Cambodia’s economy is set to expand by at least 8 percent this year as an increase in tourist arrivals and rice exports offsets higher energy and commodity prices, Cambodian Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said.
“We are expecting growth of around 8 to 9 percent,” Cham Prasidh, 57, said in Phnom Penh. “The Cambodian economy is in quite a good shape despite the high prices of oil and food.”
The IMF forecast last month that Cambodia’s economic growth would fall to about 7 percent this year, from 10.25 percent last year.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is relying on the country’s oil and mineral resources to attract foreign investment and reduce its dependence on clothing exports and tourism for growth. Economic growth in Southeast Asia’s second-poorest nation could “move to double digits again” after expanding at least 10 percent in the last four years, Cham Prasidh said.
“If we have a bumper harvest, a lot of tourists coming, a boom in the construction business, more garment exports to developed countries, I believe that would add up a lot more,” Cham Prasidh said on Friday.
Cambodia’s inflation rose 18.7 percent in January because of higher oil and food prices, according to the government’s last published data. More than a third of Cambodians live on less than US$1 a day.
The promise of oil could add to the country’s riches, after Chevron Corp discovered deposits off the southern shore in 2005.
Government revenue from oil could amount to as much as US$500 million a year when production starts in 2010 or 2011, Cham Prasidh said.
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