{"id":774,"date":"2010-03-25T07:38:43","date_gmt":"2010-03-24T23:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rice4life.sg\/bulletin\/?p=774"},"modified":"2010-03-26T07:40:39","modified_gmt":"2010-03-25T23:40:39","slug":"cambodia-to-let-foreigners-own-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rice4life.sg\/bulletin\/current-affairs\/cambodia-to-let-foreigners-own-property\/","title":{"rendered":"Cambodia to let foreigners own property"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHNOM PENH, March 25 \u2014 Cambodia\u2019s Parliament is to debate a law next month that would allow foreigners to own property directly, one of the aims being to attract more investors to the Southeast Asian country.<\/p>\n

Until now, foreigners wanting to buy property have had to do it through a Cambodian representative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a really good thing, because all these modern apartments, the Cambodians don\u2019t have money to buy them,\u201d said Nun Pheany, spokeswoman for the Land Management Ministry. \u201cFor condominiums, this is an encouragement to investors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neighbouring countries including Vietnam had passed similar laws, so it was time Cambodia did, she said. \u201cWe want to have contact with big investors, to make them feel warm in Cambodia.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Assembly will begin debating the legislation on April 1. It would allow foreigners to own apartments above the ground floor in buildings 30km from the country\u2019s borders. Foreigners will only be able to buy a maximum 49 per cent of any building.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis law has been sought by the private sector. We\u2019ve wanted it for quite some time,\u201d said Sung Bonna, chief executive of Bonna Realty Group and president of the National Valuers Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will encourage foreigners, investors to help the recovery. The real estate and construction sectors have been weak,\u201d Sung Bonna said.<\/p>\n

Heng Sakara, a manager at All Plan International, developer of the US$55 million (RM187 million) River Palace 31 in Phnom Penh, said the law could attract huge numbers of foreigners to the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiplomats and investors, most of them want to buy units, apartments for their personal property. Cambodians couldn\u2019t afford to buy all of them,\u201d Heng Sakara said, adding it was good news for his 31-storey project, suspended due to the economic slump.<\/p>\n

Cambodia\u2019s economy enjoyed several years of double-digit growth before tourism and the garment sector took a hit from the global economic crisis. The economy probably shrank in 2009.<\/p>\n

Sung Bonna said Cambodia\u2019s real estate and construction sectors were hit hard in 2008 and 2009 and forecast that this year would be only a little better.<\/p>\n

Output in the construction sector slumped 42 per cent in 2009 to US$1.7 billion, ministry spokeswoman Nun Pheany said. She did not yet have data for 2010. \u2014 Reuters<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PHNOM PENH, March 25 \u2014 Cambodia\u2019s Parliament is to debate a law next month that would allow foreigners to own property directly, one of the aims being to attract more investors to the Southeast Asian country. Until now, foreigners wanting…<\/p>\n

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