Cambodia recognises the potential of technology as a catalyst capable of drivinginnovation and growth across all veins of the economy and society. Contributions from the private sector, particularly startups, are essential towards the realisation of this goal. To harness the opportunities and unlock the potential of startups, which serve as a key driving force of innovation and a strategic tool, contributing to building a new growth model in line with international experiences, best practices, and trends, Cambodia has introduced the National Strategy on Startup Development 2026-2030 with the vision “to foster a vibrant, resilient, and inclusive Cambodian startup ecosystem that nurtures innovative entrepreneurs to develop new solutions, strengthen existing markets, create new markets, and grow startups into scalable and competitive companies, while strengthening Cambodia’s connectivity with the regional and global innovation ecosystem to contribute to national economic development.” According to the Strategy, “ a startup is a business that utilises innovation and/or technology as the core to create its business model that is competitive in existing markets and advance to create new markets under uncertain conditions, while possessing high scalability potential along with the expectation of a quick future exit from startup status.”
The strategy was officially launched at a ceremony and dissemination workshop at the Sokha Phnom Penh Hotel, presided over by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth, who represented Prime Minister Hun Manet.
The National Strategy defines five goals: establishing startup recognition to enable access to various benefits and incentives; enhancing the startup investment climate and access to broader investments; creating a supportive environment to cultivate and attract a greater pool of startup talent; improving startup support programmes to ensure quality, structured support across all stages of startup development and interconnectedness to foster rapid growth; and enhancing startup capacity to develop products or services that provide solutions and open up new markets. To achieve the aforementioned goals, this National Strategy also determines 4 key performance indicators (KPIs).
According to a 2025 assessment, Cambodia’s Startup Ecosystem Performance Index (SEPI) stood at 51 out of 100 points, characterising the country as an Emerging Ecosystem. The National Strategy sets four key performance indicators (KPIs) for the five-year period from 2026 to 2030: raising the SEPI score to 61; ensuring that 300 startups participate in startup incubation programmes; enabling 100 startups to receive investment; and increasing total investment in startups to USD 30 million. Implementing ministries and institutions will prepare their own KPIs to support these four overall targets.
Startup Development under this National Strategy is built upon 3 primary approaches. The first approach, “Government as a Developmental Enabler” entails that government must provide strategic direction and maintain sufficient flexibility when deploying interventions across various levels and categories under changing conditions. The second approach is “Ecosystem-Based Startup Development”, which calls for treating startups as part of a broader ecosystem, particularly at the national level, including both the capital and the provinces. It recognises that startups can only grow or evolve when their surrounding environment is filled with support and facilitation. The third approach is “Co-Evolution for Startup Development.” This recognises that startup ecosystem operates as a dynamic process in which various strategic priorities continuously evolve through mutual interaction.s. In this regard, the key measures to be introduced must account for interdependencies and strive for harmonisation to ensure systemic impact. This will elevate the quality of the ecosystem to be more responsive and adaptive.
To contribute to startup development, the Cambodian government has introduced 5 strategic priorities comprising 32 key measures. The first priority, formulating startup support regulatory frameworks, focuses on recognising startups, facilitating access to benefits and incentives, streamlining company closure procedures, protecting intellectual property and supporting business development. The second, improving access to finance, seeks to strengthen early-stage funding, encourage venture capital investment, improve coordination among startup support organisations and investors, and attract investment through incentives and co-investment mechanisms. The third, expanding the talent pool, emphasises entrepreneurial skills, practical work experience, entrepreneurship education, research and development, and stronger connections between educational institutions and the startup ecosystem.
The fourth priority, strengthening the capacity of startup ecosystem actors, aims to establish standards for startup support organisations, improve support programmes across all stages of startup development, expand technical and financial assistance, and enhance coordination through a national startup support platform. It also encourages training, qualification advancement and greater participation in support programmes. The fifth priority, enhancing network connectivity and market expansion, focuses on connecting startups with innovation districts, public institutions and private companies, while promoting regional and international collaboration. Its measures include participation in startup events, business associations and knowledge-sharing activities; opportunities for market expansion and international recognition; and the use of startup products and services through procurement and other commercial arrangements.
