PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (AFP) - The Cambodian government on Friday approved a draft law allowing foreign ownership of buildings such as apartments and office buildings to boost economic growth, the country's cabinet said.
The draft law approved in a meeting chaired by premier Hun Sen was aimed at "attracting investors, facilitating the growth of real estate market, and pushing the development", a cabinet statement said.
But Information Minister and government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said foreigners will be permitted to own only buildings and apartments, not the land beneath them.
"We will allow foreigners to have ownership of buildings from the first floor up," he told AFP.
The draft law is expected to be approved by Cambodia's parliament and senate, and then will be promulgated by King Norodom Sihamoni.
The move comes after the private sector in recent years urged the government to allow foreign ownership of properties such as apartments or factories, saying a liberalised real estate market would spur the economy.
Under the current rules, foreign property investments can only be made through the name of a Cambodian national, and many are unwilling to risk losing their assets to potentially unscrupulous local partners.
The cash-strapped country's investment law was amended in 2005 to allow foreign ownership of buildings, but the legislation had yet to be implemented and the initiative floundered.
Despite current restrictions, billion-dollar skyscraper projects and sprawling satellite cities promising to radically alter Phnom Penh have bloomed over the past few years.
But many projects have been halted or slowed down as Cambodia has been buffeted by the world financial crisis after several years of double-digit growth fuelled mainly by tourism and garment exports.
The International Monetary Fund in September predicted Cambodia's economy will contract 2.75 percent this year amid the slowdown.
The draft law approved in a meeting chaired by premier Hun Sen was aimed at "attracting investors, facilitating the growth of real estate market, and pushing the development", a cabinet statement said.
But Information Minister and government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said foreigners will be permitted to own only buildings and apartments, not the land beneath them.
"We will allow foreigners to have ownership of buildings from the first floor up," he told AFP.
The draft law is expected to be approved by Cambodia's parliament and senate, and then will be promulgated by King Norodom Sihamoni.
The move comes after the private sector in recent years urged the government to allow foreign ownership of properties such as apartments or factories, saying a liberalised real estate market would spur the economy.
Under the current rules, foreign property investments can only be made through the name of a Cambodian national, and many are unwilling to risk losing their assets to potentially unscrupulous local partners.
The cash-strapped country's investment law was amended in 2005 to allow foreign ownership of buildings, but the legislation had yet to be implemented and the initiative floundered.
Despite current restrictions, billion-dollar skyscraper projects and sprawling satellite cities promising to radically alter Phnom Penh have bloomed over the past few years.
But many projects have been halted or slowed down as Cambodia has been buffeted by the world financial crisis after several years of double-digit growth fuelled mainly by tourism and garment exports.
The International Monetary Fund in September predicted Cambodia's economy will contract 2.75 percent this year amid the slowdown.
8 comments:
ONLY the viets are allowed to own khmer properties, LAND included.
Rise up Khmer people.
It is a good policy for foreigners to own properties in Cambodia. If things change, they cannot take the buildings with them back to their original countries.
This law will provide a foreigner to have a place they can call home and will give them security to pursue prosperity in Cambodia for the long haul.
it's funny ah stupid Khmer living abroad talking shit about foreigners owning property in Cambodia. Look where the fuck you are standing, fuckface. Isn't that a foreign land too? What a bunch of dicksucking hypocrites! If you love your country so much, why don't you come to occupy and claim your land, you self-contradicting assholes?
Really this is not a change from what's in the land law of 2002 where improvements on the land could be mortgaged to a lender. So while for example the land was owned 51% by a Khmer, the buildings on the land could be owned by the 49% partner and that allowed for the foreign partner to get funding secured by the improvements on the land. Since most leases are 70 + 20 years, most foreign companies consider it tantamount to a purchase.
It is a plan for the Country for Sales initiated by Hun Sen who also has 35 % stake in Canadia. He cannot have a policy on housing Cambodians, otherwise he will not be able to sell his property being by his companies. He is a smart ass to his families and groups exploiting the innocent Khmers. KhOpen,
It is a plan for the Country for Sales initiated by Hun Sen who also has 35 % stake in Canadia. He cannot have a policy on housing Cambodians, otherwise he will not be able to sell his property being by his companies. He is a smart ass to his families and groups exploiting the innocent Khmers. KhOpen,
And Viets, with money stolen from Cambodia from 1979-89, would buy a good deal of houses for its spies and people so that they can get censor what Khmer compatriots plan to do. Kp
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