Cambodia and Myanmar are nearing agreement on the draft Double Tax Agreement (DTA) to increase investment and strengthen both countries’ economies, as trade between two countries is still small.

Cambodia’s General Department of Taxation under the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Myanmar’s Department of Internal Revenue held a meeting to negotiate an agreement on the first round of DTA discussion between August 22 and 25 in Phnom Penh.

The meeting discussed in detail all the articles in the draft agreement and agreed on most of them, save for a few which require further negotiation.

Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng said the DTA is very important for investors, especially with the Kingdom’s large trading partners.

“Under this agreement, investors who want to repatriate their profits to their country only have pay 10 per cent tax. [Without the agreement], they have to pay withholding tax of up to 14 per cent. So, when Cambodia has DTA agreements with more countries, it will be able to attract more investment,” he said.

At the same time, Cambodia and Myanmar are speeding up discussions on two draft agreements to increase trade cooperation, with a meeting between representatives of the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations in Indonesia on May 18.

Minister of Commerce of Cambodia Pan Sorasak recently called on both sides to further discuss economic and trade progress in the regional and bilateral framework with the aim of boosting trade volume and promoting economic recovery.

Bilateral trade volume between Cambodia and Myanmar “in the three years prior to the Covid-19 crisis” totalled just $20 million. However, that figure in 2020 was more than $28 million, slightly lower than 2019.