Private companies say prices, delays and government official’s
procedure have inflated since an obscure non-public company took over the
government’s work-permit application and issuing system in Sept.
The Ministry of Labor declared in August that it had
outsourced working papers application process to E-Solutions (Cambodia) Co Ltd
in a very public-private partnership geared toward creating it easier for
foreign staff to use for permits – and easier for the govt to trace them.
The company was narrowed to make and operate a replacement
portal for the ministry, dubbed the Foreign Staff Centralized Management System
(FWCMS), that handles the appliance, process and distribution of foreigner work
permits.
Anthony liqueur, chief operating officer of Cambodian
Investment Management and chairman of the Euro Cham Tax Committee, represented
the FWCMS as “the worst” on-line registration system the govt has created to
this point.
He aforementioned the net portal was even a step down from
the previous system, that was wide criticized for inflicting immoderate delays
for firms and foreign staff trying to register or get employment cards.
“In my expertise the FWCMS is proving to be the foremost
complicated [online system], and that I expect that solely tiny low share of
foreign staff has created it through all the steps needed to this point,” he
said.
Galliano aforementioned that getting a piece allow through
the net application method was “a monumental task that needs extraordinary
perseverance, patience and investment of time”.
The method, he explained, needs employers to transfer copies
of every individual foreign worker’s passport and visa, yet as immigration
stamps of the employee’s initial arrival within the country. It additionally
needs documentation, together with a signed employment agreement verified by
the ministry, an authorized health check-up and a residency letter approved by
a neighborhood commune official.
“The documentation needed alone is amazingly overwhelming,
and although you've got the documents needed, they higher be within the
[correct] kind and have the certifications needed so as to be accepted,” he
said, adding that these were simply the clear processes for registering.
Little is understood of E-Solutions, that was incorporated
in December 2015, and even less is understood concerning the government’s
choice method. Despite the technological insinuation of its name, the
{corporate} has no corporate web site or public net presence, and no record.
E-Solutions head Yours Vuthy declined to supply details on
the company’s background and shareholders, stating solely that the net portal
was supported by IT professionals from Kingdom of Cambodia, Malaysia and
Singapore. He additionally declined to reveal however the corporate was chosen
for the contract, adding solely that it “had to travel through a consultation
process”.
“E-Solution’s duty is to make the net systems and info, and
manage technical support, as a section of [its] concession,” he aforementioned
in AN e-mail.
Since 2014, the govt has ramped up efforts to register
foreign staff and punish people who have skirted the law. Last year, some 36,000-foreign
staff registered for work permits, that value from $80 to $125 consistent with
the worker’s visa class, and an extra $25 necessary checkup.
According to the ministries unharness in August, E-Solutions
is authorized to tack an extra $30 fee on prime of the ministry’s $20 process
fee for employers and people registering. Vuthy aforementioned the agreement
coupled the company’s revenues to the quantity of staff it succeeded in
registering.
“We receive profits supported the appliance processes,” he
said, adding that the Labor Ministry had additionally narrowed E-Solutions to
develop alternative service centers and knowledge management systems. However,
the company’s current project has drawn broad criticism.
A private sector human resource director, UN agency
requested obscurity as a result of the corporate was presently negotiating its
foreign employee quotas and extensions, aforementioned the new on-line format
was unclear and confusing, whereas the company’s lack of transparency and rumored
connections with superior establishment was upsetting.
“So far, E-Solutions makes the working papers method a touch
additional complicated, costlier and slower than before,” he said, adding
cautiously, however, that he felt the issues were being addressed.
According to the director, the new value structure isn't
clearly outlined with the corporate charging “$15 here and $25 there”, that at
face price makes the method costlier than the previous manual system, wherever
employers relied on informal payments requested by ministry officers to contour
the method.
“It is troublesome for currently to mention if it'll in
total value way more than before, however if the registration method sticks to
new fastened and official prices that replace unofficial prices, the initiative
may be OK,” he said.
Sandra D’Amico, director for achievement firm HRINC Kingdom
of Cambodia, aforementioned that her company’s expertise with the new
registration portal has been mostly positive. “I suppose our general feedback
is that everybody has restricted
experience in victimization the system, and customarily most
firms leave quotas till the last moment, that undoubtedly will produce
challenges for the system,” she said.
She noted, however, that the initiative will have some
issues to beat. “What we've practiced in process may be a delay in responding
to applications – it will take around a month before you get a response,” she
said, adding that she was unsure whether or not the govt or the non-public
company was guilty for the “bottlenecks” within the method.
“I imagine it’s a capability challenge overall with
additional and additional firms attempting to maneuver on-line and to urge
things processed on-line,” she accessorial. Labor Ministry spokesperson Heng
bitter vehemently defended the ministry’s call to source working papers process
to E-Solutions, although he was less forthcoming concerning however and why it
chosen the corporate to control the system.
“The on-line service pass by E-Solution may be a win-win
strategy between the ministry and therefore the non-public sector,” he
aforementioned of the partnership, adding that the agreement was structured
underneath the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model.
Sour aforementioned complaints concerning the complexness of
the net system were idle, conflict that the method was as straightforward as
registering AN e-mail address.
“This is that the initial on-line system that the ministry
introduced, and it needs foreigners UN agency claim to be professionals and
intellectuals to register themselves,” he said. “If they're smart foreign
professionals that claim to be higher than Cambodians, they need to prove they
will overcome this easy ABCs check of IT knowledge entry processes.”
He instructed the net portal’s critics were those seeking to
cheat and enjoy the previous system, suggesting some issues may well be “due to
firms faking skilled certificates for his or her foreign workers”.
