Cambodia warns rich nations to forget poor at their own peril

Phnom Penh - Cambodia Tuesday urged developed nations to focus on poverty alleviation in less developed economies as part of a strategy to bolster the global economy. In a speech to the annual International Monetary Fund and the World Bank meetings in Washington dated Monday and received Tuesday, Cambodia's IMF chair Chea Chanto and World Bank chair Aun Porn Moniroth warned that forgetting less developed nations during the financial crisis would have a long-term impact on the future of the global economy.

The statement said globalization meant countries like Cambodia were neither immune nor insignificant in the current crisis.

"The task of poverty alleviation ... cannot afford delays or postponement ... if anything it needs much faster acceleration and concerted action," the statement said.

"Cambodia is getting fast integrated into the global economy. Because we are less developed we have so far been only bruised by the global events (but) we already feel the pains of high inflation, slowing economy and reducing exports."

Cambodia also called for developed nations to "write off, or provide swap arrangements in regard to past outstanding debts" and "open up their markets by reducing tariffs and local subsidies for products we can best supply at a lower cost."