The landscapes, world heritage sites, and hospitality of Cambodia have drawn increasing numbers of visitors in recent years, and at the beginning of 2020 the country was primed to see the continued growth of its tourism sector well into the new decade. Early projections estimated that Cambodia would welcome greater numbers of tourists despite the worldwide economic slowdown, and projected tourism rates were in keeping with the Tourism Ministry’s lofty goal of attracting 11 million tourists annually by 2025.

In June 2020, Thailand’s cabinet approved two sets of amendments to the Civil and Commercial Code (CCC) to update corporate governance and transactional rules and simplify the process of setting up and conducting businesses in Thailand. The draft amendments will be sent for parliamentary approval before being officially promulgated in the Government Gazette.First Set of Amendments

Thailand’s Customs Department has extended the deadline for business operators to pay all outstanding taxes and import duties at the Post-Clearance Audit Division of the Customs Department. The Customs Department has also extended the deadline for requesting review of import duty penalties, fines, and surcharges on outstanding import duty amounts until September 30, 2021—a significant postponement of the previous deadline of April 30, 2020.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Royal Government of Cambodia has introduced new measures to help mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on the country’s businesses and economy.

The rise of global digital economies has introduced uncertainties and exposed many loopholes in our existing tax system, with the most significant issues being the difficulties in collecting tax from those conducting digital activities without a physical presence in a jurisdiction. Thailand has long considered reforming its traditional tax system to better cover the digital economy and digital transactions, believing that foreign companies engaged in the same transactions in Thailand as local companies should also pay tax to the country.

As of 22 June 2020, Thailand has received 20,368 Madrid applications and, if considering only the years 2018 and 2019, almost 60% of foreign marks filed in Thailand utilised the Madrid System. With the system now in its third year, this update reflects on observations of the Madrid System and identifies the practical points for brand owners to consider when deciding which of the two channels—the Madrid System or the direct national route in Thailand—is the most efficient.

Almost a year and a half after Myanmar enacted the Trademark Law 2019 on January 30, 2019, the same question still lingers in the minds of many brand owners and attorneys: “When will the Trademark Law come into force?”Despite rumors and speculation, the government has yet to fix a date for the law’s implementation.Ministry Mandate

Traditional IP enforcement measures are sometimes ill fit to deal with the rapidly evolving nature of internet resources in the digital era. Thailand has been responding to the exponential rise of online IP infringement on a rolling basis—most recently in 2017 when it amended the Computer Crime Act (CCA) to give IP owners the option of blocking websites that post IP-infringing content. This is set out in section 20(3) of the law.