Cambodia Constructors Association Urges Government to Cut Construction Permit Red Tape

• 23 September 2020
• Local News
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The Cambodia Constructors Association (CCA) and private firms in the construction and real estate sector have urged the government to cut some of the complicated and unnecessary procedures when applying for construction permits to attract new investors and ease the business environment in Cambodia.

The proposal was made during a meeting between the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) with the CCA and other of major real estate developers on September 22.

The discussion comes after the World Bank ranked the Cambodian business environment in 2020 as 144th out of 190 countries. As for dealing with construction permit, Cambodia is ranked at 178th.

The report stated that there is a total of 20 stages when requesting for a construction permit in Cambodia, which will take a sum of 652 days and cost over than 8 million riels, counted only the official expense.

In response, the CCA representative Charles Vann said that the World Bank data collection could be biased due to the limited access to sources. However, the association and the MEF will work closely to improve this ranking in the coming years.

“The World Bank’s data collection may be limited. In fact, the association has never received any surveys from the World Bank regarding this matter. Thus, I think Cambodia’s ranking should not be that low,” said Mr Charles.

“We have to admit that our procedure is quite long and complicated, but should not as long as 600 days. Nonetheless, if possible, the government should help cut the red tape by combining some similar stages or having a one-stop centre to ease the procedure,” he added.

Mr Charles also suggested that Cambodia should learn from other neighbouring countries, especially in the ASEAN region.

Meanwhile, CCA Secretariat General Manager Mr Chhiv Sivpheng said that the new Construction Law established in 2019 has contributed a lot in alleviating some red tape.
“The data from the World Bank seems out of date. According to the new law, the period of issuing a construction permit is only 45 days. If later than 45 days, developers can proceed with the construction. Therefore, I want the MEF and the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction to cooperate and inform the World Bank of the new data,” said Mr Sivpheng.

HE Huot Pum, Deputy Secretary-General of the General Secretariat of Committee on Economic and Financial Policy, said that the meeting with the CCA and other private sector is to collect essential input to solve this challenge.

“I believe that the cooperation between CCA and private sector will help restore the rank and ease business environment in Cambodia in the upcoming years,” said HE Pum.

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