First effects of the crisis in Cambodia: the poor are getting poorer

Chom Chao (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). 10/03/2009: Workers of a garment factory who were laid off come to receive half their salaries (Photo: John Vink/Magnum)

27-07-2009
By Laurent Le Gouanvic
Ka-set

Economic forecasts for 2009 in Cambodia, which were hardly optimistic, unfortunately seem to be confirmed as the months go by. As the first 2009 semester has just ended, several studies highlight that the Kingdom, which is among the poorest countries in Asia, is bearing the brunt of the economic crisis. First affected, Cambodian poor families have become poorer during the last months, much more than what neighbouring countries have experienced, according to the findings of an investigation carried out by a private society. The conclusions are even more worrying as another report, realised under the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking, expresses concern over the increasing number of women, including former garment industry workers, who prostitute themselves to survive.

Less income for poor Phnom Penh residents

Three out of four poor households in Phnom Penh have seen their income decrease between June 2008 and June 2009, according to the results of a regional study by society Indochina Research published mid-July. The conclusions of the investigation, carried out in the Cambodian capital as well as Hanoi (Vietnam) and Vientiane (Laos) with 600 women aged 25 and more in households with monthly income of less than 300 dollars, show that Phnom Penh residents were hit by the crisis more harshly than their neighbours in the region.

During the same period, a very large majority of poor families in the Laotian capital saw their income increase (43% of those surveyed) or stagnate (32%), when that was the case only for respectively 10% and 16% of women interrogated in Phnom Penh. In Vientiane, only 26% of the poor households selected for this study experienced a decrease of their income between June 2008 and June 2009. In Vietnam, urban poor were more affected than in Laos, as 49% of them experienced an income decrease, but a relatively more significant proportion managed to maintain their income (32%) or increase them (13%). Phnom Penh poor therefore appear to have been those most affected.

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