Investment Hightlights
Cambodia Weekly Financial News April 10~14, 2023
2023-04-15View Times｜ 1088
Cambodia Weekly Financial News April 10~14, 2023
10 April 2023
ABC, SPTF ink MoU to boost responsibility, inclusion in finance sector
The Association of Banks in Cambodia (ABC) and US-based Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) on April 5 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a strategic partnership intended to promote responsible inclusive finance in the Kingdom, according to a joint statement dated April 9. “This MoU provides a framework to intensify the cooperation between the two parties to strengthen responsible inclusive practices from a risk management perspective to promote responsible growth, enhance financial stability and increase consumer protection in Cambodia,” the statement said. “The [ABC] and SPTF agreed to cooperate in a number of areas, including supporting members in successfully adopting the BFIs’ [banking and financial institutions] Code of Conduct [CoC]; [and] supporting members in assessing compliance with [the BFI CoC], and identifying areas for improvement.
Source : The Phnom Penh Post
10 April 2023
Spending on capital’s new airport nears $700M: SSCA
Nearly $700 million has been spent on the new $1.5 billion Techo International Airport (TIA), the main construction work on which has reached 46 per cent as of March 31, motivated by positive tourism growth, according to a senior civil aviation official. Slated to serve Phnom Penh, TIA is developed by Cambodia Airport Investment Co Ltd (CAIC), a joint venture between Overseas Cambodian Investment Corp Ltd (OCIC) and the government – through the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA). Phase I of the airport is expected to be finished in 2024. SSCA spokesman and undersecretary of state Sinn Chanserey Vutha told The Post on April 10 that work is also underway on supporting infrastructure. “We are professional and experienced, and are seeing to it that the secondary infrastructure that supports the airport such as roads, plumbing and electricity are not a problem. “The airport would not be able to operate without road connections and other infrastructure,” he stressed.
Source : The Phnom Penh Post
10 April 2023
CDC, Cambodian Oknha Association to promote trade, investment
The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) and the Cambodian Oknha Association (COA) agreed to work together in partnership to promote domestic investment and attract foreign investors to Cambodia. Sok Chenda Sophea, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister, and Secretary General of CDC said during a meeting between the CDC and COA on Thursday that COA is a new partner in helping CDC attract foreign investors and expand investment in Cambodia. At the first meeting, he said, the two parties discussed the work to be collaborated together to promote trade and investment, and the CDC will prepare a draft memorandum of understanding outlining the purpose of the cooperation that both parties will be working together to attract investors.
Source : Khmer Time
10 April 2023
Reforms aimed at overcoming FDI challenges
The Cambodian government has continuously implemented reforms to overcome challenges to attract more foreign direct investment, a senior official at the Ministry of Economy and Finance said. Shortage of skilled labour, limited inputs for production, high cost of energy and logistics, and limited commercial facilitation procedures are among the issues the government needs to address, said the ministry’s permanent secretary of state Vongsey Visoth. Cambodia’s economy returns on a strong, sustainable growth path but it continues to face some major structural problems, Visoth said at a sector policy dialogue last Thursday. Cambodia is also facing a more complex regional and global environment, he said.
Source : Khmer Time
11 April 2023
Cambodia’s Q1 international trade at $11.3 billion
Cambodia’s international trade decreased 14.5 percent to $11.3 billion in the first quarter of 2023, according to a report from the General Department of Customs and Excise yesterday. Cambodia exported a total of $5.4 billion worth of goods from January to March this year, a decrease of 5.7 percent from the same period last year, the report said. The Kingdom’s imports decreased by 21.3 percent to $5.8 billion, the report said, adding that this resulted in a trade deficit of $468 million. The US remained the biggest market for Cambodia’s products, importing $1.8 billion worth of products, a year-on-year decrease of 15.2 percent.
Source : Khmer Time
11 April 2023
Cambodia attracts $294 million in investment in Q1
Cambodia attracted 39 fixed-asset investment projects worth $294 million in the first quarter of 2023, generating some 47,000 new jobs, a report of the Council for the Development of Cambodia said Monday. “During the January-March period this year, China is the top foreign investor to Cambodia, accounting for almost 70 percent ($201 million) of the total investment to the kingdom,” the report said. It added that other foreign investors to the Southeast Asian nation were from Seychelles, Samoa, South Korea, Singapore, and Sweden. “Thirty-eight investment projects were focused on the industrial sector and one project was focused on the tourism sector,” the report said.
Source : Khmer Time
12 April 2023
Banks, MFIs report bullish early-2023 deposit growth
Local private bankers have affirmed that deposits from investors and general clients have been on an upward trend for at least the last quarter, in line with National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) deputy governor Chea Serey’s overall forecast made based on the perceived stability of the financial sector and socio-political conditions on the whole. This comes amid an unfolding global banking crisis said to have started with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank in the US that has gripped the entire sector. One such banker is In Channy, president and group managing director of public-listed ACLEDA Bank Plc, who said deposits at his commercial bank have grown an average of $100 million a month from $6.2 billion at end-2022 to over $6.5 billion at present. “The main factor leading to such rapid growth in deposits is the high degree of confidence that investors as well as the general public place in the political and socio-economic stability in the country.
