Legal Climate in Cambodia

•       In compliance with WTO requirements, Cambodia conducted its first review of trade policies and practices in November 2011.

•       The next review will be conducted in 2017. Cambodia’s full trade policy review report can be found at: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp353_e.htm. (Investment Climate Statement, 2015).

Law on Investment

•       Cambodia’s 1994 Law on Investment established an open and liberal foreign investment regime.

•       All sectors of the economy are open to foreign investment and the government permits 100% foreign ownership of companies in most sectors (Investment Climate Statement, 2015).

•       Under Cambodian law, most foreign investments and foreign investors will be affected by the following taxes: corporate profits tax (20%), tax on individual salaries (0 to 20%), withholding taxes (4 to 15%), value-added taxes (0 to 10%), and import duties (0 to 35%) (Investment Climate Statement, 2015).

•       The Law on Investment permits investors to hire foreign nationals for employment as managers, technicians, or skilled workers if the qualifications and/or expertise are not available in Cambodia.

Ownership Rights

•       In 2010, Cambodia adopted a law allowing limited foreign ownership in multi-story buildings from the second floor up, such that ownership may not exceed 70% of the area of all private units of the co-owned building.

•       Foreigners are not authorized to acquire ownership rights in buildings located within 30 kilometers of the land borders of Cambodia, except in Special Economic Zones or other areas, as determined by the government (Investment Climate Statement, 2015).

Business Registration

•       The launching ceremony of online business registration in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Dec. 7, 2015. It reduces the time to register a company from 7 days to 1 hour.

•       They can register their companies at www.businessregistration.moc.gov.kh and pay the fee of 1,720,000 riels (about 430 U.S. dollars) via e-payment service (Minister of Commerce, 2015).

•       Meanwhile, all existing companies shall re-register their companies using the online registration system from now until March 31, 2016.

Commercial Arbitration Law

•       Cambodia adopted a Commercial Arbitration Law in 2006. In 2010, the government provided for the establishment of the National Commercial Arbitration Center (NCAC), Cambodia’s first alternative dispute resolution mechanism, to enable companies to resolve commercial disputes  more quickly and inexpensively than through the court system (Investment Climate Statement, 2015).

•       The NCAC was officially launched in March 2013 and is now ready to accept cases (Investment Climate Statement, 2015).

Environmental Climate

•       The rate of deforestation in Cambodia has accelerated at an alarming rate in the last few years. Cambodia, home to some of Southeast Asia's oldest and most diverse forests, has been losing these precious areas as a result of corporations using permits illegally to clear out land.

•       The country is losing around 2,000 km2 of its ancient forests every year ( Forest Trends Report Series, 2015).

Forests in Cambodia

•       Between 2004 and 2014, the amount of land leased to corporations had almost quadrupled.

•       With 80% of land granted to commercial agricultural companies located within the boundaries of protected forests, trees are being harvested in some of Cambodia's most prized areas.

•       By the end of 2013, 14% of the country had been allocated to corporations ( Forest Trends Report Series, 2015).

•       According to the report, the Cambodian government is giving corporations Economic Land Concessions (ELC), which is a controversial scheme that gives corporations a long-term lease to clear land for agricultural development (Forest Trends Report Series, 2015).