Attendance: - TBCC - The Thai Business Council of Cambodia

Attendance:
Minutes of the Regular Meeting
01 August 2012
Sunway Hotel
12 noon
Company Representative
1 British American Tobacco Michael Dijanosic
2 Brocon Rory Hunter
3 Brocon Seth Hoeger
4 Campu Bank Ong Ming Teck
5 CBRE David George
6 Crown Worldwide Frank Kursteiner
7 Forte Terence Anderson
8 Functional Engineering Janet Lueckenhausen
9 G4S Mal Gill
10 GMAC Van SouIeng
11 Grandis Timber Daniel Mitchell
12 Hagar Pierre Tami
13 IBC Audrey Tugenthat
14 Indochina Research Laucent Notin
15 IntraCo Han Rutten
16 Jardine Schindler Guillaume Derron
17 JBAC Aya Kimura
18 KPMG Craig McDonald
19 Leopard Capital Cambodia Scott Lewis
20 MAERK Benjamin Paul Wilson
21 MPA International Roger Leong
22 PWC Cambodia Lim Kuy
23 Royal Rattanak Hospital Dr. Suebpong Intralawan
24 Royal Rattanak Hospital Hyunjeoung Kim
25 Sciaroni & Associates Brett Sciaroni
26 Siemens Soun Sopheak
27 Sofitel Phokeethra Resort Charles Henri Chevet
28 Sunway Hotel Kelly Leong
29 TBCC Tui Rutten
30 The Phnom Penh Post Stuart Alan Backer
31 Total Martin McCarthy
32 TUV Rheinland Alexandra Herbel
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1. Chairman’s Welcoming Remarks—Brett Sciaroni
The Chairman welcomed the present members and informed participants that
Royal Rattanak Hospital was the newest adherent to the IBC. He expressed his
pleasure to greet the representative present at today’s regular general meeting, Dr.
Suebpong and his assistant Ms. Kim Hyunjeoung. Dr. Suebpong was invited to
share a few words upon which he thanked the IBC chairman and expressed his
pleasure in joining the association, inviting a strong relationship with all the other
members.
This session has taken place on the 1 st August, Switzerland’s national day; Pierre
Tami invited all nationals to join the celebrations which will occur this Friday 3 rd
August
The Chairman remarked that the representative of Leopard Capital, Mr. Scott
Lewis’ term in Cambodia is coming to an end; he is expected to leave for
Switzerland by the end of the summer and the IBC wishes him luck with his future
endeavours.
2. Approval of the Minutes of the Regular General Meeting of 04 th July
2012
The Chairman invited the members to comment on the minutes of the Regular
General Meeting of 04 July 2012. There being none, the minutes were approved
nem con.
3. Reports from the Private Sector Working Groups
WG D: Law, Tax & Governance—Brett Sciaroni
The chairman informed the participants that along with the letter addressed to H.E
DPM Keat Chhon, the list of items approved by the private sector WG-D is being
sent out on Friday bringing the total number of issues at eight, with the possibility
of a ninth as the ministry requested from their side to add the topic anti-corruption
on the list. The IBC will take care of informing its members of any feedback
received.
Secondly, with regards to the National Arbitration Center (NAC), the IBC along with
CAMFEBA have so far been playing a very active role concerning its constitution.
As one of the recent sub-decrees omitted the participative role of Business
Associations, members of several associations have required an amendment of the
sub-decree’s specific section. The MoC agreed to this change thus delaying the
already postponed NAC formation. The NAC is keen to see things moving forward
and is holding the private sector accountable. Therefore, on request of H.E. Cham
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Prasidh a meeting will take place next week in order to bring matters to a close.
Two main items are on the agenda: 1. introducing the newly reformed sub-decree
stating the participation of business associations on the council, 2. expediting the
beginning work of the NAC.
A third item related to the WG-D is the introduction of a MoU between business
associations in accordance with the GPSWG operation guidelines. Since the
departure of the IFC, the secretarial role of the 9 working groups of the GPSF has
been taken up by various chambers under the supervision of the Cambodian
Chamber of Commerce. As it is important to underline the business associations’
mandate to constitute the WGD, a MoU is to be sent out to stress this effort,
allowing each association who wishes so, to be part of WG-D. The chairman stated
that the IBC will do the necessary to send this document out next week.
4. Reports from the following IBC Sub-Committees:
Sub-Committee on Membership, Craig McDonald
Craig wanted to remind members of the IBC that there is an ongoing procedure for
the membership application of the three following businesses:
1. Chip Mong Group, who were invited at last month Open Meeting of the IBC
2. Starts Cambodia Corporation, also present last month
3. Arup
All three applications have been sent forward to members after approval from the
executive committee. The IBC office will wait another week and a half for the
feedback from its members in case there are any objections to these requests.
