Interview with: Heng Chhay, Managing Partner

Managing Partner, Heng Chhay, explains how the firm is adapting to clients’ changing needs

 

1) What do you see as the main points that differentiate R&T Sok & Heng Law Office from your competitors?

As one of Cambodia’s most highly regarded full services law firms, R&T Sok & Heng Law Office has young, dynamic, and qualified teams of lawyers advising clients in a wide range of areas of practice across the corporate and commercial spectrum with particular knowledge and experiences in various important industry sectors.

Our local team possesses in-depth knowledge of local laws and regulations as well as international standards and practices along with useful connections and experience working with relevant government authorities in relation to regulatory adoption and amendments which have paved the way for us to be market leaders in various practices including new areas of practice.

Together with our regional Rajah & Tann Asia network, we have built a network of more than 1,000 legal professionals who are exceptionally talented, skillful, and highly motivated individuals to provide seamless legal services across the region with our current footprints in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam plus Brunei, Japan, and South Asia desks. Having such diverse local qualified lawyers with multiple languages proficiency, we are proud to call ourselves the region’s new ‘home team’ of ‘Lawyers Who Know Asia’.

 

2) Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

In the next 12 months, we foresee increasing activities in the areas of digital economy, competition, M&A, capital markets (IPOs, bonds issuance, and CIS), and energy and infrastructure projects, including project financing. We expect more inquiries on regulatory and compliance-related matters, particularly in the areas of competition and data protection as Cambodia expects to start implementing its recently adopted Competition Law and to adopt cybersecurity law, personal data protection law, and cybercrime law which are currently in the pipeline. We also expect an uptick in our current busy practices, such as M&A, capital markets, commercial litigation, and arbitration.

The driver behind our forward-looking approach as outlined above is that slightly over 100 days ago, Cambodia held its general election whereby a new Government, comprising of young, promising, and dynamic cabinet members including the new Prime Minister himself, was formed and entrusted to take the country forward. With the launch of its Pentagonal Strategy – Phase 1, the Royal Government of Cambodia places a high priority on five pillars – people, road, water, electricity, and technology, and important reforms are underway. Furthermore, with more-than-ever emphasis on China’s foreign investment policy, particularly the Belt and Road Initiative and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement, we are optimistic that there will be more foreign investments coming into Cambodia.

 

3) What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

The world has recently faced a historical pandemic. Cambodia was fortunate to not suffer from a severe community spread of COVID-19 and the situation had well been under control through the accelerated vaccination program of the Government. With businesses trying to recover and adapt to the ‘new normal’, technology has now become more important than ever within both the private and public sectors.

At R&T Sok & Heng Law Office together with our Rajah & Tann Asia network, we have managed to keep the impact under control and continued to service our clients with minimal interruptions. Our technology, which we put in place prior to COVID-19 as we have been preparing ourselves for the Industrial Revolution 4.0, has enabled us to help our clients overcome the challenges during this crisis.

We have additionally adjusted the way in which our services are provided by introducing business partnering where possible and relevant, so as to provide meaningful services and assistance to our clients. We do so by providing various solutions and suggestions to business problems beyond the legal issues. Our regional resources, which span beyond just legal expertise to include technology, cybersecurity, regional business matching platforms, etc, provide extremely useful value to our clients.

 

4) Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients and the services you can provide them?

Technology has always played a key role in how we service our clients and help them overcome their business challenges, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the ‘new normal’ of today’s business environment. With the technology platform and facilities our firm currently has in place, our clients know that they can rely on us with their business transactions whether they are cross-border or time-constraint on the timeline.

 

5) Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

With our regional footprint in ASEAN countries, we are the firm of preference for international clients who also have a business footprint in the region. Clients trust and can rely on our seamless services with a high standard of quality across multiple jurisdictions. For instance, our clients in various industries ranging from digital payment, and money remittance to social media platforms and short-form video hosting services can come to any of our offices in Rajah & Tann Asia and use our service in all jurisdictions of our firm network without having to deal separately and individually with multiple law firms for multiple jurisdictions.

 

6) Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

Living in an increasingly VUCA [volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous] world, our clients do look to us for stability and strategic direction not only from the perspective of a traditional legal advisor but also as their trusted business partner. Being one of Cambodia’s highly regarded law firms, we see ourselves as the go-to firm for large-scale projects and complex cross-border transactions. Furthermore, with our regional presence as part of the Rajah & Tann Asia network, we will continue to be ahead of the curve in new areas of practices such as Data & Digital Economy, and ESG. As foreign investments continue to grow, and important legal reforms continue to take place in Cambodia, R&T Sok & Heng Law Office will remain a trusted business partner for our clients in Cambodia.