework, the government through its established
subcommittee on Small and Medium Enterprises concentrates on the implementation of
the initiatives, including: (1) business development services, (2) access to markets
through information sharing, (3) technology and human resources upgrading and (4)
linkages between SMEs.
Based on the Corporate Strategy 2015 of General Department of Industry (GDI) of the
Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, Cambodia is highly productive and competitive
through promoting industry diversification and value addition for sustainable economic
growth, largely relying on comparative advantages and impacts on human development.
The 2015 SMEs promotion strategy is focused on: 1. Promotion of industry
diversification sustains rapid economic growth 2. Development of an effective
mechanism to support domestic producers or processors to render Cambodia having
domestic productive competitiveness 3. Enhancing good governance to prevent industries
and SMEs from exploiting investment and economic opportunities 4. Placing more
emphasis on innovation, technology adoption, and increase productivity 5. Promoting
more economic linkage and regional cooperation and integration to address new
challenges and opportunities.
In the Rectangular Strategy III, Sustainable Management of National Resources is a top
priority of the Royal Government of Cambodia. The Government concentrates on the
management and conservation of forest and fisheries resources to ensure the
sustainability of economic growth and improvement in livelihoods of rural population by
further implementing forest community programs, monitoring forest exploitation,

enforcing the Law on Forestry and strict measures against forest offenses; strengthening
the management of protected areas, and deepening the reform of management of fishing
lots and fisheries.
The successful implementation of the Rectangular Strategy II and National Strategic
Development Plan update 2009-2013 includes: (1) in the forestry sector, forest cover was
maintained at approximately 10 million ha or equivalent to 60% of the total land area,
and 2,020 Km of the protected area boundary was demarcated along with the
establishment of 453 forest communities in 19 provinces covering 399,880 ha of forests;
and (2) in the fisheries sector, while abolishing fishing lots, the Royal Government
created 516 fisheries communities and 354 conservation zones within the fisheries
community area, alongside 50 new conservation areas and 8 fisheries conservation zones
in Tonle Sap lake covering 22,500 ha; in particular the flooded forest surrounding Tonle
Sap lake of 647,000hawas well protected.
In the Fifth mandate, the Royal Government of Cambodia targets at striking a balance
between development and conservation, in particular, increase the contribution of
natural resources to the development of agriculture sector by ensuring:(1) green cover,
forest and wildlife conservation; (2) the sustainability of fisheries resources; and (3) the
sustainability of the eco-system, so that the quality of land and sustainability of water
sources could be improved by focusing on the protection of biodiversity, wetlands and
coastal areas. It also aimed at improving the effectiveness and equity in the exploitation
of natural resources, by: (1) clearly determining the ownership of natural resources; (2)
developing an appropriate incentive scheme for the conservation of natural resources and
empowering the sub-national government, communities and individuals to participate in
their conservation by focusing on training, information sharing as well as strengthening
social capital, and institutional accountability and transparency; and (3) reinforcing
cooperation with the concerned stakeholders under the framework of green growth and
climate change.
According to the environmental protection and conservation policy, the conservation
areas throughout the country covers about 4 million hectares of forest lands, and the
community- based management of the forest (CF) and protected areas (PA) consists of
about 2 million hectares. 6 000,000 hectares of forest lands are estimated to be managed
under the carbon credit scheme. In the deep fishery reform, Cambodia has dedicated
over 100 000 hectares of flooded forest for fish habitat in the Great Lake Tonle sap where
the total areas of the lake in the dried season are about 300 000 hectares.
The overall environmental and economic achievements are illustrated as follows:
The Royal Government of Cambodia under prominent intelligent leadership of Samdech
Akka Moha SenaPadei HUN SEN, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia has
effectively introduced WIN-WIN Strategy in 1998, successfully implemented
Rectangular Strategy and since then, the country has gained full peace, maintained
political and macroeconomic stability. Because of the political stability, GDP growth rate

