World Bank to grants $10mn to enhance Cambodian economic

03 Jun '05

4 min read

Following the Prime Minister's Decision 44 which created a Steering Committee on Private Sector Development, the Government has worked over the past year on implementing the reforms. Achievements, supported by the Bank and a number of donors including the European Union and AusAID, include removal of much of the documentary burden, removing several agencies from the clearance process, and reforming CamControl to remove overlaps and redundancies with other agencies.

“The reforms over the past year directly address some of the key challenges facing both the Government and the private sector,” said Magdi M. Amin, Sr. Private Sector Development Specialist and Task Team Leader. “The project will further that work by using transparency, competition, and regulatory streamlining to improve the private sector's capacity to make investment and trade decisions, and to increase the efficiency of public service delivery. The technology investments will help cement these reforms and make the interface between the Government and private sector faster and less vulnerable to corruption. These changes will save time and money that businesses can use to focus on competition and growth.”

The project will accomplish this by focusing on four specific areas:

Trade Facilitation – The project will create an electronic “Single Window” through which an exporter or importer will be able to discharge all trade regulatory requirements. In particular, it will equirements. In particular, it will automate key functions of the Customs and Excise Department, and link Customs, the Ministry of Commerce, the Port Authority of Sihanoukville and others through a technology network. It will replace the dozens of manual documents with a single electronic interface, eventually to include payment systems. The Ministry of Commerce and the Customs and Excise Department will lead this.

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