Hun Sen Shares Vision of Rubber Plantation Boom

Reporting that the country had achieved better than expected economic growth last year, Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday targeted a rapid expansion of the country's rubber industry and predicted that almost 1 in 10 Cambodians would soon be working in rubber. ... "Agriculture continues to play a crucial role in boosting our gross domestic product, employment, and contributing to rural poverty reduction," Mr. Hun Sen said. ... According to figures provided by Mr. Hun Sen, rubber plantations now account for 1.2 million hectares of the 1.5 hectares of land the government awarded to private companies under its controversial economic land concessions. Human rights groups, however, have estimated that far more land, at least 2 million hectares, has been distributed by the government as private concessions. ...

http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-shares-vision-of-rubber-plantation-boom-11253/