The Asian Development Bank has revised upward its economic projection for Cambodia, forecasting gross domestic product would contract by 4 per cent this year, rather than the 5.5 per cent forecast in Jun

According to the ADB's Asian Development Outlook 2020 Update, Cambodia's agricultural exports rose 17 per cent on the year in the first six months of 2020, while ‘strong demand’ for work-from-home electronics had boosted exports from Cambodia and other Asian countries. Cambodia's non-garment, non-footwear and non-travel goods exports increased by 30 per cent.

The agency foresees a relatively strong economic recovery for Cambodia, which has avoided an uncontrolled outbreak of coronavirus cases. The agency expects growth to rebound to 5.9 per cent in 2021, boosted by supportive government policies, social assistance for the poor, and financing support for small and medium-sized enterprises.

In the first seven months of the year, Cambodia shipped $3.4 billion worth of goods to the US, up from $2.7 billion for the same period in 2019. For comparison, the US accounted for 26.8 per cent of Cambodia's exports last year, slightly more than the EU's 25 per cent, according to World Bank data, a gap that looks set to widen in 2020.

The top three exports to the U.S. through July this year were garments, travel goods and footwear. Electronics, responsible for about $118 million in export value in the first seven months, saw the largest growth, soaring more than 1,000 per cent year on year.