Sharon Hu, journalist for Southern Finance Omnimedia Corp（SFC）

Since the beginning of the year, threats of additional U.S. tariffs have caused frequent fluctuations in the equity, bond, and foreign exchange markets of the Asia-Pacific region. As typical export-oriented economies, how should Southeast Asian countries respond to a series of challenges brought by uncertainty?

Chea Serey, Governor of the Bank of Cambodia, states that Cambodia as a highly dollarized economy, must follow and adopt whatever policies the U.S. Federal Reserve implements. Therefore, when the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to control inflation, Cambodia has to grapple with higher interest rates despite its relatively low domestic inflation levels, a situation that poses a clear and significant negative impact on Cambodia’s economy.

What strategy should Cambodia adopt? In response, Chea reveales that Cambodia is currently vigorously promoting the use of its own currency. She hopes that in the future, Cambodia will be able to achieve greater independence in implementing its monetary policy.