The Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation plans to submit a Draft Law on Small and Medium Enterprises to the Ministry of Economy and Finance soon for further review and input, after a technical working group completed the document.
The industry ministry’s director-general for Small and Medium Enterprises and Handicrafts, Chhea Layhy, told The Post that the law would be sent to minister Cham Prasidh, chairman of the Sub-Committee on SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), for a final cross-check before forwarding the document to the finance ministry.
The finance ministry will then “summon the relevant ministries and institutions to a meeting to provide additional input”, he said.
“The technical working group of the [industry ministry] has discussed [the draft law] at length and is still consulting and waiting for recommendations from His Excellency Cham Prasidh, Minister of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, as the next step before we submit [the piece of legislation] to the Ministry of Economy and Finance,” Layhy said.
The law was drawn up to smoothen the process for SMEs and provide them with the needed support to gain greater market opportunities, he said, adding that the drafting team is headed by industry ministry secretary of state Kim Touch.
“This law will also help reduce unfair competition. In particular, our goal is to boost markets and production chains by ramping up the production that uses local raw materials as much as possible,” he said.
Federation of Associations for Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia (Fasmec) president Te Taingpor welcomed the draft law, also taking the view that it will shore up the Kingdom’s SMEs.
“Our SMEs need to have the laws and policies to develop and orient them on the right path to national and international standards,” he said.
The draft law is the latest in a series of government initiatives to support and nurture SMEs as drivers of economic growth that could potentially expand the Kingdom’s industrial base through innovative concepts and technologies.
In March 2015, the government launched the Industrial Development Policy 2015-2025, aiming to reinforce the management and development apparatus related to SMEs, promoting formal registration among the enterprises and championing good corporate governance.
The policy aims to register 80-95 per cent of SMEs by 2025, with 50-70 per cent of those having proper accounting records and balance sheets by then.
