In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

To start off the new year, the Southeast Asia Globe asked economists, teachers, politicians, and human rights experts to share the most pressing issues Cambodia will face in the coming decade. In 10 years, says The Asia Foundation’s Regional Director for Economic Programs in Cambodia Véronique Salze-Lozac’h, Cambodia will see a growing middle class; yet, she warns, the country’s economy is still too fragile to forecast an increase in business diversity and investment. Other experts predict there will be more farms and more processing capacity for export of final products in 2020 and that tourism, especially eco-tourism, will remain important for the economy. Moreover, China will be the most prominent foreign influence in Cambodia. Read the full article, published Jan. 12, 2010.

Monks stroll across a street in Phnom Penh. Over the past decade, Cambodia has witnessed enormous change and welcomed World Bank forecasts that projected its economy would grow in 2010. (Photo by Karl Grobl.)