Investment Hightlights

Cambodia Weekly Financial News
July 17~21, 2023

17 July 2023

Listed educational firm reports solid performance in 2022

Mengly J Quach Education Plc (MJQE), a newly listed company, reported sound business performance for the 2022 financial year ended December 31 as the education sector and broader economy rebounded from the Covid-19 crisis. MJQE on June 28 became the first educational enterprise to list on the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX), having raised more than $5 million through its initial public offering (IPO) on the local bourse’s Main Board. The firm had received approval in-principle from the Non-Banking Financial Services Authority (NBFSA) on April 4 for the IPO and offer price of 2,080 riel ($0.50) per share. In an audited financial statement filed to the CSX on July 12, MJQE posted revenue and total comprehensive income of $25.221 million and $2.294 million for the year, up 54.33 per cent and up 4,849 per cent from $16.343 million and $46,348 in the 2021 financial year.

Source : The Phnom Penh Post 

17 July 2023

Accelerating logistics sector vital for Cambodia’s growth

Efficient logistics remain vital for the Kingdom’s future economic prospects owing to its dependence on agriculture, tourism, manufacturing and commercial/residential constructions as the major pillars of growth, a key analysis of the Kingdom’s logistics sector observed. ‘Cambodia Freight and Logistics Analysis and Growth Trends (2023 – 28)’ by Mordor Intelligence forecast the sector to grow at an annual rate of five percent until 2028. However, it alerts over the areas of concern when it comes to making the logistics sector more efficient and updated. “The agriculture sector relies on road and maritime transport for exports, the tourism sector relies on international air carriers and road transport, manufacturing relies on road and water transport to deliver the materials needed and to export finished products, and the construction sector relies on water and road transport to deliver materials. So, to maintain the economic growth the transportation sector needs to be developed and maintained,” the analysis points out.

Source : Khmer Time   

18 July 2023

SERC program allows creation of investor, trading accounts

The Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) last week formally rolled out an online program simultaneously allowing interested individuals to open investor accounts with the government agency and set up trading accounts with the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX), according to CSX market operations director Kim Sopha Nita. The program, said to be linked to the CSX’s current Investor ID registration platform, intends to promote more domestic and international investment in the Kingdom’s budding stock market, which, according to its CEO, aspires to bring the average daily trading volume from the current $0.3 million to over $100 million by 2030. However, securities brokerage firms “that intend to use the online platform must apply for approval in advance to the SERC”, the regulator said in a statement.

Source : The Phnom Penh Post   

18 July 2023

Cambodia hopes RCEP, bilateral FTAs to boost exports of garment, footwear, travel goods

Cambodia has pinned hopes on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to boost its exports of garment, footwear and travel (GFT) goods. Cambodian Footwear Association president Ly Khun Thai said the Southeast Asian country has seen a significant rise in the exports of shoes to China and South Korea since the RCEP and Cambodia’s bilateral FTAs with China and South Korea entered into force last year. “There are many countries under the RCEP agreement. With preferential tariffs, we expect to receive more purchase orders for our GFT products from those RCEP member countries,” he told a local TV channel on Friday. The current major markets for Cambodia’s GFT goods are Europe, the United States and Canada.

Source : Khmer Time 

19 July 2023

Bank, CGCC partner for quick loan turnaround

Canadia Bank Plc has joined the state-owned Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia Plc’s (CGCC) Portfolio Guarantee Scheme (PGS) to offer guaranteed loans to local micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSME). An agreement was signed to this effect on July 17 by Canadia Bank CEO and executive director Raymond Sia Say Guan and CGCC CEO Wong Keet Loong, to make it easier for MSMEs with little or no collateral to obtain credit from the lender for working or investment capital, allowing them to expand and make a greater contribution to Cambodia’s economic growth. CGCC noted in a recent statement that it introduced the PGS on January 1, describing it as “a scheme under which guaranteed loan criteria are pre-agreed by CGCC and PFI [participating financial institutions] to enable the PFI to enroll multiple loans in PGS without having to get CGCC’s guarantee approval on each loan prior to loan disbursement”.

