Sunday, 17 February 2008

Will Cambodia’s Government Blow Property Market Wide Open

a2mediagroup.com
Sat, 16 Feb 2008

Nuth Nurang, Secretary of State at Cambodia's Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction has revealed that the government is considering an amendment to Cambodia's law that would allow foreigners to buy property in the rapidly emerging market freehold.

Currently the best option for foreigner investors is to buy on a leasehold tenure of up to 99 years. Another option is to form a company with Cambodian partners - this carries complex tax issues and needs to be considered carefully.

David Stanley Redfern's French Colonial Apartments in Cambodia's growth centre, the capital Phnom Penh are on a 99 year leasehold tenure. The contract includes the option to buy the properties freehold if and when the law is amended - experts predict that foreigners will be buying freehold in Cambodia before this year is out, likely a lot sooner.

Foreigners being able to buy property freehold would blow the Cambodian property market wide open. Bouncing back from the brutality of the Khmer Rouge gives Cambodia's emergence a vibrancy and vitality all of its own. From the children in school upwards there is a drive and determination to put Cambodia where it should be on the global scene, and to make sure the thousands who were killed didn't die in vane.

Most of Cambodia's male population is under the age of 25, as a result of Khmer Rouge mass murders, and the aforementioned drive means every child in school is there to learn as much as they can and to be all they can be. I'm not sure how much of an attraction this is to the multinational companies currently flocking into Cambodia, probably not as much of an attraction as the low cost of living and potential for a low cost workforce.

Either way it is good for the Cambodian's. Multinational companies are not only setting up shop in the emerging market, but are making Cambodia their S.E. Asian operations hub.

I asked an incredibly knowledgeable source, who is well travelled in Asia but unfortunately can't be named, how much the big companies pay the local staff they employ in the lower positions, more than Cambodian's would normally make, or the absolute bare minimum.

I learned that they - especially the big banking operations - often have to pay more to get the best out of their workforce, and they are also giving perks like health insurance and dental plans. And that because of Cambodia's better-than-you-might-expect education system, combined with the aforementioned determination that permeates Cambodian society, often the staff are getting promoted and getting pay-rises to keep them in the company.

When things like this are happening the economy is regenerating all the time, especially in the world's main growth hot-spot and a place experts believe will enjoy sustained growth over at least the next five years.

The Cambodian's in stable and well paid employment have money to spend on their accommodation rented or bought, spending their wages is spreading money throughout the business sector, living costs start to go up, meaning building materials start costing more, labourers and tradesmen get closer to what they should for their hard-labour - all pushing up the value of Cambodian property.

A prediction for the future might be some of the big car companies opening operations in Cambodia - watch this space for that and be the first to know the minute freehold ownership is possible for foreigners in Cambodia.

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