NEWS
2026.02.04
【Report】A Research Seminar, “Mobile Money, Financial Literacy, and the Performance of Female-Owned Informal Enterprises in Cambodia,” was held!
An online research seminar titled “Mobile Money, Financial Literacy, and the Performance of Female-Owned Informal Enterprises in Cambodia” was held on Thursday, January 22, 2026 (16:30–17:50 JST). The seminar was hosted by Dr. Usman Alhassan (Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Organization) and Professor Sachiko Miyata (Ritsumeikan University), with support from the Asia-Japan Research Institute (AJI), Ritsumeikan University.
The purpose of the seminar was to publicize the findings from an ongoing AJI-funded collaborative project investigating how the adoption of mobile (digital) money affects the performance of female-owned informal enterprises in Cambodia. The presenters were also seeking feedback from researchers in related fields such as development economics, gender studies, the informal economy, and financial technologies, to strengthen the study’s conceptual framing and empirical accuracy
The session opened with welcoming remarks by Dr. Usman Alhassan, who introduced the speaker and acknowledged AJI’s support for the broader AJI-funded research project. Professor Sachiko Miyata then highlighted the timeliness of the topic and noted the importance of the seminar in light of the project’s current research progress.
Dr. Alhassan giving the opening remarks
The invited speaker was Dr. Kimty Seng (Institute for International Studies and Public Policy, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia). Dr. Seng explained that the study was driven by the persistent financial exclusion faced by many female entrepreneurs and the potential of digital financial services to expand women’s access to financial tools when their access to formal banking services is limited. He discussed the position of Cambodian women relative to other ASEAN member countries, noting persistent inequalities in education, health care, and political participation, as well as a high concentration of the female labor force in the informal sector. The presentation emphasized that many women-owned enterprises remain unregistered and face binding financial constraints that may affect their growth.
Dr Seng beginning his presentation
He explained that mobile money is a potential solution to financial inclusion, noting that the extent to which it can support women’s enterprises depends heavily on the financial literacy of the women who use it. Using data from the World Bank’s Informal Sector Enterprise Survey (ISES) on over 1,200 Cambodian female business owners, and employing weighting and matching techniques, Dr. Seng found that women who use mobile money are more likely to earn profits, increase sales, and improve labor productivity. However, the benefits are even greater among women who are financially literate, can maintain business records, develop feasible plans, and manage financial flows, among other capabilities.
Dr. Seng emphasized the importance of incorporating financial literacy into the mobile money- enterprise performance relationship to increase the profitability and productivity of enterprises owned by women and improve women’s welfare. The seminar concluded with an active discussion in which participants raised questions and suggestions regarding the applicability of this research in other countries’ contexts; the rationale for focusing solely on female-owned businesses; how to define and accurately measure financial literacy; and the scalability of mobile money adoption and its impact. The project members also discussed how to incorporate the feedback they had received to revise and improve the empirical accuracy of their ongoing research project.