Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone: a hot spot for investment in Cambodia
"A model of China-Cambodia pragmatic cooperation" is people's evaluation of the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone in Cambodia at the "Charming City" special exhibition of the previous China-ASEAN Expo. As the focus of the exhibition of the "Charming City" of Sihanoukville and Sihanoukville in the previous CAEXPO, this special economic zone has further developed into a hot spot for investment in Cambodia while earning enough attention.
Unique location advantage
As the largest special economic zone in Cambodia, its unique location advantage is a highlight of the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone. Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone is located in Sihanoukville Province, only 12 kilometers away from Sihanoukville Port, the largest international deep-water port in Cambodia. Adjacent to National Highway No. 4 in the territory, 212 kilometers away from Phnom Penh. Xigang International Airport is adjacent to the special zone, only 3 kilometers away. The relatively convenient traffic conditions provide excellent transportation channels for enterprises in the area.
Relatively economical labor cost
This is an important factor for the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone to attract investors to start businesses. The age structure of Cambodia's population tends to be younger and the labor force is abundant. At present, the minimum wage in Cambodia is US$170 per month, which means labor costs are relatively low compared to China.
Advantages of preferential policies
Cambodia’s open economic system and the preferential taxation policies enjoyed by the special zone have enabled enterprises to share the dividends of “going out”. Cambodia is one of the member states of ASEAN and does not implement foreign exchange control, allowing foreign exchange funds to flow in and out freely. Most industries are open to foreign investors and are one of the countries with the highest degree of economic freedom in the world.
Cambodia can also enjoy special trade preferential policies and additional tariff reductions and exemptions granted by developed countries such as Europe and the United States. 28 countries/regions including the United States, the European Union, and Japan grant GSP treatment. In 2016, Cambodia has been allowed to export travel products such as handbags, satchels, wallets and other travel products to the United States with zero tariffs.
Investing and building factories in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone can also enjoy multiple preferential policies, such as exemption from export tax; exemption from import tax on machinery and equipment, construction materials, spare parts, and raw materials used for production; according to the scale and type of investment, The corporate income tax exemption period is 6-9 years; even after the exemption period, the corporate income tax rate is only 20%.
Provide a platform for enterprises to develop together and form industrial chain clusters
The Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone also provides a platform for enterprises to develop in groups and form industrial chain clusters. The factory of Mr. Zhu Youqun, a supplier of hydraulic forklifts in the special zone, followed the transfer of Chinese hydraulic forklift manufacturers from Thailand to Cambodia. This integration in the industrial chain makes the cooperation between enterprises very efficient.
In the context of industrial concentration, companies can make full use of the advantages of agglomeration, share advanced technology, and use the common infrastructure and transportation facilities in the agglomeration area to save costs.
In 2015, the Cambodian government issued the "2015-2025 Industrial Development Plan", which pointed out that Sihanoukville should be developed as a comprehensive model economic special zone. With the high degree of compatibility between the development strategies of China and Cambodia, the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone has ushered in an excellent development opportunity of time, location, and harmony of people, and its platform advantages will be further highlighted.
Innovative service platform to provide "one-stop" service
The Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone can be favored by many enterprises because it provides a "one-stop" service for all enterprises entering the park, which indirectly saves costs for enterprises.
Complete infrastructure
In terms of infrastructure, parts of Cambodia are not even connected to electricity or water. For enterprises, if they acquire land outside the zone for factory construction, they need to level the land, build roads, connect to the power grid, lay drains, build sewage treatment facilities, etc. This not only requires a lot of departments, but also a sum of money. Very large investment in fixed assets, but if you settle in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone where the "five connections and one leveling" project has already been completed, you do not have to worry about this at all.
Have "one-stop" administrative services
The development area of the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone is 11.13 square kilometers, and the first phase is 5.28 square kilometers. The main development industries are textiles and garments, luggage and leather goods, hardware machinery, wood products, etc. Later, they will give full play to the port advantages and focus on the introduction of machinery, Equipment, building materials and other industries.
In this special zone, enterprises have complicated procedures from registration to establishment of factories, and then to production and trade. The Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone has a "one-stop" administrative service window. The Development Council (CDC), Customs, Labor, Commodity Inspection, Ministry of Commerce, and Sihanoukville Provincial Government have all set up representative offices here. All procedures All can be completed in the special zone, shortening the period for enterprises to process documents.
Provide human resources services
In addition, the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone can also provide human resources services for settled enterprises, including regular labor recruitment fairs, and effectively connect the recruitment needs of enterprises with human resources across Cambodia.
At the same time, the Wuxi Institute of Commerce jointly carried out training work, and provided free language and skills training for employees of enterprises in the zone and surrounding villagers. In addition, the vocational and technical training center built with the aid of the Chinese government has also settled in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone. By then, it will train a large number of industrial workers for the special zone and Cambodia as a whole.
Build a corporate communication platform
It is worth mentioning that the companies entering the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone are not alone. The Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone has also established a coordination center to build a communication platform for enterprises. Through regular seminars and meetings with relevant local government departments and organizations to hold legal consultation meetings, tax policy interpretation meetings, labor law consultation meetings, etc. from time to time, companies are guided to abide by laws and regulations and help companies integrate into the local production and business environment as soon as possible. The superior external investment environment, coupled with perfect internal services, make Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone a treasure in the eyes of investors.
It is foreseeable that in the future, the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone will continue to play a leading role in promoting international production capacity cooperation and driving the development of Cambodia’s industrial economy. Win-win will become the main theme of development here.