INTRODUCTION

Covid-19 wreaked suffering and death on millions across the world and, by 19 December 2022, it had infected 138,438 people in Cambodia and claimed 3,056 lives in the country (Ministry of Health 2022). The pandemic, a public health crisis that precipitated economic shocks, negatively affected economies around the world, triggering a significant decline in earnings and output and pushing millions into extreme poverty. Cambodia's economy was heavily affected by the pandemic, and the number of people living below the poverty line increased; around 4.5 million people remain near-poor and are vulnerable to falling into poverty when exposed to economic and other external shocks (World Bank n.d.). The tourism, garment and construction sectors, which together account for more than 70 per cent of Cambodia's economic growth and employ nearly 40 per cent of the workforce, suffered staggering job losses (Kunmakara 2020). At the onset of the pandemic, it was estimated that poverty could increase between 3 and 11 percentage points in the event of a 50 per cent income loss that lasted six months for households engaged in those sectors (World Bank 2020).

Not surprisingly, Cambodia was severely hit by health and economic crises arising from the pandemic. The country was under-equipped to contain viral infections due to the lack of public and private funding and its limited healthcare system and thus imposed a strict and extended lockdown from April to August 2021. Economic growth turned negative, registering −3.1 per cent in 2020, the first contraction after three decades of continuous expansion (World Bank 2021a). Covid-19 disrupted Cambodia's growth trajectory and also threatened its competitiveness and the well-being of its people.

The Cambodian government introduced various public health and social protection measures to support households and workers in need, and through 2022 continued to implement fiscal, monetary and policy responses to sustain the country's economic recovery. Complementing the Covid-19 containment policies and social assistance, the vaccination roll-out played a significant role in mitigating Covid-19 impacts. The country registered fifty-two days of zero Covid-19 cases in the first half of 2022, followed by a slight re-emergence of nineteen cases in late June 2022 (Yalirozy 2022). By 8 July 2022, 14.4 million Cambodians had received two doses of the vaccine, accounting for 86.8 per cent of the Cambodian population (Our World in Data n.d.). The Asian Development Bank (2022b) praised Cambodia for its successful vaccination roll-out and acknowledged its strong political leadership and its rapid purchase, distribution and deployment of vaccines as the driving factors for the success. Additionally, in 2021, Cambodia's readiness for emergencies, as evaluated by the Operational Readiness Index,2 increased by 10 percentage points from only 42 per cent in 2018 (ADB 2021, p. 4). The government's quick roll-out of vaccinations contributed to its ability to reopen the country. Normal economic activities resumed on 1 November 2021, bolstering the post-pandemic recovery pathway.