Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia Plc (CGCC) has issued credit guarantees totalling $45.5 million as of May 31, to 448 companies, the state-owned enterprise reported. CGCC was established by Sub-Decree No 140/ANKR/BK on September 1, 2020 to support businesses – especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) – in taking out formal loans, by guaranteeing lenders that principal and interest payments will be made. Through its ongoing schemes, CGCC provides credit guarantees on loans disbursed from participating financial institutions (PFI), which include both banks and microfinance institutions (MFI). CGCC, however, asks applicants to fully understand the PFI’s requirements and make the…
Author: Hin Pisei
Cambodia and the UAE on June 3 discussed scaling up bilateral trade relations, instituting “priority mechanisms” to enhance commerce and investment between the two countries, and a possible feasibility study on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), according to the commerce ministry. The virtual discussion was held between Ministry of Commerce director-general for International Trade, Rath Saravuth, and UAE Ministry of Economy senior adviser Kayaan K Unwalla, the ministry said in a statement on June 3. The talks were “in line with the spirit” of a meeting between commerce minister Pan Sorasak and UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade…
A total of 1,834 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) have received loans from the Small and Medium Enterprise Bank of Cambodia Plc (SME Bank) through the SME Co-financing Scheme Phase II (SCFS II) as of May 31, cumulatively worth $221 million or 92 per cent of the total $240 million budget, according to the state-owned enterprise. Priority sectors accounted for 43 per cent of the loans, and women entrepreneurs 30 per cent, SME Bank said. SCFS II’s funds are provided by the government and participating financial institutions (PFI) on a 50-50 matching basis. The budget was increased to its current…
Exports of the agriculture ministry’s “assorted vegetables” category reached 39.82 tonnes in the first five months of this year, marking a 9.22 per cent year-on-year rise. France took in the overwhelming majority, at 39.78 tonnes or 99.9 per cent, followed by New Zealand (0.04 tonnes), according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. This category does not include a number of crops that may be considered vegetables in the culinary sense. Notable examples of excluded items are legumes such as mung beans and soybeans, grains like corn and rice, peppercorn, chilli peppers and cassava. Chan Pich, general manager of…
A total of 131,864 foreign visitors entered Cambodia by air in the first four months of this year, through the Kingdom’s three international airports, marking an increase of 243.9 per cent from the 38,346 recorded in the same period in 2021, tourism ministry figures show. Phnom Penh International Airport accounted for the largest share at 113,406 people, up from 31,369 in the same period last year, followed by Siem Reap International Airport (15,171; up from two) and Sihanouk International Airport (3,287; down from 6,975). Moreover, total foreign arrivals registered a 191.5 per cent year-on-year increase in January-April to 241,485, which…
A meeting between the Kingdom’s apex trade body and the Bangladeshi ambassador has fuelled hopes among insiders and observers for better trade relations between the two countries. Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) director-general Nguon Meng Tech on May 31 met Mohammed Abdul Hye, the Bangladeshi ambassador with residence in Thailand, at the CCC. Among the main topics of the agenda were: the promotion of the two countries’ economic and investment potential; encouragement of reciprocal investment and business; and feasibility assessments on setting up industrial projects towards the broader goal of turning Cambodia into an export gateway. The ambassador also welcomed…
The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) on May 31 announced that it had greenlit final registration certificates to four textile-related projects worth a total of about $17 million that are set to create 4,990 jobs. The continuing uptrend in government approvals of new domestically- and foreign-invested projects signals burgeoning investor confidence in Cambodia, as economic activity gathers pace after the Kingdom and other countries began to reopen after the Covid-19 pandemic. The latest batch of projects approved by the CDC, the government’s highest decision-making body for large-scale investments, brings the January-May total to 72, with total capital investment…
Cambodia exported a total of 64,660 tonnes of soybeans and mung beans in the first four months of this year, roughly doubling from the same period in 2021, with more than 96.5 per cent bought by Vietnam, according to the agriculture ministry. In January-April, soybean and mung bean exports amounted to 53,960 tonnes and 10,700 tonnes, respectively, both rising by 100 per cent year-on-year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported. All mung bean exports went to Vietnam, which was also the top buyer of soybeans, at 51,710 tonnes or 95.8 per cent of the total, followed by Thailand…
Cambodia in January-April exported $504.04 million worth of machinery, electrical equipment, electroacoustic transducers, television image recorders and reproducers, and accessories and components thereof, representing a 57.1 per cent year-on-year rise from $320.75 million, according to Customs. These items accounted for nearly 6.63 per cent of the Kingdom’s total exports in the first four months of this year, which amounted to $7.606 billion, General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) statistics show. In April alone, exports of this category of products clocked in at $138.76 million, marking a nearly 101.3 per cent rise compared to the $68.94 million registered…
Local private tourism-oriented businesses are reportedly struggling to secure funds from a recently-launched $150 million co-financing scheme meant to bolster the industry still reeling from Covid-19 restrictions. And emerging as a primary issue among a slew of complaints and points of contention is the initiative’s requirements concerning financial statements over the past two years. The government on May 17 launched the $150 million Tourism Recovery Co-Financing Scheme (TRCS), financed by a counterpart fund between the government and financial institutions. A total of $75 million is to be disbursed from the national budget in the form of loans issued by state-run…