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Cambodia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem strengthening is underway with CAMESCO 

Cambodia
Entrepreneurial ecosystems
12.12.2022
Phnom Penh, 9th December: Cambodia’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Strengthening Conference 2022 (CAMESCO), the first of a series of annual conferences, has been successfully organized by Khmer Enterprise, USAID via Pact, GIZ, and Swisscontact with around 150 participants representing investors, entrepreneurial support organizations, intermediaries, develop partners, government among others. 

CAMESCO is an initiative within the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Building (EEB) Project, jointly funded by Khmer Enterprise, established by the Ministry of Economy and Finance in Cambodia, USAID’s WE Act Project through Pact Cambodia, and Swisscontact. Aside from CAMESCO, there are two main initiatives within EEB, Give a Day and Ecosystem Builders Network (EBN).

"Serving as a national platform for promoting a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in Cambodia, Khmer Enterprise hopes this program serves as a platform in supporting the ecosystem stakeholders to meet and leverage this network for further collaborations that will complement each other and build a more resilient and diverse ecosystem. The Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Building program is not about replicating what is working, it is about discovering new components that are missing in the ecosystem, and most importantly able to deliver and address those challenges."
H.E. Dr. Chhieng Vanmunin, CEO of Khmer Enterprise

CAMESCO aims to build a network with like-minded stakeholders to strengthen Cambodia’s entrepreneurship and investment ecosystem. This allows for showcasing the best practices in promoting collaboration and trust building and fostering an entrepreneurship culture among ESOs and system actors. CAMESCO is envisioned as a regular annual conference for all the ecosystem actors to strengthen deal flows in Cambodia. 

"We jointly brought all the ecosystem actors together, so we can learn from each other, understand the needs of the MSME’s better so actors can strengthen their services, identify gaps and build on the strengths that are already there. WE Act with support from USAID, focuses on Women Entrepreneurs and ensures that their needs are heard and addressed. We have already seen the impact of bringing the ecosystem actors together and look forward to continuing improvements for the benefit of entrepreneurs."
Ms. Sabine Joukes, Country Director of Pact Cambodia.

CAMESCO 22 has been organized with the objective of recapping the year-round progress of the 10 Give a Day events, 3 EBN, and other ecosystem-strengthening meetings. The key results of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Building Program emphasized the gaps and market opportunities in Cambodia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Among other activities, the announcement of new programs that would be launched in 2023, and actions to be undertaken to strengthen the Cambodian entrepreneurial ecosystem were discussed. Some key topics that participants dwelled on supported entrepreneurship, trade, market, investment, and financing. 

"CAMESCO22 was an opportunity to present innovative and best practices in supporting regional entrepreneurship, including women entrepreneurs and MSMEs. Finding the missing middle of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem is a milestone to strengthening the capacity building, addressing the challenges, and stimulating innovation that are key drivers to foster the inclusive growth for the national and regional entrepreneurship. This is linked to the GIZ implemented projects, i.e. Improved Competitiveness of National Enterprise (ICONE), Strengthening Regional Structures for SMEs Promotion in ASEAN (ASEAN-SME), and Development for innovation and start-up support for women entrepreneurs in ASEAN."
Mr. Frank Jattke, Team Leader ASEAN of GIZ 
"CAMESCO22 brings together all the efforts put together by the entrepreneurial ecosystem actors in Cambodia in 2022. It has been a fantastic year to see all the actors come together to discuss the pain points and together find solutions to support each other and boost investments for start-up and growth enterprises in Cambodia. We are honored to be provided this opportunity by Khmer Enterprises in partnership with WeAct. We look forward to 2023 that concrete actions are taken up and more investors are willing to come and invest in Cambodia."
Mr. Rajiv Pradhan, Country Director, Swisscontact and Project Director, EEB

The event was covered by the following media:

  • Cambodia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem strengthening is underway with CAMESCO | Cambodia Investment Review
  • CAMESCO22 aims to boost start-up ecosystem | Khmer Times
  • Cambodia’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem held its Strengthening Conference over the weekend | AEC News
  • ក្រុមសហគ្រិនខ្មែរ និងអង្គការជាតិអន្តរជាតិ​រួមគ្នាពង្រឹងប្រព័ន្ធអេកូឡូស៊ីសហគ្រិនភាពនៅកម្ពុជា | Kampuchea Themy
  • សន្និសីទប្រចាំឆ្នាំ ស្តីពី ការពង្រឹងប្រព័ន្ធអេកូឡូស៊ីសហគ្រិនភាពនៅកម្ពុជា CAMESCO | Bayon TV
Cambodia
Entrepreneurial ecosystems
Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Building
The project aims to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems by deepening trust-based relationship among the system’s actors that will help to strengthen an enabling environment for entrepreneurial networks to form high quality connections to support entrepreneurship.
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