The General Department of Taxation (GDT). Heng Chivoan
A senior tax official pledged to facilitate all tax issues for Japanese investors currently investing or doing business in Cambodia to ensure things go smoothly, as part of a broader effort to create productive feedback channels, and improve transparency and operational efficiency, according to the General Department of Taxation (GDT).
Eng Ratana, director of the GDT’s General Taxpayer Management Department, made the promise at a meeting on July 27 via Zoom to Hiromitsu Kawaida, director of the Japanese Business Association of Cambodia’s (JBAC) Tax Commission, who led a group of investors to the call.
The GDT said in a press release that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss and address the challenges faced by the JBAC in its business activities brought on by certain aspects of the implementation of Cambodian tax laws and regulations.
The meeting sought to clarify and elaborate on the details and nuances involved in enforcing tax laws and regulations, to ensure transparency and better support JBAC, its members, and other businesses, the department said, indicating that it is open to feedback and requests on areas of improvement.
Ratana stressed the GDT’s attentiveness to solve, explain and work well with business association and the greater private sector to provide better services to taxpayers and the public, “even in the context of Covid-19”.
The GDT is still trying to meet with the JBAC to help mediate or resolve any issues it may encounter in a timely manner, he said, adding that the department will provide Japanese investors doing business in Cambodia with regular updates on pertinent new laws and regulations.
“On behalf of the GDT leadership, I would like to commend and highly appreciate the Japanese investors who have always tried to understand the tax laws and regulations, as well as their overwhelming willingness to scrupulously abide by the fiscal laws of the Kingdom,” Ratana said.
In February, Cambodia Chamber of Commerce director-general Nguon Meng Tech underscored the important role that the Japanese play in Cambodian economic development, with investment from the country rapidly rising over the past decade.
With more than 1,500 Japanese investors in Cambodia, he stressed that the Kingdom boasts an abundance of exciting, largely untapped potential in diverse sectors such as food processing, eco-tourism, manufacturing and human resource development.
Between 1994 and end-January, the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) had approved 144 Japanese investment projects worth $2.79 billion, 66 of which are in special economic zones (SEZ) with $340 million in capital investment, it said in a press release.
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and Japan was worth $963.91 million in the January-May period, climbing 8.83 per cent from $885.67 million a year earlier, data from Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) show.
