Siem Reap

EUROPEAN Commission delegates to Cambodia on Thursday said that while the global financial crisis will have grim consequences for rural Cambodians, the situation is not as bad as a recent Economist Intelligence Unit report suggests.

 

Chanthou Hem, the program officer for food security at the European Commission, said at a meeting in Siem Reap: "I think the EIU report is a little pessimistic," but added that the economic downturn would inevitably create some social tension.

The EC delegation today finishes a two-day conference titled "Repercussions of the economic downturn in rural Cambodia" at the Ree Hotel in Siem Reap.

In a presentation on the impact of the downturn on the rural poor, Chanthou Hem said that the downturns in garment, tourism and construction sectors, combined with the lingering effects of the 2008 food price crisis, will increase the trafficking and prostitution of rural women and force families to live on small quantities of low-quality food.