PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Minister of Commerce has stressed the important role of trade and tourism in the country's socio-economic development toward inclusive, resilient, and sustainable recovery.

The minister H.E. Pan Sorasak made the point when addressing the opening of the Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China, and India 2023: Reviving Tourism Post-Pandemic of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) webinar recently.

Trade has significantly increased job opportunities, generated income, and facilitated food and goods supply chains, he added. Tourism was a driving force for service trade, infrastructure development, and people-to-people contact promotion.

The Royal Government of Cambodia is diversifying the country's economy through the establishment of multilateral, regional, sub-regional, and bilateral free trade agreements.

He continued that institutional capacity building and necessary legal and regulatory reform and framework have also been introduced to harness potential growth.

The minister cited OECD Economic Outlook stating that Cambodia's economy achieved around 4.5 percent in 2022 and is expected to accelerate to 6.3 percent this year.

The challenges to economic growth include continuous inflationary pressure and global economic downturn which can partly be addressed by the reopening of the major economies in the region and the adaption of trade and tourism to new trends, including digitalization.

H.E. Pan Sorasak appreciated the webinar aimed to provide updates on global economic recovery and enhance awareness of economics, trade, investment, and tourism.