The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, in collaboration with The Idea Consultancy Co Ltd and UN Development Programme (UNDP) Cambodia, is set to host “The Grand Online Shopping Fest” from September 17-19.

The ministry described the event as a “first-of-its kind initiative” for the Kingdom that sets out to encourage business owners, operators and shoppers to embrace the digital transition and complete more of the shopping process online – namely “promoting, selling, buying, paying”.

“The intention of the festival is to negate the economic effects of Covid-19 on the small-business economy in Cambodia, shift purchasing behaviour online, and [support] local small businesses to digitalise.

“The festival will provide an unprecedented opportunity for both vendors and customers to promote and access deals and a range of products from wherever they are located across the country,” it said in a statement.

The Idea said a host of discounts and promotions would be available at the event, offered by their app-developing partners, naming Nham24, Bloc Mall, VTenh, Khmum, MyPhsar.com, Ting!, GlobeSO, Casstack and Svibe.

The consultancy firm added that all payments would made through ABA Bank and all products would be shipped Tada and Grab.

Meanwhile, UNDP Cambodia said in an August 25 statement that it had recently launched a coalition dubbed “Stronger With Digital”, in partnership with the ministry, as part of its Australian government-financed e-commerce acceleration programme.

“The objective is to bridge the knowledge and skills gaps for micro, small and medium enterprises – MSMEs – who have a basic online presence, but have not yet been able to convert their online operations to respond to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The coalition has adopted a two-pronged approach to increase digital commerce activities among consumers and MSMEs by utilising a multimedia awareness campaign and a targeted training programme.

“The multimedia awareness campaign aims to reach 3,100,000 consumers and 100,000 MSMEs to encourage an increase in buying and selling through e-commerce and other digital platforms.

“The coalition’s training programme will further target 1,000 MSMEs to provide them with the needed skills to shift from offline to online commerce, and to successfully sell online,” it said.