AFP
PHNOM PENH
CAMBODIA'S economy is too narrowly focused on its garment sector, World Bank chief Robert Zoellick said yesterday, suggesting it needs to build on its successes to draw investors to other industries.
"Cambodia has a particular opportunity and need to develop a global brand," Zoellick said at the end of a two-day visit to the country, which has carved out a lucrative niche by selling itself to buyers as a labour-friendly textile producer.
"It's been able to stay in the game and grow, in part because for some buyers there is special value to the social responsibility that it's included in that industry," he said.
Cambodia's garment sector continues to expand, employing some 330,000 people in more than 200 factories and accounting for 80 per cent of the country's export earnings.
But Zoellick said that this is "too narrow a base on which to develop" and that to attract other businesses, it was essential for Cambodia to create the right investment climate.
"Cambodia is a small country. It needs to be distinctive to get on the map and I believe it can be distinctive by emphasising its heritage, better labour practices, better transparency, fighting corruption," he added. "This is all important if Cambodia is going to draw foreign investment and create jobs."
Economic growth has been projected at nine per cent this year by the International Monetary Fund.
While it continues to expand at a healthy rate, the economy has shrunk from a growth high of 13.5 per cent two years ago and relies almost solely on garments and tourism to drive it.
Zoellick, who during his visit met Prime Minister Hun Sen and held lengthy discussions with other top officials, was making his first visit to the region after taking over the World Bank last month.
His talks here were focused largely on the bank's continued role in Cambodia, a relationship that has not always been easy.
The government is still paying back millions of dollars that were found to have been stolen from three bank-supported projects last year, forcing their temporary suspension.
"As we tried to make clear from the recent past, we can't be in a position where the money that we are ... devoting to Cambodia gets stolen," he said.
Cambodia, which also fell foul of the World Bank in 2003, when graft was uncovered in a project to demobilise soldiers, remains one of the world's poorest countries and last year was ranked 151 out of 163 in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.
Zoellick said the government acknowledged its problems with corruption, saying "governance and corruption issues are at the front and centre of people's agendas."
"Cambodia has a particular opportunity and need to develop a global brand," Zoellick said at the end of a two-day visit to the country, which has carved out a lucrative niche by selling itself to buyers as a labour-friendly textile producer.
"It's been able to stay in the game and grow, in part because for some buyers there is special value to the social responsibility that it's included in that industry," he said.
Cambodia's garment sector continues to expand, employing some 330,000 people in more than 200 factories and accounting for 80 per cent of the country's export earnings.
But Zoellick said that this is "too narrow a base on which to develop" and that to attract other businesses, it was essential for Cambodia to create the right investment climate.
"Cambodia is a small country. It needs to be distinctive to get on the map and I believe it can be distinctive by emphasising its heritage, better labour practices, better transparency, fighting corruption," he added. "This is all important if Cambodia is going to draw foreign investment and create jobs."
Economic growth has been projected at nine per cent this year by the International Monetary Fund.
While it continues to expand at a healthy rate, the economy has shrunk from a growth high of 13.5 per cent two years ago and relies almost solely on garments and tourism to drive it.
Zoellick, who during his visit met Prime Minister Hun Sen and held lengthy discussions with other top officials, was making his first visit to the region after taking over the World Bank last month.
His talks here were focused largely on the bank's continued role in Cambodia, a relationship that has not always been easy.
The government is still paying back millions of dollars that were found to have been stolen from three bank-supported projects last year, forcing their temporary suspension.
"As we tried to make clear from the recent past, we can't be in a position where the money that we are ... devoting to Cambodia gets stolen," he said.
Cambodia, which also fell foul of the World Bank in 2003, when graft was uncovered in a project to demobilise soldiers, remains one of the world's poorest countries and last year was ranked 151 out of 163 in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.
Zoellick said the government acknowledged its problems with corruption, saying "governance and corruption issues are at the front and centre of people's agendas."
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