Your complete guide to investing in Cambodia’s premier industrial corridor — the 832-hectare ISI Special Economic Zone.
SECTION 01: About ISI SEZ & Strategic Location
Q1. What is ISI Special Economic Zone (ISI SEZ)?
ISI SEZ is an 832-hectare, best-in-class industrial development established by ISI GROUP. Backed by nearly 30 years of industrial and steel manufacturing expertise, ISI SEZ is engineered to deliver sustainable, future-ready, and highly integrated ecosystems for local and international export-oriented enterprises.
Q2. Where is ISI SEZ located, and what are its logistical advantages?
- ISI SEZ is strategically located directly on the Phnom Penh–Sihanoukville (PP–SHV) Expressway, providing fast and convenient access to Cambodia’s key trade and logistics hubs.
- Sihanoukville Deep-Sea Port: ~30-minute drive
- Oknha Mong Port: 20-minute drive
- Sihanoukville International Airport: ~30-minute drive
- Phnom Penh City: ~1.5-hour drive
Q3. Why Choose ISI SEZ?
- 30+ Years of experience: Benefitting from ISI Group’s three decades of industrial leadership and reliable local partnership.
- Best-in-class Infrastructure: Master-planned roads, industrial utilities, wastewater treatment, and prime logistics links.
- Ecosystem: Eco-friendly design, green spaces, and resource efficiency aligned.
- One-Stop Service: On-site government approvals for customs, licensing, and quick import-export clearances.
- End-to-end Support: Personalized investor care from initial pre-investment advisory through daily operations.
- Maximum Incentives: Optimize ROI with maximum QIP benefits, including up to 9-year tax holidays and zero export VAT.
SECTION 02: Products & Leasing Options
Q4. What options are available for businesses looking to set up in ISI SEZ?
To accommodate varying project scales and operational timelines, ISI SEZ offers flexible, multipurpose industrial real estate options:
- Industrial Land for Sale: Our fully cleared, leveled, and compacted parcels are ready for immediate development.
- Ready-Built Factories (RBF) & Warehouses: High-standard facilities built with premium steel structures, featuring reinforced concrete flooring, standard office spaces, and multi-scale sizing options for immediate operational setup.
- Industrial Land for Lease: Fully cleared, leveled plot boundary markers and utility connection points brought directly to the land border.
Q5. Which industries are highly benefited from operating inside ISI SEZ?
ISI SEZ focuses on four key industry sectors that can benefit from our strategic location, industrial infrastructure, and business ecosystem: Automotive & Vehicle Parts, Furniture & Home Appliances, Steel & Metal Processing, and Light Manufacturing & Logistics Hub. These sectors benefit from ISI SEZ’s ready industrial land, infrastructure, connectivity, supporting services, and access to Cambodia’s growing manufacturing and export opportunities.
SECTION 04: Infrastructure, Utilities & Sustainability
Q6. What government incentives do tenants receive by operating inside ISI SEZ?
Projects approved within ISI SEZ can qualify for Qualified Investment Project (QIP) status under the Law on Investment of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Benefits include substantial corporate income tax exemptions or special depreciation allowances, duty-free import of production equipment and construction materials, and zero-rated VAT on local purchases used for export production.
Q7. What are the investment incentives for foreign industrial enterprises in Cambodia?
- 100% Foreign Ownership: Complete corporate control with no local partner required.
- Tax Holidays: up to 9 years of corporate income tax exemptions.
- Zero Duties: Tax-free imports (machinery/raw materials) and tax-free exports.
- Financial Freedom: No foreign exchange controls; unrestricted capital movement.
- Tax-Free Reinvestment: Reinvested profits are completely exempt from income tax.
- Global Talent: Seamless hiring of foreign experts and specialized technicians.
- Asset Perks: Special depreciation allowances for intangible production assets.
Q8. Does ISI SEZ provide administrative or licensing assistance?
Yes. ISI SEZ offers an On-Site One-Stop Service mechanism. We work directly with representatives from relevant government authorities (such as the CDC, Customs, and Camcontrol) on-site to facilitate rapid corporate registration, import-export clearances, and fast-track processing of required permits.
Q9. Is 100% foreign corporate ownership permitted, and can capital be freely repatriated?
Cambodia allows 100% foreign ownership in most industrial sectors without a local partner. Operating with zero foreign exchange controls, investors can freely repatriate all profits, capital, and dividends internationally.
SECTION 05 Legal Compliance, Custom Buildouts & Handover
Q10. What utility infrastructure is provided on-site?
Following the blueprint of modern eco-industrial developments, ISI SEZ provides highly reliable, scalable industrial-grade utilities connected directly to every plot, reliable electrical grid connections, centralized clean industrial water networks, a centralized modern wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), and redundant high-speed fiber-optic telecommunications.
Q11. How does ISI SEZ incorporate sustainability into its operations?
ISI SEZ promotes sustainability through efficient water use, centralized wastewater treatment, responsible waste management, environmental monitoring, and resource-efficient infrastructure.
