By applying technologies to create new products and services, resolve existing issues, these startups can make a significant contribution to economic development while at the same time generating social and environmental benefits.
But to survive and thrive, technology startups require an enabling ecosystem that includes supportive government policy, easy access to capital, skilled personnel, quality digital infrastructure, and several other elements.
The Cambodian technology startup ecosystem is developing rapidly as private support for new ideas and innovations from incubators, local angel investors, private equity (PEs), and venture capital funds is widening. Over 300 technology startups are in the various stages of development.
Higher education institutions have begun to focus on promoting entrepreneurship and innovation, with some universities setting up their own incubation and startup centers as well as industry linkage offices.
The enactment of laws, like the Consumer Protection Law, the E-Commerce Law, and the Competition Law, has helped in creating more favourable conditions for entrepreneurship and risk-taking.
However, the National Innovation System of Cambodia is still underdeveloped. Cambodia ranked 101 out of 127 countries in the 2018 Global Innovation Index. It scored particularly low in terms of expenditure on education, tertiary enrolment, and knowledge-intensive employment.
While the new government structure for promoting STI can provide a strong basis for the development of the Cambodian National Innovation System, collaboration among stakeholders (within the government and between the government institutions, the private sector, and the academia) is currently weak. The diffused responsibility for science and technology across 11 key ministries presents challenges for effective policy development and governance, and the mandate of MISTI (Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation) as the main coordinating institution is still to be consolidated.
Vongsey Vissoth, Minister attached to the Prime Minister, Permanent Secretary of State of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and Chairman of the Entrepreneurship Development Fund, gave an engaging presentation on the SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and entrepreneurship ecosystem and said it would take public and private sector collaboration to uplift Cambodia’s SMEs.
“Cambodian entrepreneurs have provided support to nearly 400 new businesses and nurtured a youth entrepreneurial culture in target provinces across the country through capacity building, business networking and marketing, and business competition programmes through funding startups as well,” Vongsey Vissoth said.
For full article, please read here
Author: Sok Sithika
Source: Khmer Times
October 30, 2022
