BRI Monitor

Building Toward Constructive Capital: Cambodia

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March 2022

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Future Forum has conducted case studies of three China-funded projects in Cambodia focused thematically on three dimensions of Chinese overseas development assistance: State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), Official Development Assistance (ODA), and Public Procurement. 

The first case study examines the roles and unique dynamics of SOEs in Cambodia’s Tatay River Hydropower Dam (TRHD) project, which was completed in 2015. The project, in the Thma Bang District of the Kingdom’s western Koh Kong Province, is owned by Chinese SOEs and funded by Chinese lending institutions.

The second case study focuses on the nuances of the Vaico Irrigation Development (VID) project, a series of irrigation and drainage canals, sluices, bridges, and culverts connecting farmland in eastern Cambodia to the Mekong River. The VID initiative is identified as a Chinese ODA project by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), the Cambodian government agency responsible for coordination, review, evaluation, and facilitation of foreign aid and investment.

The third case study explores public procurement in the Ang Kroeung-Thnal Kaeng (AKTK) Section project of National Road 6 (NR 6). While Cambodia owns NR 6, a 415-kilometer highway stretching from the capital city of Phnom Penh to the kingdom’s northwestern border with Thailand, the 248-kilometer AKTK was built and funded by China.

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Developed by 

BRI Monitor is a collaborative effort by five civil society organizations in Southeast Asia and the Pacific- Future Forum (Cambodia), IDEAS, Stratbase ADR Institute, Sandhi Governance Institute, Institute of National Affairs, to promote transparency and accountability in major infrastructure projects funded through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).