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Cambodia: New deadline to register businesses online
The Ministry of Commerce has extended the deadline to register online for companies already registered under the previous, paper-based system, with businesses now having until December to complete the registration process online.
The ministry launched its new business online registration system in December 2015 in a bid to improve the efficiency and transparency of setting up and running a business in the kingdom. Since then, it has issued several deadlines for new companies to register online, and for companies already registered to register again through the new system.
In the past, the government threatened “action” against those that fail to complete the registration, but never specified what those actions might be.
According to an announcement from the ministry released last week, all active companies that registered with the ministry before January 11, 2016 under the previous system, must now re-register using the online platform before December 31.
“Many companies have failed to re-register using the online system. The ministry is giving them another chance to do so. They will have until December 31,” the announcement said.
Companies completing the online registration need to attach their annual declaration and a report of business performance for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017.
“Businesses that don’t have the annual declaration will have to pay a penalty to the Ministry of Commerce. Those that lack the report of business performance for 2015, 2016 and 2017 will have to pay a fine for each of those years,” the announcement said.
Te Taing Por, the president of the Federation of Associations for Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia (Fasmec), said the extension was a good move by the government, but lamented the fact that the system is still giving users problems.
“We value the government efforts in simplifying the business registration process. It is going to save companies a lot of time,” he said. “However, they need to solve the technical difficulties and problems that many users have reported,” he said, adding that some businesses have complained that the system is too “complex”.
Asked about technical problems with the website, Long Kem Vichet, spokesman for the ministry, said that “The system is not difficult. You just have to make sure you have all the necessary documents and complete every step of the process.
“If you don’t follow these instructions, you will not re-register successfully.”
Source: http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50105414/new-deadline-to-register-businesses-online/