Korea, Cambodia cooperate in e-commerce sector

E-commerce experts from Korea and Cambodia have gathered in Phnom Penh to discuss ways to boost cooperation.

The ASEAN-Korea Centre organized the “Capacity Building Workshop for Expanding Business Opportunities in E-Commerce” earlier this month to share Korea’s e-commerce development strategies and business practices and contribute to the development of e-commerce in Cambodia.

The Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia co-hosted the event.

“As more and more businesses are moving away from traditional offline stores and going online, electronic commerce has increasingly become an important part of doing cross-border business,” ASEAN-Korea Centre Secretary General Kim Young-sun said.

“To align itself with this fast-changing trend, the Cambodian government recently adopted the Cambodian ICT Masterplan 2020, seeking to enhance its e-commerce legislation, policymaking, financial networks and logistics.”

Experts and business representatives from the two countries talked on topics including an “Overview of Korea’s E-Commerce Development Strategies,” “Policies and Opportunities i n Cambodia’s E-Commerce Industry” and “How to Enhance Cross-border E-Commerce.”

The Korean side included representatives from the Korea International Trade Association, the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the Changgong E-Commerce Laboratory and Kyungpook National University.

Starting this year, the ASEAN-Korea Centre has developed its capacity-building program, formerly the Product Development Workshop, into the Trade Facilitation Workshop that covers wider areas important for the acceleration of trade, such as the ASEAN-Korea free trade agreement.

It organized the “Trade Facilitation Workshop for Brunei Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises” on July 19 to enhance competitiveness of Bruneian food companies by introducing smart technologies and to further strengthen business partnerships between Brunei and Korea.

The “Capacity Building Workshop for Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Cross-border E-Commerce” will be held i n Seoul in August, the organization said.

The ASEAN-Korea Centre is an intergovernmental organization established in 2009 to promote exchanges among Korea and the 10 ASEAN member states.