Cambodia – Country Engagement Note and Land Allocation for Social and Economic 

Development (LASED) Project II

U.S. Position

May 19, 2016

Cambodia’s track record in boosting economic growth and reducing poverty over the last decade 

is impressive. Cambodia’s openness to trade and investment propelled annual growth to over 7 

percent for the past decade. Policies designed to promote inclusive growth have helped reduce 

the proportion of the population living below the poverty line from 52 percent in 2004 to 17 

percent in 2012. 

Despite Cambodia’s impressive economic growth and the strong decline in poverty rates, the 

country must still confront key challenges – reducing corruption, adopting a more open and 

transparent approach to governance, and reforming its land tenure system – in order to deliver 

equitable and inclusive growth that benefits all of the country’s citizens.

Regrettably, the United States questions the Government of Cambodia’s commitment to these 

priorities and therefore cannot support new lending to Cambodia at this time. The United States

also questions whether the Bank has fully absorbed the lessons of previous projects – such as 

LASED I – in developing this CEN and the four projects that are being presented to the Board 

today. 

In recent years, the World Bank has consistently noted the importance of citizen feedback to 

support stronger development outcomes, culminating in the adoption of the 2014 Strategic 

Framework for Citizen Engagement. Unfortunately, the Government of Cambodia appears to be 

reducing its openness to feedback from its citizens and civil society groups. The United States

hears consistent complaints that the Cambodian government – at all levels – is growing less 

responsive to citizen feedback, and the concept of citizen engagement is absent from this CEN 

despite being a prominent pillar in the last country assistance strategy. Recent events also call 

into question the independence of Cambodia’s judiciary and its ability to play a key role in 

ensuring the equitable and transparent implementation of development projects. In a country 

where such a large percentage of the population remains at or near the poverty line and civil 

society groups are often prevented from expressing their views, the United States would have 

expected greater focus in this CEN on supporting the government to strengthen its commitment 

to citizen engagement and good governance. 

The United States also has concerns about the government’s commitment to appropriately 

manage the difficult issue of land tenure reform. While the United States recognizes that land 

tenure reform and land reallocation are particularly difficult issues in Cambodia, the reticence of 

the government to provide appropriate compensation for citizens evicted from their land under 

previous projects does not provide the United States with confidence that the authorities will deal 

with its citizens equitably in the future. The United States also notes significantly different 

reporting on the results and impact of other Bank projects in the area of land reallocation. While 

the Bank contends that the LASED I project was satisfactory in its implementation, independent 

reporting from local Cambodian civil society organizations documents serious issues with the 
project and calls into question the project rating. It is unfortunate that the LASED project 

appraisal document neither notes nor addresses these criticisms. 

For these reasons, while the United States recognizes the potentially positive development 

impact of World Bank engagement in Cambodia and, in the future, hopes to be able to support 

projects such as those proposed for Board consideration today, the United States wishes to be 

recorded as abstaining on these four projects.