E-commerce in the Kingdom would boom during the coming years as a result of technological developments and young Cambodians being eager to gain skills in new technology, a gathering of business people heard during “E-biz Tuesday”, a monthly meeting for discussion on Cambodia’s e-commerce industry.

According to Leng Chanprathna, chief executive of thecareerocean.com, e-business and e-commerce have made it easy for businesses to save time and reduce their operating costs.

Factors influencing the up-take of e-commerce included the openness of society to embrace the technology and younger generations’ increasing interest in learning about it, Leng Chanpreathna told the meeting.

“Young people are entering universities with internet accessibility, and even high-schoolers know how to use it,” he said.

“It’s becoming trendier and it needs to spread to the provinces faster.”

The improvements in Cambodia’s communication technology infrastructure had led to an increase in online users, Leng Chanpreathna said, promising good things for e-commerce development, online marketing and online retailing ventures.

E-business was more economical, as the cost of renting shopfronts was eliminated, he said.

“By selling via the internet, proprietors can sell the same items more cheaply.

“It’s cheaper because owners don’t need to spend money on renting stores.”

You Sameth, president of the Econ Construction Group, which includes a construction company, organised tours and imported food products, said e-commerce was good for integrating Cambodia into the ASEAN community.

“In a short time, all kinds of businesses will operate via the internet. Facebook is also good, and it is so popular.”

According to a report last week, officials at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications told the Post that as of last month, Cambodia had more than 2.5 million people who had internet access and this figure was expected to grow.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rann Reuy at [email protected]