The Kingdom now ranks second in ASEAN – after Singapore – for the number of vaccinations provided for every 100 people. Heng Chivoan
The government is considering applying a third dose of vaccines against the novel coronavirus as it draws up a game plan to accelerate the national vaccination campaign, enable a more substantial reopening and spur a quick recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a senior official.
Ministry of Economy and Finance permanent secretary of state Vongsey Vissoth noted that the Kingdom would have 20 million doses of vaccines by August if all orders arrive on schedule.
He was speaking at Phnom Penh International Airport on June 26 at a reception ceremony for a batch of one million doses of Sinovac Biotech Ltd’s coronavirus jab flown in from China.
“We’ll soon hold a meeting to review the feasibility of the vaccination plan. We’ll ponder over whether children under the age of 18 should be vaccinated and look into another possibility that is being studied – the third dose.
“This is the government’s plan – one step ahead,” Vissoth said without elaborating.
As of June 26, Cambodia has received more than 10 million doses of shots, through purchases and donations from China and allocations from the Covax Facility.
Vissoth underscored that a rapid and effective vaccination system was crucial to propel the Kingdom’s economic growth beyond the pandemic, saying that failure to reduce or prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 would foreclose any possibility of a safe reopening process.
On June 17, the World Bank projected Cambodia’s economic growth to accelerate to 4.0 per cent this year after contracting 3.1 per cent in 2020, thanks to a fast rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and the revitalisation of global demand.
However, the Washington-based multilateral lender also offers a downside scenario, in which the jab drive loses too much steam and is accompanied by frequent, prolonged and nationwide lockdowns. Under this scenario, the economy is projected to grow by just 1.0 per cent in 2021, it said.
Speaking at a press conference on June 17, World Bank senior economist for Cambodia Ly Sodeth acknowledged that Cambodia had accelerated its Covid-19 vaccination programme, which he lauded as a positive sign of economic confidence.
Cambodia now ranks second in ASEAN – after Singapore – for the number of vaccinations provided for every 100 people, due to the population densities of the capital and surrounding Kandal province, he noted.
However, he said, sparser populations in other provinces would take far longer to inoculate.
The ongoing February 20 community outbreak of Covid-19 has caused severe disruptions to Cambodia’s production chains, which could jeopardise 2021 economic growth forecasts.
Vissoth suggested adopting a wait-and-see approach on the impact of the pandemic to gauge whether a meaningful economic recovery could take root in September-October, saying Cambodia remains hopeful that a four per cent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) would be achieved this year.
“Our economic situation may be resilient, but it’s not as good as we expected. [Still,] we’ve seen that the situation in the first five months of this year reflects that the Cambodian economy, despite the impact of the February 20 community event, despite the lockdown, is still viable.”
“The last five months reflect that Cambodia’s exports are still strong. Our exports, excluding gold, were still up 17 per cent,” he said.
Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng previously told The Post that accelerating vaccinations towards reopening the doors to international tourists and investors as soon as possible would spark a renewed uptick in the economy and foreign direct investment (FDI).
And making the Kingdom more enticing still, bilateral free trade agreements (FTA) with China and South Korea grant access to lucrative markets, he noted.
“Vaccination numbers give investors confidence in investing in Cambodia, as well as boost domestic production,” Heng said.
Last year, the total value of Cambodian international trade surged to $35.80585 billion, up by 2.54 per cent over 2019, Ministry of Commerce said in its 2020 annual performance report.
Cambodia exported $17.21537 billion worth of goods last year, up by 16.72 per cent from $14.74874 billion in 2019, while imports slipped 7.84 per cent to $18.59048 billion in 2020 from $20.17181 billion in the year before.
The country’s trade deficit narrowed 74.64 per cent to $1.37511 billion in 2020, from $5.42307 billion in the previous year.
