President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Takehiko Nakao has praised Cambodia for its steady economic growth during his visit to the country on 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 gains in industry, services and agriculture, has brought Cambodia to the verge of 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 and sustained competitiveness.

On the occasion, Nakao also pledged to provide continued support to Cambodia for socio-economic development in the 2015-2017 period.

ADB resumed operations in Cambodia in 1992 and has since delivered 2.11 billion USD in concessional loans, grants and technical assistance.

Under the recently approved Country Partnership Strategy, ADB is supporting Cambodia with more than 800 million USD in assistance between 2014 and 2018, focusing on boosting rural incomes and infrastructure, enhancing rural-urban-regional connectivity, and improving the quality of public sector management.-VNA