The "Golden Decade" is officially declared

The government of Cambodia has proclaimed 2025–2035 the country's "golden decade" of development. The goal is to exit the least developed country (LDC) category by 2029 and transition to a high per-capita income level by 2050. The strategy rests on four hubs: logistics, investment, the digital economy, and tourism.

The country's GDP grew by 6.1% in 2024, with inflation around 3%. As a benchmark, the authorities cite a figure of 7%+ per year across the entire horizon of the decade. The economy is fully dollarized — all real estate transactions are conducted in USD.

Record foreign investment

Since 2023, Cambodia has ranked first in the world on the index for attracting foreign direct investment. In 2024, FDI growth reached +503% — 414 projects worth $6.9 billion. For January–October 2025 — already 575 projects worth $9.2 billion. The country is a member of ASEAN (since 1999), the WTO (since 2004), RCEP (since 2020), and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, with a memorandum signed with 151 countries). RCEP covers 30% of global GDP, trade, and the planet's population.

Government megaprojects

Alongside growing business activity, the state is investing in infrastructure:

  • Techo International Airport — opened on September 9, 2025; the 9th largest in the world, an area of 2,600 ha, with capacity of up to 50 million passengers by 2030.
  • Funan Techo Canal — the Phnom Penh — Kep sea canal, 180 km long, costing $1.7 billion; it connects the capital with the deep-water port of Sihanoukville.
  • Phnom Penh — Bavet Expressway — 135 km to the Vietnam border, $1.6 billion, completion in 2027.
  • Port of Sihanoukville — expansion to 2.5+ million TEU by 2030, financed by Japanese concessional loans.

Prices 2–3 times lower than Dubai and Phuket

The comparison speaks for itself. The premium center of Phnom Penh (the BKK1 district) — $3,000–3,500/m², whereas a comparable segment in Dubai is $7,000–15,000/m², in Bangkok around $15,000/m², in Singapore $17,000–25,000/m².

A historical argument: Bangkok One cost $2,000/m² in 2006, and now $15,000/m²; Singapore in 1996 — $1,500/m², now $17,000–25,000/m². Cambodia is at the start of a similar cycle.

Who is already entering

The country hosts 10 automobile plants (Toyota, BYD, Ford, and others), 1,682 garment factories, and special economic zones are being actively built — 50 operational out of 86 planned. 63% of companies in the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) plan to increase investment in Cambodia in 2026. The tourist flow in 2024 reached 6.7 million people (+23% year over year).

The real estate market is at an early stage of growth. It is precisely at this stage that the returns are formed which, a decade from now, will become a historical case study — as happened with Dubai, Bangkok, and Ho Chi Minh City.