MMargaretargaret SSlocomblocomb An EcoEconomicnomic HHistoryistory ooff CCambodiaambodia in the TTwentiethwentieth CeCenturyntury An Economic History of Cambodia in the Twentieth Century An Economic History of Cambodia in the Twentieth Century Margaret Slocomb Published with support from the Nicholas Tarling Fund. © 2010 Margaret Slocomb This book is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ Published by: NUS Press National University of Singapore AS3-01-02, 3 Arts Link Singapore 117569 Fax: (65) 6774-0652 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://nuspress.nus.edu.sg ISBN 978-9971-69-499-9 (Paper) All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing in Publication Data Slocomb, Margaret. An economic history of Cambodia in the twentieth century / Margaret Slocomb. – Singapore: NUS Press, c2010. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-9971-69-499-9 (pbk.) 1. Cambodia – Economic conditions – 20th century. 2. Cambodia – Economic policy – 20th century. I. Title. HC442 330.959604 — dc22 OCN545012232 The electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access for the public good. The Open Access ISBN for this book is 978-981-3250-83-3. More information about the initiative and links to the Open Access version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org. Contents List of Tables, Figures and Illustrations vii Preface xiii Acknowledgements xvii List of Abbreviations xix Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Th e Colonial Economy, 1863–1953 30 Chapter 2 Post-Independence Economic Change, 1953–69 75 Chapter 3 Th e Wartime Economy, 1970–75 131 Chapter 4 Th e Revolutionary Economy, 1975–89 175 Chapter 5 Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, 1990–c. 2000 230 Conclusion Economic Outlook for the Twenty-fi rst Century 288 Notes 299 Selected Bibliography 330 Index 339 v List of Tables, Figures and Illustrations Tables 0.1 Main economic indicators 15 0.2 GDP by sector at constant 1993 prices 16 0.3 Percentage of households and proportion of agricultural landholdings 21 1.1 Number of functionaries of the civil services in the main provinces of Cambodia, 1914 and 1931 44 1.2 Population of Cambodia, 1900–55 46 1.3 Education in Cambodia, 1931–50 50 1.4 Land area under concessions, 1926–28 54 1.5 Concessions held by large companies, 1927–28 55 1.6 Landownership classifi cation, 1927–30 – Ricefi elds 55 1.7 Main agricultural products and exports, 1922 58 1.8 Paddy cultivation, 1900–50 59 1.9 Area harvested and production of paddy in Cambodia, 1952–54 60 1.10 Areas cultivated and production of main crops of Cambodia, 1953 60 1.11 Dried fi sh from freshwater product, 1940–53 61 1.12 Forestry production, 1952–54 with annual averages, 1944–53 63 1.13 Main industries in Cambodia, 1951–52 64 1.14 Movement of paddy, rice and derivatives from Cambodia, 1951–53 67 vii viii List of Tables, Figures and Illustrations 2.1 Gross domestic product at 1966 prices 88 2.2 Consumer price index by class, 1964 and 1967 89 2.3 Education indicators, 1955 and 1968 91 2.4 Industrial origin of GDP at 1966 prices 92 2.5 Number and distribution of agricultural landholdings, 1962 98 2.6 Principal crops grown in Cambodia 99 2.7 Irrigated paddy area 100 2.8 Exports of agricultural products: December 1967 and December 1968 101 2.9 Revenue from principal forest products (supervised production) 104 2.10 Area covered by diff erent types of forest 104 2.11 Share of sectors in industrial activity, 1964 108 2.12 Percentage value of rice and rubber to total Cambodian exports, 1955–57 110 2.13 Balance of trade, 1955–57 110 2.14 Source of aid and contribution to fi rst Five-Year Plan 114 2.15 Government current revenues, 1967–69 117 2.16 National budget expenditures, 1968 and 1969 118 3.1 Estimates of the Cambodian population, selected years, 1921–74 141 3.2 Death in Kampuchean War 142 3.3 Planned exports for 1971 149 3.4 U.S. civil aid to Cambodia for the 1974 fi scal year 155 3.5 Disbursement schedule, U.S. military assistance programme, Khmer Republic 156 3.6 U.S. economic and military assistance to the Khmer Republic 156 4.1 Population by broad age group and sex, as counted at the end of 1980 193 4.2 Estimates of the Cambodian population, selected years, 1974–89 194 List of Tables, Figures and Illustrations ix 4.3 International migration assumptions, 1970–89 196 4.4 Paddy production, 1980–89 209 4.5 External debt, 1982–86 220 5.1 Population of Cambodia by gender 246 5.2 Regional population distribution 247 5.3 Migrants from rural