How to make money in Cambodia

"Adult businesses"? And now you're moving to Cambodia? That doesn't leave a whole lot to the imagination as to what sort of business you intend to conduct. Not bustin yer chops. Just an observation. There is certainly no shortage of that kind of thing going on there!

That was about ad cynical as it gets! Lol! I agree that it is wise to be cautious, however, not everyone is worthy of your mistrust. God bless!

Ok come and contact to me to make friend in Cambodia...

is small time investing ok in cambodia?like some kind of Mutual Funds?

That's a 'no' from my gut and a 'no' from the pro's as well, it seems:

http://www.leopardasia.com/media/docume … a_fund.pdf

Hi, l also lived in Cambodia about two years and had a ice business, l am interested in growing tomatoes, sweet green pepper, bell peppers etc. l know many vegetables comes from  Thailand or Vietnam to Cambodia would you please recommend a place where it would be better to start such business, well l don't want to call it business, for me it's very nice to grow corps from seed. I am hoping this would also bring business to our Khmer friends, what are the lawsuits about bringing a organic seeds and introducing to Cambodian agriculture, l hope l explained myself clear. Thank you very much and have a nice day.

Hi. I indboxed you. I am South African. I want to move to Cambodia. Got tefl certificate but the farming idea seems great.

Hi  There,
  I read  your  article  regarding to  grow  corps  .greendest , veggy"s  to  live  on, im quite  interesting  .
   Would   U  will be  my partner  .i own 2  ha  of land  at  KOMPONG SPEU . province  distance  40km  from  PHNOM PENH,
    we  get  water , electricity. small hut, 3 ponds  1 well.
   that  farm  quite  big to  grow  every thing  need  according to  the  land ?also  raise  fish  &  chicken etc..
   So  any  advice .or  partnership  .welcome  warmly. 
   Sincerely . ROBERT   SOM.
  **

Yes that's true UN have ton of money to burn and they paid like you read in the post.
But UN also work like who know who ways so don't expect anything for you what bullshit you read on UN website about Holiness.
Good luck to all.

I have the big land of mangoes , any one interested to start your business to make money here ? Please inbx me . if you are looking a job please try to checked website www.bongthom.com , there are many Job offered there depend on your skills, Please happy to live and stay with the job. cheers

Thankyou, i know was written a couple of years ago but i found it really informative.

Regards
Mike

I am thinking of moving ther, an if u have a good plan for buffet maybe I will back u

OK,  good we need to talk. I have lots of ideas.

so many internation schools in pp which you can get 1000$ to 1200$ per month.**

Hello,

I've been looking for a teaching job for a while with no success.  I have years of experience as a science teacher, little experience teaching English, though I do have a TEFL diploma.  I am 68 and I see that many schools specify no one over 55.  I have been applying at those schools which seem of better quality. 

Suggestions?

Walter Stanley

What kind of agriculture are you doing?
We would like to have some agricultural business here, also we would love to help some Cambodian poor families as giving them job opportunities.
Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks

Interesting thread and a few creative ideas. I am not sure if it is at all profitable but I was told about this teacher who quit his job to start a chicken farm. Breeding and farming animals for produce might be an idea. Also breeding dogs as they can sell for a lot of cash.
I am looking for a parner myself. They need to be able to shoot quaulity video. And preferably have their own quality video camera. (even a good mobile phone cam)  Plus a genuine interest in video and videomaking. Also be able to edit video.
If you think you might have these qualities then I can discuss further.
I have a few other ideas but they mainly involve food and catering which is always a way to make a business, if you have the right ideas.
Making any kind of income online is a good way to keep you afloat. Teaching Chinese kids English online is another way to make extra cash. And is fairly easy to set up.
Just some ideas of the top of my head.

Where are the internation schools?  Can you give me a few names please? 
Thanks

Would there be interest for a sales agent for Cambodian farmers and factories to sell their products in Europe, like my countries Belgium and the Netherlands? Or act as agent for European companies to import from Cambodia?
Last year a friend of mine was interested in importing some agricultral products from Cambodia, but he had no clue how to arrange this. It can be difficult without a western oriented, english speaking representative on the ground in Cambodia.

james1963, I'm speaking here as someone with a degree in Int'l Business. Consider that it can be very difficult for someone attempting to do this in Cambodia as well. You don't have any contacts yet, don't know any farmers, have not gained anyone's trust and don't speak the language (I'm assuming here, correct me if I'm wrong).
Foreign buyers want assurances on the quality and there will be EU import rules to be followed (pest control, preparing the perishable goods a certain way). You might have to set up a processing facility, there's logistics to be solved, paperwork, bribing ... it's a huge undertaking with nothing guaranteed, least of all that you will make a profit.

