Cambodia - Subnational Administration Infrastructure Finance and Institutional Capacity to Deliver Services

Overview & Synopsis

This report assesses Cambodia’s progress in decentralization and deconcentration (D&D) reforms, focusing on the role of districts, municipalities, and khan (DMK) administrations in infrastructure finance and service delivery. While legal and institutional frameworks have strengthened DMKs as the primary subnational tier, significant gaps remain between assigned responsibilities and actual financial, technical, and institutional capacity. The analysis highlights limited effective decentralization, heavy reliance on central transfers, weak own-source revenue, fragmented functional assignments, and capacity constraints. It identifies challenges in coordination, planning, and accountability, and proposes reforms to strengthen fiscal frameworks, clarify responsibilities, build capacity, enhance systems, and improve service delivery outcomes.