SIEM REAP – The Made-in-Cambodia Market was the first in Siem Reap city to sell Khmer handmade products over ten years ago. Today, it is where proud artists and their local handcrafts gather to offer visitors a connection to national culture.  

Market manager Oun Savann said the long life of the market has come from customers’ trust in the products’ quality and good services.

The central-city market offers a variety of cultural products and handcrafts. It also serves as a creative space for artists, designers and small-scale entrepreneurs who are also preserving traditional arts. 

Savann said most of the entrepreneurs are women and they have brought handmade products such as textiles, jewelry, decorations and souvenirs with traditional and contemporary designs. 

One of the most inspiring features of the market is the development of the sellers. Some came as street venders while others were employees before they owned their own shops.  

Savann and co-founder Aebe Christian De Boer wanted to build a space to sell Khmer-made products with quality and good services, aiming especially at tourists. It grew from a pop-up event twice a month to a weekly event, and they finally had their own space for the name. 

“We are not only renting our booths to them. We’re also teaching them how to do marketing,” the co-founder said.  

At first glance, the items may be just locally made  but the meaning behind these products is more to dig into. Each item tells a story of the Cambodian artist and expert. They are a combination of traditional technical and contemporary designs. 

“While I was majoring in tourism, I noticed that the market had complex products,” Savann said. 

“I thought to myself that I someday wanted to gather local products together. The locals had quality items but they didn’t know where to sell them.” 

With the same purpose, the pair created the market with a simple name “Made in Cambodia” in 2013 as a weekend market opening on Saturdays and Sundays. 

Demand from customers, who were mostly foreign, led to the market opening four days a week.  

In 2022, the market scheduled its own opening time and was located on the south of Shinta Mani Hotel. 

Two years later, the two opened the third branch of the market, called “Made-in-Cambodia” Market III, in Reach Bo Pagoda area in the same city. 

“The market is more than a space for Khmer-made products,” Savann said, adding that it is a place for training on entrepreneurship and shop management to the newcomers in this sector. It’s a core vision of the “Made-in-Cambodia” Market. 

“At first, the sellers only offered textiles for Khmer traditional costumes but the customers demanded a contemporary style instead. So, they started mixing other fabric with the textiles to make it modern,” he added. 

Another inspiring feature is being plastic-free. Sellers are not allowed to use plastic to package products, meaning that they only pack their items with paper or fabric bags. 

What factors have driven the market to what it is today? Savann said, “We sell services too, not only products.” 

Selling services refer to hospitality, smiles and storytelling of each product to the customers. Such warmth helped attract tourists for revisits, spread the name forward.  
 

Originally written in Khmer for Thmey Thmey, this story was translated by Meng Seavmey for Cambodianess.