Cambodia Presentation Shanghai University

The Kingdom of Cambodia Shanghai University, SILC ( 悉尼工商学院 )Antonio Graceffo, PhD, China MBA ( 安东尼博士 )

Antonio Graceffo, ( 安东尼博士 )


The Kingdom of Cambodia ( 柬埔寨 ) is a small country, in Southeast Asia, bordering on Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, with a population of about 16 Million. Modern Cambodians are the descendants of the Angkorian Empire, some of the greatest temple builders in history. Angkor Wat is Cambodia’s most famous temple.


Angkor Wat ( 吴哥窟 ), depicted on the Cambodian flag, was built between the 11th and 13th Century by the ancient Khmer, Angkorian Empire. It was originally a Hindu Temple ( 印度教 ), but the official religion of the regime changed to Theravada Buddhism ( 小乘佛教 ), then to Mahayana Buddhism ( 大乘佛教 ), and finally back to Theravada which it still is today. Angkor Wat is larger than modern-day Manhattan.


The national language of Cambodia is called Khmer, which uses an ancient writing system based on Indian Sanskrit/Pali, and shares some similarities with Thai, Lao, and the Shan language of Burma. As a former French colony, French was one of the main languages of education until it was displaced by English.


Today, Chinese is the second most widely studied language in the country. Roughly 50% of the population of the country’s capital, Phnom Penh, have some Chinese ancestry. About 30,000 students are enrolled in Chinese schools.


Antonio lived in Cambodia in from (2004-2006). Over the last twelve years, he has spent anywhere from one to three months per year in Cambodia writing, researching, and train. To date, he has written two books and several hundred articles and papers about Cambodia.

Cambodia is famous for traditional, Apsara dancing, but what Antonio likes best is Cambodian martial arts Bokator and Khun Khmer.



The Khmer Rouge years (1975-1979)After a long civil war, the Khmer Rouge took control of the country and about 20% of the population died of execution, starvation or overwork.


Akira spent his childhood in a military camp. For most of his life, he only knew war, having fought in The Khmer Rouge, Khmer Serey, Vietnamese Army, Hun Sen Army and the UN. Today, he is a world expert on removing landmines and has dedicated his life to demining.


After the war, Cambodia started with a GDP of close to zero. In the last ten years, however, Cambodia has had one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with current growth rate of about 7%.

The city is growing but many streets still look the same as they have for decades.



China is one of Cambodia’s biggest trading partners with hundreds of Chinese firms investing in Cambodian construction and real estate sectors. Chinese companies are building the Phnom Penh skyline.


Cambodia has one of the youngest populations in the world, with an average age of 27. The generation who survived the Khmer Rouge knew horrible suffering and starvation. Their children were born into poverty, but, by the early 2000’s, the country was doing much better. Now, a new generation of Cambodians is growing up who haven’t known hunger, as the country moves from low income to middle income. If Cambodia can survive the 2018, elections the future should be much better.


Cambodian young people like the same things young people like across Asia. They love Zhēnzhū nǎichá (珍珠奶茶 ), Korean pop music, and 3-D movies from America.

Antonio Graceffo, PhD, China MBA (安东尼 )Shanghai University, SILC (悉尼工商学院 )Contact: [email protected]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniograceffo

Antonio Graceffo ( 安东尼 )

Thanks for listening.And please come visit me in Cambodia.

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniograceffo

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Cambodia Presentation Shanghai University