Business Profile
Economy
The Cambodian economy was all but destroyed by the war in South-East Asia, following the rule of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. Restoration of agriculture – the foundation of the Cambodian economy and the main source of employment – has been slow but steady. Rice is the staple; other products include maize, sugar cane, cassava and bananas. The timber industry has also grown quickly on the back of heavy foreign investment and meets both domestic fuel demands and export markets - but at the expense of worrying deforestation. Timber is, along with rubber, the source of most of Cambodia’s export earnings. Other mineral resources, which include phosphates, iron ore, bauxite, silicon and manganese, are limited. There is a small but fast-growing industrial sector concentrated in the production of consumer goods, processed foods and light manufacturing. This has largely relied on foreign investment, most of which has come from elsewhere in East Asia (especially Thailand), as more developed economies seek to take advantage of Cambodia’s lower labour costs. Japan and Australia have supplanted the former Soviet Union as Cambodia’s largest trading partners. GDP growth has reached 6 per cent annually since 2000, with construction activity particularly extensive, especially in the capital. The effects of the 1997 currency crisis on the economy were transitory, given the relatively undeveloped state of the Cambodian economy. Cambodia aspires to the status of an Asian ‘tiger’ economy and has joined, along with its neighbour Vietnam, the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), now the principal regional economic co-operation body.
Business
Shirt and tie should be worn. Some knowledge of French would be useful.
Business hours: Mon-Fri 0700-1700.
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