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Most national development strategies are written to be filed, not read. They sit in government archives, cited occasionally in budget speeches, rarely opened by anyone outside a ministry. Cambodia’s Pentagonal Strategy Phase I is different, not because it is perfectly written, but because it is structured in a way that forces accountability. Every pentagon has…
A country that was once described as a killing field is now drawing blueprints for a high-income future. That shift did not happen by accident. In August 2023, the Royal Government of Cambodia released one of the most ambitious policy documents in its post-war history, the Pentagonal Strategy Phase I. It does not read like…
An editorial by Jas Sohl, founder of the Cambodia Private Business Centre, New Delhi and London I write this as a British citizen of Indian origin who has spent a meaningful part of his professional life thinking about how the Kingdom of Cambodia connects to the rest of the world. Through the Cambodia Private Business…
1. Pakistan’s Weaponisation of the Treaty 1.1 Systematic Obstruction of Indian Development Since the Treaty’s signing, Pakistan has consistently used its dispute resolution provisions as a strategic tool to delay and effectively obstruct development rather than genuine dispute resolution. Virtually every significant hydropower project India has proposed on the Western rivers—even those explicitly permitted under the Treaty’s terms—has faced…
Today, Cambodia celebrates the 74th birthday of His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni, and across the country, hearts are turned toward him with love, respect, and quiet prayer. To Cambodians, His Majesty has never been just a King in the formal sense. He has been something closer to family. A gentle presence. A reassuring figure who…
1. Background: The Partition of a River System The Indus River System comprises six major rivers—the Indus, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej—flowing through the territories of both India and Pakistan. The system sustains drinking water, agriculture, and electricity generation across the Indus Basin, supporting hundreds of millions of people on both sides of the…
The Better Cambodia, Weekly Business Editorial | 4 to 11 May 2026 There are weeks in the life of a country when news arrives loudly, demanding attention. And then there are weeks like this one, weeks that move with the steady rhythm of a country quietly putting one brick on top of another, knowing exactly…
A wooden ship stitched by hand, brought back to life India built it not as a modern warship, nor as a display artifact for a museum, but as a living vessel that could once again taste the ocean wind. INSV Kaundinya, a 19.6-metre wooden sailing ship, has been constructed using an ancient stitching technique where…
Golda Meir’s life was shaped long before she ever held political office. She grew up in communities that lived through fear, migration, and uncertainty across Europe. Those experiences left a deep imprint on how she viewed survival, responsibility, and leadership. When she eventually became prime minister of Israel, she was leading a country that was…
The loudest sound of the Thailand–Cambodia conflict is still the shellfire along the frontier. But in evacuation centres, marketplaces and shuttered schoolyards, another kind of damage is spreading quietly, the kind that shows up as missed loan payments, empty farm plots and children losing weeks of classroom time. In Thailand’s Buriram province, evacuees who fled…
Over the past several days, one thing has become clear along the Cambodia–Thailand border: no one is speaking with one voice. As clashes flared again in early December, statements coming out of Thailand have pointed in different directions. Political leaders have made one set of statements, military officials have made different ones, and foreign partners…
An Editorial as of 9 December 2025 When violence erupts along the Cambodia–Thailand border, it is always the innocent who feel it first. In the past week, border communities that once lived with a fragile sense of calm have found themselves caught in a storm of artillery, drones and airstrikes. Children have been pulled from…
People who have been visiting Cambodia for years often say the same thing. Something feels different. The country seems steadier, more confident, and far more connected to the world than it used to be. This feeling is not just a traveller’s impression. Recent global rankings show that Cambodia is moving forward in ways that are…
