Cambodia’s first-ever survey of enterprises found there are 375,095 businesses in the country, according to figures released by the Ministry of Planning on Tuesday.
Results of the Establishments Listing 2009, which excludes agriculture, forestry and fisheries businesses, found that Phnom Penh and Kandal province hold 25.2 percent of all business, with 55,802 and 38,791 establishments, respectively. Together with Kompong Cham Takeo and Prey Veng, the five southern provinces contain 51.3 percent of the nation’s businesses, according to the ministry.
“The results are very important. It provides fundamental data for national statistics,” Planning Minister Chhay Than said during a presentation at the ministry. He added it also provides information for further research and gives a clear picture of socio-economic development.
The survey also found that Cambodia has 28 businesses per 1,000 persons, which is lower than, for example, Laos—37.4 per 1,000 persons—and Indonesia—102.3 establishments per 1,000 inhabitants.
According to the ministry, Battambang and Oddar Meanchey provinces have only 18.9 and 19.9 businesses per 1,000 persons, respectively, the lowest in the country.
Phnom Penh has the greatest amount of businesses per 1,000 inhabitants, 42.1, followed by Preah Sihanouk, 38.1, Koh Kong, 33.9, Takeo, 32.5, and Kandal, 30.7. The capital’s growing service sector, high-rise construction and special economic zone are important contributors to its relatively large number of businesses. Footwear, apparel, brick and construction material production, rubber processing, starchy food and animal feed, are some of the major industries in the other southern provinces, the ministry found.
Chan Sophal, an economist at the Cambodia Development Resource Institute, said the listing was “very, very important” for analysis and decision-making in businesses and government policy. “Before this we did not know the size of the total amount of establishments, we didn’t know if they existed and where they were,” he said.