has averaged around 10% per year in the 1998-2008 decade; 6%-7% for 2010 and 2011
and 7.3% in 2012, and for poverty, it was reduced from 39% in 1993 to 20% in 2012.
Cambodia has moved away from a socio-economic situation of having not enough food
in the early 1990s to exporting over million tons of rice in 2012.
Adding to that, the government focuses on intensive agriculture with high policy in water
for rice cultivation. Here, water is well recognized as having a critical role in enhancing
agricultural productivity and rice production as well as ecological safety system. In that
regard, the conservation of the forest as the crucial sources of water resources is highly
needed, and needs to be enforced.
In strengthening its economic development and effectiveness in land reform, the
government has introduced Old Policy New Action on Land to allocate public land
for farmers, following a Slogan, No Farmers without Land for Cultivation, and under
Samdech Prime Ministers Expression, Deforestation planning for agricultural land
dividing into two strategies, i.e. one to respond to the peoples need of farmlands for our
farmers increasing from 1979 to 6 million people, and today our population increases
almost triple; second, land concession for Agro-industrial plantations, such as rubber,
palm oil and sugar canes and so on for the assurance of macroeconomic stability and job
creation for the youth.
In effectively implementing the Old Policy and New Action, the government has issued
main principles strategies as follows: Assuring the balance of economic development
with the sustainable management and forest conservation 9.2 million hectares or 57% of
the total forest cover relative to the entire surfaces of the countrys total territory equal to
18,103,500 square kilometers.
Contributing to the governments policy implementation, the private sector fully supports
the policy of the government in improving the quality of life through the land concession
areas, such as building infrastructure, roads, schools, and health centers and so on. They
have also assisted in vocational training for environmental management, aquaculture,
apiculture and livestock, poultry development and encouraging them to promote agro
industry family farming in order to increase more their income better than rice
production.
Adjunct to the Land Reform, the government has implemented Deep Reform on
Fishery and Forestry to redress the poverty issues and reinforce sound management of
natural resources and forestry conservation. As a result of a success in the governments
recent fishery reform, fish stock has increased and the price of fish in todays domestic
market is made cheaper and affordable for all.
According to the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authoritys (PPWSA) report (28 March
2011), its water supply service currently covers around 90% in the Greater Phnom Penh,
while the piped water coverage in the urban areas outside Phnom Penh attains over 31%
on average.

Water supply as well as waste and wastewater treatment infrastructure remains limited in
the urban areas of Phnom Penh. According to the Environment Management Master Plan
in Cambodia developed in December 2009 by the Ministry of Environment of Cambodia
with close cooperation and technical assistance from the Ministry of Environment of the
Republic of Korea, public waste generation of Phnom Penh is around 1,100 ton per day,
63% of which is organic waste. The study also indicates about 1,700 ton of medical and
hazardous wastes generated per year, some of which are incinerated, and the rest are
illegally thrown or buried in the unsanitary landfill. Due to the unsanitary landfill in the
suburb harming public health, i.e. bad smell, and polluting underground water and soil,
the Stung Mean Chey landfill was closed down in August 2009. The Dangkor landfill, as
the new one, also poses environmental pollution as a consequence of unsanitary practices,
which in turn increases demand for sanitary landfills in the urban and suburban of Phnom
Penh.
According to the Feasibility Study of Sewage Treatment Plant in Phnom Penh (March
2011) resulting from the joint work between the Ministry of Environment of Cambodia
and that of Korea, about 200, 000 ton of wastewater in Phnom Penh with over 1.3 million
as of 2008 is generated daily, and the sewage is mostly discharged to the swamp in the
south and north through a combined sewer, which then flows into the river after natural
purification. In the urban areas, sewage treatment counts on self-purification, including
individual or domestic septic tank and combined sewage system. Actually, only Siem
Reap province and Preah Sihanouk have a public wastewater treatment plants,
respectively.
To deal with key water and environmental issues in the urban, the Millennium
Development Goals of Cambodia (2000) are to have the improved water supply reaching
80% of the urban population, and the improved sanitation reaching 74% of them by 2015.
In 2003, the national policy on water and sanitation was ratified by the Council of
Ministers, as a result of joint preparation by the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy
(MIME) and the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD). For the urban water sector, the
policy provides guidance on water supply approaches, private sector participation, tariffs,
subsidies, autonomous public utilities and a regulatory body. In the urban sanitation
sector, the policy offers directions for technology choices, management and financing of
sanitation systems at different levels.
The MIMEs 2004 urban water supply strategies covered five major reforms: 1. policies
and laws strengthening institutional reform 2. changing public governance, i.e. policy
setting, overall planning and the government-sponsored programs practices 3. setting up
an autonomous and independent regulator for the water supply sector 4. establishing
autonomous public utilities, i.e. state-owned enterprises able to replicate successes of the
Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) 5. promoting participation from the
private sector in the implementation and operation of water supply systems. Its Action
Plan of the Urban Water Supply (2009-2013) seeks to promote private sector partnership,
strengthen public waterworks management and integrate urban water supply into urban
environmental sustainability.

