Cambodia launches E-Commerce Strategy

The Cambodian Ministry of Commerce has officially launched its E-commerce strategy on 25th November 2020. Photo Credit (MoC FB) - Cambodia launched the E-Commerce Strategy on November 25th 2020 Minister Pan Sorasak said at the launch that the policy aims to develop domestic industry, diversify the economy and prop up the capacity building for the Kingdom’s SMEs.

What is the Cambodian E-commerce strategy?

The E-commerce strategy outlines the plans to promote economic growth and preparedness for a robust digital economy between the public, private and development partners. Sorasak said: “The e-commerce law serves as an important legal basis for the development of e-commerce, especially to protect the interests and build high-trust relationships with e-consumers, as well as to entice local and foreign investors to come and invest in Cambodia. This is a newly-emergent sector, but it has tremendous potential to generate new sources of growth for the Cambodian economy." The Cambodian E-commerce strategy is divided into ten chapters:

1. Strategy and Policy Focus and institutional coordination
2. Legal and regulatory frameworks
3. SME regulations
4. Information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure
5. Digital knowledge/skills infrastructure
6. Payment systems
7. Domestic e-commerce/trade logistics
8. Cross-border trade
9. Access to finance
10. Trade information and in-market support

The Phnom Penh Post reports that the E-commerce strategy has been formed in a "bid to achieve and drive forward competitive growth in trade and economic terms and aid in its (Cambodia's) pursuit of becoming an upper-middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050." Sven Callebaut, an advisor on E-commerce to the Cambodia government said on his LinkedIn page: "MoC Cambodia completes its robust institutional set-up for e-commerce with the launch of its new strategy, completing the e-commerce law launched and regulations launched earlier this year. The journey started in 2017 with the eTrade Readiness Assessment I authored for UNCTAD. A lot has happened since then, with support from Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) for the strategy, UNDP Cambodia and Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for O2O acceleration and the enabling environment. Next, stay tuned for more achievements in Cambodia with a regulatory sandbox for e-commerce, an e-commerce association, support to MSMEs to accelerate O2O transition and a brand new B2B2C marketplace." The Ministry of Commerce has also released a dual-language (Khmer and English) video to outline the E-commerce strategy. The video highlights the work of the government and the partnerships which are realising the potential growth of the digital economy in the Kingdom of Cambodia. [embed]https://youtu.be/e12qzDY_Ouc[/embed]

Cambodian E-Commerce Law

The Cambodian government also passed the E-Commerce Law on November 2, 2019, due to the rapid development of e-commerce and online shopping in the Kingdom. The laws are also meant to promote digital and electronic trade and e-signatures.

Cambodia’s Digital Economy 2020

According to the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), the market demand in Cambodia stands at approximately $29.6 billion collectively, with only about $5.7 billion being filled by digital financial apps. The Techo Startup Centre was launched in 2019 by the government to support young entrepreneurs and aid the Royal Cambodian Government’s plans to transform Cambodia into a digital economy. The government signed the ASEAN Agreement on e-Commerce in 2019 and in 2020, a number of new digital platforms and projects have been launched or announced. You can read more about digital payment options in Cambodia and the fintech sector in Cambodia. The food delivery apps in Cambodia is another market that has boomed in 2020.