A total of 3,789 businesses were successfully registered on the Online Business Registration Platform, also known as the “Single Portal”, in the 125 days to October 17, bringing the cumulative figure to 18,465, according to the Online Business Registration Service, the competent government agency.

The agency said in a notice that 1,698 applications are currently under review. Additionally, since the platform’s inception, 12,073 companies have made reservations to complete the registration process at a later date, with 355 more currently under review. The average time for completing the registration process remains at eight days.

The government launched the platform on June 15, 2020 to streamline the registration process for companies, as part of a package of sweeping reforms aimed at improving the business and investment environment in Cambodia to better compete internationally, especially during the Covid-19 crisis.

In its initial phase, just six ministries and state-run institutions were linked to the Single Portal: the finance, interior, commerce and labour ministries, and the General Department of Taxation (GDT) and Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC).

On September 1, 2021, the government deployed Phase II of the platform integrating four new agencies – the Non-Bank Financial Services Authority’s (NBFSA) Real Estate Business and Pawnshop Regulator (REBPB), and the industry, tourism and telecoms ministries.

Royal Academy of Cambodia economics researcher Ky Sereyvath believes that the Single Portal and its links to a range of institutions offer copious benefits to businesses owners facing challenges, as well as to the government in terms of, inter alia, tax collection and administrative affairs.

The platform makes it easier to formulate policies that could improve access for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to incentives, skills training and tax breaks, he told The Post on October 18.

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Author: Hin Pisei

Source: The Phnom Penh Post

Publication date: 18 October 2022