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Cambodia: Foreign firms urging speedy quarantine end to protect FDI
The talk is of a “new normal” and learning to live with Covid-19, as the progress of vaccination campaigns cuts hospitalisations and deaths but does not guarantee full immunity.
The reality is continuing quarantine at the borders and restrictions on businesses that operate here. Foreign executives are warning that, unless the situation changes soon, overseas eyes will look elsewhere for business expansion.
Cambodia has the second-most effective vaccination campaign in Southeast Asia per capita and infection and death rates have fallen substantially since peaking on July 5.
The Kingdom has administered 18 million doses of vaccine, enough to double-jab nearly 55 percent of the population, according to the Reuters Coronavirus Tracker. In Phnom Penh, the number of fully-vaccinated adults is close to 100 percent and yet the international airport is closed to tourists, while holders of business visas still have to spend at least 14 days in a quarantine hotel.
The country with the highest vaccination rate in ASEAN has already started to embrace the “new normal”, or at least allow it to get under way in a socially-distanced, fully-vaccinated manner.
Singapore has double-vaccinated more than three quarters of its population and has started opening its borders.
At the start of the month the Ministry of Manpower announced that from Aug 10 “work pass holders and their dependents with travel history to higher risk countries/regions can start applying for entry approval on the condition that they must be fully vaccinated before arrival in Singapore”.
Elsewhere in Asia things are not going to plan. Hong Kong has vaccinated more than 41 percent of the population and indicated in June it would ease entry restrictions. In an unexpected about-face this month it announced it was extending quarantine in most cases from one to three weeks.
Commerce Secretary Edward Yau told the Financial Times newspaper the government has received “constant concerns and very candid requests to reconsider” after at least one company threatened to shift operations to Singapore.
President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Cambodia Anthony Galliano says similar levels of frustration exist among foreign firms that want to do business here.
“There is clearly substantial interest in the Kingdom as an investment destination and the potential is enormous with expressed interest by investors and project research being performed from afar and not on the ground,” said Galliano. “However the consistent message is that execution is on hold, leaving many investments in a state of limbo. The 14-day quarantine is the dominant deterrent because many investors need to be present, either for negotiations, due diligence, inspections or just to kick the tyres.”
Galliano says, while international investment hasn’t ground to a halt, he believes that refining the quarantine period for those fully vaccinated and routinely tested would greatly accelerate investment flows.
“The business community has been routinely vocal on relaxing the quarantine period so the Kingdom can leverage its superb vaccination and virus containment record and take advantage as a first-starter, given the challenging circumstances and less than stellar vaccination records in neighbouring countries,” he said.
“It is understandable that the Royal Government is placing safety and security above all. However, the economic hardship can only be sustained so long and, if the country is positively positioned for progressive opening, the business community is hopeful that the Royal Government will act gradually and safely to lift restrictions.”
While the Cambodian Commerce Ministry wouldn’t comment on what steps it was considering to help foreign businesses, the government is working on a scheme to allow tourists back into the nation, which may offer clues about when business arrivals can avoid quarantine.
Tourism Minister Thong Khon chaired a forum on the “Government and Private Sector Workgroup to Recover and Promote the Tourism Industry Post-Covid-19” with representatives from the private sector and industry organisations this month. The group discussed a draft “Roadmap to Restore Cambodian Tourism During and After the Covid-19 Crisis”. The three phases of the draft plan are Resilience and Restart in 2020 and 2021, Recovery in 2022 and 2023 and Relaunch in 2024 and 2025. Economy Minister Aun Pornmoniroth will submit the “roadmap” to the prime minister on Sept 2.
While some speculate the roadmap points to business travellers being allowed quarantine-free access to the country as early as this year, others warn the engines of industry may stall unless airports open and Coronavirus restrictions end sooner.
“Businesses are looking for a light at the end of the tunnel and, given the cyclical nature of the virus, as soon as it appears things have improved a new obstacle appears and dims hope,” said AmCham’s Galliano. “Unfortunately, there will be businesses lost forever, especially SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] that did not have the capital base to sustain the downturn.”
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50925310/foreign-firms-urging-speedy-quarantine-end-to-protect-fdi/