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ABSTRACT
The share of the street business is approximately 8.3% of the whole establishments in Cambodia. Main sectors of street business are wholesale and retail trade, and food service activities. The features of the street business are (1) the number of female representatives is greater than male, (2) the share of the street business of the whole establishments in cities is greater than it in rural areas, and (3) the scale of business is limited in terms of the number of employees and the area of the business place. The street business in Cambodia can be categorized into three business types: (1) retail sales such as food and beverage are the most profitable business, (2) services such as barbershop and repairing motorcycles are less profitable, and (3) restaurant business is in the middle of them.
JEL Classification: O1 70
Keywords: street busine ss; informal sector; p ro fitability; poverty reduction; Cambodia
I. INTRODUCTION
Cambodian economy has been achieving the high economic growth under the background of the economic system transformation from the planned economy to the market economy, and the political stability since 1990's. The main features of Cambodian industrial structures are (1) the existence of traditional agriculture, handicraft, and tourism (Angkor monuments), (2) the continuous growth of garment production as the modern industry, (3) the formation of the dual structure with the domestic traditional industry and the modern industry operated by foreign companies, (4) the dependence on the foreign aids and the demands of daily life by foreigners in charge of the international cooperation, and (5) the advance of the internationalization under the rapid deregul ation on investments, trades, and finance. In recent years, the number of foreign direct investments has been rapidly increasing. Under this background, Cambodian governments placed the enhancement of the domestic industries, especially SMEs (Small and Med ium Enterprises), as one of the most important policy in the national development plans. The most of enterprises are small companies (97.7% of the whole establishments in Cambodia employ under ten persons), and 8.5% of the whole establishments are the street business in the informal sector.
The ILO (International Labor Organization) took up the issues of informal sector, and pointed out the features, (1) ease of entry, (2) reliance on indigenous...