WTO lauds Cambodia as ‘star pupil’ of economic growth

WTO lauds Cambodia as ‘star pupil’ of economic growth

Cambodia’s strong macroeconomic achievements and diversification efforts came in for praise by the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Friday describing the Kingdom as the ‘star pupil’ of economic growth.

During a meeting with Minister of Commerce Cham Nimul, Okonjo-Iweala said, “The economy is doing very well, one of the fastest growing in ASEAN.”

“We’re looking at maybe 6 percent growth going forward, so they’re taking some of the right steps and the right policies. So, I would just want to strongly encourage them to continue in the same direction,” she added.

Okonjo-Iweala went on to add that as far as trade is concerned, they’re maybe a star pupil in the sense that they’ve 100 percent implemented Trade Facilitation Agreement, ratified fish and are well on their way to being a fantastic best practice example.

“So, we want to encourage Cambodia in its objectives of becoming an upper-middle-income country in the next few years and a high-income country by 2050. The least developed country (LDC) is about to graduate, and I think taking the right steps in that direction. So, all we can say is please keep on the good path, keep diversifying the economy and keep your macroeconomic framework strong,” Director-General of WTO emphasised.

Welcoming Okonjo-Iweala’s commendation, Nimul underscored Cambodia’s support for the open, rules-based multilateral trading system, which has provided many benefits to Cambodia.

She considered the Trade Policy Review as an important mechanism for members to understand Cambodia’s trade policies and practices and for Cambodia to reflect on its implementation.

“The Trade Policy Review is a great opportunity for Cambodia to present our latest progress update on our trade policies and practices and other commitments that we have made as well to the WTO as a member,” said Nimul.

Nimul and the Cambodian delegation attended the second day of Cambodia’s 3rd Trade Policy Review (3rd TPR) meeting at the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

During the meeting, she expressed appreciation to WTO members for their interventions on Cambodia’s trade policy during the first day of the review and addressed key points raised by members regarding the country’s economic environment, trade and investment regimes, and trade policies by sector and measure.

On that occasion, WTO members congratulated Cambodia on the successful organization of its 3rd TPR and commended the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) for implementing sound trade policies, which have contributed to steady development toward achieving Cambodia’s Vision 2030, in which Cambodia aims to become an upper-middle-income country.

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