Meet some of the influential people who are shaping an era of growth for the modern Kingdom
Kith Meng
Chairman and CEO, Royal Group
As founder and chairman of what is Cambodia’s most influential and diversified conglomerate, it is difficult to separate Kith Meng’s presence from the nation’s business landscape. With Royal Group’s holdings covering everything from telecommunications and media firms to property development, finance and education, signs of the corporation’s influence are seen across the Kingdom.
Displaced during the conflicts of the 1970s, Meng received his education in Australia before eventually returning to his home country during the UNTAC period in the early 1990s. After developing a lucrative business through the sale of furniture and equipment to the United Nations and other international institutions, he secured exclusive contracts for Canon and Bell helicopters, laying the foundations for the company’s position as the “portal to investing in Cambodia.” Meng also secured a deal to distribute Motorola products, and established the Royal Group’s presence in the telecommunications sector that continues to this day through the group’s Cellcard and Ezecom brands. Other companies within the group include Infinity Insurance, Wing, Northbridge International School Cambodia and the Royal Railways, amongst others.
Recent agreements with international partners have further diversified Royal Group’s holdings. A 2023 deal with the Singaporean Keppel Energy Pte Ltd will see one gigawatt of renewable energy produced by Royal Group transmitted from Cambodia to the island nation. Marking an expansion into the healthcare sector, a joint venture with two Australian firms has launched Royal Group Plasma Fractionation, a firm dedicated to collecting, bottling and distributing the lifesaving medical product across Asia.
Despite the breadth of Royal Group’s business activities, Meng makes time to put his knowledge and experience to work beyond the company’s direct purview. As President of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and representative of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council for Cambodia, Meng often accompanies the prime minister on missions abroad.
LAURA MAM
Co-Founder and CEO of Baramey Production
A Cambodian-American artist, songwriter, music producer and businesswoman, Laura Tevary Mam is a leader in the Cambodian Original Music Movement. With her mother, Thida Buth, she co-founded Baramey Production, an artist management and music production company committed to bringing original Cambodian music to the international stage. Today, as CEO, she represents a team of full-time artists including VannDa, Vanthan, Sophia Kao, Polarix and Khmer1Jivit.
Mam burst onto the Cambodian scene in 2013 with her band, Laura Mam and the Like Me’s. In the decade since, she said, “We went from zero to hero. At that time, the market for karaoke-style covers and pirated music was huge. I was honoured to be a part of the wave to push the original music movement and to be able to witness our music scene flourish and become its own ecosystem.”
In the Khmer language, Baramey means “sacred power.” Mam felt that as she put her own artistic career on hold to promote the greater Cambodian music industry. Her achievements include nationwide concert tours and a distribution deal with the Warner Music Group and TikTok. Her long-range goal is to upgrade the publishing and royalty infrastructure in the industry, enabling revenue-generating social media platform tools to become available. “Once this is achieved, nothing will hold us back,” she said.
THIERRY TEA
Entrepreneur; Vice President, OCIC Group
Born in Paris of Chinese Cambodian parents, Thierry Tea is prominent in his role as vice president of the OCIC Group. In that position, he is in charge of company ventures at Phnom Penh’s new Techo International Airport, currently scheduled for completion in 2025. OCIC is also developing the satellite city of Koh Pich (Diamond Island), a business and residential community of nearly 100 hectares, and the Chroy Changvar satellite city of 387 hectares.
Tea started his corporate career in Asia in 2004 as a regional sales manager in the aviation industry. By 2007 he was President and CEO of Airbus Helicopters in the Philippines; in 2009, he took on the global role of Airbus Group Country Manager. Today, in addition to his role with OCIC, he runs 10 successful startups in Cambodia, Singapore and the Philippines. His diverse portfolio includes agriculture, retail, distribution and trading, real estate, fintech and aviation. PhilJets, an aviation startup that Tea launched in 2013, employs 80 staff in Manila. He also owns Sphere Aero, a Singapore-based aircraft trading firm. Dara Ventures, a retail and distribution firm, operates 10 retail stores in Cambodia.
Negocia Capital, a venture capital company he launched in 2017 in Singapore, focuses on technology startups. These include Bongloy Payments, a Cambodian fintech infrastructure startup, and Ascendance Flight Technologies, a French hybrid jet whose electric and hydrogen engine enables it to take off vertically, improving versatility and reducing carbon emissions.
Tea serves as a faculty advisor and visiting lecturer of entrepreneurship at Cambodia University of Science and Technology. A firm believer in giving back, he is committed to mentoring and cultivating the next generation of leaders. He studied business and international finance in Paris, Singapore, Beijing and Boston.