In managing wastewater flowing rate and reducing the pollutants from household
wastewater as well as avoiding flooding, Phnom Penh Municipality under its 2010 budget
has renovated some of water canals and sewer system. In the Authoritys report (2011)
on Phnom Penh Environmentally Sustainable City for ASEAN Award, the Municipality
completed installation of all kinds of sewers: 78,934 m; repairs of all kinds of sewers:
1,000m; maintenance of channels: 1,55,771m; restoration of water reservoirs:274,950
cubic meters and dredging of water from the city: 1,009,479,707 cubic meters (around
1010 million cubic meters). Under international grant projects, restoration of drainage
system in the Boeung Trabek watershed was finished in 2003, and flood prevention
project and renovation of drainage system in Phnom Penh, Phases I and II completed
between 2002 and 2004 with the Japanese Governments financial assistance covers the
city and the suburban areas, i.e. Svay Pak, Boeung Tompun Dam, Boeung Salang and
Stoeung Meanchey channel.
The Phnom Penh Municipality has used privatization to increase effectiveness in waste
management services, through the concept, Jointly Implement for Our Clean City. This
involves commune and district authorities in regularly providing instructions to the
people in their localities to well manage their garbage by placing it properly and
following a collection schedule. Further, waste is transformed into gas by having built
five biogas units operated in the landfill site for using the slaughterhouse waste to
produce biogas. Over 1200 tons of waste is estimated to be reduced annually. Green
spaces have also been increased through the establishment of 66 parks and planting a
total of about 50,000 trees in the city.
The success of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) is as a result of its
institutional reform, including water management, governance and proper pricing. In
1993, the PPWSA had only 25, 000 customers with 10 hour/day services, and only 28%
of the water production was sold, while the non-revenue water reached as high as 72%. In
fact, its effective reforms for a merit-based management structure, capacity building
investment, metering all water connections, improving water bill collection with updating
customers databases has transformed the PPWSA into an independent unit of full cost
recovery and with 600 employees. Its fee collection rate is, now, 99.9%, thereby cutting
the non revenue water from 72% to 6%. The PPWSAs report (2011) illustrated that
1,904 poor families received subsidies of 100%, and through the clean water supply
program for all since 1999, the poor had saved a total sum of USD 8 millions.
In broadening access to water supply and clean water for people in the urban areas of
Phnom Penh city, the established environment management master plan (2009) and the
feasibility study of sewage treatment plant in Phnom Penh (March 2011) do illustrate an
urgent public action to be taken, in particular construction of water supply connections
and wastewater treatment system. These open up an opportunity for private investors to
invest more in the urbanization sector of Cambodia. As an agrarian economy, the country
is vulnerable to climate change, causing frequent drought and water shortage, i.e.
insufficient rainfall in the dry season, excess rainfall in the wet season. Recently, the
government under the direction of the Ministry of Environment has been carrying out

Cambodia Climate Change Alliance (CCCA) with development partners and Strategic
Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), along with an on-going implementation of
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) in enhancing
carbon sinks. Such climate resilient activities help Cambodia, including the city, the
urban and rural areas keep natural capital, which in return protects water sources.

Conclusion
To achieve sustainable environmental solutions to emerging issues in the city, urban and
suburban areas, there is a need to encourage a low carbon economy. This should involve
green growth initiatives and actions at national, regional and global levels, following the
principle of Doing more with less. It is also necessary to promote renewable energy
generation efficiency and carbon sinks through the REDD and climate resilient programs.
Decoupling economic growth process is necessary to leave a good ecological footprint
and keep sustainable water sources and resources, together with a leapfrogging approach
to decouple economic growth from overconsumption of water for irrational purposes.
Essentially, sustainable water solutions engage private-public investments in water
supply systems and the water practices need to have unsustainable water consumption
and production patterns shifting to sustainable ones based on behavior and production
lifecycle.
In order for the Governments Rectangular Strategy to be effectively implemented in the
context of the SMEs development and enhancement, the broad SME Development
Framework aims at key priorities such as (i) enhancement of regulatory and legal
framework, (ii) access to finance, and (iii) SME support activities. There is also the need
for streamlining and reducing the cost of company registration. It is necessary to establish
a regulatory review process and recourse mechanism to reduce the numerous and
overlapping number of licenses issued by most Ministries and imposing a severe burden
on SMEs. It is also found necessary for establishing a commercial legal framework as an
important part of the strategy, and improving access to finance for SMEs. The SME
subcommittee needs to address challenges to the SMEs, such as (i) collateral and land
titling; (ii) leasing; (iii) credit information sharing; (iv) simplified accounting for SMEs;
and (v) non-bank financial institutions, as well as improving SMEs access to credit, (VI)
improving support activities for SMEs.
The implementation of environmental laws and regulations is necessitated for sound
management of natural resources and productivity of eco-industry in Cambodia. In
Article 58 & 59 of the Constitution of Cambodia, environmental protection ranging from
preservation of natural resources on the surface and in the underground is to assure
sustainability of ecology and environment as a whole for the future of the country.
Environmental sustainability is indicated through the achievements of the 23 protected
areas, national parks, forestry communities, fishery communities, watershed
management, biodiversity conservation, water preservation, underground water

conservation, environmental impacts assessment, pollution control, greening activities

through inclusive green growth.
The sub-decrees on water pollution control and wastewater management, together with
the sub-decree on EIAs provide a legal framework for the sound management of water to
achieve sustainable clean, equitable, safe and zero-waste bound water. The Ministry of
Environment has introduced and practiced Three Cs, Clean Air, Clean Land and Clean
Water in assuring the quality of environment and enhancing water quality for the
population by fully integrating the principle of 3 Rs, Reduce, Recycle and Re-use as a
product life cycle for sound environmental governance and management. The MOE fully
carries out its functions and mandate by not allowing Cambodia to become a dumping
industrial waste site of foreign countries.