Centre for Development Economics and Trade

The Centre for Development Economics and Trade (CDET) conducts applied and policy researches focusing on Cambodia’s economy, trade and regional cooperation. We monitor Cambodia’s economic management and performance; provide evidence-based economic policy analysis; and engage in local and regional dialogues to inform policymaking. Our research has a strong link to national policies, particularly the Rectangular Strategy (Phase IV) and the National Strategic Development Plan (2019-23). Specifically, we contribute to two pillars of the NSDP: Economic Diversification, Private Sector and Market Development; and Sustainable and Inclusive Development. Our delivery mechanism includes policy and academic research, capacity building, knowledge dissemination and sharing, and policy influence and outreach. Our research agenda falls within five broad development areas: economic development, focusing on sustainability and inclusion; trade and regional cooperation; private sector development, focusing on small and medium enterprises; employment and employability, with a cross-cutting theme on gender and youth; and data for research and development (D4RD). We have extensive experience on regional cooperation and research projects, working with think tanks and research institutes in ASEAN and the Mekong region. The Greater Mekong Subregion Research Network (GMS-Net) is an example of such collaboration.


Digital Skills Assessment Survey

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications | United Nations Development Programme, Cambodia | The Russian Federation

Under the Capacity Building Research and Development Fund of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, United Nation Development Programme, Cambodia and the Russian Federation, the Cambodia Development Resource Institute in co...

Contribution of Vocational Skills Development to Inclusive Industrial Growth and Transformation: An Analysis of Critical...

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Swiss | Swiss National Science Foundation

The project is implemented in two phases. Phase 1 focuses on the demand side of the labour market in garments, electronic and electrical assembly, and food processing industries. It aims at understanding the linkages between com...

Agricultural Trade between China and the Mekong-Lancang Countries: Value Chain Analysis

Lancang-Mekong Cooperation

This regional project aims to investigate the agricultural value chain of two selected products exported from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam to China in the hope of exploring, among other things, key actors, thei...

The 2020 Round of Panel Data Collection for Agriculture, Rural Development and Poverty Reduction

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency | The World Bank | Saitama University

CDRI has collected and maintained a panel data of households in rural Cambodia. The work started in 1996-97 when CDRI conducted a benchmark survey of three villages—Prek Khmeng, Babaong and Trapeang Prey. Data collection has been...

Street Vendors, Youth Employment and Poverty Reduction

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

The purpose of the project is to examine the portfolio of street vendors in nine districts in Phnom Penh. The survey looks at their education, economic activities, income and expenses, and their life satisfaction. There are two p...

Sean Monorith   (2023)

Macroeconomic and Sectoral Effects: Long-term Constraint and Transition to the New Normal

Cambodia’s economy has made significant progress over the decades. However, the smooth and robust developments were significantly disturbed in 2020 with the arrival of the global Covid-19 pandemic. Globally, both internal and external demands, FDI flows, the movement of goods, and travel were all severely impacted by governments increasingly imposing lockdowns and other restrictions to contain the...

HING Vutha   (2023)

The Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cambodia's Trade, Global Value Chains and Export Competitiveness

Despite growing research on COVID-19 and its impacts on Cambodia, the extent to which COVID-19 affects Cambodia’s trade, global value chains (GVCs) and export competitiveness has not yet been well established. This study, therefore, aims to fill knowledge gaps and examine the dynamic of Cambodia’s exports, GVCs and competitiveness during the pandemic. Specifically, it analyses Cambodia’s exp...


Firm Performance in Cambodia: Key Drivers and Strategies from Survey Data

In early 2020, Covid-19 caused a global health crisis which drastically limited human interactions and economic activities both within and across borders, disrupted global supply chains, and resulted in economic slowdowns in countries around the world. Cambodia is no exception in this pandemic era. Cambodia registered a negative economic growth rate of -3.1% in 2020 as its service and industr...


Agricultural Trade between China and the Greater Mekong Subregion Countries: A Value Chain Analysis

The book is published at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute and can be found on this website.

ING Kvanthai   (2022)

The Factors Improving Skill Development and Skill Formation Systems in Industries: Firm-level Analysis of Cambodia's Manufacturing Industry

To understand the factors for improving skill development in the manufacturing industry, the study utilized mixed-method research combining surveys and in-depth interviews to collect data from 101 firms. 36 in-depth interviews with the firms' human resources and production departments were carried out. A binary logistic regression model was used to explore the relationships between in-employment s...


Poverty and Wellbeing Before and During Covid-19 in Cambodia: an Assessment of Trends and Correlates

This study investigates factors affecting welfare prior to and during Covid-19. It employs analysis of the Cambodia Living Standards Measurement—Plus Survey 2019/20 data, alongside five rounds of the Covid-19 High Frequency Phone Surveys between May 2020 and March 2021 to assess socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic.The results point to a range of factors which could contribute to explaining pover...


Types and Implementation of Social Assistance under the Context of COVID-19: A Case of Garment and Textile Manufacturing in Cambodia

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted most aspects of socioeconomic development, with the garment, manufacturing and textile industry being no exception. Decreased demand for orders has led to factory closures, and workers being suspended or laid off. The empirical evidence in this policy brief captures the impact of COVID-19 on the livelihoods of 2000 surveyed garment workers. The survey revealed t...


Demand for and Supply of Digital Skills in Cambodia

The study assesses current and future demand for and supply of digital and ICT skills and investigates the challenges firms of all sizes, universities, and TVET institutions face in preparing themselves and their students for digital technology adoption under the framework of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). A mixed-methods approach of quantitative and qualitative analyses is used. The quan...


Exploring Insights into Vocational Skills Development and Industrial Transformation in Cambodia

Industrial development is central to Cambodia’s economic development as it plans to upgrade the country’s status to an upper-middle-income country by 2030 and to a high-income country by 2050. Equipping the workforce with the skills and competencies that match industrial needs requires a great deal of continuous efforts and resources. In this regard, this paper aims to look into the linkage betwee...


Vending in the City: Unprotected Yet Better Off

Street food vending is a vital part of the urban economy, and the poor, in particular, rely on it to earn their living. We examine their socio-economic dimension, especially their backgrounds and business operations and challenges, as well as the perspectives on life satisfaction among different income earners. Importantly, we looked at the marginalisation and vulnerability of street vendors in Ph...

There is no data list!

20 Apr

Podcast Series – Episode 1

Looking Back 2020 and Looking Forward 2021: Private Sector Perspectives

20 Apr 2021

As a part of the project on “Impacts of COVID-19 on Inclusive Development and Governance: Rapid and Post-Pandemic Assessment in the CLMV”, we are pleased to launch the first episode of our podcast series under the theme “Looking Back 2020 And Looking Forward 2021: Private Sector Perspectives”. Our host, Ms. Sry Bopharath sat with Oknha Sok Piseth, CEO & Co-Founder, GGEAR Group Co. Ltd, to discuss socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemi...

11 Dec

Webinar Series – Session 1

Introduction to and Launch of the project on Impacts of COVID-19 on Inclusive Development and Governance: Rapid and Post-Pandemic Assessment in the CLMV

11 Dec 2020
09:30 AM - 11:30 AM

With financial support from the International Development Research Centre, Canada, a consortium of research institutes in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam has been established to provide rapid and recovery assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic. This first session of the Webinar Series was held on Friday 11 December 2020.