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Legislators in Cambodia Approve a New Gambling Law
By Jeff Osienya Oct 08, 2020 LegalityCambodia’s National Assembly has okayed a draft legislation that seeks to bring order to the currently messy gambling industry in the country. New measures will be introduced for better management of the rapidly expanding industry.Lawmakers in Cambodia have finally passed the much-anticipated gambling regulation bill that seeks to get a better grip on the booming casino industry in the country. This bill was given a thumbs up by the cabinet last year in July and was then recently passed by the Cambodian National assembly on Monday, the 5th of October in a near-unanimous vote of 114 out of the possible 117. It will then be formally be passed into law after a signature from King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia.
Aun Pornmoniroth, the current Finance Minister of Cambodia expressed his confidence in the bill before it was passed on Monday by saying that;
Quote“The law is aimed at further strengthening the management of commercial gaming facilities in Cambodia so as to contribute to boosting economic growth, promoting tourism, increasing tax revenue as well as maintaining social safety and security.”
Cheam Yeap, the chair of the country’s National Assembly’s Commission of Economy, Finance, Banking, and Audit also voiced his support for the passed bill in a statement as follows;
Quote“This law is aimed to ensure management of the integrated commercial gambling centres and commercial gambling to contribute towards boosting economic growth, promoting the tourism sector, creating more jobs, collecting revenue, and maintaining social safety and security.”
What Changes Will the New Law Bring to Cambodia’s Gaming Sector?
The draft bill dubbed the Law on Commercial Gambling Management contains 12 Chapters and 97 Articles. After it becomes state law, it will introduce a handful of provisions that will give the government more authority over the fast-growing gambling industry.
Sources close to the matter indicate that some of the regulatory measures in the law give the government mandate to implement designated gambling zones for improved supervision of the industry. Moreover, minimum investment requirements will also be established for any business that has an interest in operating a casino in the country.
While the threshold investment level hasn’t been decided, the GGR has a 7% tax rate, and lower taxation of 4% will be imposed over VIP GGR. The new law has also outlined extra anti-money laundering measures plus additional safeguards to further protect the gambling sector against terrorism financing.
An Expanding Industry that Needs Better Oversight
Gaming in the South-Eastern Asia nation has grown speedily since the first gaming license in the country was issued to NagaCorp in 1994. By the end of 2017, the Ministry of Finance in Cambodia reported that about 79 casinos were in operation, and come September the following year, the figure had already hit 81. Right now, the number has more than doubled 2018’s figure, with a total of 193 casinos licensed to operate in Cambodia.
As the gambling industry expanded, it also grew out of control making the sector rather chaotic. While there were already laws in the country to put illegal gambling at bay, there weren’t any strict systems in place to effectively enforce the law. Thus, the Law on Commercial Gambling Management comes just in time to put a harness on the runway casino sector.
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