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Hun
Sen Pleased With 2000
Economic Growth
Prime
Minister Hun Sen on Thursday praised the Ministry of Commerce for
last year's economic growth, despite the country's failure to meet
its projected growth for 2000.
Speaking
at the Ministry's annual meeting, Hun Sen thanked the Ministry for
"maintaining its important position in the Royal governments
overall mandate.
"The [Ministry of Commerce] has brought marvelous achievements of great appreciation," he said.
Tourism
and manufacturing helped buoy Cambodia's fragile economy, Hun Sen
said, patricianlthe garment industry, which has been Cambodia's
biggest industrial money maker and expects to add millions of
dollars into national coffers this year.
He
outlined the Ministry's 2001 strategy, including implementation of a
commercial code and the nation's deeper entry into global markets.
Earlier this month Hun Sen signed a subdecree establishing an
Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee that would set commercial
policies he hopes will alleviate some of the poverty plaguing
Cambodia.
The
lingering effects of the region's economic crisis and last year's
severe flooding have been blamed for the country's failure to reach
its projected 5.5 growth by 1 percent. But Hun Sen also cautioned
that fully embracing the free market could hurt the economy.
"Relying
too much on free market mechanisms to reap short-term benefits....
has wreaked havoc to Southeast Asia and East Asia during the last
two years.
The
impacts of the financial turmoil in the region have resulted in
large-scale tragedies that cannot be gauged," he said.
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