Regional affairs

National Assembly President Heng Samrin yesterday touted improvements in Cambodia’s economy.

In a speech opening a four-day conference on budget oversight at the National Assembly, attended by delegates from Vietnam and Laos, Samrin predicted an average economic growth of seven per cent for the Kingdom.

The achievement, he said in the speech, stems in part from “national budget management”, as the country’s prosperity depends on the government’s ability to manage the budget through the collection of revenue and wise spending decisions.

 Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay said the opposition assembly members were not invited to participate in the workshop, and added that the countries invited weren’t exactly ideal role models for transparent government.

“Laos and Vietnam are communist. We have to arrange budgets according to free democracy, doing this openly. It must have participation from the grassroots.”