Many countries succeed in generatinghigh economic growth at some point in their history. Butonly a very few manage to sustain rapid growth for anextended period. Only such a prolonged period of rapidgrowth can have a significant impact on income per capita,and such an impact often brings with it many other importantchanges to people's lives. Cambodia has more thandoubled its income per capita over the past decade, fromUS$285 in 1997 to US$593 in 2007. This doubling has beenaccompanied by the trappings of a profound structuraltransformation: integration into the global economy; a shiftof jobs from agriculture to manufacturing; a demographictransition; and migration from rural to urban areas.Translating into jobs and better services, these outcomeshave led to a significant reduction in poverty, as well asimprovements in health and education. This report aims tocontribute to policymakers' and citizens' thinkingabout growth in Cambodia in three ways: (i) it reviews theexperience of the past decade and draws theCambodia-specific lessons of this period; (ii) it sketchesthe major potential sources of growth with the aim ofassessing the barriers to growth; and (iii) it outlinespolicy options for addressing these barriers.
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