AmCham, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in Cambodia yesterday, is onto road mapping a pathway for its members’ recovery and restoration of economic traction and development, a move toward leaving behind the historical memory of the Covid-19 pandemic. AmCham president Anthony Galliano, during its Annual General Meeting which coincided with the anniversary, highlighted the superb handling and management of the pandemic by the Government that led to the Kingdom being positioned as a first-starter in the region with an economic renaissance on the horizon. He said Cambodia is taking on its rightful place as one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the most attractive destinations for FDI as it has been for the last two decades. AmCham, he added which has expanded and is now more impactful is now more than ever ambitious to support its members to prosper in Cambodia as it thrives and flourishes. Despite the Covid-19 challenges faced, AmCham and the Board of Governors showed their strength and commitment to support its membership which grew 45% reaching a record 175 members. “As the world emerges from the hardships of Covid-19 and looks ahead to recovery and growth, AmCham will build on its success and set higher standards for itself, more impactful goals, and broaden the relationship and dialogue with the membership,” said Galliano. Meanwhile, Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker and Chairperson of the Commission on Education, Youth, Sport, Religious Affairs, Culture and Tourism, National Assembly, Hun Many, in his address said Prime Minister Hun Sen and his five children valued the US-Cambodia relationship as he had ensured all five children received their education in the United States. Speaking about both countries’ relations, Many said that the key would be to look for a win-win solution and better understanding to achieve an improved relationship. “We do have differences but with more than 70 years of bilateral relations, we would not have come this far if we did not have anything in common. Understanding and open-mindedness can be the key to better relations,” he stressed. Public Works and Transport Minister Sun Chanthol in his address said Amcham can be the goodwill ambassador for better relations between the United States and Cambodia. “Please don’t abandon and flee Cambodia after being here for 25 years as you celebrate your 25th anniversary. Work with us, help us overcome misconception, misunderstanding and negative perception as we are always engaging the US in every aspect, diplomatically and through business and industry,” he added. Senior Minister Ly Thuch, in his address at the AGM, said that Cambodia has experienced rapid economic growth over the last decade. “Cambodia’s GDP has grown at around 7% per year over the same period, making it one of the fasting growing economies in the region. The country has graduated to lower-middle-income status as classified by the World Bank in 2016,” he said. The economy, Thuch said is expected to return to its pre-Covid growth path in the coming years. Thuch said Cambodia became a beneficiary of the United States’ Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) in 1997, and travel goods were added to GSP in 2016. Since that time, the travel goods industry has grown rapidly, with Cambodia exporting $392 million in travel goods to the United States in 2018. He added that Cambodia’s economy is very open to foreign investment. “We are very optimistic that when more and more US companies expand their businesses and inject capital in the country, the economy will recover faster and become even stronger. US investment in Cambodia is essential to contribute to green recovery in the short to medium run and to building back better in the long run,” said Thuch.