Private College Student Loan

캄보디아투자사기조심

Summary: 캄보디아에 투자를 할 때는 다양한 사기 사건들에 대한 각별한 주의가 필요합니다 캄보디아 주재 한국대사관 대사 신현석 은 대 캄보디아 투자시 유의사항 을 밝혔다최근들어 캄보디아의 경제사회 개발이 본격 추진되고 한국인의 발길이 잦아지면서 투자가 모집 등의 명목을 앞세운 각종 사기가 판을 치고 피해를 당한 한국인들이 늘고 있기 때문이다대사관은 노무현 대통령의 첫 국빈방문을 전후하여 한국정부의 경제원조와 기업의 투자가 늘어나면서 이러한 투자와 연결시켜 유리한 조건의 사업을 할 수 있게 해주겠다는 브로커들이 활개를 치고 있다 고 지적하고 우리 정부에서 지원하는 사업이나 기업의 투자 역시 엄격한 규정과 절차에 의해 추진되는 것이므로 브로커들의 유혹에 절대 빠져서는 안될 것 이라고 주장했다또 최근에는 신공항 건설이나 신도시 개발 등 각종 개발 프로젝트를 내세워 투자가를 모집하는 경우가 많은데 대부분 사업추진의 정확한 근거가 없는 양해각서나 법인설립증 등을 보여주며 사업허가가 난 것처럼 과장하는 경우도 많다고 지적하고 있다대사관은 특히 최근에는 부동산 투자를 하려는 기업과 개인이 밀려들고 있는데 캄보디아는 헌법에 외국인 토지보유를 금지하고 있어 투자를 않는 것이 최선 이라고 밝히고 꼭 필요한 경우는 규정에 따라 최소한의 토지를 투자하는 것이 바람직하다 고 설명했다캄보디아에서 부동산 투자를 하려면 현지 시민권을 얻거나 현지인이 51 이상 소유하는 법인을 설립해 법입 이름으로 부동산을 사는 것인데 이 경우도 캄보디아측이 경영의 주도권을 갖고 있어 뺏길 우려가 많은데다 사업기간 중도에 사업을 그만두면 이를 개인이 처분할 수 없고 정부에 반납하도록 되어 있어 투자 목적으로는 불가능하게 되어 있다그럼에도 상당수의 한국인들은 현지에서 시민권을 얻는 교민이나 캄보디아인들의 이름을 이용해 편법으로 투자를 했다가 이들이 등을 돌려 투자금을 모두 날리는 경우가 많다고 대사관은 경고하고 있다특히 캄보디아에서는 최근 신도시 개발이나 유전개발 신공항 건설 등 대형 프로젝트에 한국관련 기업들이 관여하면서 펀딩을 하는 경우가 많아 각별한 주의가 필요하다고 대사관은 밝히고 있다신현석 대사는 캄보디아는 아직도 개발초기인데다 법규가 제대로 마련되어 있지 않아 외국인들의 투자에는 불리한 점이 많다 고 밝히고 투자를 할때에는 반드시 현지 대사관이나 코트라 한인회 등 정확한 기관에 문의를 하는 것이 필요하다 고 강조했다 對 캄보디아 外國人投資 첮걸음 관계법규를 알아야 성공할수있습니다 1 특히 고위 장성이나 장관 경찰 군인을 잘알고있다면서 쉽게 바로해결할수 있다는 캄보디아 현지인이나 외국인 그리고 한국양반을 조심하셔야 합니다 2 이젠 오를만큼 올라서 땅투기는 자제 해야할 시기입니다 3 남이 부동산에 投資해 성공했다고 나까지 成功하란 運은 함부로 따르지 않습니다 4 웃고있는사람보다 울고간 사람이 더많습니다 5 돈은 때가되면 자동으로 따라다닙니다 Cambodia is a developing country with a market economy It began the shift from a command economy to the free market in the late 1980s Since the re establishment of a constitutional monarch in 1993 the economy has grown relatively rapidly except for a period between mid 1997 and late 1998 when Cambodia suffered political instability and the Asian financial crisis affected business activity The economy began to rebound in late 1998 with the establishment of a new coalition government Real GDP averaged 5 3 percent in the 1999 2003 period In 2004 economic growth was down to 4 5 percent and for 2005 is forecasted to fall to 1 9 percent mainly due to the uncertain future of the garment sector Foreign direct investment in most sectors has lagged and Cambodia remains dependent on foreign donor assistance for budget assistance fixed asset investment and social services Since early 1999 the Cambodian government has intensified its economic reform program a process the international financial institutions and donors participate in and monitor closely The government has over the past year publicly committed itself on numerous occasions to fighting corruption restoring good governance increasing transparency and predictability as laid out in its latest public reform effort called the Rectangular Strategy for Growth Employment Equity and Efficiency The government has set out some specific measures with a view to promoting business especially small and medium businesses in Cambodia by reducing costs and the time cost of business registration by establishing a number of committees for trade facilitation and promotion of business Openness to Foreign Investment Cambodia 1994 law on investment established an open and liberal foreign investment regime The Council for the Development of Cambodia CDC Cambodia s foreign investment approval body administers a package of investment incentives discussed in detail in below All sectors of the economy are open to foreign investment There are no performance requirements and no sectors in which foreign investors are denied national treatment An August 1999 sub decree created some restrictions on foreign investment publishing printing and broadcasting activities are limited to 49 foreign equity and there must be an unspecified amount of local equity in gemstone exploitation brick making rice mills wood and stone carving manufacture and silk weaving The government recently issued a sub decree restricting foreign ownership of hospitals and