Twenty-seven local startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have received grant assistance from the government to support their post-Covid recovery and enhance export potentials.

The grantees were selected from a pool of 265 applicants from different parts of the country to receive two types of grants – Khmer Enterprise (KE) assistance package and the export market development grant – that each range from $5,000 to $20,000.

The grant handover was held on June 22 by KE and presided over by Vongsey Vissoth, Minster attached to the Prime Minister and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

“The government, through KE, has focused on entrepreneurship development to provide entrepreneurs with opportunities to further grow their business, create more value, jobs, innovation, and ultimately to be able to compete regionally and globally,” said Vissoth.

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“The winners of grants today must realize that you have the potential to grow. We don’t just help you to survive. We are helping you to grow bigger and to become successful, and pay tax to the government so that the government can help other SMEs,” he added.

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Vongsey Vissoth, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, awards a grant to one of the businesses, Phnom Penh, June 22, 2023. Kiripost/Siv Channa

According to its CEO, Chhieng Vanmunin, KE has been running these financial support programs since 2020, providing funds to 404 startups and SMEs across Cambodian provinces and cities.

He said the grant money given to the startups and SMEs comes from the state tax and customs income.

“I hope that those receiving the grant will be able to use it to grow their business and be able to contribute back to the state through tax payment,” said Vanmunin.

The KE Assistance Package aims to provide financial support to SMEs and startups in addressing business challenges caused by Covid-19, to help stabilize potential startups and SMEs to seize new business opportunities in respective sectors.

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The Enterprise Market Development program aims to provide grants to SMEs that have been working to export local potential products to overseas markets.

Assistance package and the export market development grant range from $5,000 to $20,000. Kiripost/Siv Channa

Kong Sotin, 39, owner and founder of Neakphum Bondus Phset Farm in Battambang province, is one of the winners of KE’s grants.

She told Kiripost she learned to grow mushrooms online at the cost of $35 and has been operating this family-scale farm since 2021 with her younger brother and sister.

“We almost closed this family business during Covid-19, but because of my passion for this, I did not give up and was determined to keep it going and wanted to scale it up,” she said.

Sotin has received a $5,000 grant from KE for her family farm.

“I will use this money to set up one more hut for growing mushrooms and buy other materials to expand the farm,” she said.

“I want to scale up my family farm to become a registered company one day – just like other SMEs,” she added.

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thai.sothea@kiripost.com