areas, 1996 and 1998 249 5.4 Average monthly household expenditure by stratum, Cambodia, 1993–99 251 5.5 GDP by industrial origin, 1989–93 259 5.6 Value of timber exports and revenue of the Government 264 5.7 Garment and textile manufacturing industries, 1995–2004 269 5.8 GDP growth rates by sector and total 271 5.9 Monthly wages by sector, 1994–99 272 5.10 International trade in goods and services 273 5.11 Exports by commodity, 1993–99 274 5.12 Distribution of capital investment by sector, 1995–2001 279 Figures 0.1 Map of the Kingdom of Cambodia, 2000 3 4.1 Administrative divisions of Democratic Kampuchea 183 5.1 Paddy production and area harvested, 1980–99 259 Illustrations Currency Five hundred riel note of the Sangkum period, in circulation 1953 to 1974 73 One riel note of the Sangkum depicting shipping 74 Fifty riel note of the Sangkum depicting fi shermen 74 One hundred riel note of the Khmer Republic depicting weaver 127 Five hundred riel note of the Khmer Republic 128 x List of Tables, Figures and Illustrations One thousand riel note of the Khmer Republic depicting education 129 One hundred riel note of the Khmer Republic 130 Smallest unit of currency prepared for Democratic Kampuchea but never issued 165 Smallest unit of currency prepared for the People’s Republic of Kampuchea, circulated in 1980 166 One riel note prepared for Democratic Kampuchea depicting workers digging an irrigation channel 167 Five riel note prepared for Democratic Kampuchea, 1975, depicting Angkor Wat 168 Ten riel note prepared for Democratic Kampuchea, depicting soldier working with peasants 169 Fifty riel note prepared for Democratic Kampuchea, depicting peasants transplanting rice 170 One hundred riel note prepared for Democratic Kampuchea depicting industry 171 Note worth half of one riel, the People’s Republic of Kampuchea 172 Ten riel note of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea depicting pepper farming 173 Fifty riel note of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea 174 One hundred riel note of the Second Kingdom of Cambodia, depicting emphasis on education 226 Five hundred riel note of the Second Kingdom of Cambodia, depicting Angkor Wat 227 One thousand riel note of the Second Kingdom of Cambodia 228 Five thousand riel note of the Second Kingdom of Cambodia, depicting King Norodom Sihanouk 229 Economy Riparian market gardens in Kandal Province, c. 1995 5 A view of the Cambodian fl oodplain from Oudong Mountain, about forty kilometres from Phnom Penh 6 List of Tables, Figures and Illustrations xi Th e fl ooded plain during a typical wet season 7 Urban Poverty. A slum in Phnom Penh, c. 2000 13 Fishers along the Mekong prepare prahok for the market 18 Idyllic impressions of Cambodia at the time of naturalist Henri Mouhot’s visit in 1860 34 A colonial era rubber warehouse at Tonle Bet, Kompong Cham province 34 Poster for the 1906 Colonial Exhibition in Marseille depicts an iconic Khmer royal dancer 56 Th e road from Kompong Cham to Angkor Wat constructed with corvée and coolie labour during the French Protectorate 85 Tapping rubber on a plantation in Kompong Cham province 85 A salt farm in Kampot province 87 A ricefarmer uses the traditional light plough to turn his fi eld 87 Th e small Cambodian ox is used for transport in central rural parts of Cambodia 94 A rice harvest in the Cambodian countryside 94 Hand-weaving of cotton and silk fabrics makes an important contribution to household incomes throughout the countryside 95 A silversmith at work in a village in Kandal Province 95 Teams of buff alo plough a paddy fi eld in Kompong Th om 96 Metal-workers in the rural provinces provide essential services to farmers 97 Vietnamese troops parade before dignitaries and offi cials at the fi nal withdrawal ceremony in September 1989 186 Th e young foreign minister, Hun Sen, casts his ballot in the 1981 elections for the National Assembly 186 Returning home from the catastrophe of the Democratic Regime, 1979 (Agence Khmère de Presse archive) 191 An irrigation system in Takeo province, reconstructed with foreign assistance after 1979 191 xii List of Tables, Figures and Illustrations Th e tally of ballots cast in the 1993 UN-supervised elections on public display in Phnom Penh 233 Rural poverty, Battambang province, c. 2003 233 Poster for the 1998 general election showing CPP leaders Chea Sim, Hun Sen and Heng Samrin 237 Cambodian NGOs raise awareness of offi cial corruption 240 Logs felled by foreign companies in Sandan district, Kompong Th om province, c.