clinics and forbidding the employment of non Cambodian doctors in any speciality in which the Ministry of Health considers there to be an adequate number of Cambodian practitioners While other sectors are eligible for 100 foreign investment investment incentives vary according to the nature of the investment project Major Taxation Issues Seeking to increase government revenue the international financial institutions recommended that the Cambodian government scale back its investment incentives The government amended the Law on Investment in February 2003 The amendments to the law eliminated the special 9 percent corporate tax rate for all new investments and began the phasing out the standard 20 percent under the Taxation Law for the next 5 years after the effective date of the law for existing approved and operational projects After this 5 year period such investment will also be subject to the standard 20 percent rate The amendments brought to an end the tax free reinvestment of profits and the rights to tax free repatriation of earnings and other incomes by approved enterprises While some incentives are eliminated the law provides a simplified and transparent mechanism for investment approval and thereby shortens the approval process for new investments Article 44 of the constitution provides that only Khmer legal entities and citizens of Khmer nationality have the right to own land Aside from this there is little or no discrimination against foreign investors either at the time of initial investment or after investment Some foreign businesses have reported however that they are at a disadvantage vis vis Cambodian or other foreign rivals who engage in acts of corruption or tax evasion or take advantage of Cambodia s poorly enforced legal regulations The privatization of state enterprises has not always been carried out in a transparent manner In several instances the public learned that enterprises were for sale only after the government announced a sale to a particular buyer Investor rights investment guarantees provided for in the Law on Investment include Foreign investors shall not be treated in a discriminatory manner by reason of investor being a foreign investor except in respect to land ownership as provided for in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia The Royal Government of Cambodia shall not undertake a nationalization policy that adversely affects the private property of investors The Royal Government of Cambodia shall not fix the price of products or fees for services The Royal Government of Cambodia in accordance with relevant laws and regulations shall permit investors to purchase foreign currencies through the banking system and to remit abroad those currencies as payments for imports repayments on loans payments of royalties and management fees profit remittances and repatriation of capital Conversion and Transfer Policies There are no restrictions on the conversion of capital for investors as noted above The Foreign Exchange Law does allow the National Bank of Cambodia the central bank to implement exchange controls in the event of a crisis the law does not define what would constitute a crisis The U S Embassy is not aware of any cases in which investors have encountered obstacles in converting local to foreign currency or in sending capital out of the country Expropriation and Compensation Article 44 of the Cambodian constitution which restricts land ownership to Cambodian nationals also states that he state right to confiscate properties from any person shall be exercised only in the public interest as provided for under the law and shall require fair and just compensation in advance Article 58 states that he control and use of state properties shall be determined by law Under the existing land law all land is considered state property The Law on Investment provides that he Royal Government of Cambodia shall not undertake a nationalization policy which adversely