Cambodia eyes 6pc growth in 2011

Cambodia's economy is expected to grow by more than six percent this year, the government told international donors on Wednesday.

"Cambodia is very well positioned" for robust growth, Economy and Finance Minister Keat Chhon told delegates at a meeting in Phnom Penh to discuss aid programmes.

He said the economy was recovering well from the global financial crisis and would expand by "more than six percent in 2011", without giving further details.

The government's projection is in line with recent predictions from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which each expect Cambodia's gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 6.5 percent this year driven by garment exports, agriculture and tourism.

Written off as a failed state after the devastating 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime and several decades of civil war, Cambodia used garment exports and tourism to help improve its economy.

The country enjoyed several years of double-digit economic growth before being hit hard by the global financial crisis which began in 2007.

But like much of Asia, Cambodia has bounced back and achieved 5.9 percent growth in 2010, Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a speech last month.

Cambodia still remains one of the world's poorest countries, with around 30 percent of its 14 million people living on less than a dollar a day.

Last year parliament approved a five-year national development plan aimed at achieving annual growth of six percent, helped by more than six billion dollars in international aid over the period.

Foreign donors pledged more than 1.1 billion dollars to the country in 2010.