WWD: A Luxury Market Emerges in Cambodia

February 9, 2015

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – With a Porsche dealership opening this year, a new retail space housing the likes of Brioni and Hugo Boss, and three stories of duty-free shopping in Siem Reap dedicated to Chinese tourism, Cambodia appears to be reshaping itself to cater to local — and foreign—  consumers with high-end tastes.

One of the poorest countries in the region, the Southeast Asian nation has seen rapid annual growth above 7 percent over the last decade — considered the sixth-fastest such growth in the world — with development indicators pointing to a country bordering on the lowest end of middle-income status. According to The World Bank, the country’s average per-capita annual income has more than doubled since 2004, going from $400 a year to the current $950.

And retailers, anticipating a rise in local purchasing power and increasing high-end brand awareness of Cambodia’s elite, are getting in early.

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