Tech meets tradition: Can digital tools boost Cambodia’s informal workers?
At 62 years old Pak Chhen still rises early, often before the sun is up, to travel the rutted roads to Kampot’s sea salt farms, where she procures bulk packages of the product that is destined for markets across the southern province.
And while at first glance the process appears to have changed little from when Chhen’s own parents started the family business selling Kampot salt decades ago, her 30-year-old daughter, Thyda, has introduced some innovative digital tools that are helping bring this ancient industry into the 21st century.
“Stemming from a family business, you have to go to a new model, a new style of business,” Thyda said, explaining the need to evolve in the face of a changing landscape. “You have to manage yourself in a new way to adapt to digitisation.”
STEW POST
