News (12)

Cambodia’s economy is still healthy with GDP growth recorded 6.9 in 2017 as it has climbed to another level of economy status. This has been contributed by three sectors, namely tourism, construction and export. The increase in tourists by 10.4 percent in 2017 is attributed to direct regional flight and government’s policy. Also, the construction sector has reached a robust growth by going up 27 percent and number of machinery factories triples while export of textile contracts due to global market and local hurdles. Nevertheless, Cambodia is ranked 94 out of 137 in competiveness and this is caused by poor human resources, infrastructure and so on. This has indicated that Cambodia can no longer rely on old momentum for growth like garment and current export base like US and Europe, which is fragile to price and country shock.

Cambodia can diversify its economy by producing goods with market potential such as sugar, palm oil and so on. Also, it can divert tourists to other potential destination like northeast provinces, which is ecotourism destination. In addition to that, Cambodia can improve its infrastructure by facilitating ways of transportation, reduce electricity cost and improve human resources by prioritizing science, math and soft skills in its education system. Furthermore, reforming regulatory framework for tax and corporations can be an opportunity while corruption, policy stability and logistics cost are still concerns for business. 

Source: Khmer Times, 28^th February 2018

More than 100 senior level representatives from commercial banks, microfinance institutions, insurers and payment processing companies gathered in the Financial Industry Competency Building and Knowledge Sharing workshop on the 22^nd of November 2017 to examine the challenges presented by the latest financial crimes and explore possible solutions. The workshop focused on money laundering, terrorism financing, cybercrimes and technological advancement to help companies comply with existing regulation. A managing director of a technology consulting firm said that “Cambodia’s financial sector has experienced remarkable growth in recent years, but warned that awareness of the banking system and the software and technology involved in the sector was still limited”.

Source: Khmer Times, November 23, 2017

The draft law on the Chamber of Commerce is being reviewed by the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce. Once completed, the draft law will be sent to the Council of Minister for approval. It is noted that the new legislation will enable Cambodia to set up chambers of commerce in other countries and overseas investors to open branches in Cambodia. According to Mr. Lim Heng, vice president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, the legislation will facilitate the private sector to obtain information on doing business in Cambodia. He added that Cambodia will set up offices in bigger countries with sizeable Cambodia population like Europe, United States and Canada. It is worth mentioning that currently Cambodia has commercial centres in Macaue, Nanning, Guangzhou and Beijing.

Source: Khmer Times, 01 February 2018

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore issued an announcement that the Double Taxation Agreement between Cambodia and Singapore, which was signed on 20^th of March last year, comes into effect on the 1^st of January 2018. The bilateral agreement aims to avoid double taxation as a result the application of tax laws in both countries and also lower the barriers to cross-border investment and boost bilateral trade. According to an expert, the agreement with Singapore has helped Cambodia gain invaluable experience in the negotiation of this type of treaties and it is a logical choice since Cambodia is a part of ASEAN and will integrate into the community. It is noted that on September last year, Cambodia also reached an agreement with Thailand.

Reference: Khmer Times, 08 January 2018