International Trade agreement and Business Law

RESEARCH PROJECT ON CAMBODIA

SUBMITTED BY: - ANMOL SINGH

STUDENT ID: - 101070958
SUBJECT: - LAW1152
PROGRAM: - F412

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SECTION 1

Overview of country

Situated on the Indochinese peninsula, Cambodia is

bordered by Thailand and Laos on the north and
Vietnam on the east and south. The Gulf of Thailand
is off the western coast. The size of Missouri, the
country consists chiefly of a large alluvial plain ringed by
mountains with the Mekong River to the east. The plain is
centered around Lake Tonle Sap, which is a natural
storage basin of the Mekong.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-
Government 13006539

Multiparty liberal democracy under a constitutional monarchy.

Interesting facts about Cambodia

Population: Cambodia ranked at 69 in the world in terms of population. It has population of

15,708,756 from half of the population is less than 25 years old.

Rank: Cambodia is ranked 23rd out of 42 countries in the AsiaPacific region, and its overall score is
lower than the regional average.

GDP: Cambodia comes under the category of low level income with GDP of $16.71 billion 2014.

GNP: Cambodia has experienced strong economic growth over the last decade. Cambodian GDP grew
at an average annual rate of over 8% between 2000 and 2010 and around 7% since 2011.

Major Source of income: In recent times, the countrys biggest source of income has been the textile
industry. The second largest source of Cambodian income is tourism.

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Standard of Living: As of 2012, approximately 2.66 million people live on less than $1.20 per day,
and 37% of Cambodian children under the age of 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition.

Interesting and distinctive facts:

Flag: The Cambodian flag is the only national flag that has an image of a building the Angkor Wat
which is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world.

Governance: Cambodia has been changing its name whenever a new government was installed: It
was called the Khmer Republic during its republican years, Democratic Kampuchea under the Khmer
Rouge regime, and Peoples Republic of Kampuchea under the leftist group called Salvation Front.
Today, in its latest government form, it is officially called the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Famous celebrities: Long Boret former prime minister, Cheam Channy politician, Sar Kheng
politician and Ieu Pannakar film director and politician are some of the famous celebrities of
Cambodia.

Emergence of the Khmer Rouge: Still endure of the radical communist Khmer Rouge's time in
power under the leadership of Pol Pot between 1975 and 1978, when two million people died in the
regime's brutal pursuit of a rural utopia.

Business Environment: Over the past five years, economic freedom in Cambodia has stagnated, with
potential gains from a liberalized labor market and a small opening to international markets
undermined by a weakening business environment, looser fiscal policy, and a decline in property
rights.

SECTION 2
Law and Politics

Legal system: The legal system of Cambodia is a statutory law system, which means it is based on the
written law set up by a legislature.

Law classification: In Cambodia sources of law are numerous, which are classified in two categories
the primary sources and the secondary sources.

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 Primary sources include the formal laws issued by State competent authorities. The legal
written instrument which is issued by the authorities of the State are kept in the Royal Gazette.
International law is also an integral source of Cambodian law. As per 2007 decision of the
Constitutional Council, the domestic as well as international law is taken into consideration.

The secondary sources are more informal laws which includes customs, traditions, doctrine
and judicial decisions. In civil cases, when the law is not clear and there is no written law
related to the case, the judge can consider customs, traditions, conscience and equity. As for
past judicial decisions, there were Arbitration Council which means a quasi-judicial body
where collective labour disputes were resolved.

Hierarchy of norms
in the Cambodian legal
system

Cambodia has a

multiparty

democracy under a constitutional monarch which

means a system of government in which a monarch is guided by a constitution whereby his/her rights,
duties, and responsibilities are spelled out in written law or by custom.

Hun Sen is the head of the Cambodia government, as he is the 34 th and current prime minister of
Cambodia, President of the Cambodian Peoples Party and the Member of Parliament for Kandal
(province of Cambodia). He has served Cambodia for more than 25 years and considered as the
longest serving head of government.

SECTION 3
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International Trade

Cambodia Joins the World Trade Organization: -

Cambodia has been a member of WTO since 13 October 2004.

Cambodia is not the part of TPP yet.

ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)- It was established on August

8 1967 in Bangkok and its members are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The main goals of ASEAN
are to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to
promote regional peace and stability and adhere to United Nations Charter.

United States and Cambodia cooperation is growing in a number of areas. In 2006, the United
States and Cambodia signed a bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA),
which created a cooperative mechanism that focused on deepening and expanding the bilateral
trade and supporting Cambodias efforts to implement its WTO commitments and domestic
reforms.

Cambodia has also concluded below eight free trade agreements: -

1. ASEAN-Hong Kong, China Free Trade Agreement Negotiations in launched.

2. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership -Negotiations in launched.

3. ASEAN Free Trade Area Signed and in effect.

4. ASEAN-Australia and New Zealand Free Trade Agreement Signed and in effect.

5. ASEAN-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation AgreementSigned and in effect.

6. ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic PartnershipSigned and in effect.

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 7. ASEAN-People's Republic of China Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement
Signed and in effect.

8. ASEAN-[Republic of] Korea Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement Signed and

in effect.

SECTION 4

UN Conventions

No, Cambodia have not ratified the CISG Convention but as there is a development taking place in
Asian economy and international trading, it is becoming more and more important for the Asian
countries to accept the CISG as the basis for cross-border trading in Asia.

