Cambodia has appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

Under Arts. 10–12 of Cambodia’s Law on Investment, any person seeking to implement a Qualified Investment Project (QIP), Expanded Qualified Investment Project (EQIP), or Guaranteed Investment Project (GIP) must submit a written Investment Project Application to the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC). The CDC assesses the application through its One-Stop Service mechanism, which operates through seconded representatives of relevant ministries and institutions acting under delegated decision-making authority. Where the proposed investment is not included in the Negative List (to be specified by Sub-Decree), the CDC must issue a Registration Certificate within 20 working days.
In addition, Art. 11 of Sub-Decree No. 60 (2016) requires the CDC to refer specified categories of projects to the Council of Ministers for approval, including projects with investment capital of USD 50 million or more, projects involving politically sensitive issues, projects relating to the exploration or exploitation of mineral and natural resources, projects that may have negative environmental impacts, projects characterised as long-term strategic, and projects involving infrastructure concessions.

According to Art. 26.1 of the E-Commerce Law, e-commerce service providers and intermediaries must obtain e-commerce permits or licenses from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) in addition to the general business registration. According to Art 26.2, the licensing regime has two categories: (1) an e-commerce permit (for individual persons and sole proprietorships) and (2) an e-commerce license (for legal persons and branches of foreign companies). In August 2020, Cambodia issued Sub-Decree No. 134, an implementing regulation of the E-Commerce Law, clarifying that a license is required for legal persons and branches of foreign companies carrying out the following activities: e-commerce web services, e-commerce platform services, online market services, online auction website services, and other similar services provided through software or smart devices for the promotion of e-commerce (Art. 5.1). In addition, pursuant to Art. 5.2 of the Sub-Decree, an E-Commerce permit is required for natural persons and sole proprietors that operate a business via an electronic system in Cambodia (including those who conduct business via social media and electronic systems to supply or sell/purchase goods and services).
According to Arts. 6 and 7 of Sub-Decree No. 134, for issuance of an e-commerce license or permit, business and tax registration is required. Art. 29 of the e-Commerce Law also requires the provision of the business entity's name, registered address, and contact number or email address in Cambodia. Moreover, Art. 7 of the Sub-Decree also states that, in cases where the intermediary is a legal entity or foreign branch, it must enter into a contract with the service providers regarding the requirement to provide minimum information.
The E-Commerce Law broadly defines e-commerce service providers and intermediaries (Annex). An e-commerce service provider is defined as a "person who uses electronic means to supply goods and/or services except for insurance establishments". On the other hand, intermediary "refers to a person who provides the services of sending, receiving, transmitting or storing services of the electronic communication, either on a temporary or permanent basis, or provides other services relating to the electronic communication, including the following persons: a person representing the sender, receiver, transmitter, or the custodian; telecommunication service providers; network service providers; internet service providers; search engines providers; online payment service providers; online auction service providers; online marketplaces service providers and internet commerce service provider".

Art. 116 of the Law on the Patents, Utility Model Certificates and Industrial Designs states that where an applicant’s ordinary residence or principal place of business is outside the Kingdom of Cambodia, the applicant shall be represented by an agent residing and practising in the Kingdom of Cambodia and fulfilling the prescribed requirements. In addition, it is reported that Cambodia’s patent authority lacks sufficient funding and expertise to examine patent applications.

Art. 43 of the Law on Patents, Utility Model Certificates and Industrial Designs establishes that the patent owner may institute court proceedings against any infringer or anyone who performs acts that make infringement likely. Upon request of the patent owner, or by a licensee in certain circumstances, a court may grant an injunction to prevent infringement or imminent infringement, award damages, or any other remedy provided for by law (Art. 126). However, Art. 47 states that the Cambodian Government has the right to exploit a patented invention itself, or allow third parties to do so, for the purpose of promoting ‘public interests’, including national defence, nutrition, health and development.

Cambodia is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Cambodia has a copyright regime under the Law on Copyright and Related Rights. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Section 4 lists the exceptions, which include: free and private representations made exclusively to a close circle of people, such as family or friends; the purposes of education, which is not for financial gain; translation of works from the Khmer language into the languages of the ethnic minorities or vice versa; among others (Arts. 23-29).

It is reported that Copyright is not adequately enforced online in Cambodia. Signal and cable piracy reportedly persist at high levels, and online platforms offering pirated music, films, e-books, software, and television shows remain widely used.

Cambodia has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Cambodia has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Cambodia does not yet have a specific law on trade secrets, and no comprehensive framework is in place to ensure their effective protection. However, there are limited measures that address some related issues. Under the Contract Law of 1998, non-disclosure agreements may be used and enforced to protect confidential information within employment or other contractual relationships. In addition, the Ministry of Commerce is drafting a Law on Trade Secrets and Undisclosed Information.

Cambodia’s Law on Telecommunications establishes a legal obligation for passive infrastructure sharing among licensed operators. According to Art. 32, telecommunications operators must provide access to their supporting infrastructure, including the physical assets used to provide services, upon request by other operators. This access must be granted in accordance with the principles of non-discrimination, technical compatibility, transparency, and affordability, as outlined in Art. 31.

In accordance with Art. 12 of the Law on Public Procurement, international competitive bidding is applied to procurement activities of substantial value and high technical complexity. Conversely, domestic competitive bidding is used when sufficient domestic products, production capacity, or construction capabilities are available. This 2023 legislation replaces the previous Law of the same name enacted in January 2012, which included a similar provision under Art. 11.
According to Art. 11 of the 2023 Law, the conditions, thresholds, and procedures for implementing each procurement method shall be determined by a Prakas issued by the Minister of Economy and Finance. Although the relevant implementing regulation could not be found online, it is reported that in November 2023, Cambodia amended the thresholds for international competitive bidding through Prakas No. 833, setting them at (i) KHR 10 billion (approx. USD 2.5 million) for goods and (ii) KHR 8 billion (approx. USD 2 million) for services.
Additionally, pursuant to Chapter 6 (Qualifications of Bidders) of the Law on Public Procurement, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) requires all companies, contractors, and consultants wishing to participate in public procurement tenders to register with the MEF and undergo a screening process.