Robust Recovery Continues

Cambodia’s economy is on track to maintain its robust recovery thanks to a cocktail of private sector and government efforts. In 2012, the Asian Development Bank estimated that gross domestic product grew at a rate of 7.2 per cent, an increase from a 2011 International Monetary Fund figure of 6.5 per cent. After suffering from the fallout of the global economic downturn, GDP growth is surging back.

Kang Chandararot, president of the Cambodian Institute for Development Study, attributes much of the success to agricultural production, public investment in infrastructure and recoveries in both the garment and tourist sectors. …

Contributing factors for growth include Cambodia’s exports, consumer spending and the diversified flow of  foreign direct investment, which reached $1.5 billion in 2012. In its 2013 outlook, the ADB expects the industrial sector to expand by more than 10 per cent as EU demand for Cambodia’s products increase, thanks to preferential access to the market under the Everything but Arms initiative. …

“Cambodia’s economy is still fragmented, (there is) no broad-base growth . . . and it is led by unfair competition,” said Chandararot when asked about the challenges for Cambodia’s future growth. …

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013061066160/Business/robust-recovery-continues.html