Street vendors’ needs triggered a change in the policy responses

Mrs. Leang Sorphea, a street vendor and a member of IDEA stated that she experienced a high price of goods and sale decline after covid-19. And sometimes being chased away by the authorities. She earned less, while needed more to support her children’s studies. While it’s not an absolute impact, it constitutes fringe effects through decreasing the number of tourists, lacking capital to start and sustain the businesses, insecurity, etc., which will affect a wide range of informal economists. She had asked; not only for herself but rather for other informal economists, for a marketplace, a vending spot, and an NSSF for street vendors and housemaids. She continued, there was limited space for her and other street vendors to engage, and there was limited participation in local and national planning, citizen monitoring, and policy formulation and monitoring processes. But the support from the project has been changed – she and other 160 street vendors have spaces to raise the issues and challenges, especially issues of vending spots, access to NSSF, business registration/recognition process, limited access to capitals and loan with low interest rates ...etc. to call for further interventions at both national and sub-national level.

With above remained challenges and concerns, Coalition for Partnership in Democratic Development (CPDD) and Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA) and other WE Act Partner, including API, CISA, ANSA, FASMEC...etc. Funded by USAID through PACT  Cambodia have co-host policy consultative workshops and policy dialogues, multi-stakeholders dialogues, roundtable discussion between sub-national administration and street vendors at both national and sub-national level on the “Enabling Business Environment and Social Welfare for Young Women Entrepreneurs (YWEs)” with policy-makers from parliament and relevant ministries, including 8th Commission Of the National Assembly, the NCDD Secretariat, the Secretariat of the National Social Protection Council (NSPC), the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Economic and Finance (MEF), National Social Security Fund (NSSF), and other relevant government ministries and sub-national administrations to present the results of research and analysis related to the problems of the formal and informal economy, as well as to make recommendations for policy makers to formulate and influence real change based on the presentation of small entrepreneurs for the benefit of they are to support advocacy efforts for change for the development and implementation of policies for the benefit of street vendors on topics such as social protection law, national policy framework, social protection, national fund law. Social security, favorable environment for business.

These have been contributed to MEF agrees to have a strategy/policy paper to provide support for the informal economy in Cambodia with the consultation meetings with relevant stakeholders such as CSOs, development partners, informal economists, etc. Through the presentation on our joint policy inputs, including challenges, policy recommendations, and actions to be taken, where the informal economists lack legal support and policy framework, lack business recognition, have no proper vending spots, have no preparatory plan to respond to disasters, and lack skill and capital to start and sustain the business[1], and even stay in debt of bank loan, the Ministry of Economy and Finance accepted those inputs and stated that they were informative with all our policy recommendations have been integrated into the draft outline of strategies for promoting the protection of informal economy and development of formal economy in Cambodia[2] which also addressed to requests and demands of street vendors, especially definition of informal economy, simplify the business registration process for micro-small business, facilitate to provide vending spots for street vendors, provide business skill development, provide access to loan with low interest rate, expand coverage of NSSF to informal economy/self-employments…etc. The information constituted the draft document the Ministry presented during the meeting. The ministry agreed to coordinate further and to have a policy paper that supports the informal economy.

[1] List of compiled inputs https://bit.ly/3kCislC

[2] The draft outline of strategies for promoting the protection of informal economy and development of formal economy in Cambodia https://bit.ly/3ZyHL6T