JEF MOONS
Founder of Knai Bang Chatt, Developer of Kep West
Businessman Jef Moons came to Cambodia from his native Belgium in 2003, and shortly after bought three historic colonial seaside villas, renovated them and established Knai Bang Chatt. That original development has today grown into Kep West, an 18-room resort and culinary beach destination with five restaurants on 210 metres of prime beachfront.
Moons also continues to invest into making Kep province a destination for culture and recreation. The Royal Cambodian Yacht Club, based at Kep West, promotes sailing courses and water sports such as kite surfing and jet skiing. There is an annual international sailing regatta and a mountain-biking festival. The resort offers flying lessons and seaplane tours over the region’s national parks. As for culture, Art for Kep is a public art project featuring Cambodian artists who are raising money through crowd-funding. Plans are underway for a music festival.
But wait: There’s more! “The master plan of Kep is to attract international visitors,” Moons said. “All the macro-economics are there. We have a master plan, the coastal connection, law enforcement, perfect roads, and we’re working on waste treatment. The final key is the coastal connection, which will incorporate not only the Cambodian coast, islands and urban Sihanoukville, but also the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc.”
“Can you imagine how much tourism can come to Kep?” he posited. “Phu Quoc has 6 million tourists a year, and 20 percent of them are international. Mid-term, we will need at least 2,000 rooms in Kep alone, not even including Kampot. When the new Phnom Penh airport is finished, it will take just 1¼ hours to drive to Kep – and Kep West is the nearest beach resort.”
CHARLES-HENRI CHEVET
Area General Manager, Phokeethra Hotels
It seems that the name Charles-Henri Chevet is synonymous with the hospitality industry in Cambodia, and particularly with the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra. He moved to the capital as the property opened in July 2011, after nearly two years at the group’s Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort in Siem Reap. The discreet manager who sees presidents, prime ministers and royals go through his door is renown for not letting a word out on his famous guests.
Co-workers at the five-star property praise his family-style management approach and his desire to learn about his employees’ lives, to determine how they best fit into the hotel team. “Allowing opportunities for a new generation to showcase their talent is how they can grow,” Chevet said in a recent interview.
One of Chevet’s goals in the post-Covid era has been enticing Phnom Penh’s domestic market. “Stay-cations,” which promise couples luxury overnight packages with dinner and breakfast included, are a part of that strategy. So, too, are fine-dining opportunities – the Sofitel Phokeethra has excellent French, Italian, Japanese and Chinese restaurants.
Chevet works hard and expects the same of his staff. “I usually work long hours,” he said. “Ensuring the time we spend is productive and enjoyable is very important. Somehow, we find time to have fun, too.”
Time management and handling deadlines is essential for success in the hospitality industry. “Deadlines make for a more efficient workplace,” Chevet told his interviewer. “If you don’t, the project will carry on longer than necessary.”
A graduate of France’s acclaimed ESSCA business school, Chevet is a native of Rennes, France. He has been with Sofitel since 1995 and in Asia since 2002. First in Hanoi for four years, he was in Beijing and Shanghai for two and a half years before moving to Siem Reap.
Cécile Dahomé
Chairwoman and Executive Director, Sevea
Dahomé founded the environmental consulting firm of Sevea in 2011. As a leader in energy efficiency, focused on circular economy and net-zero strategies, Sevea helps both established and startup businesses bring investors into clean-energy projects to achieve financial goals. The company is a specialist in sustainability in the WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) sectors, along with climate-smart agriculture and access to green financing for farmers. It plays a key role in bridging the gap between the government and the private and public sectors.
A highly visible component of the Sevea philosophy is the Cambodia Energy Efficiency Competition, or “CEE Comp.” The innovative multi-year project “aims at enhancing energy efficiency in buildings through behaviour change and gamification,” Dahomé said. “The competition fosters collaborations, creativity and awareness while providing accessible and cost-efficient solutions.”
Sevea’s success lies in its ability to provide detailed insights into markets, consumers and lifestyles. The multicultural team effectively tackles complex challenges, collaborating with stakeholders from various sectors, including key ministries, international development agencies, financial institutions and international NGOs. Mobilising civic engagement and driving inclusive growth, Sevea promotes a holistic approach to addressing challenges and creating sustainable solutions.
As the head of Sevea, Dahomé plays a pivotal role in building teams and establishing partnerships to identify areas where change is needed and develop strategies to bring about that change. She also serves as vice president of the French Foreign Trade Advisors and vice chairwoman of EuroCham’s GreenBiz Committee. Previously, she addressed climate change and rural development across Southeast Asia and in the Pacific, Africa and the Caribbean. She studied engineering sciences in France and Brazil.
