Structural Transformation and Inclusive Growth in Cambodia: The What, How and When
REGIONAL ECONOMIC STUDIES PROGRAMME
About the Webinar
Cambodia has a tragic history but has recovered remarkably since the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements and continues to harbour great aspirations. It aims to become an upper middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050. To realise these aspirations, Cambodia must address various constraints to achieve more inclusive growth that is also sustainable and resilient. This type of growth should be driven by, as well as generate, decent paying and sustainable jobs in the formal and informal sectors.
How can structural transformation deliver more inclusive growth in Cambodia? What are the key constraints to such diversification and how can they be overcome? What is required to ensure that future growth is more sustainable and resilient? The webinar will attempt to answer these and related questions. It will draw upon ongoing work for the ADB’s next Country Diagnostic Study and a Review of Cambodia Vision 2030 being led by the Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI) in response to a request from former Prime Minister Hun Sen.
About the Speaker
Dr. Jayant Menon joined the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in 2020 as Senior Fellow to continue his work on trade and development in the Asian region, following a long career at the ADB. His last post at the ADB was as Lead Economist, a Director-level post, in the Office of the Chief Economist. He began work life as an academic in Australia, spending almost a decade at the Centre of Policy Studies at Monash University, world-renowned for computable general equilibrium modelling. He also worked at the University of Melbourne, Victoria University, the American University in Washington, DC and the ADB Institute in Tokyo. He has served as a Board Director of CDRI, Cambodia, and on the Advisory Board of the University of Nottingham, Malaysia. He holds adjunct appointments with the Australian National University, University of Nottingham, UK and IDEAS, Malaysia. He has authored/edited more than 15 books, 50 chapters in books, and 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals.
About the Discussants
H.E. Dr. Sok Siphana is a Cabinet Member with the rank of Senior Minister in charge of Special Missions related to multilateral economic and trade matters in the Royal Government of Cambodia. Previously, he has been an Adviser with the rank of Minister or Senior Minister with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC), and the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC). From 2010 to August 2023, he was a practicing attorney and the Founding Partner of SokSiphana&associates, a law and consulting firm specialized in international trade and corporate law in Phnom Penh. He serves currently as the Emeritus Chairman of the Board of the Asian Vision Institute (AVI), having led the organization since 2019 as its Chairman. From 2011 to 2017, he served as Chairman of CDRI, Cambodia’s oldest and most prominent independent research institute. From 1999 to 2005, he served as Secretary of State at the Ministry of Commerce, where he acted as the lead negotiator in Cambodia’s accession to the WTO. From 2005 to 2009 he served as Director at the International Trade Center (ITC) in Geneva. Dr Sok is holder of a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Widener University School of Law in Delaware, USA (1992), a Ph.D. from Bond University School of Law in Queensland, Australia (2009), and a “Docteur en Droit” from the Université de Paris II Panthéon-Assas, Paris, France (2022). In October 2022, His Majesty The King has bestowed him a lifetime Royal Title of Academician at the Royal Academy of Cambodia.
Dr. Hal Hill is the H.W. Arndt Professor Emeritus of the Southeast Asian Economies at the Crawford School, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University (ANU). His main research interest is Southeast Asian economic development. He serves on various boards and committees, including the Honorary Board (Dewan Kehormatan) of the Bank Indonesia Institute, the Council of the East Asian Economic Association (of which he is currently President), and boards at the ANU, Macquarie University, and Monash University. He is the author/editor of 20 books and about 170 journal articles and book chapters. He has a PhD in Economics from the ANU.
Registration
This webinar will be delivered online entirely. You can join the webinar at the specified date and time using devices (computer, phone, or tablet) with internet connection.
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If you have questions for the speakers, please key in your questions via the Q&A, stating your name and affiliation. The moderator will field them to the speaker during the Q&A session.