Harrison White
International Business Chamber of Cambodia (IBC) has announced four new and four reinstated board members at the chamber’s Annual General Meeting as well as the ‘strong outlook’ for 2022.
For the 2022 AGM, there were eight nominees for the eight available seats and hence no voting was required – the four new board members include:
- Lim Socheat Chief Executive Officer at Laksmi Prime Investment Co., Ltd.
- Ashley Irving Principal of Australia Centre of Education
- Paul Dodd Director/Senior Consultant at Infinity Financial Solutions (Cambodia) Ltd.
- Trevor Sworn Director of Enduring Consultancy Co., Ltd.
The four reinstated board members are Paul Clements, Arnaud Darc, Peter Beynon and James Padden with Sanjay Chakrabarty the remaining ninth board member. The new board will meet again over the next two weeks to vote in key positions for the board.
The IBC thanked the four retiring board members for their work which included: Pauline Tan, Yogo Kanda, Pierre Tami and Brendan James Lalor.
Annual review of 2021
IBC Chairman Paul Clements delivered the annual review outlining that the chamber was able to navigate strongly throughout a very difficult year of COVID adding the success of both current and new working groups attributed to an increase in membership.
“The IBC has just marked its 28th year of operations and despite the ongoing global pandemic in 2021 the IBC has managed to increase its activities with much support from our 124 members and sponsors,” Clements said.
“We also continued monthly meetings held either virtually or in hybrid form throughout the year as well as greater output from working groups that now include health, education, road safety and director’s institute,” he added.
Clements also highlighted the IBC team of Executive Director Katherine McLean as well as Relationship Officer Hoeng Sivheng and Policy Liaison Thy Angkealorong and thanked them for their hard work throughout the year.
“The IBC was able to increase thought leadership in the business community has come together with improved relationship, shared knowledge and working with the government and now represent both international and also Khmer owned businesses,” Clements said.
In addition, collaboration amongst the various business chambers which Cambodia Investment Review has reported on the efforts of IBC Cambodia currently has 13 international business chambers with varying levels of engagement and influence amongst the local business community.
The group meeting identified that regular face-to-face consultations would also be of assistance when international delegations come to Cambodia allowing for more inclusion of all Chambers to achieve a greater representation of nationalities and business sectors.
Looking to a strong 2022
The AGM also detailed the chambers 2022 outlook and strategy that included better communications with members through more face-to-face meetings and events as well as the previously mentioned consultation with other local business chambers.
“Chambers have changed over the years and need to ensure we are representative of what our members need. As we begin to open up in 2022 we are looking to expand on our current network looking to different countries that are relevant to Cambodia through a buddy system,” Clements explained.
Despite the impact of COVID the IBC was able to navigate through a tough year financially for many organizations as the pandemic impacted companies’ sponsorship budgets as well as limited in-person events – two major revenue sources.
According to the annual report, in 2021 the chamber was able to maintain cash-positive results attributed to lower costs due to the cancellation of in-person events during the COVID 19 pandemic as well as an increase in revenue with higher than expected membership numbers.
Looking to 2022 the chamber expected a sharp increase in both costs and income through more membership fees as well as in-person events returning with the year projecting a slightly cash positive outcome.
Remembering Bretton G. Sciaroni
This was the first year the IBC has held an AGM since its founder Bretton G. Sciaroni died last year. Sciaroni was a founding member of the IBC and considered one of Cambodia’s most respected legal professionals and was considered the voice of the international business community.
He represented interests such as the Government Private Sector Forum (GPSF) and as co-chair of the Working Group D on Law, Tax, and Governance and his work was considered a driving factor to promote foreign investment into Cambodia during the early 2000s.
The IBC membership and executive team expressed their sincere gratitude to the work and legacy he left to the chamber that continues today.