affects the private property of investors A Cambodian government sub decree abrogated certificates for possession and use of land and rights to immovable property in the newly created Koh Kong Industrial Zone The document which declares that the land is State property makes no mention of compensation There are currently no known investment disputes involving expropriation of property belonging to U S citizens There are indications that the government was considering a program to compensate businesses for damages sustained from gunfire and looting troops during the 1997 factional fighting but no plan ever came to realization Up to 17 Thai businesses sustained varying degrees of damage during anti Thai rioting in Phnom Penh on January 29 2003 The Cambodian government has pledged to compensate unconditionally all the damages Some compensation has been paid to the Thai government and Thai businesses but the two countries to continue to work on the final details of a payment package Dispute Settlement Cambodia s legal system is a mosaic of pre 1975 statutes modelled on French law communist era legislation dating from 1979 1991 statutes put in place by the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia UNTAC during the period 1991 93 and legislation passed by the Royal Government of Cambodia since 1993 The legal system contains many gaps in key areas such as company law bankruptcy and commercial arbitration The Cambodian legal system has also traditionally favoured mediation over adversarial conflict and adjudication Thus compromise solutions are the norm even in cases where the law clearly favours one party in a dispute The government is currently working on draft legislation to create a Commercial Court that might include an arbitration or mediation component Cambodia s court system is generally seen as non transparent and subject to outside influence Judges who have been trained either for a short period in Cambodia or under other systems of law h 캄보디아에 투자를 할 때는 다양한 사기 사건들에 대한 각별한 주의가 필요합니다 캄보디아 주재 한국대사관 대사 신현석 은 대 캄보디아 투자시 유의사항 을 밝혔다최근들어 캄보디아의 경제사회 개발이 본격 추진되고 한국인의 발길이 잦아지면서 투자가 모집 등의 명목을 앞세운 각종 사기가 판을 치고 피해를 당한 한국인들이 늘고 있기 때문이다대사관은 노무현 대통령의 첫 국빈방문을 전후하여 한국정부의 경제원조와 기업의 투자가 늘어나면서 이러한 투자와 연결시켜 유리한 조건의 사업을 할 수 있게 해주겠다는 브로커들이 활개를 치고 있다 고 지적하고 우리 정부에서 지원하는 사업이나 기업의 투자 역시 엄격한 규정과 절차에 의해 추진되는 것이므로 브로커들의 유혹에 절대 빠져서는 안될 것 이라고 주장했다또 최근에는 신공항 건설이나 신도시 개발 등 각종 개발 프로젝트를 내세워 투자가를 모집하는 경우가 많은데 대부분 사업추진의 정확한 근거가 없는 양해각서나 법인설립증 등을 보여주며 사업허가가 난 것처럼 과장하는 경우도 많다고 지적하고 있다대사관은 특히 최근에는 부동산 투자를 하려는 기업과 개인이 밀려들고 있는데 캄보디아는 헌법에 외국인 토지보유를 금지하고 있어 투자를 않는 것이 최선 이라고 밝히고 꼭 필요한 경우는 규정에 따라 최소한의 토지를 투자하는 것이 바람직하다 고 설명했다캄보디아에서 부동산 투자를 하려면 현지 시민권을 얻거나 현지인이 51 이상 소유하는 법인을 설립해 법입 이름으로 부동산을 사는 것인데 이 경우도 캄보디아측이 경영의 주도권을 갖고 있어 뺏길 우려가 많은데다 사업기간 중도에 사업을 그만두면 이를 개인이 처분할 수 없고 정부에 반납하도록 되어 있어 투자 목적으로는 불가능하게 되어 있다그럼에도 상당수의 한국인들은 현지에서 시민권을 얻는 교민이나 캄보디아인들의 이름을 이용해 편법으로 투자를 했다가 이들이 등을 돌려 투자금을 모두 날리는 경우가 많다고 대사관은 경고하고 있다특히 캄보디아에서는 최근 신도시 개발이나 유전개발 신공항 건설 등 대형 프로젝트에 한국관련 기업들이 관여하면서 펀딩을 하는 경우가 많아 각별한 주의가 필요하다고 대사관은 밝히고 있다신현석 대사는 캄보디아는 아직도 개발초기인데다 법규가 제대로 마련되어 있지 않아 외국인들의 투자에는 불리한 점이 많다 고 밝히고 투자를 할때에는 반드시 현지 대사관이나 코트라 한인회 등 정확한 기관에 문의를 하는 것이 필요하다 고 강조했다 對 캄보디아 外國人投資 첮걸음 관계법규를 알아야 성공할수있습니다 1 특히 고위 장성이나 장관 경찰 군인을 잘알고있다면서 쉽게 바로해결할수 있다는 캄보디아 현지인이나 외국인 그리고 한국양반을 조심하셔야 합니다 2 이젠 오를만큼 올라서 땅투기는 자제 해야할 시기입니다 3 남이 부동산에 投資해 성공했다고 나까지 成功하란 運은 함부로 따르지 않습니다 4 웃고있는사람보다 울고간 사람이 더많습니다 5 돈은 때가되면 자동으로 따라다닙니다 Cambodia is a developing country with a market economy It began the shift from a command economy to the free market in the late 1980s Since the re establishment of a constitutional monarch in 1993 the economy has grown relatively rapidly except for a period between mid 1997 and late 1998 when Cambodia suffered political instability and the Asian financial crisis affected business activity The economy began to rebound in late 1998 with the establishment of a new coalition government Real GDP averaged 5 3 percent in the 1999 2003 period In 2004 economic growth was