PHNOM PENH: The Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MISTI) registered 1,406 new small and medium enterprises (SMEs) last year, generating 20,653 jobs for local people.
The new SMEs brought the total registered SMEs up to 44,628 as of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 1.43, an official report showed.
The registered SMEs created a total of 463,966 jobs for Cambodian people, up 2.86 percent from 2022, according to the ministry’s annual report.
Food and beverage processing SMEs accounted for 64.9 percent or 28,966 of the total registered SMEs, followed by steel processing and weaving and garment with 5,493, (12 percent) and 3,527 (7.9 percent), respectively.
To financially support SMEs, the Royal Government has established the SME Bank as a commercial bank with the strategic intent and direction being primarily coherent with the policies set by the government, assuring a reliable and sustainable banking system for all SMEs.
The SME Bank of Cambodia Plc. has so far disbursed more than US$200 million in loans to at least 2,500 SMEs to help them expand their businesses.
The government considers the SME sector as the backbone of the economy and created stimulus programs to help the sector, said Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of Cambodia.
“The foundation of our economy, our economic structure depends on the private sector as the core force. In particular, SMEs are the foundation of our economy,” Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet said at the closing ceremony of MISTI’s annual meeting held here on Wednesday.