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Cambodia: PM praises SMEs’ role in boosting economic growth
Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that the small and medium enterprises (SME) have played an important role in boosting economic growth in Cambodia, generating jobs for people, and contributing to poverty reduction.
In a meeting with about 5,000 SMEs yesterday, the Prime Minister lauded the remarkable SME development through the supply of domestically produced products to the domestic market.
“The small and medium enterprises have played an important role in socio-economic development, and an increasing number of SMEs have been present in the economic core development,” the premier said.
The government considers the SME sector as the backbone of the economy, he said, adding that stimulus programs have been put in place to help the sector.
To support financially, the government decided to establish SME Bank as a commercial bank with the bank’s strategic intent and direction being primarily coherent with the policies set by the government, assuring a reliable and sustainable banking system for all small and medium enterprises.
The Small and Medium Enterprise Bank of Cambodia Plc. has disbursed more than $200 million in loans to at least 2,500 SMEs to help them expand their businesses.
As of December 2022, SME Bank has directly lent $53.4 million to 231 enterprises.
The number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) registered at the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology, and Innovation rose to 43,974 in 2022.
Small and medium enterprises accounted for about 90 percent of the total enterprises and accounted for 58 percent of GDP and more than 70 percent of employment.
The registered SMEs generated 444,504 jobs for Cambodian people, up two percent from 2021, according to the ministry’s annual report in March.
Te Taing Por, president of the Federation of Associations for Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia (FASMEC), attributed the significant development in the SME sector to the support from government through relevant ministries.
“The remarkable achievement of the SME sector could not be reached if there was no support from the relevant ministries and institutions,” Taing Por said at the meeting.
According to Taing Por, most SMEs focused on food processing chains.
The Prime Minister urged SMEs to increase capacity in production to win consumers on their products and be able to export.
Additionally, he asked relevant ministries and institutions to facilitate doing business aimed at reducing the cost of products and increasing competitiveness.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501271230/pm-praises-smes-role-in-boosting-economic-growth/