ADB organized a high-level seminar on opportunities presented by Cambodia’s membership in ASEAN and the technologies embedded in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (industry 4.0) to drive Cambodia’s structural transformation and diversification for long-term growth. 

The high-level panel sought inputs from senior policy makers, private sector representatives and ADB on industrial policy, human resource development, infrastructure provision and trade facilitation to enable Cambodia to maximize the benefits from ASEAN integration. It also explored the opportunities and challenges posed by Industry 4.0 technologies for countries such as Cambodia. It ended with recommendations that inform the preparation of ADB’s new Country Partnership Strategy, 2019-2023.

The seminar featured two ADB studies. The first study, Building Complementarity and Resilience in ASEAN amid Global Trade Uncertainty, examines how ASEAN economies (including Cambodia) can benefit from deepening intraregional trade, in particular by upgrading competitiveness and innovative capacity and diversifying their economic and trade structure. The second study, ASEAN 4.0: What Does the Fourth Industrial Revolution Mean for Regional Economic Integration?, focuses on industry 4.0 as one particular driving force of economic diversification and value-chain development in ASEAN, including Cambodia.