Firm seeks $10m contract with Cambodian govt

TECHNOLOGY giant Oracle Corp hopes to expand its reach in the Kingdom, the CEO of its Cambodian partner company has said.

Diep Seng Ho, CEO of Cambodian business Interflex and representative for Oracle in Cambodia, told the Post that the multinational hopes to extend its operations and is now bidding to implement a US$10 million government IT scheme.

“We definitely hope to expand here, as Cambodia has developed a lot in the last five to 10 years,” he said, following a presentation from Oracle, held at Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld Hotel and Casino on Thursday.

Oracle, which acquired major hardware provider Sun Microsystems in January this year, bills itself as the “world’s biggest software company”.

Last month it forecast the fastest sales growth for new software licenses since mid-2008, according to Bloomberg.

Diep Seng Ho went on to say that Interflex, together with the Sun-Oracle, is in the process of bidding for the $10 million project, launched with the World Bank, to reform the information systems that control public funds at the Ministry of Finance.

“The ministry suggested that they want the pilot [phase] to start from January 1, 2011,” he said Monday.

The companies are also providing technology for the new stock exchange, to be launched later this year. In addition, Interflex has provided core banking systems for the National Bank of Cambodia and microfinance institution PRASAC.

Diep Seng Ho’s comments follow an announcement made by multinational hardware and software provider EMC a week ago that it hopes to set up a permanent office in the Kingdom as part of a $2 billion investment package for Asia-Pacific region.

However, the Interflex CEO welcomed the presence of another multinational as positive step for national IT development.

“EMC and Oracle and Sun do work together in some areas. It is not so much competition, but the opportunity for our expertise to compliment each other in different areas,” Diep Seng Ho said.

Oracle also plans to launch an IT training academy in Cambodia so the “young generation can gain a world-class ICT knowledge and skill to maximise their potential”, a press release stated.

The NagaWorld event, the release said, showed Oracle-Sun’s “commitment to the development of Cambodia’s ICT sector”.

Additional reporting by Ith Sothoeuth