Sitting at a streetside coffee stall in Phnom Penh, feeling the warm evening breeze while motorbikes roar past down the alley, you get a front-row seat to the everyday rhythm of the city. Right alongside this local routine, online business here is quietly shifting gears. According to the Phnom Penh Post, Commerce Minister Cham Nimul laid out some big upcoming moves at a digital trade forum a few days ago, setting sights straight on 2030. Estimates put Cambodia’s e-commerce revenue at around US$1.1 billion this year, and it could climb to US$1.8 billion by 2029.
When it comes to how they plan to pull this off, officials have plenty of tools in hand. Things like the National Single Window, online business registration, electronic certificates of origin, and the CambodiaTrade e-commerce platform are all rolling out piece by piece. The Ministry of Commerce is currently busy drafting a trade policy framework leading up to 2030, and plans to team up with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications to set some ground rules for online shopping platforms and service intermediaries. Whether it is using artificial intelligence to boost efficiency or figuring out how to help women entrepreneurs in rural areas sell local goods online, these small, practical plans are slowly weaving themselves into the livelihoods of everyday people.
Take a stroll through the market here, and you will notice a growing number of online shops and delivery riders. From big bosses to micro-businesses setting up stalls on the roadside, everyone is hoping technology will bring more opportunities. Officials have also called on tech companies and investors to lend a hand by bringing in expertise and funding. After all, no matter how grand government policies sound on paper, what matters most to ordinary folks is simple: a few taps on a smartphone, faster deliveries, and a little more cash in their pockets at the end of the day.
