Economy and commerce
Maybank sees mobile banking as key to promoting the riel
There is a simple reason why Maybank has been named the most innovative bank in Malaysia, explains the CEO of its Cambodian subsidiary. “We have observed that innovation has no borders,” says Ms. Cynthia Liaw in her office at the bank’s headquarters on Norodom Blvd. ...
Khmer Times
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36596/maybank-sees-mobile-banking--as-key-to-promoting-the-riel/
Microlender in monster deal
Hong Kong financial giant The Bank of East Asia and Sri Lanka’s LOLC announced on Friday that they have jointly acquired a majority stake in Prasac Microfinance, Cambodia’s largest microfinance institution (MFI) by assets, in what could be the largest acquisition of a Cambodian lender ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/microlender-monster-deal
Wing promotes Khmer riel circulation among its customers
Made by Cambodians for Cambodians, Wing (Cambodia) Limited Specialized Bank, the leading mobile banking services provider in Cambodia, is proud to join the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) in promoting Khmer Riel usage among its customers across the country by establishing service charges, as well ...
Khmer Times Team
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36594/wing-promotes-khmer-riel--circulation-among-its-customers/
Microloans work for some, leave many in debt
Nearly everyone living in Pann Sopheatra’s village, just across the Mekong River from Phnom Penh, has either taken out a microfinance loan or knows someone who has. ...
Matt Surrusco and Buth Kimsay
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/microloans-work-for-some-leave-many-in-debt-126762/
Cambodia’s rich currency heritage
These coins was found at excavation sites and archaeologists believe many more have yet to be uncovered, pointing to depictions of coins on objects from the Nokor Phnom era (also known as the Funan era), which dates back to the 1st century and is recognized ...
Riel Gains
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36634/cambodia---s-rich-currency-heritage/
Greater riel use could boost foreign reserves
When Cambodia began accumulating foreign reserves in 1997 – after it switched from a centrally planned market to an open economy – the central bank deposited the $276 million it had saved at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and allowed it to manage ...
Riel Gains
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36512/greater-riel-use-could-boost-foreign-reserves/
IFC to boost corporate governance
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) launched a corporate governance initiative yesterday aimed at enhancing the efficiency of Cambodia’s private sector to strengthen the business climate and spur foreign investment and job creation, it said in a release. ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/ifc-boost-corporate-governance
Parliaments share auditing experience
The Cambodian, Laos, and Vietnam parliaments have shared a stage to discuss their expenditure experiences and improve transparency and auditing of public investment in areas such as infrastructure. ...
Sum Manet
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36507/parliaments-share-auditing-experience/
Thais eye appliances market
Thailand expects exports of electrical and electronic components and devices to Cambodia to grow to about $50 million this year due to high demand. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36510/thais-eye-appliances-market/
ANZ Royal home loan center
More Cambodians took out home loans last year than the year before, prompting banks like ANZ Royal to provide specialized services for the growing sector. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36508/anz-royal-home-loan-center/
Greater use of the riel will lower interest rates
A legal framework that ensures a “sound, strong and efficient” financial sector has ensured the swift expansion of banking services throughout the country, but borrowing rates remain high and a large segment of the population – primarily those in rural areas – face difficulties accessing ...
Riel Gains
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36456/greater-use-of-the-riel-will-lower-interest-rates/
Will move to cap microfinance interest rates backfire on CPP?
The ruling CPP doubled down on Tuesday on its decision to cap interest rates on microfinance loans as a way to help the poor get out of debt, even as analysts called it a political move that would have long-term negative effects on the rural ...
Hang Sokunthea and Matt Surrusco
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/will-move-to-cap-microfinance-interest-rates-backfire-on-cpp-126564/
Efforts to formalise SMEs fall short
The Cambodian government has made negligible progress in bringing small- and medium-size enterprise (SMEs) into the regulatory fold, reporting a less than 0.5 percent increase in the total number of companies registered in the last five years – a sign business professionals claim shows that ...
Kali Kotoski and Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/efforts-formalise-smes-fall-short
Central bank sets interest rate ceiling, sparking fears
The National Bank of Cambodia announced on Monday that it would set an annual interest rate ceiling of 18 percent for all microfinance institutions (MFIs), sparking concerns that lenders would stop offering smaller loans that often keep the most financially vulnerable afloat. ...
Hang Sokunthea
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/central-bank-sets-interest-rate-ceiling-sparking-fears-126483/
Investment fund suggested for Cambodia
Industrial insiders and experts on the Kingdom’s nascent stock market have suggested the government set up a fund as an investment vehicle designed to broaden the local public investor base, based on The Thai Fund (TTF). ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36361/investment-fund-suggested-for-cambodia/
Sathapana Bank proceeds with logo change
Sathapana Bank has pre-emptively removed its signature golden lion logo from all 162 branches nationwide as the private bank aims to deflect government criticism and avoid confusion as being identified as a state-owned institution, a bank executive said yesterday. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/sathapana-bank-proceeds-logo-change
Cambodia is ‘handicapped’ by dollarization
Cambodia is handicapped by the dollarization of its economy in three ways, according to Kith Sovannarith, Deputy Director General of Banking Supervision at the National Bank of Cambodia. ...
Riel Gains
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36365/cambodia-is----handicapped----by-dollarization/
Expanding trade and tourism
Over the last few years the Director of the Statistics Department at the National Bank of Cambodia began observing an unanticipated development while conducting field observation studies of trade at border crossings – the riel is being accepted for purchases in neighbouring counties. ...
Riel Gains
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36315/expanding-trade-and-tourism/
KDIC digs in to recover local Korean assets
South Korea’s state-run deposit insurer opened its first overseas branch in Phnom Penh yesterday in a move to sell off the bank and property assets of Korean banks that went belly up in 2011. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/kdic-digs-recover-local-korean-assets
BigPhone dials into local market
Mobile World Investment Corp (MWG) – one of the largest mobile phone and electronic products distribution chains in Vietnam – will open its first store in Cambodia, operating under the name BigPhone.com, according to Vietnamese state media. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/bigphone-dials-local-market
Mango exporter targets Hungary and Russia
Mong Reththy Group, an agro-industrial conglomerate that invested heavily in the mango sector, is expanding markets for exports to Russia and Hungary. Group president Mong Reththy said the new markets will increase group exports from Cambodia to 5,000 metric tons a year. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36314/mango-exporter-targets-hungary-and-russia/
Nordic nations eye investment in Cambodia
Companies from Europe’s frigid north are taking steps toward moving into the fish and environmental industries in Cambodia’s warmer climes. ...
Hang Sokunthea
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/nordic-nations-eye-investment-in-cambodia-126253/
China offers cassava hope
Cambodia has marked its first Cassava Day with expectations of greater exports to China, one of the world’s big markets for the tuberous root. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36202/china-offers-cassava-hope/
Transaction costs: Saving time and money
ambodia’s 700,000 garment workers are among those most affected by exchange-rate costs. Their monthly salaries are paid in US dollars, but most of their daily transactions are in riels. Moreover, because they send – on average – about 30 percent of their salaries back to ...
Khmer Times
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36268/transaction-costs--saving-time-and-money/