Members of the Cambodian Valuers and Estate Agents Association (CVEA) will head to the polls this weekend to vote on who should be the next president. Post Property asked the candidates vying to take on CVEA’s top job what they would do if they got elected and how they would manage the current challenges facing Cambodia’s real estate sector.

Van Chanthorn, CEO of Town City Real Estate:

We plan on providing training to members, both real estate agents and valuers, to reach a high standard. Also creating a system for members to upload the properties for sale and rent include upgrading the website in order to make CVEA the main place to sell and rent properties. I will meet with condo and borey developers and other projects in order to open the door for our members to work with them. Then the next step is local customer creation, which involves proposing to banks, NGOs, microfinance, embassies, government sector, multi-national, private companies and property owners to use the services of CVEA’s members. Moreover, create conferences and exhibitions to promote CVEA and its members through TV, newspaper, magazine, E-mail and social media.

Grace Rachny Fong, executive director Century 21 Cambodia

If I win the vote as the president of the CVEA I will work hard to promote and communicate so that Cambodia will become a great choice for local and international investments, as well as for local and foreign constructors in Asia and ASEAN. The construction and real estate sector are very important in increasing the economy and income for Cambodia. If I get elected as the president of the CVEA, I will try my best to improve the professionalism of the real estate agents and companies through training, knowledge and real life practice via cooperation and gathering support from the ministries to grant licenses that are recognised all throughout ASEAN.

I will also try my best to build a good relationship with investors, developers, constructors and local and international agents in ASEAN and other countries. Additional strategies includes me cooperating and connecting past, current, and future experts to meet, discuss, and exchange experiences to improve the real estate market and take hold of good opportunities.

Kim Heang, current CVEA president and CEO of Khmer Real Estate

As a candidate to be the president of the CVEA from 2017 to 2018, I have 100 percent faith that I will win. In every problem, there is a solution and a chance to overcome the challenge. In 2017 to 2018, CVEA will follow through with the following strategy:

1. Maintain a distant relationship between the CVEA and political issues, especially the election in 2017 and 2018. Politics are politics. The CVEA is a non-profit organisation and will remain transparent.

2. Proceed with all monthly, quarterly, biannual, and annual tasks. All members, regardless of whether it’s a small or large corporation, must remain equal. A sense of professionalism must be strengthened in order to serve in the property sector.

3. Must only put main focus on exclusive property/project, which receives value studies from members of the CVEA and has potential because placing value based on personal judgment is a challenge in sales for the members of the CVEA and investors.

4. Organise regular meetings with banking associations and MFIs so that members get the opportunity to discuss directly with the head of banks and MFIs to motivate them to use their services to become a member of the association. Arrange a memorandum of understanding between commercial associations and CVEA members, and practice high efficiency with the signed international MOUs.

5. Develop the association’s website and Facebook so that all members are able to use and solely focus on exclusive property/project. Seek sponsors such as owners of borey, condo, bank, apartment, special economic zone, and some other developments to fund at least $20,000 to support the association’s annual operation.

6. Must open a real estate school in a long-term cooperation with the University of Technology Malaysia (UTM), but offer short-term training for members in areas such as buy, sell, rent, value estimation, buying and selling, rental contracts, property ownership transfer in terms of hard and soft land titles, especially how to calculate and pay taxes to meet the Cambodian Valuation Standard.

7. Actively get involved with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the MLMUPC, and the related ministries to prevent and put an end to individuals operating in the real estate business because they are the disease in the real estate sector.

Sorn Seap, director Key Real Estate

If I get elected as the president in this new mandate, a group of experts will begin working with all members to share knowledge, generate benefits and create standards and policies to improve the property market.

We have wasted too much time. It is now time for us to show real results and solutions for the association to benefit all of the members and show what we can do while also abiding by the law and policies of the association. We will create confidence and public recognition within our real estate experts. We will work hard and collaborate with key experts to create a sustainable result for all the members and the real estate market in Cambodia.