Starting a business in Cambodia: foreigner's guide (2026)

The Ministry of Commerce's Prakas No. 117 (issued 9 December 2025) takes effect, mandating fully digital filings, eliminating superfluous documentation, expanding notarisation options, requiring annual online declarations (ADCE), and introducing a Company Secretary role for LLCs (deferred to January 2027). This is the most sweeping digitalisation of Cambodia's company-registration framework to date.

The National Assembly adopted two amendment laws: the first formally recognised sole proprietorships as a commercial enterprise type for the first time, while the second modernised commercial registration procedures and introduced the Company Secretary concept. Together they broadened the range of legal structures available when starting a business in Cambodia.

Cambodia enacted a wholly new Law on Investment (promulgated 15 October 2021, effective 16 October 2021) that replaced the original 1994 framework, introduced a one-stop online project-registration portal, cut approval time to 20 working days, and expanded priority sectors to include digital industries, green energy, and R&D. It significantly lowered the entry barrier for qualified foreign investors.

The Ministry of Commerce officially launched Phase II of its integrated Single Portal, expanding the scope of licences and permits obtainable online and reducing processing time to three to seven working days for compliant applications. The upgrade deepened cross-ministry integration and cemented the portal as the default channel for business start-up.

Cambodia launched its landmark Single Portal integrating six institutions — Ministries of Interior, Economy and Finance, Commerce, Labour, the General Department of Taxation, and CDC — into one online platform with an eight-working-day approval target and full e-payment capability. This was the first time tax registration and company registration were unified in a single session.

The Ministry of Commerce formally opened its first web-based registration portal (businessregistration.moc.gov.kh), digitising company formation and mandating re-registration of all pre-existing businesses by end of 2016. This marked Cambodia's first systematic shift away from fully paper-based commercial registration.

Adopted by the National Assembly on 26 April 2005 and promulgated on 19 May 2005, this law created Cambodia's first comprehensive statutory framework for company formation, establishing the key corporate structures (General/Limited Partnership, Private/Public Limited Company) and setting out incorporation procedures, minimum-share requirements, and registered-office obligations. It superseded the piecemeal 1995 commercial-rules regime.

The National Assembly ratified amendments (3 November 1999, promulgated 18 November 1999) to the 1995 Law, modifying registration procedures, fee structures, and enforcement provisions across 22 articles. The changes reflected post-ASEAN-accession alignment needs as Cambodia prepared to regularise its commercial environment.

Cambodia's first modern commercial registration law, enacted 19 June 1995, defined the concepts of 'merchant' and 'trading activities', established the Commercial Register, and set the obligation for all businesses and foreign entities to register with the Ministry of Commerce. It laid the foundational architecture that all subsequent reforms have built upon.

Cambodia's first investment law, adopted by the National Assembly on 4 August 1994 just one year after the Paris Peace Accords-era reconstruction began, opened virtually all economic sectors to 100% foreign ownership, established the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) as the approval body, and signalled Cambodia's market-economy transition. It remained the cornerstone investment statute for 27 years until replaced in 2021.