Local Economic Development Planning in Takeo, Cambodia

United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) supports development through microfinance, infrastructure investment, capacity building, and technical advisory skills. Recently, UNCDF and the Royal Government of Cambodia released a national “Local Development Outlook” report that evaluated local development trends (economic, social, demographic, and environmental) countrywide and offered recommendations for policy reform. The Capstone team was asked to build on this effort at the provincial level. The team first conducted a literature review and analysis on local economic development practices and then conduct­ed field research interviewing representa­tives of government, the private sector, and NGOs in Takeo province. The main task was to identify services and indus­tries with the greatest potential to pro­mote economic diversification in the province. As part of this work, the team developed a tool to evaluate services and industries by ranking various criteria according to the type of impact desired. The research will aid UNCDF and the local community in selecting value chains for further investigation and support produc­tion of a provincial development outlook.