In-principle nod for trade law changes

CAMBODIA has approved in principle amendments to the Law on Commercial Enterprises and the Law on Commercial Rules and Registration in a bid to further enhance the investment attractiveness of the Kingdom, according to a press release on the minutes of an Economic and Financial

Policy Committee meeting.

The January 18 meeting was presided over by committee chairman and Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth and Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak, with senior officials of other relevant ministries in attendance.

The amendments aim to smoothen and optimise business registration on the finance ministry’s joint information technology platform, Cambodia Data Exchange (CamDX), and set forth clear regulations and procedures to support the applicable mechanisms and ensure consistency between the two laws.

This, the committee said, will streamline the process of doing business in Cambodia and hence promote the Kingdom’s national economic growth.

The CamDX system is a platform for unified data exchange and modelled on standardised software used by the government of Estonia, according to a presentation by a senior General Department of Immigration official posted on the Ministry of Interior’s website.

Moving to the next step of the senior government approval process, the committee urged the inter-ministerial working group to prepare additional recommendations.

Commerce ministry spokesman Long Kemvichet told The Post on January 19 that the amendments would help improve the business environment in Cambodia.

He stressed that the addition of a number of regulations and procedures will prop up the applicable mechanisms, provide a whole new level of clarity and coherence of the laws and make it easier to do business in the Kingdom.

The amendments will also buoy economic growth, he said. “We hope that the revision of those regulations and procedures will contribute to attracting a growing number of businesses to invest in Cambodia.”

Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng said the amendments were long-awaited by the private sector, describing the current procedure to update business information as an overly-complicated, multilayered bureaucratic process that does not go hand-in-hand with the ongoing socio-technological evolution.

He said: “Amending the Law on Commercial Enterprises and the Law on Commercial Rules and Registration not only reduces time and budget overrun, but also cuts down on bureaucracy.”

“Adjusting business procedures is a promising way for the government to encourage and sweeten the pot for locals and foreigners to further invest in Cambodia. It will thereby also accelerate Cambodia’s economic growth,” he said.

The current version of the Law on Commercial Rules and Registration was enacted on June 26, 1995, while the Law on Commercial Enterprises was enacted on June 19, 2005.