The Ministry of Commerce and Swisscontact, representing the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation (GATF), are teaming up on a project to make it easier for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to ship and receive small parcels internationally, according to the ministry.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed to this end on January 12 by ministry secretary of state Tek Reth Kamrong and Swisscontact Cambodia country director Rajiv Pradhan, to implement a joint project entitled “Improving Small Package e-Trade for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises” (SeT4SME), the ministry said in a social media post on January 13.
The MoU has two main objectives – first, to contribute to the implementation of trade facilitation and e-commerce initiatives, and improve the cross-border trade environment, by linking the General Department of Customs and Excise’s general data exchange system and the Cambodia Post with trading partners.
The second is to establish an e-platform for small-package shipping, to strengthen the e-commerce environment for local micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) and help them maximise benefits from online trade, the ministry said.
In a separate statement, a Swisscontact representative said: “SeT4SMEs, initiated by the [GATF] and implemented by Swisscontact Cambodia, aims to facilitate the imports and exports of postal consignments in Cambodia and promote inclusive growth in the country, by enhancing the clearance process of small packages sent through the post and thus saving time and money for local [MSMEs], many of them women-owned.”
Reth Kamrong commented in the ministry’s post that the project involves the implementation of trade facilitation agreements that would improve the business environment and encourage the use of e-commerce, to the benefit of local SMEs.
“To ensure the effectiveness and success of the project, the Ministry of Commerce and Swisscontact will set up a steering committee to orient its implementation, in accordance with its objectives and work plans,” she said.
She indicated that the latest project would complement existing initiatives such as ministry-implemented e-commerce acceleration project Go4eCam, as well as Cambodiatrade.com, which aims to support local SMEs’ sales of domestic products at home and abroad.