Sub-Committee on Working Group Coordination, Janet Lueckenhausen
The sub-committee chairman stated that the secretariat has sent out this week the
footprints and charts of Working Group Coordination. She welcomed any ideas of
improvement or capacity of resources and reminded that the particularity of this
committee is that its strength lies in the active participation of members.
Sub-Committee on Investment Promotion, Brett Sciaroni
During a meeting organised by the MoC, the Minister announced that the CCC is
co-organising the ASEAN BIS (Business Investment Summit) which will be held in
Phnom Penh on the 16-18 November 2012. H.E Cham Prasidth was interested to
share his views on the potential coverage of this summit and keen to inquire about
commitments for sponsorship possibilities. The IBC chairman declared that his
association gladly promotes this type of organised events. It has done so in the
past, hosting on bilateral level or for larger events as it had done at last year’s
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investment forum, “We have the expertise to the extent that the MoC and the CCC
have approached us for our collaboration”.
If and when the IBC co-signs this letter with the CCC, a letter will be distributed
among members to keep them updated of the options and expected steps to
undertake. Mr. Sciaroni reminded the participants that although the IBC
encourages this active cooperation, there are certainly other ways people can
contribute through the auspice of MoC.
5. Business Associations reports
CAMFEBA: Report of the Business Networking and Seminar on Anti-
Corruption Law, 30 July 2012 – Van SouIeng
Monday, 30 th of July, CAMFEBA organised an evening event inviting as lead
discussant Mr. Om Yeng Tieng, Head of the Anti-Corruption Unit. The chairman of
CAMFEBA, Mr. Van Sou Ieng said the meeting was successful and constructive,
thanking all who contributed to the evening. In summary, he explained how
facilitation fees are listed as any form of illegal payments and the private sector
must be engaged and be told in no uncertain terms that any form of illegal
payments need to be reported –even when speaking of amounts exceeding $20.
Proof of illegal levies and service charges are valuable records needed in order to
collect evidence and prosecute. Mr. Sou Ieng noticed that Mr. Om did not give
enough tangible examples of what could be done to educate people about this
scourge. The stress of his speech rested on taking action. Mr. Sciaroni added that
Mr. Om’s presentation was very compelling and he has been a strong advocate and
has had many talks with different types of receptive audiences such as the Council
of Ministers. He specified for instance (and H.E. Mr. Cham Prasidh confirmed) that
the line-ministries’ views on the negotiation of accepted fees level are not all aligned
but that Mr. Om replied that the time for negotiation is now over, the law is in
effect.
The IBC chairman concluded by saying the fight is ongoing and bribers have found
a new tactic when resistance is shown: at first the people asking for commissions
complained a lot; then they stalled the requested procedures and now they invent
new type of payments. This goes to show that the pressure is on and that even the
bribers feel it is time to reap as much as possible before the tide changes.
Mr. Benjamin Wilson (Maersk) asked to be informed about what was being done in
the different department with regards to these penalties payments. Mr. Sciaroni
replied that there was no clarity on what was happening behind the scene. World
Bank advised that the money should go to the MoEF. This is not what the other
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line ministries want. The fact is that there is no real insight –e.g: will the National
Treasury even be considered-. Mr. Sou Ieng remarked that as Mr Om stated on
Monday, the private sector should not care about internal management. The focus
lays in enforcing the law instead of finding excuses. Pity is not part of the equation
and businesses should help the anti-corruption unit to act. Mr. Sciaroni agreed
that it is an internal issue.
TBCC – Tui Rutten
Tui informed participants that the Thai Business Association in Cambodia will
organize a Health Care Product Fair on this 1 st of August from 4 to 8pm in Paragon
with workshops for SME.
GMAC – Van Sou Ieng
The Garment Manufacturers Association will organise The ASEAN Garment &
Textile Fair 2012 from the 29 th of August to the 1st of October with available Textile
booths and an organised ASEAN Fashion Show at the Angkor COEX in Siem Reap.
The fair is organized by the Cambodian Inter-Ministerial Committee for
International Exhibitions and Word Exposition Affairs.
Working Group F onEnergy, Infrastructure & Transport – Han Rutten
The Chairman took the floor, asking members to raise any issues before ending the
meeting. Mr. Han Rutten from Intra Co. Ltd mentioned that Working Group Fon
Energy, Infrastructure & Transport, co-chaired by Oknha So Nguon has not been
convened for many months and it was not clear what the status is regarding all
issues at stake. Members of the working group are unsure how to proceed. Mr.
Sciaroni advised the WG-F to appeal to H.E Kea Chhon and probably the CCC as
they have the secretarial responsibility of this working group. It is also suggested
that the petitioner should keep a clear account of all attempts made to launch a
new meeting so that records can be shown upon request. Mr. Rutten thanked for
the advice and decided to approach the secretariat office.
On behalf of members, the Chairman expressed appreciation for the
arrangements made by the Sunway Hotel for today’s meeting.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1.00pm.
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