Dear,

Now good opportunity for invest in real estate on Cambodia.

I think the coffee industry in Cambodia is very developed but it is very difficult to find a good coffee shop in this country and most of the coffee beans are from Thailand. I want to open a coffee reoasting place in Cambodia because I heard from my friends (local people) who have a coffee farmer's uncle said if coffee in Cambodia still uses traditional way and it is a good opportunity to introduce new technique in roasting coffee in cambodia. and the biggest coffee rival is boncaffee originating from Thailand. and as yo know the coffee is'nt good. so if anyone interested can contact me.

Hi,

Just to inform you that around Kampot and Kep the roasted coffee I found come from Vietnam and not from Thailand.

The Cambodian one is also in the market at about 30% more expensive than the Vietnamese.

Cheers
Marcelo

A good friend of mine  is the owner of kep coffee, it's a small nice family place good food, a nice man from Seattle, and his wonderful wife and 4 children, he gets his coffee especially from Laos, it's wonderful, as is his family , but most coffee I've found is Vietnamese, kep coffee is exceptional!

Here my two cents.

I have the Cambodian coffee and it is much better than the Thai stuff and probably better than the Vietnamese coffee.

I got the coffee through a friend who is representative of Three Corner coffee roaster in PP.
As far as I know it is Cambodian coffee but it could also be a mix with Lao coffee, as the coffee beans from Lao are very high quality. That makes coffee expensive as there is the "Fair Trade" system, meaning that coffee growers get a decent price for their beans.

To give an idea, I pay $15 a kilo, which is much more than Boncafe, but for me quality is absolutely number one, I don't drink a lot of coffee but when it has to be excellent (I drink black, so get all the taste).

When I lived in Thailand I got my coffee in Udonthani from a French guy who's family had a tradition of roasting coffee. He bought the beans from Thailand, Cambodia and Lao, had  different tastes and it was excellent. I seem to remember I paid $12 a kilo.

Cheers

Joe

Even at the Kampot market they ask a "barang" price of 16$/kg for the Vietnamese one ... :-(

Tested in PP the cambodian roaster "Winnis", with the perfect packing. Really excellent, like the italian Illy.

Cheers

I am Cambodian.  I would like to share you some ideas about people in Cambodia. As what you said cafes are everywhere. However, do you know which cafe is preferred?. The famous cafe preferred by Cambodian is Amazon cafe and Brown cafe. Especially, for the adult who sometimes shows how nice and beautiful they are. However, the coffee's price is 2.50$ for Amazon so there are only some people who have better daily income, they preferred it. If people who have low income, they just preferred small cafe only. But,  the reasons why a lot of cafes opened in Cambodia is people start dring coffee in the morning around 80% of the population.

I can also add that around Kep and Kampot the local shops sells a “café frappé” at 1000 Riels (0,25$). I take some many per day.

That's the coffee Cambodians look for, are drinking now all the day.

The others ones are only for “barangs” or Cambodians with very good revenues.

Cheers,
Marcelo

Hi dear, today I would share with you my view concern on establishing businesses in Cambodia. if you are from a western country, you might spend much money on doing business in Cambodia, if you don't spend a year living in Cambodia.The reason why I said that because if you come directly to run business, you will first spend much money because you will be cheated especially the ones work in the related file. Furthermore, there is a political issued just recently happened because CNRP was resolved. There are a lot of Chines are coming to Cambodia to run the business, the accommodation, apartments, hotel are expensive if we want to rent. This issue's recently happened in Kompong Som, where there is a beautiful place for tourists especially the beach. Nevertheless, some places such as the beach, apartment, hotel and the most important is land around Kompong som is belong to chines company. Not only the people are from the western country are especially Cambodian are very hard to live now because everything is expensive, most of the shops are belong to the chines. There are a lot of workers are forced to move the location to the another by the government. Therefore, most of them decided to be home.

Thank you for this information.  Are you saying it's impossible for me to start a business in Cambodia?

