Press Release
PHNOM PENH, 1 July 2010: Cambodia can foster greater growth by tapping into significant yet unexploited potential currently in its possession across its territory. But the country needs to have a more strategic approach to local development in order to take advantage of the potential and tackle the disparities still prominently present between its urban and rural areas, the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) said in a new report.
The report – Local Development Outlook Cambodia – was officially launched at the Local Development Forum today, which was attended by senior government officials from national and sub-national levels, and representatives of UN agencies, Development Partners, academic institutions and civil society organizations. The participants discussed local development through different angles, including from the perspective of decentralization, development partners, the private sector, national and sub-national government, and an international perspective.
The publication, the first of its kind, provides a comprehensive overview of local development trends in Cambodia and how decentralization and a national policy for local development could help realize potential for greater and more equitable development.
HE Sak Setha, Secretary of State of Ministry of Interior and Head of the National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development (NCDD) Secretariat, in commenting about the findings of the Local Development Outlook said: "There is a need to combine improved local governance and local development. This is one of the key outcomes we expect from the implementation of the National Program for Sub-National Democratic Development over the next 10-year period".
In his speech launching the report, UN Resident Coordinator Douglas Broderick spoke about the influence that local circumstances can have on the progress of achieving Millennium Development Goals as pointed out by the recent UNDP report Beyond the Midpoint: Achieving the MDGs and by the Local Development Outlook on Cambodia. According to this report, progress towards the MDGs is often concentrated in specific regions and depended on local circumstances.
"This report aims at providing a tool to improve our understanding of why development occurs in some places and not in others, and what can be done about it," said Mr. Broderick. "This is what we call a 'localised' approach – an approach which builds on local knowledge to provide more effectively the public goods as needed in different places and in a way that helps policy makers to tap unexploited potential and opportunities for local economic diversification and development," he added.
Cambodia's economic growth remains highly vulnerable to external shocks - such as the global financial crisis of last year - due to its narrow base and heavy concentration in few urban centres.
Decentralization reforms are providing a critical contribution to build the governance infrastructure that will allow fostering more balanced development in Cambodia. But the country still lacks an explicit, strategic policy for local development. "A flexible, deliberate policy approach" is required to foster local development and accelerate Cambodia's progress towards the MDGs, the report said.
"Opportunities and challenges vary greatly across Cambodia. This calls for a deliberate policy for local development in rural, urban and cross-border areas" Nicola Crosta, Chief Technical Adviser of UNCDF and the author of the report, said in his presentation at the forum.
The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is the UN's capital investment agency for the world's 49 least developed countries. UNCDF works to create new opportunities for poor people and their communities by promoting local development, increasing access to microfinance and investment capital to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.
