Cambodia to further building up its digitisation efforts to boost national economic growth

There has been significant growth in digitisation across the world in recent years and the Covid-19 pandemic only accelerated the process. Cambodia too has been called up to step up investments in the sector to build capacity matching international standards. At a recent event held in connection with the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos-Klosters, Cambodia’s Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak highlighted the challenges faced by digital businesses in the country. The Commerce Minister said the digital challenges include legal frameworks, mechanisms for implementing and facilitating financial technology (FinTech) and a roadmap for the FinTech policy. “Raising the level of digitalisation is very important for the country’s developmental efforts. Digitisation could enhance the country’s capacity in the production and the service industries and boost its economic efficiency,” Sorasak said. The digital business sector developed very fast in the world, especially during the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, the minister noted, adding that the Cambodian government has also captured the opportunities. The government has started implementing its digital policy 2022-2035 and sub-framework of the digital economy and society 2021-2035, after collecting the necessary data with the support of the government-private sector information exchange programme. The country has also started using the latest technologies to support financial transactions and has also developed the e-market, Go4eCam. “Digitisation would boost national economic growth and build an inclusive society where consumers can draw a number of benefits by using digital services,” the minister said. Penn Sovicheat, Ministry of Commerce’s spokesman told Khmer Times, “We require comprehensive connectivity infrastructure for building a digital society. We still have some challenges, especially the gap between people with digital knowledge and those without.” Tomas Pokorny, secretary general of Cambodia Association of Finance and Technology (CAFT), told Khmer Times that there is apparently a lack of investment appeal with regard to Cambodia’s digitisation efforts. It also needs to focus on diverse FinTech verticals such as HealthTech, e-commerce and AgriTech instead of limiting the efforts to payment technology alone. He added that building human resources is equally important and called for efforts to upgrade technological knowledge such as programming languages and for building relevant experience, technology management tools, cybersecurity and infrastructure. “Cambodia has plenty of opportunities to capitalise on the digitalisation growth but the private sector will have to step up the investment in the sector,” Pokorny said. Telecommunications Minister Chea Vandeth recently said that the government had launched a plan to transform Cambodia into a vibrant digital economy and society. Cambodia’s Digital Economy and Society Policy Framework 2021-2035 is key to achieving this goal, the minister noted. This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources. Khmer Daily