down to 4 5 percent and for 2005 is forecasted to fall to 1 9 percent mainly due to the uncertain future of the garment sector Foreign direct investment in most sectors has lagged and Cambodia remains dependent on foreign donor assistance for budget assistance fixed asset investment and social services Since early 1999 the Cambodian government has intensified its economic reform program a process the international financial institutions and donors participate in and monitor closely The government has over the past year publicly committed itself on numerous occasions to fighting corruption restoring good governance increasing transparency and predictability as laid out in its latest public reform effort called the Rectangular Strategy for Growth Employment Equity and Efficiency The government has set out some specific measures with a view to promoting business especially small and medium businesses in Cambodia by reducing costs and the time cost of business registration by establishing a number of committees for trade facilitation and promotion of business Openness to Foreign Investment Cambodia 1994 law on investment established an open and liberal foreign investment regime The Council for the Development of Cambodia CDC Cambodia s foreign investment approval body administers a package of investment incentives discussed in detail in below All sectors of the economy are open to foreign investment There are no performance requirements and no sectors in which foreign investors are denied national treatment An August 1999 sub decree created some restrictions on foreign investment publishing printing and broadcasting activities are limited to 49 foreign equity and there must be an unspecified amount of local equity in gemstone exploitation brick making rice mills wood and stone carving manufacture and silk weaving The government recently issued a sub decree restricting foreign ownership of hospitals and clinics and forbidding the employment of non Cambodian doctors in any speciality in which the Ministry of Health considers there to be an adequate number of Cambodian practitioners While other sectors are eligible for 100 foreign investment investment incentives vary according to the nature of the investment project Major Taxation Issues Seeking to increase government revenue the international financial institutions recommended that the Cambodian government scale back its investment incentives The government amended the Law on Investment in February 2003 The amendments to the law eliminated the special 9 percent corporate tax rate for all new investments and began the phasing out the standard 20 percent under the Taxation Law for the next 5 years after the effective date of the law for existing approved and operational projects After this 5 year period such investment will also be subject to the standard 20 percent rate The amendments brought to an end the tax free reinvestment of profits and the rights to tax free repatriation of earnings and other incomes by approved enterprises While some incentives are eliminated the law provides a simplified and transparent mechanism for investment approval and thereby shortens the approval process for new investments Article 44 of the constitution provides that only Khmer legal entities and citizens of Khmer nationality have the right to own land Aside from this there is little or no discrimination against foreign investors either at the time of initial investment or after investment Some foreign businesses have reported however that they are at a disadvantage vis vis Cambodian or other foreign rivals who engage in acts of corruption or tax evasion or take advantage of Cambodia s poorly enforced legal regulations The privatization of state enterprises has not always been carried out in a transparent manner In several instances the public learned that enterprises were for sale only after the government announced a sale to a particular buyer Investor rights investment