As of July 29, 287 businesses have completed their registration via the government's new online registration system, while 323 companies are pending approval, according to data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). The average number of working days taken to register a company via the online platform was confirmed as 8 working days. Kong Marry, an advisor to the minister of MEF, said that the number of registered businesses is similar to the same period last year via separated registration platform. Anthony Galliano, Group CEO of CIM Holdings Ltd, said that the business registration system is unquestionably a landmark achievement for the Kingdom and substantially eliminated the bureaucracy and materially upgraded the ease of doing business and registering a company in Cambodia. He added that the cost of registration have been reduced and the Kingdom is now as efficient, if not more, in the ease of online company registration as most countries globally. In theory, the online processing was touted to take approximately seven business days, in reality it presently taking 15 business days, still a vast improvement from the three to six months. (Source: Khmer Times)