UN-backed forum aims to help Cambodia continue growth in face of economic crisis

UN News Centre

5 February 2009 – The effects of the global financial collapse and market meltdown may threaten impressive gains to Cambodia’s economic growth and poverty reduction over recent years, delegates at a United Nations-supported forum heard today.

As numbers of tourists to the South-East Asian country drop and orders to garment factories dwindle, the policymakers looked at steps it could take to mitigate the affects of the crisis at the Third Cambodia Economic Forum.

“As Cambodia takes its place on the international stage – with its accession to the World Trade Organisation, taking a stronger role in the UN and sending peacekeepers to Sudan – it also grows more susceptible to the economic shocks affecting the rest of the world,” said UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative Douglas Broderick.

“Integration with regional and global economies exposes Cambodia to new risks along with new opportunities,” he added at the event hosted by the Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC) in collaboration with UNDP.

A range of policy measures aimed at improving Cambodia’s economic competitiveness and sustain its rapid growth in the face of the global crises were presented to delegates, who include senior Government officials, the representatives from the private sector as well as development partners.

“The Government is fully committed to systemic measures to limit the impacts of the global financial crisis on Cambodia’s financial system and its economy,” said Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen in his keynote address.

With the support of UNDP, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), SNEC drafted and presented four groundbreaking studies focused on Cambodia’s global competitiveness, potential growth sectors and the impact of the financial crisis on economic development, among other topics.

“A rigorous assessment of the vulnerabilities the Cambodian economy experienced as a result of the economic shocks of 2008 can help provide a sharper focus on the priorities which need to be addressed for Cambodia's future competitiveness and sustainable growth,” said ADB Country Director, Arjun Goswami.