The Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MISTI) registered 1,292 new small and medium enterprise (SMEs) in 2024, bringing the formally registered SMEs to 43,970 as of last year.
The registration processes were made through various channels including online registration which the ministry has boosted to make registering through it easy and timely.
Seventeen SMEs registered at the ministry, 338 others registered business registration online systems, 831 SMEs registered at provinces/capital levels, and 106 SMEs registered at districts/cities, according to the ministry’s report.
The formal SMEs employ nearly 476,223 jobs to local people, read the report, citing that 144,559 of them are women.
The government has promoted the transition of SMEs in the informal sector to the formal economy through register formally, said Minister Hem Vanndy.
“These efforts have reflected the ministry’s commitment to developing entrepreneurs and boosting a sound environment for business growth,” he said.
As the SME sector is the backbone of the economy, Prime Minister Hun Manet has encouraged the ministry and other stakeholders to jointly work to motivate informal ventures to integrate into the formal economy.
He asked the relevant ministries and institutions to work forming SME clusters to help farmers sell their products to local producers, ultimately boosting finished product export.
Last week, the Premier chaired a meeting to assess the progress of establishing Cambodia’s first cashew industrial park in Kampong Thom province, aimed at advancing the development of the country’s cashew sector.
The establishment of the cashew industrial park is to promote the development of the Cambodian cashew sector, he said.
The cluster will also include business amenities, worker amenities and other supporting services, such as back-house services, input pre-processing, financial advisory and loan services among others.
The government through SME Bank assures a reliable and sustainable banking system for all SMEs through disbursement of loans to help SMEs expand their businesses.
