The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 653
“Phnom Penh: The president of the Information Communication Technology Association of Cambodia [Yellow Pages: “Website not working” - maybe later again?] and president of the Young Entrepreneur Association of Cambodia, Mr. Ken Chanthan, told Deum Ampil yesterday that during the recent five years, about US$500 million were spent on information technology in Cambodia, and each year the expenses increases by 30%. Thus, Cambodia should have the ability to create software on its own. He added, ‘In Cambodia, the access to computer and information technology is just around 5% to 10%, and most of the computers being used nowadays are clone computers [no-brand-name computers] because they are cheaper and it is easier for students and civil servants to buy them.
“He stressed that actually, in developed countries, Information and Communication Technology is an important field used to create jobs for people through the provision of services, such as the creation of software to be sold abroad, or for the publication of information in the country and abroad. Also, information technology can be used in small and medium scale industries to promote competition in productivity, or to promote markets, like in the tourism sector, where ICT can be used for booking airplane tickets and hotel rooms, and for checking information about various touristic sites. Now, Cambodia needs to change to more use of information and communication technology in order to develop the country to progress, like other countries in the world.
“He went on to say that on 4 and 5 March 2010, an international company from Korea will make a visit to study the possibilities of software development in cooperation with Cambodian companies, as Cambodia has the potential with Information Technology students who can cooperate to produce software. In addition, labor in Cambodia is cheap. Therefore, if Korean companies can establish a company to produce software in Cambodia, it will boost the information technology sector to progress quickly, contributing to the development of the country, and it will create employment for Cambodian people.
“According to a report from an information technology training center about the year 2009, there were 45,700 computers being used in Cambodia, but in 2010, the number might increase up to 56,300 computers.” Deum Ampil, Vol.4, #421, 27.2.2010
This article was first published by The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 653 - Saturday, 27.2.2010
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Norbert Klein is the Editor of The Mirror – The Mirror is a daily comprehensive summary and translation of the major Khmer language press - More about The Mirror