Buy or Rent Businesses in Cambodia

Buy or Rent a Businesses in Cambodia

Simple Steps to Business Ownership in the Kingdom of Cambodia

1. Securing the best location for your services
2. Obtaining a lease, SPA (Sales Purchase Agreement) pertaining to the business location
3. Opening banking facilities
4. Meeting and choosing an experienced law firm
5. Identifying where to advertise for local and foreign staff

Acquiring an Existing Business in Cambodia

1. If you are opening a franchise, you know what needs to be done; if not, we will help identify what businesses are thriving depending on where you want to operate.
2. Thorough understanding of the lease of the current business you may be buying.
3. Signing the new lease.
4. Check all tax receipts and contracts from existing suppliers to evaluate a need for change or keep the existing business name the same.
5. Hiring or re-training inherited staff.

Here at Lux, we offer pre-sales consultancy and post-sale services. Our clients should understand Tax obligations to ensure you enter the market with a clear understanding of your bottom line or break-even point. Also, your liabilities to be clear with your objectives to ensure profitability.

Business Ownership in Cambodia

Despite the global economy taking a hit in 2020 and 2021, certain businesses have remained relatively unaffected. Let’s look at historical trends to see where Cambodia will pick up where it left off just without the volume of tourism we saw that grew exponentially toward the last half of the 2010s.

From 2010 to 2019, Cambodia was:

• GDP – 6th Fastest growing nation in the word
• 7% average economic growth rate (stronger than China during this period)
• No financial crisis (included the GFC of 2008) for 20 years

For many years the common denominator for expats living and working in Thailand or Vietnam was to avoid Cambodia as it was a low-income developing country. However, what differentiated and gave investors more financial gain in Cambodia was setting up business in a developing country with little red tape, commonly associated with neighbouring countries.

Businesses in this decade, on average, doubled or tripled their profits and growth.

How to own a Business in Cambodia

So the question you are asking yourself now is ‘How do I set up my business in the country?’, ‘What do I need to acquire?’

Here is some essential step by step tips on where to start.

Step 1 – Location

Suppose you already have experience as a restaurateur, hotelier, bar owner, or car sales. In that case, you need to identify what is available in these areas of work on the market, but more importantly, finding you the most profitable location.

The location has and always will be the first step we look towards with our clients to succeed. Before we approach the Ministry of Commerce to apply for necessary licences or tax certificates, we must first identify where we want to operate.

We will do the due diligence based on our initial meet and fact-find as a reputable agency to ensure we don’t waste your time. Setting up a business needs to be done swiftly and accurately.

Step 2 – Obtaining a Lease or Sell Purchase Agreement (SPA) for the Office or Location.

At Lux, we help facilitate the lease or purchase of the property or business you choose once all parties agree we have the right company, location, and price.

Our job is being the middlemen in the transaction, helping with documents signing, contracts and payment agreements.

Our job is to make this a hassle-free process to secure the location of preference. Suppose you are looking to own the property outright. In that case, we assist you in knowing and understand the small print of foreign ownership and relevant property titles.

Step 3 – Opening a Cambodian Business Bank Account

Once we have the location established, we move onto corporate banking. We have several banks we would recommend depending on the type of business you are incorporating.

This plays an integral role with tax and registration payments that are processed through the government.

Step 4 – Legal and Accountancy Assistance for the Ministry

As a reputable real estate company, we have existing contacts at the Ministry of Commerce. Therefore, ensuring your documents will be dealt with quickly and professionally to establish business ownership.

We will assist you to help register your business with:

• The Ministry of Commerce
• Ministry of Tax administration
• Ministry of Procurement and Finance

This is part of the process once you have your business location secured and a local bank account active.

In certain circumstances depending on the field of business you specialise in; we may need to help you register in a specific department.

As an example, if you are going into tourism, we would need to obtain a permit from the Ministry of Tourism and assist with getting your staff work permits from the Ministry of Labour.

Step 5 – Hiring Staff

As a rule, your workforce should consist of no more than 10% of foreign staff, and all the required paperwork and work permits are in order.

If you previously owned a business here and are now re-entering the country, the visa rules have changed in the past few years.

No longer can expats keep renewing a 1-year business visa. So please consult with our agents who will clearly explain the process of taking on staff for a trial period before commencing a full-time contract. Then on behalf of your foreign worker(s), you will apply for a 1-year work visa and a physical work permit card.

However, the government will allow you to operate while this process is being administrated.

2021 and Beyond is Now the Best Time to Acquire or Create a Business in Cambodia

Business ownership in Cambodia is easy and hassle-free. If you already have seed capital liquid and available, work with us to help find you the best way to get your business going and profitable from the start.

Once we have helped find a suitable location and got the lease agreement signed and authorised, you can start operating. At the same time, other paperwork, such as work permits, are being processed.

At Lux, we also have affiliations with wealth management and insurance companies to assist you with health insurance for workers and public liability and indemnity, among other financial advice for expats and their families looking to live and work in the Kingdom.

Depending on what business you are operating, ask our agent for more information.

Few businesses now fail in Cambodia. We see more and more prominent companies opening up satellite offices here.

Many companies are moving head offices to Phnom Penh purely because they can’t find another country in the Asian basin easier to do business in than Cambodia.