Cambodia has been at the forefront of trade mainstreaming into national development policies and for making trade a key tool for poverty reduction and sustainable human development. Cambodia has pioneered the use of a Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) in the trade field since 2008, an experiment many Least Developed Countries from Asia and Africa alike are hoping to emulate.

Still, the implementation of Cambodia’s Diagnosis Trade Integration Strategy 2007 (DTIS 2007) is far from being complete, as important areas under the SWAp’s three development pillars remained under-funded.

To address these challenges, Cambodia has the possibility to access resources available under the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Tier 2 initiative.

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Trade Mainstreaming and Aid for Trade in Cambodia since the Mid-1990s

The Early Post-Conflict Period

Three developments stand at the core of Cambodia’s initial efforts to turn trade sector development into a main driver of poverty-reduction and economic growth in the post-conflict period.

First, on December 8, 1994, Cambodia applied for accession to the WTO. A Working Party was established on December 21, 1994. Cambodia’s Memorandum of Foreign Trade Regime was submitted on June 22, 1999. Negotiations on the terms and conditions of the Kingdom’s accession took place in earnest during the early years of the new millennium. Cambodia’s Accession Protocol was approved and signed on September 11, 2003 subject. Upon ratification by the Parliament and Senate, Cambodia became the 148th member of the WTO on 13 October 2004.

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