PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has said that Cambodia has set a strategy to transform it into a high-income country by 2050.
Hun Manet made the remarks at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, the United States on Friday (New York time), according to a statement of his speech released to the media on Saturday.
“Like many developing countries, Cambodia has a lot more to do to reach our goal of becoming an upper-middle-income country by 2030 and a resilient, vibrant and prosperous high-income country by 2050,” he said.
“To this end…my government is committed to taking transformative actions through our recently launched Pentagonal Strategy for Cambodia’s socio-economic development over the next 25 years,” he added.
The Pentagonal Strategy is being implemented from Phase I in the five areas of growth, employment, equity, efficiency, and sustainability, Hun Manet said, adding that the five key priorities are people, roads, water, electricity, and technology, primarily digital technology.
According to the Cambodian leader, the country is steadily transitioning from a least developed country status to a developing country status in 2027.
He said the kingdom’s economic growth is expected to grow 5.6 percent in 2023, up from 5.2 percent in 2022.
Cambodian Ministry of Commerce’s Secretary of State and Spokesman Penn Sovicheat said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement, and the Cambodia-Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement will help Cambodia graduate from its least developed country status and achieve its goals of becoming an upper-middle income country in 2030 and a high-income nation by 2050.
“The RCEP, along with other bilateral FTAs, has not only given a boost to the kingdom’s sustainable trade growth but also become a magnet to attract more foreign direct investments,” he told Xinhua.
The RCEP agreement comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries, including 10 ASEAN member states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – and their five trading partners: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Xinhua