The National Valuers Association of Cambodia has been accepted as a member by the ASEAN Valuers Association

The ASEAN Valuers Association (AVA) has formally accepted Cambodia as a member following a three-day conference late last month in Hoi An, Vietnam, the president of the National Valuers Association of Cambodia told Prime Location last Thursday.

"We are very grateful to have become a member of the ASEAN Valuers Association even though our country still has little experience when it comes to valuing real estate," said Sung Bonna, who is also first deputy secretary general of the Real Estate Developers Association of Cambodia and president of the Bonna Realty Group.

The AVA was established in 1981 with five founding members - Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines - and has since been extended to include Brunei and Vietnam.

Its governing council is composed of seven real estate valuers from each country.

Cambodia had previously been recognised, along with countries including Laos and Myanmar, as an AVA "observer".

The AVA convenes a congress every two years that provides, according to its website, "a valuable platform to share views" and "exchange knowledge and information and foster comradeship and fellowship".  

... our country still has little experience when it comes to valuing real estate.

Sung Bonna said Cambodia's membership in the group would allow real estate agents to gain experience managing property transactions and valuating property while encouraging transparent practices that would keep the market stable.

Sear Chailin, the director of Visal Real Estate, said he welcomed the news of Cambodia's acceptance to the AVA.

"I'm happy to hear that," he said, adding, "Please stop saying that Cambodia's property market is in a downturn - we must say that the market is fine". But Kong Vansophy, general manager of the US$1 million Dream Town development in the capital's Dangkor district, said AVA membership would have little effect on the domestic real estate market in the short term.

Ngy Tayi, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said he believed participation in the AVA would give Cambodian realtors important experience that could be applied in the effort to turn the sector around.