Supporting Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Cambodia through Streamlining Business Registration Policies

Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of the Cambodian economy, comprising more than 90 percent of enterprises in the country. In 2018, MSMEs provided over 70 percent of employment opportunities and more than half of the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The upgrading and modernizing of MSMEs has become a strategic priority in the Cambodian Industrial Development Plan (IDP) 2015-2025. This report includes policy guidance for simplified MSME formalization and a comparative study of MSME formalization policies in four countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar. This report is a joint effort by the Division for Sustainable Development Goals in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations (DSDG/DESA)  and the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft (MIH), the Royal Government of Cambodia.

This paper was prepared under the project ‘Enhancing National Capacities for Unleashing Full Potentials of Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Developing Countries’, supported by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Sub-Fund of the UN Peace and Development Fund (UNPDF), of which the People’s Republic of China is a major contributor.