In August 1999, the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) was officially established as a semi-autonomous institute. Under sub-decree 74 it became a fully-fledged legal entity under the management of a director who reports to a government appointed board of directors. CARDI was designed to be autonomous in relation to its personnel, and physical and financial management. The Institute became operational at the beginning of 2000 with a professional staff of just over 40 employees, including some who were just completing postgraduate training abroad.