Our Mission
The Phnom Penh Research Institute for Management and Economics (PRIME) is a non-profit, non-partisan organisation, which provides research and training in economics and public policy. Comprising a global network of economic and legal scholars, PRIME works within the classical liberal tradition to promote economic development and human flourishing in the Greater Mekong region. With a primary focus on the transition economies of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, PRIME is committed to building the next generation of regional leaders in business, law, and public administration.
Our Work
Over the last year, PRIME has been engaged in several projects aimed at promoting the long-term, sustainable economic development of the Mekong Region in general, and Cambodia in particular. PRIME has established the Human Capital Project (HCP), an initiative to provide opportunities for tertiary education to the least advantaged youth of Cambodia. PRIME has also established the National Press Club (NPC) in Phnom Penh, which provides a forum for open dialogue on freedom of the press and other issues relevant to the country’s burgeoning media sector. Additionally, PRIME has undertaken research in the areas of small and medium sized enterprises, property rights, happiness, micro finance and human capital development.
PRIME has hosted events with world-renowned economic scholars such as Tom Palmer of the Atlas Network and Ken Schoolland of the University of Hawaii as well as running courses for students in Cambodia on economics and public speaking. To facilitate a wider understanding of economic theory, PRIME engages in the translation of economic literature into Khmer to be made readily available to students in undergraduate and graduate programs and the public at large.
Our researchers regularly present at conferences across the Asia-Pacific region and come from a wide variety of countries and academic backgrounds: law, government, economics and commerce. Our researchers are actively engaged in a diverse set of ongoing research and projects, which are discussed in our online Khmeronomics blog. Every year PRIME cooperates with institutes across the globe hosting interns and researchers who are interested in pursuing economic research on present issues in the Greater Mekong region.