Cambodia has only ratified New York Convention, 1958 on 5 January 1960 which is a Convention on
the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. This Convention is to recognize the
growing importance of international arbitration and also it provides common legislative standards for
the recognition of arbitration agreements and court recognition and enforcement of foreign and non-
domestic arbitral awards. The main principle of this Convention is that foreign and non-domestic
arbitral awards will not be discriminated against and it obliges Parties to ensure such awards are
recognized and generally capable of enforcement in their jurisdiction in the same way as domestic
awards. An additional aim of the Convention is to require courts of Parties to give full effect to
arbitration agreements.

SECTION 5

Textiles and Clothing Trade

Cambodia and Canada relationship includes trade across variety of sectors. Cambodia also access to

Canadas market through initiative for least developed country for quota free and duty free trade. In

2013, bilateral merchandise trade between Canada and Cambodia exceeded $700 million, as Canada is

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one of Cambodias most important destination countries for its exports. The most important export

product from Cambodia is textiles. In 2014 Cambodia exported goods to Canada of value $723M.

Cambodia is considered as 81st largest export economy in the world. Cambodia exported
$13.9B and imported $15B in 2014, which resulting in a negative trade balance of $1.07B.
The major export destinations of Cambodia are the United States ($3.46B),Hong
Kong ($1.65B), The United Kingdom ($1.17B), Germany ($1.16B) and Canada ($723M).
The top import countries for Cambodia are China ($3.66B), Thailand ($3.53B),
Vietnam ($2.23B), the United States ($1.19B) and Hong Kong ($1.02B)
Out of the Cambodias total exports garments cover around 70% to 80%. Knitted
Sweaters ($1.66B), Postage Stamps ($1.52B), Knit Women's Suits ($1.08B), Non-Knit Men's
Suits($778M) and Non-Knit Women's Suits ($750M), using the 1992 revision of the HS
(Harmonized System) classification.
Cambodia imports knitted fabrics ($1.67B), other synthetic Fabrics ($423M), Refined
Petroleum ($1.49B), Postage Stamps ($978M) and Planes, Helicopters, and/or
Spacecraft ($328M).
Garment industries in Cambodia contributes around 16% of the total GDP.

SECTION 6

Brands and Retailers

Cambodia's garment industry is the country's biggest industrial employer.

The garment industry earns 80 percent of Cambodia's foreign exchange earnings and employs
an estimated 350,000 people in more than 300 factories.
There are around 559 known factories and majority of these factories are subsidiaries of larger
parent companies which are based in other parts of Asia.
In the garment industries of Cambodia around 90% is private foreign where as local private
investment in the industry accounts for around 10% of investment.
Kong Hong Garment Co., Supreme Garments PTE LTD, PPS Limited, Concept Garment Co.
Ltd., City New Garment Factory are some of the largest garment manufacturers of Cambodia.
Although there are not any established world famous designers from Cambodia but there are
many upcoming designers starting a style revolution. Mary Sarath, Hung Chin, Lang

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 Suykeang, Lang Suycheu and Ou Kosal creating a wide range of fashion from punk attitude to
casual cool and sophisticated femininity.

There are many retail brands sourcing from Cambodia includes H&M, Walmart, Puma, Adidas, Old
Navy, Next, New Look, Gap, Banana Republic, Nike, Levi, Walmart, Calvin Klein, Clarks, Marks
and Spencer, Tesco, and many more.

REFERENCE

Contracting States. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2016, from

http://www.newyorkconvention.org/countries.

Ten interesting facts about Cambodia. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2016, from
http://www.travelingeast.com/asia/cambodia/ten-interesting-facts-about-cambodia/

(n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2016, from

https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/countries_e/cambodia_e.htm

National Flag of Cambodia. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2016, from

http://www.worldflags101.com/c/cambodia-flag.aspx
Cool Facts About Cambodia. (2012, April 14). Retrieved October 31, 2016, from
http://www.interestingfunfacts.com/cool-facts-about-cambodia.html
(n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from http://www.livingwagenow.eu/uploads/images/Docs
General/Cambodia Factsheet February 2015 (1).pdf
(n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from
http://www.uncitral.org/pdf/english/TAC/Status/Overview-Status-Table.pdf
About the Cambodian Legal System - CHBAB.net - Cambodian Law Dissemination Website.
(n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from http://www.chbab.net/chbab-net-in-english/about-the-
cambodian-legal-system-en
(n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hun_Sen
Regional Trade Blocks, Tariffs and Trade Barriers. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from
http://www.rosalienebacchus.com/articles/RegionalTradeBlocks.html
(n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from http://www.livingwagenow.eu/uploads/images/Docs
General/Cambodia Factsheet February 2015 (1).pdf
Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York, 1958) (the
"New York Convention"). (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from
http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en/uncitral_texts/arbitration/NYConvention.html
Up-and-coming Cambodian designers. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from
http://www.asialifemagazine.com/cambodia/coming-cambodian-designers/

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 About the Cambodian Legal System - CHBAB.net - Cambodian Law Dissemination Website.
(n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from http://www.chbab.net/chbab-net-in-english/about-the-
cambodian-legal-system-en
Asia Regional Integration Center. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from https://aric.adb.org/