Prime Minister Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet said the Royal Government of Cambodia has no cash to put in the citizens' pocket, but will strive to create more jobs and secure the sustainable labour market. Addressing the inauguration ceremony of Techo Sen Building and the closing ceremony of the annual meeting of the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation (MISTI) held at the ministry this afternoon, Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet said securing the labour market is the main duty of the ministry and other stakeholders if we want Cambodia to achieve the upper middle-income status by 2030 and become a high-income economy by 2050. 'We welcome large companies, but don't ignore small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which is the foundation for our economy […], so I'd like to ask the ministry and the private sector to further assist the SMEs,' he underlined. At the same time, Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet once again encouraged the informal economic businesses to register to be formal. 'We have to build a big foundation and relation between the informal and formal enterprises as well as other actors to make our economic stronger and stronger,' the Premier stressed. According to H.E. Hem Vandy, Minister of MISTI, by 2023, there were 2,125 large factories in operation, an increase of 7.21 percent compared to 2022, of which 241 were newly-established in 15 provinces and capital, generating over 1,04 million job opportunities. The total investment capital in 2023 reached more than US$18.56 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11.24 percent, while the total value of production volume was recorded at over US$16.36 billion, up 3.35 percent. H.E. Hem Vandy said the Cambodian economy will continue to grow at around 6.6 percent this year, which will be supported by a number of key economic sectors, including industry. The Kingdom's industrial sector is expected to rise at about 8.5 percent compared to 2023, while the textile sector is projected to grow at some 7.7 percent thanks to the expected recovery of th e garment sub-sector, and the non-garment manufacturing sub-sector will continue to maintain strong growth, H.E. Minister said. Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse