Give a Day 23: Cambodia’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Roadmap Consultation Workshop

The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Roadmap aims to analyze gaps and opportunities within Cambodia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, guided by the six pillars of the Isenberg model: culture, policy, finance, human capital, market, and support. This roadmap will help prioritize actions to bolster the ecosystem and assist the government and development partners in designing effective programs to fill the current gaps in the system.

The event featured in-depth discussions on recommended actions across the six domains of the Isenberg Model, which form the basis of the roadmap. These domains include Financial Support and Investment Readiness, Human Capital Development, Policy and Regulatory Environment, Market Access and Business Development, Support Mechanisms, and Cultural Shift.

For each domain, one key action was prioritized:

Policy and Regulatory Environment: The focus was on granting tax exemptions for start-ups for at least three years and creating an inter-ministerial mechanism to oversee start-up policies.

Financial Support and Investment Readiness: The introduction of innovative financing options tailored for start-ups and early-stage SMEs was prioritized.

Support Mechanisms: Emphasis was placed on developing a “Business Starter Package” for newly registered SMEs.

Human Capital Development: The establishment of a public-private partnership for nationwide entrepreneurship training programs was recommended.

Cultural Shift: Promoting an entrepreneurial culture and the value of investing in learning and innovation was highlighted.

Market Access and Business Development: The creation of a national market expansion program or the inclusion of market components within existing programs was underscored.

The Cambodia Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Roadmap is a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at guiding collective efforts to strengthen the country's entrepreneurial ecosystem. The roadmap is set to be finalized in 2024.

The Give a Day event is co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and Khmer Enterprise. 

The event was covered by the following media:

•  Give a Day 23: Cambodia’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Roadmap Consultation Workshop. Cambodia Investment Review