Analysis, editorials and guest columns. · 144 stories
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…
A few days ago, I spent time observing operations in a busy hospital. It was one of those facilities where the day begins early and never really slows down. Patients kept arriving, families filled the waiting areas, nurses moved quickly between rooms, and reception staff seemed to be handling multiple tasks at once. There was…
Some artists talk about “finding” art later in life. For Lena Kinza, it was never really a discovery, it was simply there from the beginning. Born in Russia and now based in Cambodia, she has built a life around images, symbols, and color, turning her personal story into a quiet but steady artistic voice. Lena…
By Dhanita M Nair, Director, SME Resource Centre, Kingdom of Cambodia Every time I drive past a new factory rising on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, or visit a Special Economic Zone where welders, electricians and young engineers move with quiet confidence, I am reminded of a simple truth. Heavy industry is not just about…
Some weeks in Phnom Penh feel heavier with meaning than others. This was one of them. At the Hotel Cambodiana on Thursday, ministers, ambassadors, civil society leaders and survivors sat in the same room and listened as the country opened a new five-year chapter in its fight against gender-based violence. The project being launched is…
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…
A country does not transform overnight. It transforms in the quiet accumulation of small, deliberate choices: a curriculum updated, a teacher supported, a young person given a skill they did not have yesterday. Cambodia has been making those choices. This series has traced the architecture of the Cambodia Skills Development Roadmap 2023–2035, from the quality…
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…
By the time most South-East Asian cities finish their morning rush, millions of litres of untreated wastewater have already begun a quiet journey into rivers, lakes and coastal waters. It is one of the least photogenic challenges in development, yet few issues will shape the next decade of Asian urbanisation more profoundly. India has spent…
