The project aims to accelerate the negotiations and implementation of trade and cross-border agreements in order to lower the trade barriers and alleviate the cross-border issues to increase the logistics movements in the region and strengthen the market competitiveness of Cambodia.

The General Department of Land Transport (GDLT) is one of the implementers of this project. Overall, the project will have the following economic benefits: (i) lower prices of goods that become accessible to consumers with the adoption of zero tariffs; (ii) increased market competitiveness for import industries and overall market access ASEAN market with better allocation of resources; (iii) open and transparent trade flows with trade procedures set at international standards with the elimination of trade barriers; (iv) cheaper and faster transport options available for the private sector allowing the industries to strategically utilize the cross-transport vehicles; (v) legal protection will be provided to multimodal transport operators with the regulation in place. The components of the project including; (1) Implement the Tariff Reduction/Elimination Schedule of Trade in Goods Agreement of ASEAN, (2) Implementation of all WTO Agreement, and (3) Further negotiations of Agreements including, CBTA, Bilateral Agreements and AFAFGIT and AFAMT

Within the three components, MPWT has been involved in implementing the third
component only.

A. ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Goods in Transit (AFAFGIT)

• ARISE Plus continues to assist the Customs Institutions of ASEAN countries to develop the ASEAN Customs Transit System (ACTS) and inaugurated on 30th November 2020 to launch this customs system with the support of the European Union.
• Countries that volunteered to implement ACTS can provide licensed to their transport companies of up to 500 vehicles. Cambodia has prepared to issue this permit.
• According to the procedure, the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia will provide a list of forwarding companies (Principal) with the selection of transport operators to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to be able to register in this agreement. MPWT has already received the list of Principal operators from the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia and has sent letters to transport operators for registration, but no companies have yet registered.

B. ASEAN Framework Agreement on Multimodal Transport (AFAMT)

• This Agreement aims to facilitate the transport of goods carried out by more than one type of means of transport, such as by car, by train, by ship, under a common contract and with the operator in charged.
• ARISE Plus is reviewing the laws and regulations of each country to implement this agreement no later than 2022 as set out in the ASEAN Transport Strategic Plan (Kuala Lumpur Transport Strategic Plan, 2025).

This project also encounters some challenges such as:

1. Covid-19 crisis has postponed the acceleration of implementation of other transport agreements due to the mechanisms to prevent the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.
2. The ASEAN Customs Transit System (ACTS) has been prepared and used in order to implement the ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Goods in Transit (AFAFGIT) Agreement, but it faces a number of challenges, particularly the lack of participation from the private sector.
3. There is no instrument for implementing the AFAMT Agreement.

In response to this, the working group proposed following solutions:

1. The discussions have been held aiming to accelerate the implementation of the transport agreements and coordinate with stakeholders for the implementation;
2. ARISE Plus team is working with ASEAN Secretariat to attract private sector to utilize ACTS;
3. The mechanisms for implementing the AFAMT Agreement were developed by Arise Plus and would assist Cambodia in preparing the necessary regulations to accelerate the implementation of this Agreement (ARISE Plus is helping to review the laws and regulations of each country to implement this Agreement by at the latest 2022 as planned in the ASEAN Transport Strategic Plan (Kuala Lumpur Transport Strategic Plan, 2025).