Synopsis: The forum in September will feature 50 booths showcasing digital products and services, e-commerce platforms, marketplaces, banks, and online businesses.
The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) will organise the 2nd Cambodia Digital Trade Forum and Online Expo on September 12-13, at Koh Pich Convention and Exhibition Centre, aiming to promote and boost the export of Cambodian products to international markets, said Chea Ratha, Secretary of State of the MoC, on Tuesday.
The forum will feature 50 booths showcasing digital products and services, e-commerce platforms, marketplaces, transportation companies, banks, and online businesses.
This major event follows the success of the 2024 Cambodia Trade Expo (CTE) and its accompanying forum, which was presided over by Prime Minister Hun Manet.
Addressing a press conference on the ‘2nd Cambodia Digital Trade Forum and Online Expo’, Ratha said, “The Digital Trade Forum and Online Expo aims to foster discussions on the digital trade landscape, policy frameworks, and strategies to promote Cambodian products to international markets through promoting the use of both domestic and international e-commerce platforms, particularly the Ministry’s CambodiaTrade.com platform.”
The forum will be officially inaugurated on September 12 by Cham Nimul, Minister of Commerce.
She further said that the event aligns with the Prime Minister’s recommendation made at the CTE, which encourages the continued implementation of the strategy “strengthening old markets, expanding new markets”.
In 2024, the exhibition was organised as an accompanying event to the Cambodia Trade Expo (CTE), as the ministry had not yet placed significant emphasis on promoting online trade, Ratha said.
“Therefore, in 2025, the ministry will launch a campaign to encourage people to buy Khmer products online, in collaboration with several major e-commerce platforms.” “For this year, another key highlight is we have the Master Class, where we will invite experts from Google to present on artificial intelligence (AI), and how AI can support business owners, and how we can build the necessary skills to stay competitive in the world where some are using AI and others are not,” she added.
On that occasion, Ratha also stated that through the 2nd Digital Trade Forum and Online Expo, the ministry strongly hopes to achieve several key goals including, increasing participation in digital trade, gathering valuable policy recommendations from the Youth Debate Program, boosting buy Khmer products online transactions via CambodiaTrade.com and other e-commerce platforms, and strengthening partnerships between logistics and payment service providers.
In 2019, Cambodia enacted the E-commerce Law and the Consumer Protection Law. In 2020, the government launched its first E-Commerce Strategy, with a focus on supporting SMEs, expanding access to foreign markets, and strengthening consumer protection.
“As we know, in 2024, the Cambodian E-commerce market reached a value of $1.51 billion, approximately 6.68 percent of the country’s GDP, and is projected to grow to $1.78 billion by 2025,” she added.
Ratha continued that with this rapid growth, both small and large businesses are undergoing significant transformations. In the ASEAN region, online sales reached $116.35 billion in 2024, with Cambodia contributing just 1.3 percent of that revenue. The ASEAN market is projected to grow further to $137.24 billion by 2025. Therefore, Cambodia must be well-prepared to capture a larger share of this expanding market.
The MoC is currently drafting the Digital Trade Strategy 2025-2030. This strategy will serve as a key policy instrument under Pillar IV – Digital Trade and Digital Economy, in alignment with the draft Cambodia Trade Policy Framework toward 2030, she said.
