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Story
& Photos by : The Servant.
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Samples of various products
made from
rattan, cane, palm leaves and bamboo
ready to be packed for export.
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With only
a small sign posted at the junction of the muddy
track that leads to her home and showroom, In Sokha
runs a business few would imagine to be doing very
well.
Although not advertised in the telephone book, this
small woman in her fifties is in fact running a
thriving business - and helping to create jobs in
her local community.
Despite looking very unlike any conventional center
of commerce, the Bayon Business Center is now well
known in Japan and some parts of America for the
high-quality wood, rattan and bamboo products it
exports wholesale. It all started about two years
ago, when In Sokha was persuaded by a friend to
help a group of people with some money to start
a small basket weaving business near her home. The
business soon landed solely on her lap when the
people she had helped, lost interest.
Instead of just giving it all up and retire to take
care of a small sundry shop she owns, In Sokha expanded
on the enterprise and employed more workers to make
little giftwares out of rattan and bamboo.
Today she is providing jobs to about a hundred people
in her neighborhood. Last month, she was invited
to show her products |
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at the
54th Tokyo International Gift Show organized by
the ASEAN Promotion Centre on Trade, Investment
and Tourism in Japan. Being one of only three Cambodian
enterprises that went to the exhibition, her stand
generated interest from several Japanese business
houses.
Upon In Sokha's return to Cambodia, orders were
already on her desk. Although at this stage they
were only trial orders, In Sokha is confident that
business would pick up. "Japanese like handicraft
products; they like what I produced very much,"
In Sokha explained with a grin. Holding a handbag
made from palm leaves, she proudly explained the
demands that increasing custom is putting on her
business. "Palm products are now attracting
a lot of enquiries from |
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A worker making a container
out of dried branches from the palm tree.
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Mrs. In Sokha, petite yet full
of spirit.
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Japan. We
urgently need to produce a catalogue for our customers
there and we want to do it in full color. Our customers
are demanding to see more variety and we now have
to invest in a beautiful catalogue to show our range,"
she rattled out in one single breath. On several
makeshift racks around the showroom, a huge collection
of handicraft products made from bamboo, palm leaves,
rattan and wood is hap - hazardly displayed. Some
items are simply strewn on the floor, as there is
far too much for the racks to accommodate.
Asked why she is not arranging her products more
tidily or getting a better showroom for her business,
In Sokha |
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explained that
she does not retail her products, and anyway, she is comfortable
where she is.
Her customers come all the way from Japan and the United
States to place their orders here. "They know where
I am and they don't mind", In Sokha said proudly
as she opened a self-made business card holder to show
off at least one hundred business cards from various customers
- mostly Japanese. |
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"Foreigners
like 'Made in Cambodia' products because our prices
are competitive, our quality is good and our designs
are beautiful," In Sokha explained. "Everybody
likes Cambodia products."
Indeed, Cambodia does have a wonderful craft tradition
and the workmanship of In Sokha's products is of
an unquestionably high standard.
Undeniable also is the spirit that drives the success
of this and other successful Cambodian enterprises.
After all, Cambodia's forefathers produced such
masterpieces such as the wonderful Angkor temples;
if In Sokha's business is anything to go by, then
this spirit lives on. |
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A team of workers working on
the floor - weaving baskets. Every piece a work
of art, no two pieces are the same.
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Suite
B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Tel: (855) 23 213 133 Fax: (855) 23 213 033
E-mail:
editor@leisurecambodia.com |
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