Since its founding in early 2000, IFC has supported the Private Sector Forum concept as a mechanism to improve the business environment, build trust between the public and the private sector, and foster private investment activity.
The Private Sector Forum provides the framework for ongoing, structured dialogue between business and the government with a view toward improving the business environment. Under the aegis of PSF, the prime minister chairs a large meeting attended by private business people, the donor community, and the government. These are typically held twice a year.
The core work is undertaken during the year by public-private working groups that specialize in areas ranging from agroprocessing to financial services, law, tax, governance, and tourism, among other sectors. IFC and the Australian Agency for International Development, or AusAID, financially support the Private Sector Forum Coordinating Bureau to help bring parties together.
Despite its relative infancy, the concept of the Private Sector Forum and public-private dialogue is proving durable in Cambodia. The Forum has demonstrated its ability to serve as an honest broker between the public and the private sector in a market that generally lacks organized associations and business groups capable of serving as independent forces for change.
The Private Sector Forum provides a platform for businesses to offer expertise on a range of policy and regulatory reforms. Examples of successes include high level of consultation on investment and tax law, the introduction of private sector monitors within the Customs Department, improved labor standards, and negotiations on cot reductions for a major road concession.
The working group on tourism was invited to develop an action plan to attract more Chinese tourists to Cambodia in advance of the prime minister's visit to China in 2004. This has led to plans to open specialty tourism promotion offices in selected southern Chinese provinces.
Despite the Challenge of creating an environment of trust while rebuilding the legal and regulatory systems, the Private Sector Forum continues to generate interest among all sides for the promotion of dialogue and action aimed at tackling economic development
