The Prime Minister may have declared the country fully reopen for business on November 1 but international business leaders say November 15 marks the true start of the new normal.
As of yesterday fully-vaccinated arrivals, whether locals or foreigners, tourists or business people, no longer have to quarantine.
“This is a shot in the arm for the Kingdom’s economy and is a much needed catalyst for the recovery in growth, especially in the most impacted sectors of real estate and construction and hospitality,” said Anthony Galliano, President of the American Chamber of Commerce. “I applaud and commend the government in navigating the nation safely through the pandemic with the most minimal of casualties and especially the tenacity and practical management approach by the Prime Minister in such challenging and unprecedented circumstances.”
Flying into Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville international airports still requires some paperwork.
The Health Ministry said a PCR test valid for 72 hours and obtained prior to arrival is still needed. On arrival in Cambodia, passengers must take a rapid test at the airport and wait for around 20 minutes for the result. If it is negative visitors can travel anywhere in the Kingdom.
Visitors who haven’t been fully vaccinated still have to quarantine for 14 days.
European Chamber of Commerce Advocacy Manager Noe Schellinck said it is important for those rules to be publicised as widely as possible.
“We are very pleased to see that one of the final hurdles has been taken. It will be important now to have a strong communication plan and to ensure the latest information about the current travel and vaccination requirements is widely disseminated,” he said. “It finally becomes practically feasible for companies to invite international visitors and for management and staff to travel more freely to, for example, headquarters in Europe or sites in the region. This will have a positive impact on international businesses for sure; projects or negotiations that needed the final push of a face-to-face meeting are now within reach and new opportunities will be more easily explored,” he said.
With only a month and a half left in the year, AmCham’s Galliano says the end of quarantine won’t do much for this year’s gross domestic product, but he says 2022 will be a very different story.
“While I expect negative growth for 2021, economic growth should be very robust in 2022 and Cambodia will resume its position as one of the fastest growing economies and one of the most favoured destinations for foreign direct investment,” Galliano said. “The aberration caused by the pandemic will only be an unpleasant blemish on the Kingdom’s economic record as one of the best performing economies over the last 20 years. The business world should prepare and gear up for a spike in growth and investors should take advantage of the resumption of normality in the economy and the opportunities that will materialize as a result,” he said.
EuroCham Chairman Tassilo Brinzer agreed that next year should see sterling growth in the Kingdom’s economy now the last barrier to business has been removed.
“For companies planning to invest, lets firstly look at the companies that are here already and that had to hold back during the closure of the country. They will certainly begin to look at upgrading their businesses with investments into productive assets such as staff and new equipment as they look for business expansion,” he said. “In particular, we are all looking forward to 2022 possibly being a bumper year for Cambodia as it chairs ASEAN again and need to get ready for that, while upgrading to accommodate growing global requirements to green supply chains in production and in services such as tourism and hospitality.”
Schellinck, his EuroCham colleague, says the chamber is already planning to take advantage of the renewed ease of access to the Kingdom.
“We ourselves are considering the organisation of a physical trade mission, after the success of our virtual trade mission to Cambodia with the EU-ASEAN Business Council just earlier this month. We are not only saying that Cambodia is ‘back in business’, it is actually the case now and we have to show it,” he said, adding that tourism and hospitality will be the big winners.
The President of the Cambodia Restaurant Association agreed, saying his members will finally start to win back the business lost by restaurant closures, customer limits, an alcohol ban and a lack of tourists, now all things of the past.
“It’s a very positive decision which pictures Cambodia as a safe destination for travellers whilst strengthening the confidence of its residents that the country is moving ahead toward better days. In this context the restaurant industry will recover at a faster pace,” Arnaud Darc said.
Cambodia may be a few steps behind neighbours like Thailand, which opened its doors to vaccinated visitors at the start of the month but EuroCham’s Brinzer said while the return of tourists may be gradual the effect on attitudes in the industry will be immediate.
“This move comes at the perfect time as the region begins to open up. It is a logical consequence of the successful Cambodian containment and vaccination campaigns of the past nine months since the February [2020] outbreak,” he said. “We need tourism and travel overall as a driver of incomes on the middle and lower levels of the economy, from where spending power rises upwards. I don’t expect tourists to flush the country in the coming weeks and months but would be glad to be wrong. A gradual rise of visitor numbers will lift spirits, and business sentiment.”
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
