AFP
PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA has an 'urgent' need to invest in education and health to further grow its economy and reduce poverty, a United Nations economist said at the launch of a report on Monday.
'Cambodia has a serious lack of qualified workers and this is something that needs urgent priority,' UN Development Programme (UNDP) economist Brooks Evans told reporters.
Mr Evans made his comments during the launch of a UNDP study on Cambodia's competitiveness in the global economy, which ranked it near the bottom among southeast Asian countries.
Cambodia also finished last in regional higher education training scores while 40 per cent of its population does not even finish primary school, Mr Evans said.
He added that lax rules and regulations have caused investors from the United States, Europe and Japan to shy away from setting up operations in the country, one of the world's poorest.
'Cambodia is potentially losing out on huge amounts of foreign direct investment,' Mr Evans said.
Cambodia enjoyed several years of double-digit economic growth until last year, but has seen sharp declines in garment exports and tourism - its two key industries - because of the global financial crisis.
Despite the recent economic expansion, under-employment, where someone's work earns only a meagre return, remains high in Cambodia.
Some 30 per cent of the country's 14 million people live on less than 50 US cents a day.
'Cambodia has a serious lack of qualified workers and this is something that needs urgent priority,' UN Development Programme (UNDP) economist Brooks Evans told reporters.
Mr Evans made his comments during the launch of a UNDP study on Cambodia's competitiveness in the global economy, which ranked it near the bottom among southeast Asian countries.
Cambodia also finished last in regional higher education training scores while 40 per cent of its population does not even finish primary school, Mr Evans said.
He added that lax rules and regulations have caused investors from the United States, Europe and Japan to shy away from setting up operations in the country, one of the world's poorest.
'Cambodia is potentially losing out on huge amounts of foreign direct investment,' Mr Evans said.
Cambodia enjoyed several years of double-digit economic growth until last year, but has seen sharp declines in garment exports and tourism - its two key industries - because of the global financial crisis.
Despite the recent economic expansion, under-employment, where someone's work earns only a meagre return, remains high in Cambodia.
Some 30 per cent of the country's 14 million people live on less than 50 US cents a day.
10 comments:
I agree: Cambodian gevernment needs to be overhauled from the head first; the lower will follow.
After reading of AFP under UNDP,it is right.During my time,I was in Srok Khmer 2 years, Yet!I haven't seen any rural locals that Khmer Government have had solved a povety field and ingorant field problems.They built the schools only along the high way it's not in rural locals,they just made it up the same as French word have said(fait pour la forme).They have
not taken care the territories.At
Anlogveng I have seen Thai had built up a large shopping center
on our land,it is in the middle of Dangraik(border line is at Cheung Phnom Dangraik)
AH HUN SEN is too busy micromanage Cambodia that he fail to see the big picture that the Siem and the Viet are busy building roads to annex Khmer land and then they set up their businesses, then the electricity and the water to supply their population growth to expand into Khmer land!
Oh well! As long as AH HUN SEN continue to rely on his small number of cronies to build small schools and small roads at the urgent request of the dirt poor Khmer population and Cambodia will take another 1000 years to rebuild the whole country and by then and who know and Cambodia could vanish from the world map!
Forget about Cambodian qualified workers. Many qualified workers are coming from the Philippine, China, Vietnam and even Africa taking most of the major position. Cambodian end up taking a clerk or laborer position. If Cambodian can't do the job other nationals can.
yes, it's called reform and more reforms! everything in cambodia evolves slowly but surely. cambodia should be about the long term existence of our nation, not a quick, short-term special interest or something. like teamsport, you can't play by yourself and win; it requires team effort or teamwork, hello, wake up and see the world! god bless cambodia.
everyone from all politcal parties needs overhaul, to say the least! stop being so bias and one-sided in your point of view. it's not useful to the country as a whole. it goes to show your penchant for trouble-making and ineffector leadership skill. cambodian people aren't that dumb. it's been over 30 years since the fall of the KR regime and cambodia had already moved on. so stop ruminating already! god bless cambodia.
Send them to PPU (Phnom Penh University) we have seen one loose graduate from there around here who seems to be an excellent expert on all subjects!!!! PPU, where are you????
The stupid foreigners do not know what they are talking about. Cambodia's educational system has improved 1000%. Our Prime minister alone has built like 50,000 schools under his name alone, and many more under our first lady's name.
PPU
I don't believe for a moment that Cambodia has 50,000 schools not including run down private schools!
I had seen some of the schools with Hun Sen name on it! I can assure you that it is like an empty warehouse that lacks many of basic necessity to fulfill the need of the students and it is dirty from top to bottom and I wonder how on Earth Cambodian students can manage to sit there for hours and hours to learn anything under hot tropical heat?
Cambodia will have more qualified workers if UNDP does not spend $300,000 to hire UK's ODI to produce this report. This report is useless for policy making as same conclusion are made as they did 10 years ago in their annual Cambodia Human Development Report.
$300,000 can fund 300 students to study 420 students to finish 2 year technical eduation at Preah Kosamak College.
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