A young business leader says Cambodian universities must do better to develop young entrepreneurs, rather than teaching students to become good employees.
“In schools, they teach young people how to find jobs, but why don't they teach them how to run their own businesses?” said Chy Sila, president of the Junior Chamber International Cambodia, as a guest on “Hello VOA” Monday.
JCIC was created last year to help train and provide business opportunities for business leaders aged 18 to 40 and now has more than 100 members.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of students graduate each year, with few of them able to find jobs, said Chy Sila, who has a range of businesses from CD shops to IT services.
“If we can develop those youths to become business people or what we call young entrepreneurs, then we have a better chance of alleviating poverty in our country,” he said.
In Cambodian curriculum, students are often encouraged to study hard so that they can penetrate a narrow job market as employees for private companies or government institutions. Rarely are they taught how to become their own boss.
Chy Sila said young people need more opportunity to be trained in how to best decide on starting up a business.
“Starting a business does not really requires huge capital, but it takes knowledge and an understanding of the market’s needs and the social environment around us,” he said. “There are always risks in running a business, but no pain, no gain.”