Cambodia's 2011 Economic Growth Expected To Be 6.8 Per Cent, Says ADB

Sept 14, 2011
-- BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 (Bernama) -- Cambodia's economic growth for 2011 is expected to be 6.8 per cent, says the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

This is based on the positive trends over the six months of this year and is an improvement over the ADB forecast of 6.5 per cent in April.

The Asian Development Outlook 2011 (ADO) update released today, said the revision is mainly driven by a surge in garment exports, in the first half of 2011.

"The value of Cambodia's garment exports to the United States in the first six months of this year compared to the same period of 2010 increased by over 23 per cent while tourism arrivals increased by more than 13 per cent and rice exports are on an upward trend," the ADB said in a statement today.

ADB Senior Country Economist, Peter Brimble said even though Cambodia would maintain solid economic growth this year, the current slowdown in global trade is likely to temper momentum in 2012.

"Cambodia needs to address the long standing challenges to achieve sustainable growth.

"Reducing the high cost of transport, energy and diversifying agricultural products and the tourism sector are critical, and will be addressed under the ADB's Country Partnership Strategy 2011-2013," he added.

The ADO update has forecast growth of 6.5 per cent in 2012, reflecting the current frailty in global markets, which would depress demand for Cambodian products in the second half of 2011 and 2012.

The report also said that the declining trend in global markets is not expected to outweigh the positive growth already perceived.

"However, long standing challenges remain for Cambodia's narrowly based economy such as accelerating economic diversification, expanding the fiscal space, addressing governance issues and strengthening the investment climate," it added.