BANGKOK (ILO News) - The Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) has been officially certified as the Guinness World Record title holder for the world’s Largest Practical Business Seminar with 2,304 participants, well surpassing the previous record of 1,231 participants, set in Indonesia in 2016.

The Guinness World Record is part of a campaign organized by MoEYS, with the support of the ILO/Japan Fund for Building Social Safety Nets in Asia and the Pacific (SSN Fund), to raise awareness among youth in Cambodia about entrepreneurship as a pathway to decent work.

Over 2,300 youth aged 15 – 24 from all parts of the country gathered for a one day seminar, complemented by presentations from successful Khmer entrepreneurs.

The Guinness World Record event, hosted by the celebrity, entrepreneur, and youth activist DJ Nana, was followed by an Entrepreneurship Roundtable to discuss entrepreneurship opportunities and the promotion of sustainable business in Cambodia.

Participants reviewed their business entrepreneurship options, and related potential, through self-directed activities and discussions. “I learned a lot from this seminar, particularly from the group I joined. Everyone shared their insights about each other’s business ideas. That was very useful,” said one of the participants, Ms. Phun Chankhema.

This seminar drew on innovative learning methodologies developed by the ILO, including the educational curriculum “Know About Business” (KAB), in use in national curricula around the world, and the ILO’s Community-Based Enterprise Development (C-BED) training methodology, a very low cost, highly scalable approach to business skills training, suitable for even the hardest to reach communities (see more at www.cb-tools.org).

The seminar also provided young potential entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn directly from successful Khmer business people. “We’ve had the chance to meet in person with successful young entrepreneurs, they’ve share with us good advice on how to start up a successful business,” said, Ms. Lim Kimsang, another participant.

The high-level panel discussion brought together representatives of the private and public sectors, including Ms. Chea Sophalla, CEO and Founder of Emerald Plus, Mr. Chek Lim, Deputy Director-General of the Youth Department for MoEYS, Mr. You Sokunpanha, Head of Strategy and Business Development for Smart Axiata, Mr. Kouch Pheng, President Elect of the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Cambodia, as well as Mr. Vic Van Vuuren, Director of the ILO’s Enterprises Department, all discussing entrepreneurship opportunities and the promotion of sustainable business in Cambodia.

“The training today is the continuation of a long journey. This is not a one shot event, but rather a series of initiatives enabling access to entrepreneurship to everyone, in school or not, to have help in being successful entrepreneurs.” Said Vic Van Vuuren.

MOEYS and ILO jointly initiated a national roll out of entrepreneurship training for both in-school and out-of-school youth to promote youth entrepreneurship in line with national development priorities.

“The ILO/Japan SSN Fund welcomes this record as a recognition of the efforts invested to stimulate youth entrepreneurship in Cambodia. We will continue to support these efforts in particular for youth-oriented cooperatives and other institutions”, said Mr. Hideki Chiba, Programme and Operations Officer with the SSN Fund.

For more information please contact:

Charles Bodwell
Decent Work Team for East and South-East Asia and the Pacific
Tel.: +66 2 288 2441
bodwell@ilo.org