PHNOM PENH, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said Tuesday the country has been selected as chair of the Global Coordination Bureau of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
"As the head of the government, I'm very happy when Cambodia was unanimously chosen as the chair of the coordinating group of the LDCs at the WTO on Nov. 14, 2016 for a one-year term from February 2017 to February 2018," he said in a message to compatriots.
As a LDC, Cambodia became a WTO member on Oct. 13, 2004, he said, adding that since then, the country has enjoyed robust growth and the growth for 2016 was around 7 percent.
The trade volume between Cambodia and foreign countries was valued at around 30 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, up from 13 billion dollars in 2011, Hun Sen said.
Poverty rate declined to 11.5 percent in 2015 from 53.2 percent in 2004, he said.
"With the positive outcome of socio-economic development, Cambodia has become a role model for other LDCs," the prime minister said.
As the chair, Cambodia will coordinate with other LDCs to promote trade negotiations at the 11th WTO ministerial conference on Dec. 11-14, 2017 in Buenos Aires.
Bangladesh is the current chair of the LDC coordination bureau.
