Cambodia Investment Review

Speaking to Cambodia Investment Review for ‘International Women’s Day 2022′ the Phnom Penh community manager Rose Dy explained the importance of fostering support networks for women who have left their home country in pursuit of business and career opportunities in countries like Cambodia.

The not-for profit and aims to connect like-minded, independent women in support of one another across Cambodia – Dy has been overseeing the local branch since 2019 and has seen membership increase rapidly to 1,400 women.

“Girl Gone International or GGI is a thriving, fast-growing worldwide community of 500,000+ international women with local communities in over 200 cities. GGI is a non-profit, founded by Anne Scott in 2010 as a way to overcome her own social isolation while traveling and living overseas and has since grown into an identity, a way of life, friendship and belonging.

We are on a mission to connect, represent and empower the 112 million women living outside the country of their birth. We co-create local and global communities, offer safety, support and friendship so that together we can go strive in every area of life no matter where we are or where we come from.”

Girl Gone International – A support network for the international women working in Cambodia

“The GGI community is full of women who frequently travel solo – we want them to know that wherever you are in the world, going solo doesn’t have to mean you have to go alone – at least not all the way.

In the past, we have organized a variety of events for women with different interests including, day trips to the mountains, chasing the waterfalls in Cambodia, a weekend getaway in the Islands, Kep, Kampot, pool parties, painting and afternoon tea session, cinema, book club, dinner and cocktail events and so on.

GGI has many members who join the local communities while on a solo trip just to reach out and connect with local members to explore, to meet up for coffee or to go to an event. 

It is a safe port for female travelers and locals to come together to have fun, network and not least improve one another’s security. There are also certain times in our lives when we need and want to share journeys with friends and peers.”

Cambodia Investment Review has previously reported on the local networks available in Cambodia for women such as the American Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia’s Women Committee.

The committee also regularly celebrate female progress and leadership in Cambodian workplaces holding thoughtful discussions that focus on empowering, inspiring, and motivating each other.

Why should women come to Cambodia for career opportunities?

Rose explained that from her own personal experience, Cambodia is such an amazing place for communities to come together and share experiences. 

Tropical vibes

“I have been living & traveling in Asia since 2016 and I especially love SEA because of the tropical vibes! I like to travel with light summer clothes, swim in the pool/sea whenever I want and eat tasty tropical fruits (Pineapple is my favorite fruit so far). 

Moreover, Cambodian people are also extremely friendly and happy here! I came to Cambodia a few times for holidays and I spent most of my time in the islands. I was amazed at how beautiful and affordable this country was – I then started living in Cambodia in 2019 and I am loving it!”  

Business opportunities

“I lived in 5 countries (UK, Canada, China, Thailand and now I am in Cambodia) and the reason why I decided to stay in Asia was to find better jobs with much better salaries. I am a creative person and whatever I do, I do with passion and creativity. 

I found out that there are so many business opportunities here in developing countries so that I could improve myself and find out what I really like doing in my life. Living abroad has been a beautiful journey.

I worked for International Companies such as Vodafone, EF (Education First), Lamborghini, Maserati, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Mclaren, LG Electronics in mostly marketing capacities, as my major is Marketing &Business Administration. 

Through GGI, I also collaborated with local brands, hotels, restaurants etc in town to support their business too. There are quite a lot of women entrepreneurs here in Cambodia and I quite enjoy supporting especially women anyhow!”

International friendships

I am an extroverted person so chairing GGI Community in Phnom Penh is perfect for me. It has been such a pleasure to run events for all the beautiful, like-minded women in PP! 

I love meeting new people from all around the world and getting to know their culture, language, etc. There are so many different types of people in Phnom Penh like all the cosmopolitan cities in the world.

How to join Girl Gone International Phnom Penh?

Since GGI is non-profit, you can just send a request to the community page to sign up for the events and start your journey with GGI. 

There is no membership fee to join GGI and all women are encouraged to share their experience in Cambodia, ask for suggestions, introduce their business, project, initiative, blog, event, product or service. 

All the announcements on GGI Facebook page have been categorized and published separately to make it more convenient for the members to post, share and comment.