LUXURY car maker Rolls-Royce will soon be marketing its goods in one of the world's poorest countries, Cambodia.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announced it has joined with a Cambodian business partner to open a showroom in the capital, Phnom Penh, next month. Rolls-Royce Asia-Pacific's regional manager, Paul Harris, said his company had signed a deal with HGB Group because it believed demand would grow along with Cambodia's economy.

Cambodia's average per capita annual income is just over £595, a bit less than half of 1 per cent of the cost of the cheapest Rolls-Royce.

However, a small but wealthy elite lives in the capital of the mostly rural nation and it is not unusual to see various models of high-end Lexus cars passing pedicabs in the city's dusty streets.

Mr Harris said five Rolls-Royces have been sold in Cambodia since 2005.