Cambodia Calls for Stronger Support to Boost Women Entrepreneurs

A senior Cambodian government official has emphasized the need for better coordination of support initiatives to address the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs. The efforts aim to help women-led businesses improve productivity, strengthen competitiveness and achieve sustainable growth.

Minister of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation Hem Vanndy made the remarks on Friday while inaugurating Cambodian Women Entrepreneurs Day 2026. He highlighted the importance of providing practical support to women business owners to strengthen their enterprises.

The Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association (CWEA) organized the event under the theme “Women Powering Sustainable Growth.” The program also featured the Outstanding Women Entrepreneur Awards, which recognized women for their contributions to business leadership, innovation and job creation.

Key Highlights:

• Cambodia calls for stronger support to improve women entrepreneurs' productivity and competitiveness
• CWEA highlights the role of policy support, finance, technology and market access in women-led business growth
• Women entrepreneurs account for 9,046 of Cambodia's 44,053 registered SMEs and handicraft establishments

These measures were not designed just to promote women entrepreneurs but to empower women entrepreneurs to grow and contribute more to their businesses for added value, increase productivity and become more competitive in high-value and high-demand economic activities, Hem said.

He urged women entrepreneurs to enhance the quality of their products by adopting standards, testing and improving their product packaging, adopt efficient use of resources, and improve linkages with large industries or distribution systems to provide confidence to consumers and increase market opportunities.

He further expressed his wish that the association further enhance the representative role and link its members with technical services, financial assistance and networks of businesses.

President of the CWEA Chan Pheary explained that while individual women entrepreneurs could play their part in sustainable entrepreneurship development, it also needed a conducive policy framework, equal access to resources and linkages between the government and private sector.

She explained that the National Strategy for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Development (2026-2030) offers a coordination platform for the government, private sector and development partners to address business barriers, augment skills and production capacity, and use technology and innovation, and improve access to finance and markets for businesses including women-led businesses.

A total of 44,053 SMEs and handicrafts establishments were registered with the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation with about 20.5 percent (9,046) of these being women entrepreneurs as of September 2026.