Source : The Phnom Penh Post
12 April 2023
Cambodia’s dollarization peaks among neighboring countries
Cambodia became Asia’s most dollarized economy, while dollarization in neighboring Lao P.D.R., Mongolia and Vietnam were either declining or broadly stable, a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said a decade ago. Ten years later the grim reading remained unchanged compared to other economies in the region. Since Cambodia’s economy has been substantially dollarized, there are a large amount of foreign currency deposits in the banking system, which is reflected in the ratio of foreign currency deposits to total deposits in all currencies or the ratio of foreign currency deposits to broad money total money in circulation in the economy. According to the Annual Report of NBC for 2022, the ratio of foreign currency deposits to broad money stood at 84.1 percent last year, which increased 1.1 percent compared to 83 percent in 2021, while Riel in circulation stayed at 7.7 percent compared to broad money, deposits and loans in Riel was 8.9 percent of total deposits and 11.2 percent of the total loan portfolio in Cambodia.
Source : Khmer Time
13 April 2023
GFT exports drop nearly 23% in Q1
Cambodia’s exports of garments, footwear and travel (GFT) goods declined by 22.62 percent in the first three months of the year (Q1) compared to the same period in 2022 as the slide that started in the latter half of the last year continued, raising the specter of more factory closures and job losses. According to the latest trade data released by the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) on Monday, Cambodia exported $2.36 billion worth of GFT goods during the first quarter of the current financial year, a sharp decline from $3.05 billion exported during the same period last year. The exports for March 2023 showed a decline of 14.60 percent compared to the same period in 2022. In February this year, GFT goods exports dropped by 24.54 percent and for January the slide was over 28 percent. The share of the exports from the sector, the biggest export earner for the Kingdom, stood at 43.80 percent for the first quarter of the year, while it was 55.5 percent of the total exports for the same quarter last year, underscoring the concerns about the declining trend.
Source : Khmer Time
13 April 2023
Cathay United Bank (Cambodia) launches new CUBC mBanking App integrated to Bakong System
Cathay United Bank (Cambodia) Corporation Limited, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s largest financial group Cathay Financial Holdings launched the new CUBC mobile banking application (mBanking App) integrated with the National Bank of Cambodia’s Bakong payment system. This new mBanking App was created with the aim of providing a modern and convenient digital financial experience to customers in Cambodia. CUBC’s new mBanking app allows customers to open digital accounts instantly. Ms. Alice Chuang, president of Cathay United Bank (Cambodia) Corporation Limited said that, “In recent years, CUBC has continuously improved high-quality financial services, and upgrade customers’ experience of the digital banking services at the same time. In addition to convenience and providing a new experience for users of mobile banking applications, CUBC is also integrated to National Bank of Cambodia’s Bakong system.”
Source : Khmer Time
14 April 2023
US main buyer, China main seller of Cambodia’s commodities in 2022
The US shared 43.6 percent of the total exports of Cambodia commodities at 95,430 billion riels last year, making it the main buyer, according to a reported from the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC). Meanwhile China shared 40.9 percent of the total imports of the country at 131,765 billion riels, making it the top seller. The figures released by NBC Cambodia’s central bank, monetary and supervisory authority showed that the US importers spent 41,607.48 billion riels to purchase commodities from Cambodia last year, while Chinese exporters received 53,891.88 billion riels for the commodities they sold in the country.
Source : Khmer Time
14 April 2023
Cambodia among three most robust RCEP economies this year, says IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Cambodia to be among the best-performing economies in East Asia and the Pacific this year alongside the Philippines and Vietnam. In its annual World Economic Outlook released in Washington Tuesday, the IMF said the Philippine economy was forecast to expand 6.0 percent the fastest pace among the 15 members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement. Cambodia ranked equal second with Vietnam, with both economies projected to grow 5.8 percent. Coming into effect last year, RCEP is the world’s largest trade agreement. For the overall world economy, the IMF projected growth at 2.8 percent this year 0.1 percentage point below the January update to its projection in October last year.
Source : Khmer Time
14 April 2023
Cambodia collects $1.9 billion taxes in Q1
Cambodia collected $1.9 billion from all sources of taxes in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, up 2 percent from nearly $1.86 billion in the same period last year, according to press statements released on Thursday. The Southeast Asian country has two institutions responsible for collecting taxes. One is the General Department of Taxation (GDT), which focuses on interior taxes such as income tax, salary tax, value-added tax and property tax, and the other is the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE), which collects taxes on goods entering and leaving the country. In its news statement, the GDT said the agency made $1.34 billion in tax revenue during the January-March period this year, up 6.3 percent from $1.26 billion in the same period last year. “The GDT has achieved 37.63 percent of the self-imposed target for 2023,” the statement said.
Source : Khmer Time
