E-commerce and the ongoing digital transformation have been boosting the productivity and competitiveness of small and micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) in Cambodia, Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak said last week.
The minister was speaking via video link at the 15th session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Ministerial Roundtable IV on “Harnessing frontier technologies for shared prosperity”, co-organised by the Barbadian government and the UN trade body.
The quadrennial conference is attended by 195 UNCTAD member countries, as well as international organisations and other partners, to discuss and find solutions to challenges and complexities associated with trade and development.
Sorasak said the Cambodian government is actively engaged in formulating and strengthening policies, laws, other legal instruments, and related measures to spur development of the digital sector in a successful, sustainable and inclusive manner.
“The digital transformation and e-commerce are major components in boosting the productivity and competitiveness of MSMEs, the backbone of Cambodia’s economy,” he said.
He added, however, that the rapid growth recorded by trade and the digital economy has also widened the digital gap between developed and developing countries, especially the least developed ones.
In this regard, bilateral and multilateral cooperation with trading partners, development partners and relevant international organisations plays an important role in supporting the development of digital commerce and maximising benefits, the minister said.
These partnerships help build infrastructure, foster technology transfers, strengthen the legal and policy environment, and support capacity development to promote the creativity and innovation of developing and least developed countries, he explained.
He added that the government has recently launched the Cambodia Digital Economy and Social Policy Framework 2021-2035, which will significantly contribute to the restoration of the economy, acceleration of new growth, and the enhancement of social welfare in the “new normal”, following global Covid-19 crisis.
At the same time, Sorasak also called on UNCTAD to continue to support least developed countries, including Cambodia, in strengthening production capacity, institutional and human resource capacity development, and technical skills.
