I, Tep Sethanna, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Co-Founder of KEPA, would like to express my pleasures, joy and great pride in what I was trying to do and what I am achieving currently, including my PhD, professional skills in accounting, auditing and taxation, as well as my accumulated work experience and leadership ability in the accounting, auditing and taxation fields for more than two decades. I am also a Cambodian who was born into a family of farmers in O-Baktra Village, Prongil Commune, Phnom Kravanh District, Pursat Province. This is a family that does not have good financial resources but has many family members. Although I am not a son of a wealthy family, I still have a clear vision that I am also a resource who can contribute to building and developing the accounting, auditing and taxation profession with the Accounting and Auditing Regulator (ACAR) and General Department of Taxation (GDT), simultaneously, Cambodia is currently developing in almost all sectors to achieve high economic growth towards to the long-term development strategy of the Royal Government. In particular, the Royal Government’s policies are providing many incentives for domestic and foreign investors, including informal traders, to engage in business with transparency, equality, and compliance with Commercial Laws, Law on Taxation, Labor Laws, National Social Security Fund Laws, Accounting and Auditing Laws, and Cambodian Investment Laws, as well as to comply with applicable directives, rules, and procedures.

At the same time, the actual situation, whether local or foreign business owners, when they decide to register a business in Cambodia, most of them do not have the time to study and understand the requirements of the laws, rules and procedures clearly. What they focus on most is to ensure that their supply chain is sustainable and grows regularly. They do not pay close attention to the obligations to maintain accounting records and report to the tax administration properly and do not receive regular updates from all regulators that are their main guardians. In particular, they do not clearly understand what the rights and obligations of taxpayers and the authority of the tax administration are. These gaps are the reason why they are highly exposed to acts of obstruction of the implementation of tax regulations and are subject to administrative penalties or the implementation of additional taxes and interest, etc. These severe challenges have made them lose control and felt lost confidence in continuing to do business.

This is the main reason that motivates us to establish KEPA with the aim of contributing to filling all those gaps, including maintaining their financial well-being and stability on a regular basis. At the same time, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all customers and business partners who always support every aspect of what we have and wish you happiness, freedom from suffering, and prosperity. I would like to always accept all criticisms and improvements from you in order to correct all shortcomings.