Cambodia's e-commerce revenue estimated at 1.1 bln USD in 2025: commerce minister

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's e-commerce revenue is estimated at 1.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2025 and up to 1.8 billion dollars in 2029, the country's Minister of Commerce, Cham Nimul, said here on Friday.

She unveiled the figures in her opening speech of the second Cambodia Digital Trade Forum and Online Expo, which was attended by dozens of online shopping platforms, including those run by Chinese, such as Smile Shop and Alibaba.

"E-commerce has importantly contributed to our economic growth and connected Cambodia's market to the world," Nimul said.

With a total population of 17.28 million, the Southeast Asian country has 12.9 million social media users, or 74.6 percent of the population, the minister said.

Speaking of the second Cambodia Digital Trade Forum and Online Expo, Nimul said the two-day event aimed at promoting Cambodian products to international markets.

"The event is also to promote the use of domestic and international e-commerce platforms, especially the CambodiaTrade.com of the Ministry of Commerce," she said.

Shakeel Ahmad, deputy resident representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to Cambodia, said that globally, digitalization is reshaping production, trade, finance, and economic function.

"Cambodia's digital economy has also expanded over the last few decades," he said at the event.

"We strongly believe that digital trade is one of the critical means to accelerate Cambodia's competitiveness, diversification, and a smooth Least Developed Country (LDC) graduation by 2029," Ahmad added. ■