Cambodia Tech Expo 2022 (CTX 2022)

The Cambodian Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology & Innovation is hosting the Cambodia Tech Expo 2022 (CTX 2022) from 11-13 November 2022 at the Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Center (Venue 1) and Factory Phnom Penh (Venue 2) in the capital of Phnom Penh. (updated 11th October 2022) The ministry said in their announcement of the event "CTX 2022 is Cambodia's largest Tech Expo and Conferences, as well as a side event of the ASEAN Summit 2022" - the theme is “Addressing Challenges Together through Tech Talents”. The planned tech event has had social media platforms created for the Expo and on the YouTube page, channels are set up for a main, startup, and fintech stage which gives an indication of the focus areas.

Cambodia’s deputy minister, Aun Pornmoniroth is one of the key speakers, along with trade ministers from the region as well as leaders from the private and developing sectors.

There will be two venues:

• Koh Pich Wedding Hall - host of the main stage, more than 400 booths, keynote speakers, and panels such as ASEAN Investment
• Factory Phnom Penh - Host the Startup Stage, Investment Readiness Program, and Seedstars Summit. There will be nearly 100 booths for tech startups and entrepreneurs. Hackathons, interactive demonstrations, and pitching sessions are planned to form part of the Startup Investment Network.

The ministry said, “The expo aims to establish a national technology platform to mobilise ASEAN member states, the private sector, research institutions, development partners and civil society to share experiences, new trends, challenges and achievements related to technology, economy and digital society and the fourth generation industrial revolution." There will be a focus "on excellence in technology, economy and digital society and the fourth generation of the industrial revolution (4IR)" reported the Khmer Times. Other partners include Seedstars, Global Entrepreneurship Network, AWS, USAID, La French Tech, GIZ, and confexhub. Some of the areas we would like to see discussed are around the topics:

• Cryptocurrencies - The Kingdom signed an MoU with Binance in 2022 and the Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) has been receiving training from the leading crypto exchange. The assets are at varying levels of acceptance or crackdown in the ASEAN region.
• Global fintech and payment solutions - Although some leading names in this space such as PayPal, Stripe, Venmo etc are not used in the Kingdom, there are a number of popular payment options and apps in Cambodia and there are increased talks among central banks and leading firms to offer remit and cross-border payment options in ASEAN at reduced fees and more quickly than currently can be done.
• Metaverse - The topic seems divided on how much the metaverse (and not just Meta) will impact the world in the near future but it's a hot topic regardless. Meta conducted a study on the expected economic impact of the metaverse for the Asia Pacific, which estimates that the adoption of the metaverse could add a trillion dollars to Asia Pacific’s GDP by the year 2031.
• NFTs - like all of the financial and asset markets, non-fungible tokens have seen a sharp decline in their value, but more and more big brands and institutional firms are embracing NFTs - education around their use and interoperability etc. is key.
• Big data - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) reported recently that the increasing use of digital technology and big data are key to fast-tracking post-COVID-19 economic recovery in Southeast Asia (SEA). The report "determines how big data can help governments analyse the challenges they face, outlines policy reforms and recommendations to help capture the benefits of big data, including drawing up digital roadmaps, improving technical infrastructure, and ramping up training to create a skilled workforce to lead the digital transformation."

The ASEAN Summit runs from the end of September until mid-November in the Kingdom.