President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Takehiko Nakao has praisedCambodia for its steady economic growth during his visit to the countryon March 10-11.

Cambodia’s Gross Domestic Product expanded at an average annual rate of 6.5 percent between 2007 and 2014, Nakao cited.

He added the country’s rapid economic growth, driven by strong gainsin industry, services and agriculture, has brought Cambodia to the vergeof transitioning from a low-income to a middle-income country.

“Cambodia is among the world’s fastest-growing economies,” Nakao said.

He said ADB predicts the country’s growth of 7.3 percent in 2015,underpinned by well-managed inflation, a stable exchange rate andsustained competitiveness.

On the occasion, Nakao also pledgedto provide continued support to Cambodia for socio-economic developmentin the 2015-2017 period.

ADB resumed operations in Cambodia in1992 and has since delivered 2.11 billion USD in concessional loans,grants and technical assistance.

Under the recently approvedCountry Partnership Strategy, ADB is supporting Cambodia with more than800 million USD in assistance between 2014 and 2018, focusing onboosting rural incomes and infrastructure, enhancingrural-urban-regional connectivity, and improving the quality of publicsector management.-VNA