WITH property prices under pressure across Asia, the deregulation of ownership laws in Cambodia will make it an attractive prospect in the region and one of the most liberal in Southeast Asia for foreign property ownership.

Bretton Sciaroni, a legal adviser to the Cambodian government, said the move would make Cambodia an attractive regional proposition.

“We are more open and have a more liberal [environment] than Thailand,”Sciaroni said.

Unrestricted ownership of property by foreigners is uncommon in Southeast Asia. In Thailand foreigners are allowed to own a condominium as long as the total foreign ownership of the building does not exceed 49 percent.

Investors interested in property in Laos and Vietnam can only purchase leases.

The Cambodian law will enable foreigners to own property above the ground floor of a building, which is not within 30 kilometres of a border, and was rubber-stamped by King Norodom Sihamoni on May 24 this year after being passed by the National Assembly and the Senate.

The Foreign Ownership Law states that its object is to guarantee to protect rights of legal holders in apartments or condominiums for co-ownership.

It also will facilitate the management of co-owned apartments and co-owners who live in the apartments or condominiums. The law has nine charters and 24 articles and covers all kinds of apartments and condominiums across the country.