Asian Development Bank: The 2009 Cambodian GDP Growth Will Decline by Only 1.5% to 5.2% Compared to 2008

The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 631 – Wednesday, 23.9.2009

"Phnom Penh: The Asian Development Bank has predicted that, due to the global economic crisis, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Cambodia in 2009 will achieve little growth, but next year, it will be a bit better, because when the world economy will start to recover, and Cambodia will resume good growth.

"According to the Asian Development Bank Outlook 2009 Update [Broadening Openness for a Resilient Asia], released on 22 September 2009, the downturn in garment exports, construction activities, and the decline in the number of foreign tourists have led to a forecast that the GDP of Cambodia in 2009 will contract by about 1.5% compared to 2008.

"The report quoted the US Department of Commerce data which shows that Cambodian clothes exports to the US dropped by 27% in the first 5 months of 2009 from the corresponding period of 2008. As for tourism during the first four months of 2009, there was a decline by 3%, and the construction sector also faced a downturn as a consequence of falling Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), notably from Korea.

"As the global economy starts to recover, Cambodian textile exports and tourism might resume to grow again, leading to the expectation that in 2010, the Cambodian economy will achieve a 3.5% growth. However, Cambodia is encountering rising inflation - just 0.8% at present - but it will increase up to 5% in 2010. The current account deficit will be lower than forecast in March 2009 at about 5% and in 2010 at less than 7%.

"It should be remembered that according to a forecast in March 2009, when the global economic crisis was serious, it was predicted that the current account of Cambodia will decline by as much as 16% in 2009 and about 10% in 2010.

"The GDP of Cambodia achieved 10.8% growth in 2006, 10.2% in 2007, and 6.7% in 2008. According to the above forecast, Cambodia will achieve just 5.2% growth in 2009." Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #5002, 23.9.2009

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Wednesday, 23 September 2009

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.8, #2053, 23.9.2009

• The King Returned to the Country [after having been in China for a medical checkup]
• The Garment Sector of Cambodia Suffers from the Global Economic Crisis, Making About 50,000 Workers Unemployed
• The Minister of Agriculture: Food Security in Cambodia Is Not Threatened [as 96% of the plan to grow paddy rice has been achieved so far]
• Banteay Meanchey Governor Orders Withdrawal of All Illegal Check Points from Banteay Meanchey
• Seven Suspects Were Arrested over a Rape-Murder Case [of a 13-year-old girl - Kompong Cham]

Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.3, #493, 23.9.2009

• The US Department of State Confirmed that Ms. Hilary Clinton Had Accepted to Meet [opposition party parliamentarian] Ms. Mu Sochua in an Official Meeting
• Ms. Pong Chhiv Kek [also known as Dr. Kek Galabru, the director of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights]: Human Rights Violations in Cambodia Are True, as the World Knows

Koh Santepheap, Vol.42, #6760, 23.9.2009

• [Opposition party] Parliamentarian Ho Vann Is Free from Charges [of defamation and disinformation for criticizing degrees of military officers received from Vietnam], but the Editor-in-Chief and the Writer of The Cambodian Daily Were Both Ordered to Pay Riel 4 Million [approx. US$970.-] Each, as a Fine [for defamation - The Cambodia Daily had - in 7 short lines at the and of a full length colums from top to bottom, on 25.4.2009 - briefly reported critical words about the degrees, allegedly quoting Mr. Ho Vann - but on the following day, Mr. Ho Vann denied in a letter to the editor that he had made the statement ascribed to him]
• The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology Provided Five More Pumps to Pump Out Flood Water from Russey Keo District [Phnom Penh]
• The United States of America Grants Cambodia US$7.79 Million [through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to support priority economic growth projects: 1. To expand USAID activities to develop small, medium, and large-scale enterprises, and 2. To improve the conditions for the developments of jobs which reduce poverty among the rural population through increased productivity of family jobs]
• Australian Navy Ship Docked at the Sihanoukville Port [to visit Cambodia from 22 to 26 September 2009]
• The International Monetary Fund Sells 403 Tonnes of Gold to Help Poor Countries
• Afghanistan: If There Will Not Be More Forces Deployed, the Allied Forces Will Be Defeated [by the Taliban; said the new NATO forces commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal]

Rasmei Angkor, Vol.16, #1466, 22.9.2009

• Four Top Khmer [traditional] Boxers [Out Phoutang, Chey Kosal, Pich Seyha, and Pich Sophan] Were Dismissed and Banned from Boxing Forever [by the Cambodian Amateur Boxing Federation, after they went to box in Australia without asking for permission from the federation]

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #5002, 23.9.2009

• Asian Development Bank: The 2009 Cambodian GDP Growth Will Decline by Only 1.5% to 5.2% Compared to 2008
• [The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation] Mr. Hor Namhong Will Discuss Possible Solutions to the Debt from the Time of General Lon Nol's Regime [the Khmer Republic] of More Than US$300 Million That Cambodia Owes America
• Samdech Krom Preah Norodom Ranariddh Appeared at the Municipal Court over his Divorce Case with Princess Marie
• Cambodia Signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Vietnam to Invest in Rubber Plantations on 100,000 Hectares of Land in Cambodia [10,000 hectares have already been planted with rubber trees in Kompong Thom, Kratie, Mondolkiri, Preah Vihear, and Ratanakiri. An additional 20,000 hectares are to be planted in 2010, and 30,000 in 2011. By 2012, rubber trees will have been planted on all of the 100,000 hectares]

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