Tourism A Key Revenue Generator for Smes

Cambodia's small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) earned $1.9 billion in revenue last year from the tourism sector, and could increase this amount further by reducing imports, an industry spokesman said yesterday.

Te Taing Por, president of the Federation of Association for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises of Cambodia (FASMEC), said promotional events such as the Agri-Tourism Exhibition and Sea and River Festival - where about a third of the featured products were domestically produced - were big revenue generators for Cambodian SMEs.

We make a lot of profit from exhibitions and other events, which means the tourism sector greatly helps SMEs, he said.

Taing Por said the latest FASMEC statistics on SME production in Cambodia project 10 per cent growth, adding that these companies could generate an additional $2.3 billion in revenue if Thai imports to Cambodia were reduced in some capacity.

We expect revenues to continue to increase this year, even though neighbouring product exhibitions from Thailand or Vietnam will negatively impact our SMEs, he said. We are trying to develop solutions...