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Cambodia: Government encourages SMEs to join online marketplace
Local and foreign companies with operations in Cambodia are eligible to join the marketplace, but the products ought to have made locally and hand-crafted, says the ministry
The Ministry of Commerce has called local small and medium enterprises to join an online marketplace where they can display their products for sales, citing that the online marketplace will soon be launched.
The calls have come as the ministry suspended the official launch ceremony of the online marketplace, since October last year.
The ministry has decided to suspend the official launch with aims to encourage more SMEs to join in the markets, the ministry’s spokesman Penn Sovicheat said yesterday.
Also, the ministry has been working to put the online marketplace in soon, he said, adding that payment merchants – banks have been connected to the online marketplace.
“We suspended the launch because we want to have an accuracy of using the system to ensure quality from sellers and quality to customers,” Sovicheat said, citing that during the time, the ministry is assessing the firms that apply for sales in the online marketplace.
As of November , more than 300 small and medium enterprises applied to display their products on Cambodia Trade, an online marketplace initiated by the Ministry of Commerce.
Most of the applicants are in the agro-industry, handicraft, food and beverage processing and textile industries, he said.
Products eligible for the online marketplaces have to be made locally and hand-crafted, according to the ministry. Both local and foreign companies with operations in Cambodia are eligible to apply to join the marketplace.
The CambodiaTrade e-marketplace was developed with financial support from the Switzerland-based Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Assistance for Least-Developed Countries.
The government says it hopes Cambodia Trade will make the Kingdom less reliant on foreign financial aid.
The official launch of the online marketplace will be announced by Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak soon, Sovicheat added.
Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak has said previously that the market has been designed as an online platform for SMEs to sell Cambodia-made products to domestic and foreign consumers and business partners.
“Regardless of where you are, you can access Cambodian products,” Sorasak said.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501018726/government-encourages-smes-to-join-online-marketplace/