Cambodian PM urges students to enhance abilities as ASEAN community nears

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PHNOM PENH, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday appealed to students to study hard to develop their own abilities to compete in regional job markets as the ASEAN will turn into a community by the end of 2015.

"In the context of globalization, competitions in economics, politics, technologies, and so on are fierce and tense," he said in a pre-recorded footage on the occasion of the opening of the new academic year 2014-2015, which was broadcast on all local TV channels.

He said building human resources with quality, ability, talent, and potential was the key foundation for sustainable socio- economic development.

The education with quality will make Cambodia be able to move forwards with other ASEAN member states in accordance with the spirit of "One Community, One Destiny" in 2015, the prime minister said.

Established in 1967, the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) determines Dec. 31, 2015 for the realization of the ASEAN Economic Community, which will be a region of free flows of goods, services, skilled labor, capital and investment.

Meanwhile, Hun Sen said Cambodia has set a long-term vision to become an upper-middle-income nation in 2030 and a high-income nation in 2050.

According to the World Bank's classifications, an upper-middle- income country is defined by the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) per capita between 4,036 U.S. dollars and 12,475 U.S. dollars, while a high-income country is determined by the GDP per capita of 12,476 U.S. dollars or more.

Cambodia's GDP per capital last year was 1,043 U.S. dollars.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/141101/cambodian-pm-urges-students-enhance-abilities-asean-communit