Cambodian's commerce regulations and political stability has led to an increase in companies applying to operate in the Kingdom in the first 7 months of the year, according to Ministry of Commerce Secretary of State Chan Nora.

Some 1,835 ventures have applied to operate in the Kingdom from January to July this year, a 35 percent rise on the same period last year, Ministry of Commerce statistics show.

“The increase is due to Cambodia’s political stability, strict commerce regulations and reliable government,” said Chan Nora.“The rising number of commercial companies regsitering [in Cambodia] will hasten economic growth.”

Cambodia's growth in firms highlights growing investor interest in Cambodia’s market, said economist Kang Chandararot. “Once these new firms process their production lines, it will provide additional jobs for the population,” he said.

The country has a total of 503,008 businesses nationwide, of which 19 percent are based in Phnom Penh, preliminary results of the Ministry of Commerce’s first economic census, EC2011, show.  “The results of the EC2011 will be used for formulating various policies, academic research, management strategy and market research in the private sector, and so on,” a statement said.