Cambodia Investment Review
On September 30, 2025, the 6th Give a Day event in Siem Reap, co-hosted with the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Cambodia, Siem Reap Chapter (YEAC-SR), brought together local entrepreneurs, Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs), and ecosystem players for an immersive exploration of artificial intelligence (AI) applications for business growth and productivity. Held at Landing Gold by Amatak, the event addressed one of the most pressing needs identified in the province: building digital literacy and AI readiness.
Siem Reapâs entrepreneurial ecosystem has shown increasing demand for digital transformation, with recent Social Network Analysis (2024) and consultations with ESOs (2025) highlighting AI as a top priority. Responding to this, Give a Day created a full-day workshop to equip entrepreneurs with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to use AI tools in real business contexts, while fostering collaboration and peer learning across the ecosystem.
Embrace AI Tools To Boost Their Businesses
âIt was inspiring to train Siem Reap entrepreneurs and managers who are eager to embrace AI tools to boost their businesses. The highlight for me was guiding them through the journey of innovationâfrom ideation to commercialization. I focused on helping participants understand AI foundations, master prompt techniques, and apply them in marketing, content creation, and productivity.
Read More: Cambodiaâs Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Roadmap
Despite time limitations, their curiosity and creativity stood out. I truly appreciate the professional organization by the Give a Day team and the engaging interactions throughout the day. Moving forward, I hope future sessions will go even deeper into innovation labs, scenario planning, and real-world problem-solving, empowering participants to turn their learning into tangible 1- to 3-month business sprints after each training.â â Mr. Hin Sopheap, Strategy & AI Trainer/Consultant.
Leading the sessions was Mr. Hin Sopheap, a strategy and innovation consultant, co-founder of DG Academy, and AI entrepreneur with NeuraSpace AI. With senior leadership experience in multinational firms and extensive expertise in integrating AI into education and business processes, Mr. Sopheap brought both global insight and local relevance. His training emphasized the practical applications of AI for Cambodian businesses, from enhancing operational efficiency to driving digital marketing and customer engagement.
The program covered a wide range of topics designed to make AI accessible to entrepreneurs. Participants were introduced to foundational AI models such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and DeepSeek, with demonstrations of how these tools can support real-life tasks like guest communication, menu creation, and customer feedback analysis. Sessions on prompt engineering guided participants through structuring effective prompts for business tasks, while interactive exercises allowed them to practice generating high-quality outputs.
The workshop also included hands-on sessions on AI for everyday productivity, such as writing schedules, summarizing customer reviews, and streamlining workflows. Afternoon sessions focused on ideation, content creation, and social media marketing, where entrepreneurs practiced generating text, image, video, and audio content for platforms like Facebook, Telegram, and TikTok. Practical applications for digital marketing planning, poster design, and branding were also explored.
Developing a Three-Month AI Business Action Plan
A highlight of the event was the Problem-Solving with AI session, where participants tackled challenges in sales, operations, and people management, before developing a three-month AI Business Action Plan. This provided concrete next steps for integrating AI into their businesses beyond the training.
âThe AI training at the 6th Give a Day in Siem Reap was incredibly valuable and provided content that was more detailed and comprehensive than any other sessions I’ve attended, especially given how extensive the topic is and its evolving updates. The trainers were fantastic, giving us hands-on tools focused on the core application: using AI for marketing and strategy and generating effective prompts with each AI tool. This training provided the specific, practical skills I need to apply to my work. I’d absolutely love to join the next event if it covers entrepreneurs’ development and management skills.â â Mr. Se Vanhai, Owner, JCE ELECTRONIC.
âBefore this training, I only knew the most common AI applications and used them for basic tasks like generating captions and replying to emails. Now, I understand the crucial context for using specific prompts, which is a game-changer for my daily work – from creating content to getting itinerary recommendations. My key takeaway was learning how to generate effective prompts. The session has improved my digital skills and Iâm ready to learn more about advanced prompting techniques. For future events, I’d suggest to have more days, focusing more on practical hands-on sessions and perhaps drilling down on advanced prompts.â â Ms. Hakseng Careling, Digital Marketing, Sak Adventure.
The workshop attracted 33 participants, including 25 women, reflecting the growing interest of Siem Reapâs entrepreneurs in embracing digital tools to enhance competitiveness. Post-event surveys showed 100% overall satisfaction (rated as Satisfied or Excellent) and a 100% future intention to participate in similar events. Furthermore, the event successfully delivered its networking goals, with 100% of attendees reporting they established new connections, and an equal 100% affirming that Give a Day serves as an effective platform for connecting with one another. All attendees reported that their knowledge of the topics covered was enhanced. The most successful modules, Introduction to AI Foundation and Prompt Engineering for Business Tasks, both achieved a 90% positive knowledge rating (Good or Very Good). Sessions on AI for Everyday Productivity and Use AI for Developing Digital Marketing also saw great success, both reaching 80% positive ratings. The remaining modulesâIdeation, Content Creation, and Marketing with AI, Problem-Solving with AI, and AI Business Action Plan & 3 Months Sprintâeach garnered a strong 70% positive rating, collectively indicating that the training successfully enhanced the business-relevant AI knowledge for most attendees. This suggests the content was well-tailored, relevant, and effectively delivered, ensuring participants walked away with concrete new insights and information.
The September edition demonstrated the value of tailored, skills-focused interventions in provincial ecosystems. By combining cutting-edge knowledge with practical application, Give a Day is helping Cambodian entrepreneurs harness the power of AI to drive sustainable business growth.
Give a Day is co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and Khmer Enterprise (KE), and co-implemented by Khmer Enterprise (KE) and Swisscontact through the Enhancing Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and Investments (3Ei) initiative.
