BEIJING -- Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ), located in Sihanoukville, the only international port city in Cambodia and one of the first batch of Sino-foreign economic and trade cooperation zones abroad, is becoming, as people say, the Cambodian counterpart of China's "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone".
SSEZ is the largest special economic zone of Cambodia, co-operated by east China-headquartered garment producer - Hodo Group together with another three Wuxi-based Chinese companies as well as the Cambodia International Investment Development Group Co., Ltd.
"Currently, SSEZ has attracted nearly 100 enterprises to start businesses there, of which more than 70 companies have begun production and over 70 percent are from China," said Qian Wenhua, head of brand culture department of Hodo Group and director of SSEZ Company, the main developer and constructor of SSEZ.
In recent years, SSEZ has been a favored investment destination for investors, in particular Chinese investors, and it pocketed investment of 2.04 billion US dollars in 2014, up as much as 990.9 percent from 2013.
As Qian noted, companies pick Cambodia's SSEZ to run business for in a large part its preferential tax policies and relatively low labor cost.
In SSEZ, firms can enjoy a 6 to 9-year long period of being exempted from paying business income tax (BIC) and after the BIC exemption period, businesses of the kind shall pay 20 percent BIC. Regarding value-added tax (VAT), Cambodia imposes zero VAT on production equipment, building materials and etc. for SSEZ-based companies.
What's more, the country has an appealing trade environment, free of any anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations by developed countries and enjoying special preferential trade policies and additional duty exemption offered by European and American economies.
Furthermore, Cambodia sets no restriction over influx and outflow of foreign exchanges and businesses invested by domestic and foreign capital in Cambodia can enjoy the same treatment. An official of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) once told media that "foreign-funded enterprises can do what Cambodian entities do, including rights of same coverage such as 100 percent entry of foreign capital into all industries."
To help newcomers, SSEZ provides them with knowledge about related Cambodian laws, regulations and business-starting procedures and join hands with other institutions or entities in convening activities on financial services introduction, law consulting, tax and policies interpretation.
Among these services, the most eye-catching is the "One Stop Services" which allows a business to cope with all procedures within the SSEZ, backed by CDC, customs, labor, commodity inspection, and commerce authorities as well as the provincial government of Preah Sihanouk Province all setting up representative offices there.
Besides, SSEZ operators lay a sound foundation for the zone's sustainable development via providing employment and welfare guarantee for local citizens, fostering diversified economic development, founding educational institutions, and participating in charity course.
At present, light industry, garment, and wood flooring sectors pillar up the industrial economy of SSEZ. Given its proximity to the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, equipment producers and port business are expected to gain more opportunities for development, noted Qian.
In the future, the SSEZ targets raising the number of in-zone businesses to 300, employing 100,000 industrial workers and building a new city with 200,000 population and comfortable living conditions.
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