Watching markets from the sidelines
As Chinese markets plunged 8.49 per cent on 24 August sending jitters across global indices, industry insiders were cautious about its potential spillover effects into Cambodia, suggesting a wait-and-watch approach to its impact on foreign investment, tourism and the construction sector.
Jay Menon, lead economist for trade and regional cooperation at the Asian Development Bank, said the depreciation in the Chinese yuan and the GDP slowdown in China – one of the reasons for the Shanghai stock exchange plummeting – will reverberate through the region.
“For Cambodia, the impacts may come mainly through reduced FDI inflows from China, as well as from tourism,” Menon said.
Given Cambodia’s regional integration, Menon said an indirect effect will be seen from the slowing down of neighbouring countries, as well as from one of the Kingdom’s major trading partners – the US.
