Freer market reforms during the 1990's opened the door to optimism. Mr. Lim's parents had no hope for a better future, but his own generation saw that grinding poverty as rice farmers was no longer the only option: they saw freedom to improve their lives.
From 1995 to 2017 Cambodia's economy grew at an average rate of 7.7% per year. (To compare, good growth in the U.S. is about 3%/year.) In 2007 the poverty rate was still about 47%, but by 2014 it was at 14%.
"Mr. Lim works in tourism. He drives a Lexus SUV on paved roads. He buys groceries from a thriving local market, and his daughters go to school. His brother owns a pharmacy in Phnom Penh. Another brother is a nurse at a major hospital . . There are entrepreneurs everywhere . . I witnessed family-owned coffee shops, restaurants, general stores, and roadside markets."
In one generation the grim poverty was turned around. Mr. Lim says it came because of: "Peace, education, technology, and the entrepreneurial spirit of Cambodian people.”
from "Entrepreneurship Lifts Cambodia from the Clutches of Extreme Poverty in a Single Generation"
No comments:
Post a Comment