CEYFA calls for campaigns to promote informal economy registration

CEYFA calls for campaigns to promote informal economy registration

The Cambodian Economic Youth Federation Association (CEYFA) Monday urged authorities to increase campaigns to promote the benefits of informal economy workers, encouraging their participation in supply chains and enhancing value creation in national economic activities.

The appeal was made during a meeting on ‘Preparing a campaign to register informal economy workers through a digital platform’, presided over by Ley Sopheap, President of the Cambodian Economic Youth Federation Association (CEYFA), and Ngov Sengkak, Deputy Governor of Siem Reap province with the participation of many other stakeholders, according to the statement of Siem Reap Provincial Administration released on Tuesday.

Sopheap said that the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has increased its attention to developing the informal economy, especially for the well-being and livelihood of citizens by strengSopheap said that the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has increased its attention to developing the informal economy, especially for the well-being and livelihood of citizens by strengthening their capacity, resilience and competitiveness in the market.thening their capacity, resilience and competitiveness in the market.

“Developing the informal economy is a priority and necessary task to promote participation in supply chains and create added value in national economic activities while contributing to reducing poverty and social inequality,” he added.

To expand registration across the province, Sopheap asked provincial and district administrations to increase their publicity campaigns and continue to prepare benefits for informal economy workers, citing as an example the project to strengthen hygiene standards and public order for street food and market vendors.

Siem Reap Deputy Governor Sengkak said that the preparation of the digital registration for the informal economy is not to impose additional burdens on the informal economy, but is based on the principle of voluntary.

It is a mechanism that the Royal Government has set up to establish a relationship between the informal economy and the government to consider and assist the informal economy more effectively and quickly, he added.

The digital registration for the informal economy will allow multiple registration options for citizens free of charge and on a voluntary basis, based on information from self-declaration, Sengkak said.

He went on to add that the registration is aimed at target groups including micro-enterprises, workers of micro-enterprises, casual workers, and self-employed individuals who engage in business, occupation, or work in the informal economy.

The campaign to promote the registration of informal economy workers through digital platform in Siem Reap province will be held this Wednesday under the chairmanship of Hem Vanndy, Minister of Industry, Science, Technology & Innovation and Chairman of the Coordinating Committee on Informal Economy Development (CCIED), with approximately 3,000 informal economy workers participating.

The event aims to promote understanding and boost registration, as part of the government’s broader strategy to nurture and integrate informal workers into the formal sector.

Earlier, Prime Minister Hun Manet said that the government considers the SME sector as the backbone of the economy, creating stimulus programs that have been put in place to help the sector.

“The foundation of our economy, our economic structure depends on the private sector as the core force. In particular, SMEs are the foundation of our economy,” he said.

It may be recalled that the Digital Platform for Onboarding the Informal Economy was launched on December 16, 2024, to provide a streamlined process for informal economy actors to register.

The platform integrates advanced technologies, including AI-assisted data entry, CamDigiKey for secure identification, and interoperability with the Cambodia Data Exchange (CamDx) and verify.gov.kh for certificate authentication.

Following a successful campaign in Phnom Penh on January 20 this year, onboarding efforts have gained significant traction. To date, 18,522 informal economy actors have registered, with Phnom Penh leading in sign-ups.

According to a survey conducted by MISTI last year, 97 percent of some 750,000 businesses are MSMEs, 2 percent are SMEs, and about 0.2 percent are large businesses.

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