A Research on Good Governance and Poverty Reduction in Cambodia

Abstract

Cambodia is one of the developing countries in ASEAN. The country is rich in natural resources and has enjoyed steady economic growth during 2004-2014 by applying Rectangular Strategy Phase I (2004), Phase II (2008), and Phase III (2013) with Good Governance (GG) as a core of the strategy. Addressing the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS) for Poverty Reduction (PR) in Cambodia has begun since 2002. The poverty rate in Cambodia steadily decreased from 35% in 2004 to 19% in 2012. The research appraised a study on Good Governance and Poverty Reduction in Cambodia by overviews of its Governance and Poverty Situations as the key concepts for discussion to find out the factors impeding GG, causes and characteristics of poverty, and governance reforms. The findings indicate that GG really has a positive influence on PR in Cambodia, still some challenges should be considered to enhance the governance and PR strategy in Cambodia. Actually, the NPRS in 2002 is proved to be unsystematic and ineffective. However, the main reason of the poverty retaining in Cambodia is seen in poor governance in terms of widespread corruption, limited transparency, limited accountability of public policy making, limited control, and limited participation to public. Here GG is considered and demanded to make a significant change in the condition of the poor and near-poor.Obviously, the result of the investigation showed that Cambodia is now on the new ways of governance and PR strategy after a big change shown in the result of the general election in 2013. The research study includes the Cambodia’s governance and PR strategy challenges with some recommendations according to the findings.

Keywords: Good Governance, Poverty Reduction, Human Resource Development, Democracy, E-Governance SMARTER, Cambodia