• Economics

PM Calls for More Human Resources Specialized in Statistics

• By Meng Seavmey
• December 26, 2023 7:10 PM

PHNOM PENH – While presenting the final results of the Economic Census 2022 (EC2022), Prime Minister Hun Manet called for increasing the resources allocated to national statistics, recalling that economic forecasting plays a crucial role in policymaking.

“Reliable statistic is essential evidence for policymakers for conducting short-term, medium-term, and long-term policies, strategies, and socioeconomic development plans,” he said on Dec. 26. 

The census is conducted every 10 years to assess the development of the Cambodian economy and map the distribution of businesses in the country. While the final report was released in August 2023, its results have only been officially presented today.

EC2022 shows that the number of establishments in the country increased from 505,135 in 2011 to 753,670 in 2022, up by 49 percent. Of these, 77,073 are street businesses, up by 84 percent compared to the last survey, conducted in 2011.

The census was conducted from March 1 to 31, 2022, and counted all establishments existing in the country, including markets, factories, companies, handicraft businesses, online businesses selling goods and services, schools, universities, pagodas and health centers.

Economic activities related to agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and household activities as employees were excluded from the scope of the census.

Nearly 3 million persons are engaged in such establishments throughout the country, with women accounting for 61.8 percent of the workforce – 38.2 percent for men. The vast majority of these establishments (82.4 percent) are small-sized businesses comprising 1 or 2 people.

A total of 99.1 percent of these companies are owned by Cambodians while Chinese ownership comes second (0.3 percent), followed by Vietnamese-run enterprises (0.2 percent). 

PM Hun Manet stressed that this cartography might not be 100 percent accurate given the economy is constantly evolving, but gives a good image of Cambodia’s economic landscape.

However, he called on the Ministry of Planning, with the active cooperation of relevant actors, to turn the EC2022 into a piece of scientifically comprehensive information so that ministries and institutions can use it as a reference document to base future measures and reforms.

He also called on the Planning Ministry to attract more skilled staff with comprehensive knowledge of statistics, including from abroad, to improve economic forecasts.

“The ministry must enhance its officials’ ability for observation and census work, and for turning the data into up-to-date information for the government,” Hun Manet said. 

He explained that the allocation of adequate human resources according to their skills and specialization would increase work efficiency and performance. 

The Ministry of Economy and Finance was invited to examine the possibility of dividing financial resources for human resources training in order to improve work performance in the statistics sector with a timely, quality response.