guarantees provided for in the Law on Investment include Foreign investors shall not be treated in a discriminatory manner by reason of investor being a foreign investor except in respect to land ownership as provided for in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia The Royal Government of Cambodia shall not undertake a nationalization policy that adversely affects the private property of investors The Royal Government of Cambodia shall not fix the price of products or fees for services The Royal Government of Cambodia in accordance with relevant laws and regulations shall permit investors to purchase foreign currencies through the banking system and to remit abroad those currencies as payments for imports repayments on loans payments of royalties and management fees profit remittances and repatriation of capital Conversion and Transfer Policies There are no restrictions on the conversion of capital for investors as noted above The Foreign Exchange Law does allow the National Bank of Cambodia the central bank to implement exchange controls in the event of a crisis the law does not define what would constitute a crisis The U S Embassy is not aware of any cases in which investors have encountered obstacles in converting local to foreign currency or in sending capital out of the country Expropriation and Compensation Article 44 of the Cambodian constitution which restricts land ownership to Cambodian nationals also states that he state right to confiscate properties from any person shall be exercised only in the public interest as provided for under the law and shall require fair and just compensation in advance Article 58 states that he control and use of state properties shall be determined by law Under the existing land law all land is considered state property The Law on Investment provides that he Royal Government of Cambodia shall not undertake a nationalization policy which adversely affects the private property of investors A Cambodian government sub decree abrogated certificates for possession and use of land and rights to immovable property in the newly created Koh Kong Industrial Zone The document which declares that the land is State property makes no mention of compensation There are currently no known investment disputes involving expropriation of property belonging to U S citizens There are indications that the government was considering a program to compensate businesses for damages sustained from gunfire and looting troops during the 1997 factional fighting but no plan ever came to realization Up to 17 Thai businesses sustained varying degrees of damage during anti Thai rioting in Phnom Penh on January 29 2003 The Cambodian government has pledged to compensate unconditionally all the damages Some compensation has been paid to the Thai government and Thai businesses but the two countries to continue to work on the final details of a payment package Dispute Settlement Cambodia s legal system is a mosaic of pre 1975 statutes modelled on French law communist era legislation dating from 1979 1991 statutes put in place by the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia UNTAC during the period 1991 93 and legislation passed by the Royal Government of Cambodia since 1993 The legal system contains many gaps in key areas such as company law bankruptcy and commercial arbitration The Cambodian legal system has also traditionally favoured mediation over adversarial conflict and adjudication Thus compromise solutions are the norm even in cases where the law clearly favours one party in a dispute The government is currently working on draft legislation to create a Commercial Court that might include an arbitration or mediation component Cambodia s court system is generally seen as non transparent and subject to outside influence Judges who have been trained either for a short period in Cambodia or under other systems of law h

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