Cambodia Investment Review
Acclime aims its corporate services at the growing inbound FDI market in Cambodia aspiring to become Asia’s premier corporate services firm, elevating the standards of corporate governance across Asia.
The firm has a particular focus on emerging Asia, where Acclime believes it is difficult to find corporate services firms offering the same high standards and responsiveness as it is in the more mainstream locations such as Hong Kong and Singapore.
Acclime’s service provision now covers 12 territories across Asia-Pacific and boasts local corporate services in 20+ offices with a headcount of 900+ staff.
Establishing a presence in Cambodia was an early goal for Acclime, entering Cambodia in 2020 with the acquisition of BSE Accounting Co. Ltd (BSE), a consulting and advisory firm serving a wide variety of predominantly local clients from industries as diverse as manufacturing, hotel & restaurants, import & export, and retail.
Earlier this year, Acclime acquired PPV Plus, a boutique tax advisory firm, to bolster its tax advisory service provision. This acquisition sees Acclime pivot its corporate services provision in Cambodia to better serve FDI clients entering the market.
Cambodia – a jewel in the crown for Acclime
Martin Crawford, co-founder and CEO of Acclime was recently in Phnom Penh and able to experience first-hand the vibrancy of the city. In speaking with business leaders he was able to get a great feel for the opportunities ahead.
At the end of his visit, sitting down with Cambodia Investment Review, he remarked Cambodia has an open foreign investment policy and with the introduction of the New Law on Investment, it will certainly attract more FDI.
“We see Cambodia as a – jewel in the crown – of the ASEAN market, with a hard-working, talented labor force, constructive regulatory and taxation policies, and a real entrepreneurial mindset,” Crawford said.
“Having a presence in this emerging market will not only strengthen our capabilities to assist clients navigating their entry into Cambodia, but it will also solidify our presence in the country to support Cambodian clients wishing to expand regionally,” he added.
Acclime views Cambodia’s future as exceptionally bright and notes well the Asian Development Bank’s prediction that the economy will grow 5.3% in 2022 and 6.5% in the following year as a result of strong export of goods and inflows of FDI.
To read more about Cambodia FDI flows click here.
The country’s positing within ASEAN is proving beneficial, and Cambodia’s several large infrastructure projects, such as The Phnom Penh Logistics Complex and national roads improvement highlighted by the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, are underway to improve transportation.
Together with the investments in the airports and energy transmission, these infrastructure developments all suggest shared confidence in the positive economic forecasts, further encouraging FDI.
Cambodia a growing candidate as a +1 location
Acclime is aware of China’s backing in these infrastructure projects and continues to focus on helping clients in China establish a China+1 strategy, with Cambodia a growing candidate as a +1 location.
Opportunities abound in the manufacturing, education, power, fintech, tourism, and retail sectors (to name a few), and Acclime is well positioned to help new entrants navigate their way into the Cambodian market.
Such is Acclime’s confidence in the market that it is soon to relocate its 70+ staff to new premises at Urban Village, the city’s biggest innovation and creative hub with a start-up and enterprise area.
This move supports Acclime’s position as a corporate services provider that embraces the ecosystems to help startups and scale-ups to establish best-practice corporate governance from the outset and provide advice in funding and investment.
Acclime’s Bangkok offices are also located in a startup ecosystem at True Digital Park.
Acclime’s rapidly growing presence in Asia Pacific, together with global client service centers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, provide their clients with unparalleled access to new markets and local expert advisory services.
Acclime is now firmly entrenched as a corporate services leader across Asia, and has become the largest provider outside the ‘big 4’ accounting firms within most of the emerging Asian markets in which it operates.
It remains highly confident of its future growth in all its markets, and this provides an opportunity for the Acclime Cambodia operation to additionally become a Shared Service Centre for accounting and other work for regional Acclime offices.
The availability of a high-quality labor pool with excellent accounting and corporate services skills and a very good command of English makes the establishment of the SSC in Cambodia a logical step for Acclime.
Acclime is definitely looking to be in Cambodia for the long term and sees a very bright future ahead.
