Cambodia is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for foreign investment. Since 2011, Cambodia’s GDP has grown by at least 7 percent per year, and the Asian Development Bank expects this growth to continue in the coming years. Cambodia has one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, and the country has been dubbed “Asia’s New Tiger Economy” by the Asian Development Bank.
On July 1, 2016, the World Bank issued a press release on upgrading Cambodia’s classification as a low-income country to a lower middle-income country, based on a rise in purchasing power among the public. These economic opportunities, however, are not without risk. As is common in the region, there is potential for corruption when doing business in Cambodia.
David Mol, an advisor in Tilleke & Gibbins’ Phnom Penh office, examines the complexities of operating within this business environment in the Cambodia chapter of The Asia-Pacific Investigations Review 2017 (2nd Edition), a guide to the important issues in internal and government investigations across the Asia-Pacific, published by Global Investigations Review.
Within the context of Cambodia’s relatively poor ranking in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, the Cambodia chapter of the guide covers anti-corruption laws, compliance and regulations, as well as private corruption, whistleblowing, corporate liability, and foreign corruption statutes.