Growing Sustainable Business

GSB in Cambodia

UNDP's assistance to the Ministry of Commerce centres on developing national capacity to make the best of the benefits that Cambodia's membership of the World Trade Organization offers through the Trade Related Assistance for Development and Equity (TRADE) project. It facilitates Cambodia’s integration into global and regional markets by helping to identify strategies that will promote exports most promising for revenue, export diversification and employment generation.

The rationale for the focus on the TRADE project is due to strong impacts that trade can have on human development and poverty alleviation. The project contributes to the achievement of the overall National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) and therefore to the socio-economic development of Cambodia.

The TRADE Project has 4 components:

1. Formulation of the Diagnostic Trade Integration Strategy (DTIS) 2007, implemented with the TRADE Sector Wide Approach SWAP. Development of Human Development Impact Assessments of Cambodia’s integration into the world economy through Strategic studies (Analysis on investments and price distortion: sustaining rapid growth report).
2. Development of Trade and investment national capacity
3. Development of Supply capacity and export promotion at a provincial level, by implementing Provincial Public and Private Dialogue, SME provincial development plan, and capacity development of business associations.
4. Support to Public and Private Partnership initiatives for enhancing provincial supply capacity, and to private sector investments to address key export sectors.

The GSB in Cambodia

The GSB initiative was launched in Cambodia in January 2006 as part of the overall TRADE strategy, particularly module 4 which is mainly focused on the promotion of public and private partnership initiatives for enhancing provincial supply capacity. Within the scope of enhancing provincial supply capacity, the GSB has also worked on projects in the areas of access to energy, information and finance, overall contributing towards improved competitiveness for rural SMEs.

The GSB is currently working on the development of three initiatives with a range of partners including the private sector, academic institutions, the Government and NGOs. Some of these have already been piloted successfully. The GSB program is also actively evaluating several opportunities for new initiatives in a variety of sectors.

GSB projects include:

• Increasing rural phone services and access (completed)
• Provision of rural business information services (current)
• Provision of rural renewable energy lighting solutions (current)
• Enhancing the efficiency of Rural Energy Entrepreneurs (completed)
• Capacity building of rural energy dealers (completed)
• Investment pre feasibility study on ICT solutions for agriculture and fisheries sector (completed)
• Investment pre feasibility study on sustainable tourism in Cambodia (current)

Active Projects

The GSB is currently working on the development of three initiatives with a range of partners including the private sector, academic institutions, the Government and NGOs. Some of these have already been piloted successfully. The GSB program is also actively evaluating several opportunities for new initiatives for the GSB program in a variety of sectors.

Current projects include:

Increasing rural telecommunication services and access
Lead Company: Village Phone Cambodia (VPC), Nokia, & Camshin
The aim of the Cambodia Village Phone Initiative is to make telecommunication services accessible to as many villages as possible to assist local entrepreneurs and the local communities in obtaining information, conducting business and keeping in contact with relatives whilst also reducing their cost of operation/communication. Download project brief

Rural Business Information Initiative (RUBII)
Lead Company: Yellow Pages Cambodia
The RUBII project was identified as an opportunity to add value to the Village Phone Initiative. In partnership with the Cambodia Yellow Pages, this project aims to establish the phone call booth operators as a local gateway for information. Call booth operators will be able to collect information on local businesses for the Yellow Pages databases while local villagers, entrepreneurs and officials will be able to use the local call both operators to access Yellow Pages services too. Further to this, GSB is developing a market information system which would allow people to access important information such as commodity market prices through SMS helping them to obtain better deals with traders and plan what to grow. The system may be extended to also have weather information, mobile banking and other services in the future. Download project brief

Provision of rural renewable energy lighting solutions
Lead Company: Comin Khmere & Sunlabob (CKS)
Sunlabob, a company working in the renewable energy sector (operating in Laos for 5 years) is foreseeing to develop innovative energy service projects in Cambodia targeting rural areas as potential beneficiaries together with Comin Khmere, a Cambodian engineering company. Sunlabob has mainly been working in Laos, developing innovative public and private partnerships models to make solar based electricity available and affordable to remote rural communities. Applications of those solutions can be specifically adapted to schools, healthcare centres, hospitals, or local entrepreneurs. The companies aim to initially focus on the provision of lighting services. Download project brief

Investment Feasibility Study on Sustainable Tourism in Cambodia
Lead Company: N/A – Project is at the research and evaluation phase
The GSB project in Cambodia has commissioned a feasibility study to identify opportunities in the sustainable tourism sector where partnerships could be established between businesses, local communities and other partners that would diversify the tourism sector and generate income for the local communities in a sustainable, ecological manner. Download project brief

Projects under investigation include:

• Investment pre feasibility study on sustainable tourism in Cambodia

To learn more about the past GSB projects in Cambodia, click here.