The Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce is a public institution under the protectorate of Ministry of Commerce. Under the leadership of the promising Royal Government of Kingdom of Cambodia, they have tried all effort to reconstruct the crumbling economy after the prolonging civil war over two decades. Therefore, in conforming to the present requirement in the world that nearly all countries had created the representative entity for private sector namely Chamber of Commerce and Industry to stand for the private sector interests in the meeting with governments and foreign counterparts for enhancing the momentum of economic growth. So under the proposal of both Samdech Prime Ministers and the Minister of Commerce and the chamber of Commerce law adopted by the General Assembly of Kingdom of Cambodia on May 16, 1995, Royal Degree NS/RBK/0695/03 had approved on the application of Chamber of Commerce's law on June 22, 1995.

On July 31, 1995 under the Sub-decree No.61Or.Nor.Kro BK on the creation of The Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce. and Sub-decree No. 63 Or.Nor.Kro BK dated August 3, 1995 on the procedure and mechanism for election of Chamber of Commerce.

The Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce operated its first election for the first mandate on 15 August 1995 and afterward the Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce solely presents itself in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

According to the law of the Chamber of Commerce the Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce has its authorities only in its boundary within the Phnom Penh City area. In according to the dynamic environment of business in Cambodia, the Minister of Commerce, Excellency Cham Prasidh, made another proposal to the Royal Government.

As a result, The Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce was created under Sub Decree No. 89 Or.Nor.Kro BK dated 26 August 2002. In the Sub Decree stipulates that the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce has its boundary within the Kingdom of Cambodia, extends to all cities and provinces in the Kingdom and all the duties and activities are to entitle the Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce manages and controls in addition to present duties in absence of the mechanism to lead and manage the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce.

Nowadays, the Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce is under the leadership of Neak Oknha SOK KONG in the first phase of the second mandate and also the President of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce. Thus the Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce and The Cambodia Chamber of Commerce is presently the same entity that consists of 36 elected members, 20 advisors and 500 ordinary members who conduct their businesses and enterprises within the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Meanwhile, the PPCC has assigned four Vice Presidents and four chiefs to be in charge of commerce, industry & handicraft, agriculture, and service sectors and has also created the following six specialized committee:

• Small & Medium Enterprise Development Committee
• ASEAN and International Affairs Committee
• General Affairs Committee
• Investment and Export Promotion Committee
• Finance Committee
• Facilitation Committee

In order to promote and develop the national economy, to increase effectiveness and transparency in implementing the government's economic policy, and to respond to suggestions from the private sector, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) authorized the PPCC to set up seven Working Groups (WGs). These seven WGs have been working very well with the government in promoting trade and investment in Cambodia.

According to the law for establishment of the PPCC, the PPCC has the following objectives:

• To establish relationships with economic sources inside and outside the country.
• To improve the enterprise efficiency for the interests of the four sectors.
• To increase the dissemination of business opportunities in Cambodia in order to attract investors as well as to romote investment in Cambodia.
• To play a role as a mediator in resolving business disputes.
• To ensure the autonomous management of the Chamber by conducting membership elections and facilitating new membership applications.
• To continue supporting and promoting the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Cambodia.
• To create vocational training centers relating to business field.
• To promote and mediate and even support all concepts for strengthening and improving the capacity of staff of the PPCC's General Secretariat.

Also from 1995 until now we have welcomed and hosted numerous trade delegations and companies from many countries. Moreover, we have signed Memorandum of Understandings, Agreements and Protocols with a number of Foreign Chambers of Commerce, Federation Chambers of Commerce and many foreign companies abroad.