Tuesday, 26 September, marked the launch of the second edition of the White Book. It was a very timely and productive dialogue, and we were delighted to see such strong representation from both the Royal Government, the diplomatic community, and the private sector.
EuroCham’s biggest accomplishment has been representing the voice of their members to the Royal Government of Cambodia. Since they started their Advocacy program in 2015, members in Automotive, Healthcare, Green business, HR, Real estate, Tax, Tech, and Logistics have come together to analyse issues facing their fields and propose solutions to them. The response of the Royal Government to last year’s White Book was very encouraging, and opened the path for a series of public-private dialogues across a broad range of sectors.
DFDL Partner Guillaume Massin who is also the Vice-Chair of EuroCham in Cambodia and heads the Advocacy Working Group of EuroCham spoke at the DFDL-sponsored event
Some key policy recommendations from the committees included:
Investment protection
- create independent review mechanisms within relevant ministries and public bodies and ensure that future laws and regulations incorporate practical transitional provisions
- develop a more detailed legal framework to enable stronger provisional measures in the protection of intellectual property rights and create a formalized ADR process to address trademark rights infringement cases
Human resources
- support the private sector in developing national qualifications frameworks
Taxation
- revise the Kingdom’s Withholding Tax regulations to place less of a burden on tax-compliant businesses
- provide more specific guidance on VAT requirements for exported services
- ensure that the progressive rates of Tax on Profit prescribed in the Law on Financial Management 2017 be applied to all business entities in Cambodia
Customs, Transport and Logistics
- address the high cost of international shipping to and from Cambodia
- consider trialling new tools for public-private collaboration within Special economic zones
Automotive
- implement regulatory measures to prevent the import of cars unsuitable for the Cambodian environment
- rationalise taxation policy for automobiles
Digital and New Technologies
- develop a legal and regulatory framework to support the growth of e-commerce, including an E-commerce law and a new law on Consumer Protection
- review the method of calculating taxable revenues for telecommunications companies
Green Business
- assist sustainable biomass companies to be price competitive
- implement tax incentives
- trial a net metering scheme to support the development of the solar industry
- provide guidance on how business can prepare for upcoming Environmental Impact Assessment legislation
- develop a centralized information point for all green financing programmes
Healthcare
implement additional measures to prevent parallel importing of pharmaceutical products
Real Estate and Construction
- further develop fiscal controls so as to define stronger minimum capital requirements and licensing regimes for development projects outside the residential sector
- consult with the private sector to ensure a practical set of building standards
- Create a sub-committee under the National Committee for Health and Work Safety focusing on OHS on construction sites
Please see the link here for the White Book 2017.
