Cambodian Catalyst

Cambodia is a country on the rise. A nation torn apart by civil war and its aftermath in the 1970s, more recent times have shown the green shoots of socioeconomic recovery, the past two decades in particular providing evidence that the country is looking forwards into a bright future.

And the latest World Bank statistics provide ample evidence to back up this observation.

For example, Cambodia reached lower middle-income status in 2015, with governing authorities aiming to obtain upper middle-income status by 2030. Driven by garment exports and tourism, the nation’s economy has sustained an average annual growth rate of 7.7 percent between 1995 and 2018, one of the highest in the world.

This activity has led to a continual fall in poverty across the country, official estimates citing a poverty rate of 13.5 percent in 2014 compared with 47.8 percent in 2007.

Further advances have been made in healthcare and education, especially in the fields of maternal and child health,

early childhood development and primary education in rural areas; and although developmental challenges remain and require sustained reform, there is an undoubted sense of optimism brewing.

One organisation reverberating such optimism is The Royal Group of Companies.

At the heart of Cambodia’s economic development over the past 20-plus years, the conglomerate stands as the most diversified and largest investment body in the country.

“New affluence is spreading throughout Cambodia,” it states on its website. “Urbanisation, growing literacy rates, and the return of many Cambodians from overseas are reshaping the economic landscape.

“The country has a predominantly young population and an emerging middle class providing a manpower and consumer pool that is revitalising the business environment for the long term.”

Royal Group also highlights the young demographics and rising literacy rates which have risen to 75 percent since 2000, with urban populations growing at a rate of over five percent annually since 1990. Booming tourism, lucrative access to ASEAN, European and North American markets, and a low domestic tax regime are other causes for optimism cited by the company.

These thoughts are backed up in action, no better demonstrated than by the sheer size and depth of Royal Group’s investment portfolio.

Whether it be Cellcard in the technology sphere, ANZ Royal Bank in the finance domain or Northbridge Development Co in the real estate arena, the group’s interests are spread far and wide. This remit also extends heavily into travel and tourism, with investments including The Royal Sands Koh Rong, Giant Ibis Transport and Hotel Cambodiana.

An international vision

This diversity of interests reflects the vision of Royal Group’s Chairman & CEO Neak Oknha Kith Meng.

Spending most of his youth in Australia, he returned to Cambodia in the early 1990s and immediately saw the potential for the nation to thrive.