CAMBODIA BROKERAGE

Links & Background Info

Economic Facts

Full Name: Kingdom of Cambodia
Population: 14.1 million (UN 2006)
Capital: Phnom Penh
GDP: US$ 3.8bn (2002)
GDP per head: US$278 (2002)
GDP (PPP) per head: US$2,200 (2006)
Annual Growth: 7% per annum (2003)
Inflation: 1.7% (2003)
Major Industries: Garment manufacture, tourism, agriculture, fishing and forestry, construction.
Major Trading partners: China, Thailand, S. Korea, USA, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, UK, and Taiwan.

General Cambodia Info

Cambodia is emerging into a vibrant and thriving economy. Regional investment is growing rapidly and many countries continue to provide the much needed expansion of infrastructure.

Cambodia, sitting between Thailand and Vietnam has benefited economically from it’s position close to these countries and membership of the regional forum, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and also ASEAN +3 (Plus Three), the forum that functions as a coordinator of cooperation between ASEAN and the three East Asian nations of China, Japan, and South Korea.

Tourism is important to the economy. In 2007 tourism is projected to rise from $650m to $1.1bn. The imposing temple complex at Angkor, built between the ninth and 13th centuries by Khmer kings, is a UN heritage site and a big draw for visitors.

During 2003 and 2004 the growth rate remained steady at 5.0%, while in 2004 inflation was at 1.7% and exports at $1.6 billion US dollars. As of 2005, GDP per capita was $2,200, which ranked 178th (out of 233) countries.

Rising urbanization and the demand for education will see rapid social changes in the coming years. However, subsistence farming still employs 70% of the workforce, with the Mekong River providing fertile, irrigated fields for rice production.

GDP growth in Cambodia is projected to average a little over 9% for 2007 and 2008.

The key assumptions for the projection are:

• Continued maintenance of macroeconomic and fiscal disciplines.
• Close supervision by monetary authorities of the banking sector to ensure sound banking practices as domestic credit rise rapidly.
• Implementation of structural reforms to sustain business confidence and attract more investment.
• Continued robust growth in agriculture due to productivity gains from commercialization of farming, inputs, increased irrigation, normal weather conditions, and absence of disasters such as avian flu.
• Continued garments exports due to maintenance of safeguard measures by the EU and US against PRC textile exports; somewhat lower due to increased competition from Vietnam and other low cost producers and slower growth in world demand
• Continued growth of construction for new town projects and growth of tourists.