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were closely followed by Vietnamese occupation that lasted until 1991.
Only in 1999 was the country finally able to end the guerrilla struggle
against the Khmer Rouge and pursue the peaceable domestic policies
21
that attracted broad international support and financial aid. In addition,
because as recently as the early 2000s it lacked a diversified industrial
base, Cambodia initially relied on 60 industrial companies within a
single, 90% Chinese-owned sector--clothing. Due to a dramatic
22
shortage of entrepreneurs or even skilled workers, the only credible
solution was attracting FDI in hopes that the country’s ample labor and
modest labor costs would prove attractive. This optimistic outlook soon
confronted the reality that Laos and Vietnam also possessed large,
inexpensive labor forces and abundant natural resources. Cambodia’s
comparative advantages were limited, contributing to a frantic race to
the bottom in terms of labor conditions, because they were the only
available vector of competition for FDI eager for low labor costs, a
docile workforce, and the fewest regulations possible.

21 Evans Gottesman, Cambodia, after the Khmer Rouge: Inside the Politics of
Nation Building, Chiang Mai, Silkworm Books, 2004 ; Caroline Hugues, Kheang Un
(eds), Cambodia’s Economic Transformation, Kobenhavn, Danemark, Nordic
Institute of Asian Studies, 2011 ; David Chandler, A History of Cambodia, Chiang Mai,
Silskworm Books, 2008, 4th edition
22 Hal Hill, Jayant Menon, « Cambodia: Rapid Growth with Weak Institutions »,
Asian Economic Policy Review, 8, 2013, p. 46-65. ; Naoko Amakawa (ed.),
Industrialization in Late Developing ASEAN Countries: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar
and Vietnam, Singapour, NUS Press, 2010

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