Source : The Phnom Penh Post 

19 July 2023

Govt subsidizes $150M to stabilize electricity tariffs in 2023

The government has continued to subsidize $150 million to the state-owned Electricité du Cambodge (EDC) in 2023 to stabilize electricity tariffs and ensure sufficient power supplies for households and businesses as global energy prices remain high. EDC Director-General Keo Ratanak said that the development of the electricity sector in Cambodia is sufficient and there is no shortage. He explained that some power outages are not caused by a lack of electricity, but by disturbances such as digging, which can cause contact with power lines. “The current electricity supply is sufficient to meet the needs of development, including industry, factories, enterprises, and households,” Ratanak told reports last week.

Source : Khmer Time    

20 July 2023

Trust funds in Cambodia show promising growth

Trust Regulator (TR) director-general Sok Dara recently announced an increase in legally registered trust funds, with a total of 564 cases amounting to over $1.1 billion over the past year. He is optimistic the figure will reach $1.5 billion by the close of 2023. The figures were shared at the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between TR and the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC). The MoU aims to raise public awareness and encourage participation in Cambodia’s trust sector. As a legal mechanism, a trust allows a property owner, or trustee, to hand over their property to a skilled, experienced individual. This ‘trust’, licensed by the TR, controls, manages and maintains the property on behalf of the owner, or a third-party beneficiary. The system offers major benefits such as fostering trust, ensuring legal compliance, promoting transparency and efficiency, providing high flexibility and reducing operational risk.

Source : The Phnom Penh Post    

20 July 2023 

SERC-ACLEDA deal to provide impetus for securities trading

The Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) and brokerage firm ACLEDA Securities Plc have decided to link the latter’s online Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) trading account opening system with the former’s digital Investor ID platform, in an effort to draw more investors to the Kingdom’s burgeoning capital market and make entry easier. An agreement was penned to this effect on July 20 by ACLEDA Securities president and CEO Prom Visoth and SERC director-general Sou Socheat, who noted that roughly three-fifths of all Investor IDs issued by the regulator as of end-June were requested by ACLEDA Securities alone. At the accompanying signing ceremony, Visoth commented that the partnership would enable individual investors to conveniently request the necessary Investor ID and then open a CSX trading account without ever having to approach a counter.

Source : The Phnom Penh Post  

21 July 2023 

ABA shareholders’ capital reaches $1.7 billion, reflecting growth and contribution

ABA Bank announces the successful increase of its paid-up capital from $660 million as of January 1, 2023, to $1.1 billion today with an additional injection from its shareholder, National Bank of Canada. The capital injection has been made recently following the regulatory approval of the National Bank of Cambodia, the country’s central bank. “ABA Bank is thrilled to announce the significant increase of its paid-up capital up to $1.1 billion. It comes in the form of the conversion of the bank’s retained earnings by $250 million and the new capital by $190 million. As a result, the total shareholders’ capital, together with regulatory reserves and accumulated net income, has reached $1.7 billion as of today,” commented Askhat Azhikhanov, CEO of ABA Bank.

Source : Khmer Time    

21 July 2023 

CTIS 2019-2023 achieves 86% success, MoC says

The ‘Cambodia Trade Integration Strategy (CTIS) 2019-2023’ has achieved 86 percent of its action planning matrix, according to a recent evaluation, a press release by the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) said. The government has since approved the evaluation. Tekreth Kamrang, Secretary of State of the MoC, as the representative of Pann Sorasak, Minister of Commerce, chaired a seminar recently to review and evaluate the fourth phase of CTIS 2019-2023, in the presence of leaders, officials, and members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee of the CTIS Committee, at the conference hall of MoC in Phnom Penh, the release said. Kamrang said that the level of success was evaluated through a rigorous research and analysis process. “This achievement cannot be credited to MoC alone but to the entire Government of Cambodia,” Kamrang noted.

Source : Khmer Time