GIZ fund of $4.5M to reinforce Kingdom’s SMEs

GERMAN i nter nat iona l development orga nisat ion Deutsche Gesel lschaf t f ur Internationa le Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) wi l l prov ide $ 4.5 mil lion in a id to promote a smalland medium-sized enterprise (SME) development project in four Asea n count r ies, including Cambodia.

In Cambodia, Minist r y of Industr y and Handicrafts undersecretar y of state Son Seng Huot a nd a GI Z represent at ive sig ned of f on t he a id on Thursday at t he “Nat iona l Website for Sma l l a nd Med iu m Enter pr ises” work shop i n Ph nom Penh.

However, neither part y disclosed the financial share for the Kingdom.

GIZ said t he assistance fa lls under t he Asea n-Ger man Cooperat ion’s

St rengthening Regional St ruct ures for Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion in Asean project.

Lor Sat hya, t he deput y di rectorgenera l of t he minist r y ’s Genera l Department of Small and Medium Enter pr ises a nd Handicra f ts, sa id the three-year project will be implemented in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

The f unds wil l help SMEs access cr it ic a l publ ic ser v ic es relate d to business processes, as wel l as technologica l education, new technolog ies, va r ious ser v ices a nd business communicat ion net work s, Sat hya sa id.

“The project wil l help st reng t hen t he abi lit y of Cambodian SMEs to ga i n ac c e s s to t he i nter nat iona l

market and facilitate the context of policies and regulations in the regional business environment.

“Establishing appropriate information relay systems, consultation networks and structure to the development of Cambodian SMEs will help strengthen their ability to compete with foreign SMEs,” he said.

GIZ country director for Cambodia Gunter Riethmacher said the project aimed to improve information systems and promote services for SMEs within the framework of the Asean Strategic Action Plan for SME Development 2016-2025.

He said it will also improve the Asean SME Service Centre, reinforce the National SME Information Centre and promote national SME services for internationalisation.

“The GIZ agreements on Asean Small and Medium Enterprise Projects 20192021 is also to develop the National SME Information Centre for Cambodia and its action plan,” he said.

A survey from the ministry said 71 SMEs need assistance in improving in certain areas – including hygiene standards, market research, service development and packaging, technology, human resources and labour, access to finance, business registration and taxation.