MPDF Benchmarks Provincial Business Environment in Cambodia

In March 2006, MPDF launched an initiative that could significantly improve the business environment at the provincial level. For the next three years, an annual survey of business owners will compare the ease of doing business in Cambodia’s ten most economically-active provinces and municipalities.

Partnering with MPDF in the Provincial Business Environment Scorecard project are the Cambodian government and The Asia Foundation (TAF), with funding from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).

Speaking at the launch, Keo Rottanak, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Industry, Mines & Energy, strongly endorsed the new project. “This is very timely, considering that it comes a week after the launch of the government’s Small & Medium Enterprise Development Framework.

Australian Ambassador, H.E. Lisa Filipetto welcomed the project for its potential to improve incomes of the rural poor, who represent the majority of the population in Cambodia.

Adam Sack, General Manager of MPDF, stated that although agriculture and agribusiness have good potential for contributing to economic growth and reducing poverty Cambodia, “entrepreneurs have been deterred from making the necessary long-term investments due to ill-defined property rights and poor governance. The risks in agriculture and agribusiness are great enough without having to worry about one’s property being taken over or the unpredictable cost of unofficial fees.

“We, and our partners, hope that in the provinces that do not do well, the Scorecard project will prompt bottom-up demand for improvement from business owners, and top-down demand from national authorities.”

In 2006, the Scorecard will examine key aspects of business environment health that include: the ease of registration and licensing; efficiency of basic services (police, waste disposal and education); transparency of business documentation; and predictability of policy change. Results will be released in late October, and based on these, MPDF will provide technical assistance to provincial authorities to make reforms and to private enterprise to facilitate advocacy.