Abstract:

Construction industry has a remarkable contribution to the development of the national economy by achieving some of the basic objectives of development including output and income generation and re-distribution. Integration of Cambodia to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC) at the end of 2015 is expected to bring challenges, several opportunities, as well as problems into overall economy. Considering the construction industry to be one of the main drivers of Cambodian economy, the influence of the integration is going to be highly pronounced. Therefore, this research seeks: to deconstruct construction sector figures in the economy of Cambodia and examine its role in the economic development through the in-depth literature review; to identify the constraints to the development of the sector; and thus to make future projections for the construction sector with regard to the AEC integration of Cambodia. Through the use of the Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threat (SWOT) analysis recommendations to minimize the challenges that are going to be faced by the construction players in Cambodia are provided. In the era of AEC integration, it is believed that the recommendations provided in this study will guide the host government agencies, investors, contractors and establish a research agenda for the construction industry of Cambodia.