Cambodia should run government like a corporation

Prime Minister Hun Manet chairs the weekly plenary cabinet meeting. PMO

#Opinion

Cambodia does not suffer from a shortage of plans.

Over the past two decades, the country has produced countless strategies, master plans, roadmaps and policy frameworks covering virtually every aspect of national development. Collectively, they present a compelling vision for transforming Cambodia into a competitive, high-income economy.

The problem has never been the vision.

The problem has been execution.

Anyone who has worked in either the public or private sector understands a simple truth: a strategy has little value unless someone is accountable for delivering it. Yet governments often operate differently from successful businesses. Responsibilities are shared across multiple institutions, decisions move slowly, coordination becomes cumbersome and, when targets are missed, accountability becomes blurred.

In the corporate world, this would be unacceptable.

A company does not assign five executives to lead the same business unit. Every product, project and profit centre has one person ultimately responsible for results. Others contribute, advise and support, but accountability rests with a single owner. Performance is measured regularly, problems are escalated quickly and corrective action follows without delay.

That same discipline is largely absent from public administration—not only in Cambodia but in many countries.

As Cambodia moves towards upper-middle-income status, the country can no longer rely solely on good policies or strong political commitment. It must also become exceptionally good at implementation. The next stage of national competitiveness will depend less on writing new strategies and more on executing existing ones with precision.

Government should therefore borrow a page from the corporate playbook.

Every national priority should have one accountable ministry. Every strategic programme should have measurable performance indicators. Progress should be reviewed quarterly at the highest level of government, just as corporate boards review business performance. Ministries that achieve their targets should be recognised, while persistent underperformance should trigger intervention and corrective action rather than another committee meeting.

This is not about creating a harsher bureaucracy.

It is about creating a leaner, meaner and much more effective one.

A corporate approach does not mean treating government like a profit-making enterprise. Governments pursue public value, not shareholder returns. But they can certainly adopt the management disciplines that have made successful organisations effective: clear ownership, measurable outcomes, rapid decision-making and an unwavering focus on delivery.

Cambodia’s economic ambitions demand nothing less.

Whether the objective is modernising agriculture, upgrading manufacturing, improving logistics, expanding digital infrastructure or strengthening tourism, success will ultimately depend on disciplined execution across multiple institutions. Coordination is essential, but coordination without accountability often produces delay instead of results.

The country’s private sector understands this reality well. Businesses survive because they execute. Investors commit capital where governments deliver predictability. International competitiveness is determined not simply by policies announced, but by how consistently they are implemented.

This is where Cambodia has an opportunity to distinguish itself.

Imagine a government where every major national initiative has one clearly identifiable owner. Cabinet meetings focus less on presentations and more on solving implementation bottlenecks.

Real-time performance dashboards replace lengthy narrative reports. Decisions are driven by evidence rather than assumptions. Ministries collaborate because responsibilities are clearly defined, not because mandates overlap.

Such a system would not only improve public sector performance; it would strengthen investor confidence, accelerate reforms and build greater trust among citizens.

The world’s best-performing governments increasingly resemble high-performing organisations. They are agile, data-driven, accountable and relentlessly focused on outcomes. They understand that competitiveness is no longer achieved through policy announcements alone but through consistent execution.

Cambodia has already demonstrated extraordinary resilience and economic progress over the past three decades. The challenge now is different. The country does not need another generation of ambitious plans. It needs a government that executes those plans with the same discipline that successful corporations execute their business strategies.

The future will belong not to the countries with the best ideas, but to those that deliver them best.

For Cambodia, that may be the most important reform of all.

David Van is a veteran Cambodian business strategist and public policy advisor with over 45 years of multinational corporate, trade and investment experience across Southeast Asia. A pioneer in Public–Private Partnerships (PPP), Impact Investment and blended finance, he has helped shape Cambodia’s trade, transport, skills and industrial development policies while advising governments, multilateral agencies and global corporations

-Khmer Times-