The World Bank Group has introduced a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Cambodia, set to guide efforts from 2025 to 2029. This initiative aims to tackle three interconnected objectives: enhancing health and basic education, boosting competitiveness, and reinforcing the resilience of vulnerable households.
The CPF was discussed by the World Bank Group on Tuesday. It includes an updated gender action plan designed to address gender disparities in secondary education transition and improve gender data collection. The framework also emphasizes building accountability into service delivery projects, improving public sector fiduciary standards, and providing oversight on grievance redress mechanisms.
Outlined priorities for the World Bank Group's support program in Cambodia over the next five years are based on an analysis of the country's development challenges, strategies from the Royal Government of Cambodia, and consultations with various stakeholders.
“A key focus of our engagement is to improve human capital, especially basic education and foundational skills,” said Mariam Sherman, World Bank Country Director for Cambodia, the Lao PDR, and Viet Nam. “The new program will emphasize poverty reduction by boosting investments in health and education, helping to create jobs, protecting the livelihoods of vulnerable households and strengthening resilience to climate change.”
In the upcoming five years, three branches of the World Bank Group—the International Development Agency (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)—will promote investment in Cambodia. They will encourage public-private partnerships particularly within infrastructure sectors like energy and transport.
"IFC and the World Bank Group are fostering a robust and competitive private sector in Cambodia," said Kim-See Lim, IFC Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific. "We will continue our support to strengthen financial consumer protection and responsible lending practices, catalyze green finance markets, and help Cambodia attract private capital to infrastructure sectors such as energy and transport, particularly through public-private partnerships."