IMF chief visits Cambodia

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde arrived at the Cambodian capital Sunday evening for an official visit to the country. Lagarde was cordially welcomed by Chea Chanto, Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), and other dignitaries. "It is Lagarde's first visit to Cambodia since she became the IMF Managing Director in July, 2011," the NBC said in a press statement on Sunday. "The IMF has played a very important role to contribute to developing the Cambodian economy through technical assistance to ministries and institutions on public financial management, customs and excise reform, financial stability and banking supervision," the statement said. During her stay in Cambodia, she will pay a courtesy call on King Norodom Sihamoni, hold talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon, and Finance Minister Aun Porn Moniroth. She leaves on Tuesday. Lagarde will also meet with think-tank representatives, women leaders, business people and civil society organization representatives. Besides, she will give a lecture on the Prospect of Cambodia's Economic Development in the Future to some 300 students at the Royal School of Administration. Cambodia was her first leg of her three-nation Asian tour, which will also take her to South Korea and Myanmar, according to a IMF press release. "I am very much looking forward to my first trip to Cambodia, South Korea, and Myanmar as Managing Director of the IMF," Lagarde said in the press release on Tuesday. "I will visit three countries in different stages of transition Korea, the world's 13th largest economy, Cambodia, a frontier economy on the rise, and Myanmar, undergoing a great awakening to countless possibilities," she said.