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Cambodia seeks support to join WTO

BANGKOK: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen appealed on Sunday for international support for his impoverished country's bid to become a member of the World Trade Organisation.

"We have applied for admission to the WTO as we believe it would give us an immense boost to our trade with all nations," he said in a speech at the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) assembly, which began on Saturday.

"I would like to appeal to all distinguished delegates here to support Cambodia's accession to the WTO," he said.

Hun Sen also sought the help of the 145-member UNCTAD, which seeks to bridge the gap between rich and poor nations, to help gain better market access for his country and improve skills of Cambodians to gain prosperity.

Cambodia has in the past few decades been ravaged by internal strife that has stunted its growth and impoverished the country. More than 1.7 million died during the Khmer Rouge's bloody "killing fields" regime from 1975-79.

The country's biggest export earner, garments, brought in $606 million last year, a 60 percent increase over 1998.-Reuters