Over 943,069 hectares of land in rural Cambodia have been granted to private companies as economic land concessions, for the development of agro-industrial plantations. Thirty-six of these 59 concessions have been granted in favour of foreign business interests or prominent political and business figures.

Under the development paradigm of ‘Economic Concessions’ increasingly large areas of Cambodia’s land have been given over to establishing fast-wood plantations in recent years.