IFC Handbook Helps Cambodian Exporters

February 27, 2009 — Freight forwarder Han Rutten says he finds IFC's Handbook on Export Procedures a very useful tool, and so do the other 24 companies in the Cambodian Freight Forwarders Association.

"I have five copies for my staff and when I brought 30 copies of the handbook to an association meeting, they were snapped up," he says. Now that the publication is available in Khmer as well as English, it will be even more in demand.

Demand for the 120-page handbook came from the Export Processing and Trade Facilitation Working Group – part of the IFC-supported Government-Private Sector Forum, which helps improve Cambodia's investment and business climate.

The easy-to-follow guide covers:

• all the key customs and other government agency procedures required to export
• variations for different products and different means of transport (land, sea, and air)
• copies of all the forms required

Before the handbook was published, Rutten says virtually nothing was written down.

"Those who are new to exporting could waste a great deal of time going from office to office and desk to desk in the agencies concerned with exporting," he notes. Rutten also hopes the guide will help reduce bureaucratic charges.

Along with using the handbook to train new staff, Rutten gives it to all his new customers.

"After reading the handbook, customers understand much better all the steps their shipment must go through before it leaves the country and arrives at its destination overseas," he remarks. As a result, Rutten's staff spends far less time explaining procedures to clients.

A total of 8,000 copies of the handbook are being distributed free of charge in Cambodia in English and Khmer. To download the handbook, which could be a model for other developing countries, click here.