Illustrative image (Source: Angkor Focus Travel) Phnom Penh (VNA) - Cambodia's economy is projected to moderate to 7 percent in 2019 after experiencing a better-than-expected growth rate of 7.5 percent in 2018, the World Bank (WB) said in its new report released on October 10.
The country’s growth relies heavily on garment and footwear exports, tourism, construction and real estate, and agriculture, according to the report.
While remaining strong, export performance eased slightly, however, bustling construction activity continues, the WB’s senior country economist Sodeth Ly said during a press conference in Phnom Penh on the launch of the bank's Cambodia Economic Update report.
According to the report, garment and footwear exports, accounting for about 70 percent of total merchandise exports, grew at 17.7 percent in 2018, but eased slightly to 15.3 percent year-on-year in June 2019.
Cambodia’s exports to the European Union (EU) totaled 4.77 billion EUR (5.3 billion USD) last year. Most of the Cambodian products sold to the EU were garment, footwear, travel goods and rice.
Bustling construction activity has continued, reflecting sustained appetite for investment. As a result, import growth of steel skyrocketed to 63.5 percent year-on-year in volume terms.
It said the tourism sector remained resilient, as international arrival growth accelerated to 11.2 percent year-on-year in June 2019 compared to 10.7 percent in 2018, with almost 40 percent of international arrivals coming from China./.