Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday that the Cambodian economy will grow in 2024 and achieve even higher growth in 2025, with all sectors showing fast recovery.
Mr Hun Manet was speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the twin flyovers at Samdech Techo Hun Sen Blvd, on the border between Phnom Penh and Kandal province.
“We need to think in advance about transportation and roads for people to walk on, and these twin bridges that we are going to build are for the future,” the Prime Minister said.
He added that the bridges will connect Kandal with Phnom Penh and will greatly boost the growth of the surrounding areas.
“Our economy slowed due to the impact of Covid-19, global economic problems and wars but in 2023 Cambodia grew by five percent. In 2024, this will go up to six percent, and next year it may rise even more,” Mr Hun Manet noted.
“All sectors are recovering, so overall growth will increase even more,” he said.
Socio-economic research and development expert Dr Chey Tech of Dynamic Alliance Consulting (DAC) told Khmer Times yesterday that the Prime Minister’s remarks regarding economic growth match that of the forecast of Cambodia’s major development partners such as IMF, ADB and the World Bank.
He added that Cambodia’s economy is growing from year to year due to the right policies and strategies of the Royal Government in creating an attractive investment environment.
“The government has made efforts to attract foreign investment to Cambodia, facilitated trade, improved tax laws, and brought in other service sector reforms,” he noted.
Tech said that to reach the targets of becoming an upper middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050, Cambodia needs to reform further, including in the short-term, medium-term and long-term.
Aun Pornmoniroth, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, said at an event on June 12 that the Cambodian economy is predicted to grow by six percent in 2024, up from five percent in 2023.
He added that the Royal Government of the 7th Mandate is working tirelessly to address the many challenges, even as it attempts to grab the emerging economic opportunities in the backdrop of the rapidly changing socio-economic situation of the region and the world.
According to the World Bank’s Cambodia’s Economic Update (CEU) report titled Cambodia’s Export Revival and Trade Shifts, the country’s growth is expected to improve marginally to 5.8 percent this year, up from 5.6 percent last year and should further strengthen to 6.1 percent in 2025 and reach 6.4 percent in 2026 due to the revival in the garments, travel goods, and footwear exports along with tourism.
