SNC - blue background with white map of Cambodia in middle; SOC - two equal
horizontal bands of red (top) and blue with a gold stylized five-towered
temple representing Angkor Wat in the center

:Cambodia Economy

Overview:
Cambodia is a desperately poor country whose economic development has been
stymied by deadly political infighting. The economy is based on agriculture
and related industries. Over the past decade Cambodia has been slowly
recovering from its near destruction by war and political upheaval. The food
situation remains precarious; during the 1980s famine was averted only
through international relief. In 1986 the production level of rice, the
staple food crop, was able to meet only 80% of domestic needs. The biggest
success of the nation's recovery program has been in new rubber plantings
and in fishing. Industry, other than rice processing, is almost nonexistent.
Foreign trade has been primarily with the former USSR and Vietnam, and both
trade and foreign aid are being adversely affected by the breakup of the
USSR. Statistical data on the economy continue to be sparse and unreliable.
Foreign aid from the former USSR and Eastern Europe has virtually stopped.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $930 million, per capita $130; real growth rate
NA (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
53% (1990 est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues $178 million expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of
$NA (1991)
Exports:
$32 million (f.o.b., 1988)
commodities:
natural rubber, rice, pepper, wood
partners:
Vietnam, USSR, Eastern Europe, Japan, India
Imports:
$147 million (c.i.f., 1988)
commodities:
international food aid; fuels, consumer goods, machinery
partners:
Vietnam, USSR, Eastern Europe, Japan, India
External debt:
$600 million (1989)
Industrial production:
growth rate NA%
Electricity:
140,000 kW capacity; 200 million kWh produced, 30 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
rice milling, fishing, wood and wood products, rubber, cement, gem mining
Agriculture:
mainly subsistence farming except for rubber plantations; main crops - rice,
rubber, corn; food shortages - rice, meat, vegetables, dairy products,
sugar, flour
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $725 million; Western (non-US
countries) (1970-89), $300 mi