John it's not impossible, for sure, but as jo said be prepared, this is the key thing along with a realistic business plan. I am retired now but have been self employed my whole life , some successful, many not, but most of my successful businesses were greatly discouraged by many, be confident, plan ahead, being hesitant, scared and not confident , and not willing to take a risk , is a sure way to stay  poor.

Hi,

Checked this morning the coffee price at the Kep market.

Prices for locals are :
- Vietnamese : 4$/kg.
- Cambodian : 5$/kg.

Probably not roasted as we prefer.

Cheers,
Marcelo

Seurng Vuthy wrote:

Hi dear, today I would share with you my view concern on establishing businesses in Cambodia. if you are from a western country, you might spend much money on doing business in Cambodia, if you don't spend a year living in Cambodia.The reason why I said that because if you come directly to run business, you will first spend much money because you will be cheated especially the ones work in the related file. Furthermore, there is a political issued just recently happened because CNRP was resolved. There are a lot of Chines are coming to Cambodia to run the business, the accommodation, apartments, hotel are expensive if we want to rent. This issue's recently happened in Kompong Som, where there is a beautiful place for tourists especially the beach. Nevertheless, some places such as the beach, apartment, hotel and the most important is land around Kompong som is belong to chines company. Not only the people are from the western country are especially Cambodian are very hard to live now because everything is expensive, most of the shops are belong to the chines. There are a lot of workers are forced to move the location to the another by the government. Therefore, most of them decided to be home.

Hello Seurng Vuthy.

Allow me to strongly disagree with your negative report re Kampong som [Sihanoukville]. There is an influx of Chinese workers, as casinos and related hotels/restaurants bring in their own staff, due to not enough local people speaking chinese. Chinese tourists are the largest group of international tourists and it is growing very fast, hence the building of new casinos, new hotels, new restaurants and shops.
Any Khmer landowner that has "lost" his shop or whatever, has received a generous amount of money so that those landlords are very happy now. If shops were on lease on land that has been sold they lost their lease. That is the risk if you lease, every businessman knows that.

But this rise of Chinese casinos, hotels and catering is mainly in a certain part of the city, with the adjacent Ocheuteal beach being reconstructed, the beach bars are demolished and new construction takes place, but it looks indeed that it is catering to Chinese tourists. Logical to have it all concentrated in one place.

Fact is that Kampong som is much larger than the casino area. It also has many more beaches that are untouched and functioning as before. Also the city center with two markets, many shops and supermarkets is unchanged.

Kampong som [Sihanoukville] is a booming city and in 10 years it will not look like it was 10 years ago. The whole city exists for not more than 60 years, from a fisher village to a major important city, with the only deep sea port of Cambodia, with the largest container terminal, with the largest special economic zone of Cambodia, with an international airport that apart from charters, has direct flights to China, Malaysia, Vietnam, plus domestic flights. It will be expanded, to serve the growing numbers of tourists but also businesses.

I live in Sihanoukville and I see the Chinese influence growing, but it is part of the expansion of a booming city, nothing to worry about and no reason to not live here or have your business here.
Lots of new jobs were and are created, so much that workers had to be hired from the province.
A Chinese company will construct a new highway between Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh. The railway connection is mainly used by freight trains, with containers, coal, oil, fuel, rocks and more.
These are signs of progress, and not everyone is happy with it, but it is irreversible.

Cheers

Joe
Cambodia expat-advisor
Expat.com team

On a lighter note the Chinese influx has really some nice advantages.

1. Infrastructure will improve
2. In a few years there will be a state-of-the-art hospital in Sihanoukvile, as the Chinese tourists  are new middle class that demand proper health care facilities.
3. My favourite. When many men move to a certain place outside their country, many girls will follow them and stay in the same area. Not really their wives, some young girlfriends are among them. There are also female workers of course. I have had lunch yesterday with a beautiful Chinese girl from Chongquing, know as the city with the most beautiful girls. Well she is for sure a good example of that, buy also a clever girl. She is accountant at one of the casinos and has a great job. Single, beautiful, clever, who said Chinese influx is bad?
Then there are girls coming here to compete with the ever so cute Cambodian girls in karaoke, bars and clubs. Some try to find men through a chat site, WeChat is the Chinese social media platform and with about 900 million daily active users one of the largest. I use it too and I got in touch with this gorgeous girl and she agreed to have lunch with me.

So I think the future is bright for men wanting to learn social things about China. 

Cheers

Joe

Sihanoukville will become the Macao of SE Asia, its fate has been pretty much sealed.