The formalization of jobs and enterprises is integral for building resilience and setting the foundations for long-term socioeconomic development. The emergence of non-standard forms of employment, including through the rise in digital platforms, has pushed the boundaries of the informal economy around the globe. The COVID-19 crisis has thoroughly exposed the vulnerabilities of the informal economy. It has highlighted the need for enhanced, gender-responsive policy efforts to both protect and empower informal workers and enterprises, while facilitating their gradual transitions to formality to foster job creation and decent work, avoid a deepening of poverty and inequality, and build forward better. Informality is common in Cambodia: 88.3 percent of workers are engaged in informal employment (of these, 87.6 percent are women) and 87.6 percent of establishments are informal. Addressing informality is challenging, in part because it is pervasive and long established. This report examines the context and challenges associated with formalizing enterprises and employment in Cambodia, and provides a range of policy options that can be included in an integrated strategy for formalization. It focuses in particular on micro enterprises and their employees, as they are more likely to be informal than other enterprises or workers.

Find the Infographics of 6 Sub-Sectoral Briefs for Formalization in Khmer and English here.