One of the things I love most about working in marketing is the opportunity to work with many different types of projects and industries. I’ve lived in Cambodia for one year now working in marketing, and while I’m no expert, I’ve had an opportunity to see many different businesses here. A former CTO at an ad agency, I now consult nonprofits and businesses around Cambodia transition into the digital age.

One of my clients, Kirirom University, is a technology institute located in a Kirirom National Park Cambodia. Their President and CEO, Izuka Takeshi a successful Japanese entrepreneur, is trying to solve a fairly complex problem. Japan’s median age is 47 years old and projected to trend upward.¹ I’ll spare you the economics, but basically they need more younger people entering the work force to support the older retiring generation.

Cambodia’s median age is 25.² His solution: start a technology institute in Cambodia, training software engineers, digital entrepreneurs, and programmers, and get them jobs in Japan after graduation. The students are given a free scholarship, housing, food, etc. and are supported by the revenue generated by a sister business, Kirirom Resort.

The students also work on practical real world projects, with any revenue generated by those efforts supporting the school.

After working here for three months, I think I’ve given it a fair assessment. One of the things I love most about this company is their flexibility to change and adapt to a vision. If I were to outline my personal vision for Kirirom, it would be this: