Cambodia has coped well in terms of exports despite the slowdown in some European economies, said the head of the IMF’s Asia-Pacific department last week.

Anoop Singh, director for the department, said Cambodia has enjoyed many years of economic growth at about 6 per cent or greater, and the economy’s main industries and sectors are holding up well.

“It is striking that if you look at Cambodia’s growth, its recovery in the last two years has been quite remarkable,” he said.

“Growth is holding up well above 6 per cent, closer to 6.5 per cent in 2012, and despite the headwind from Europe, we see that exports are holding up, tourism is holding up and inflation is stable,” said Singh.

According to Singh, Cambodia has dealt well with the export risks presented by the effects of Europe’s economic slowdown.

“[As for] the spillover risks from external sources, especially from Europe, and my sense is that, clearly, there are risks, but so far, Cambodia has been able to deal with export risks,” he said.

However, Chan Sophal, president of the Cambodia Economic Association, said the slow growth of the European economies have negatively affected garment export.

“European countries as well as the United States are main markets. Our main products such as garments and some agricultural products have seen reduced demand.”

The value of exported products is one aspect affecting export volume, said Singh.

“We have to look more carefully at the composition of exports, and it is possible that the higher value-added export products from some countries have been more affected by the slowdown in Europe, but this has not affected other countries, including Bangladesh and also Cambodia, as much,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: May Kunmakara at [email protected]