SECTION 05: Legal Compliance, Custom Buildouts & Handover
Q12. Can a tenant source their own engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors, or must they use the developer’s services?
Tenants have full autonomy to select international or local EPC firms for their factory design and construction. However, all structural, architectural, and utility connection blueprints must be submitted to the ISI SEZ Engineering Review Board prior to breaking ground to verify alignment with zone safety codes. Tenants choosing to utilize the internal construction ecosystems of ISI GROUP (such as ISI E&C) may benefit from expedited technical integration and structural steel deployment pipelines.
SECTION 06: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
Q13. Do I need to conduct a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to open a facility in ISI SEZ?
For small to medium enterprises (low to medium impact industries), No. ISI SEZ operates under a pre-approved Special Economic Zone Master EIA from the Ministry of Environment (MoE). This allows standard operations to completely bypass the lengthy Full EIA approval process and plug directly into our pre-cleared environmental framework. (Note: Heavy industries may still be subject to specific assessments).
Q14. Do I need to build my own wastewater or waste management facilities?
For most standard operations, no. You can leverage ISI SEZ’s existing, MoE-compliant centralized wastewater and solid waste infrastructure, saving you massive upfront capital expenditure.
However, if your enterprise falls under a specific industry that produces complex or specialized waste, you will be required to build your own dedicated pre-treatment or management facilities to comply with environmental regulations.
SECTION 07: Safety, Security & Park Management
Q15. How are safety and security maintained across the 832 hectares?
ISI SEZ utilizes a professional, centralized property management team that operates 24/7. Safety protocols include constant boundary and internal road patrolling by trained security personnel, extensive CCTV surveillance networks across major thoroughfares, and dedicated industrial fire protection grids featuring high-pressure underground water loop networks.
Q16. What services are covered under the ISI SEZ Management Fee, and where does the zone’s maintenance boundary end?
The standard monthly management fee covers 24/7 security patrolling, main access gates operation, street lighting, maintenance and landscaping of public green zones, communal road sweeping, and utility corridor maintenance up to your plot boundary. ISI SEZ is responsible for maintaining all primary utility lines in the public corridors. Once a line passes through the property gate marker into the leased plot, internal maintenance, private security, and plot-specific landscaping become the sole responsibility of the tenant.
Q17. How is the zone equipped to handle localized industrial fires or hazardous leaks before public emergency services arrive?
ISI SEZ features an advanced emergency containment framework. The park is engineered with a high-pressure, closed-loop underground fire hydrant network accessible from every plot. In the event of an incident, our 24/7 on-site emergency response unit is dispatched immediately. Additionally, our centralized drainage system features isolation valves that can instantly seal off specific drainage channels, preventing accidental chemical spills from leaving the zone or contaminating local groundwater tables.
SECTION 08: Real Estate Options & Tenant Lifecycle
Q18. What happens to the physical building structures if a tenant decides to exit the zone before the lease term expires?
In the event of an early exit, tenants have two primary options: (1) Transfer or sell the built industrial asset directly to an incoming approved investor, who will assume the remaining duration of the land lease agreement; or (2) Decommission the facility.
If the asset cannot be transferred, the tenant is responsible for dismantling internal machinery and returning the plot in a safe, clean condition as outlined in the definitive lease contract.
SECTION 09: Advanced Environmental Management & Climate Resilience
Q19. How does ISI SEZ mitigate flash-flood risks along the Phnom Penh–Sihanoukville economic corridor?
The zone incorporates comprehensive Climate-Resilient Infrastructure. The park features an extensive, oversized open-channel network integrated with dedicated emergency retention ponds.
This system is hydraulically engineered using long-term regional rainfall data models to handle extreme precipitation events, successfully isolating tenant facility floors from potential flash floods along adjacent external transport corridors.
Q20. Are there specific noise, vibration, and air emission thresholds that factories must comply with?
Yes. To ensure a safe working environment and protect neighboring high-precision electronics or light-manufacturing operations, all tenants must comply with national Ministry of Environment standards regarding ambient industrial noise levels, seismic vibrations, and smokestack emissions. Facilities operating heavy machinery or chemical exhaust loops are required to install localized damping or scrubbers on-site before venting into the shared ecosystem.
SECTION 10: Shared Amenities & 'Live, Work, Play' Ecosystems
Q21. What commercial and lifestyle amenities are available within or directly adjacent to the SEZ for expatriates and staff?
Transitioning beyond traditional industrial areas, the zone integrates community amenities designed to support a ‘Live, Work, Play’ environment. Positioned close to major expressway service nodes, the park framework incorporates commercial support centers, dining spaces, convenient fuel stations, and green rest zones, significantly improving daily quality of life for administrative personnel and corporate executives traveling between Sihanoukville and the capital.
Looking to manufacture in Cambodia? Connect with ISI SEZ.
📞 +855 87 811 888
📱 WeChat: ISIPark_SEZ