(Photo: AP)26/04/2010
Ellie Dyer
Bangkok Post
Cambodia is falling behind its competitors in the key garment and tourism sectors, an economist from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned this week.
ADB analysts gathered at group headquarters in Phnom Penh to discuss their Asian Development Outlook Report 2010, which was released during Khmer New Year and predicted 4.5% GDP growth for the kingdom this year.
During the press conference, senior country economist Eric Sidgwick said Cambodia must increase competitiveness in the region as it begins to recover from the global economic crisis in order to move to the "next [economic] level".
ADB estimated the country's GDP shrank by 2% last year.
"Cambodia has had a good start relative to its past performance, but it is still lagging behind its competitors in terms of garments and tourism," he said, noting that the volume of Cambodia's garment exports to the US increased by 12% in February, compared with the same month last year.
"There are still issues in trade facilitation," he warned, and declared that both sectors have shown signs of reaching maturity.
Mr Sidgwick advised that the garment industry needs to become quick, reliable and efficient in order to compete with producers such as Vietnam, and that tourism needs to diversify away from the hub of the Angkor temples.
ADB analysts gathered at group headquarters in Phnom Penh to discuss their Asian Development Outlook Report 2010, which was released during Khmer New Year and predicted 4.5% GDP growth for the kingdom this year.
During the press conference, senior country economist Eric Sidgwick said Cambodia must increase competitiveness in the region as it begins to recover from the global economic crisis in order to move to the "next [economic] level".
ADB estimated the country's GDP shrank by 2% last year.
"Cambodia has had a good start relative to its past performance, but it is still lagging behind its competitors in terms of garments and tourism," he said, noting that the volume of Cambodia's garment exports to the US increased by 12% in February, compared with the same month last year.
"There are still issues in trade facilitation," he warned, and declared that both sectors have shown signs of reaching maturity.
Mr Sidgwick advised that the garment industry needs to become quick, reliable and efficient in order to compete with producers such as Vietnam, and that tourism needs to diversify away from the hub of the Angkor temples.
4 comments:
I'm curious to know how accurate were their forecasts in the past.
economic crisis is everywhere not only in Cambodia. Look at Greece for example needs 50 billion dollars to cover up its economic crisis. Thailand politic crisis is making Thailand economic suffering more than Cambodia.
You can always say that is world financial crises but the truth is there is too much corruption in Cambodia, from top to bottom, copanies are suffocated by that..
7:15PM! what are you talking about? They all, we all know that economic crisis is everywhere not only in Cambodia!!!!!!
But we have to be shap up because when it over the competition id fierce!!!!!!!
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