Sathapana Bank, a leading commercial bank in Cambodia, successfully launched the first cohort of I’m financially Literate (IFL) in partnership with Khmer Enterprise, Manulife Cambodia, and Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia (CGCC) to provide non-financial services to SMEs and MSMEs and especially women in business.

The success of the first cohort is acknowledged by the business owners who attended the class. Business owners gained a new understanding of their business model, cash flow management and the use of capital and debt.

“Throughout the 4-day course over two weekends, there were crucial lessons related to financial management especially on how to read the financial report and financial analysis. I, now, learnt that there are 4 ways to read the financial report,” said Mrs. Kheng Khattavy, Founder and Managing Director of Eternity Title Co., Ltd.

The success of the program is due to the course material designed to solve the pain-points of business owners including a lack of business and financial literacy skills, the lack of confidence or reluctance to apply for loans, improper cash flow management and credit score building. This course is delivered with in-depth knowledge, practical example and case studies lectured by two certified financial literacy and business management trainers in local language.

”Business owner is likely to prioritize the profit gain. Over the times, they ignore the discipline of following the business plan or proper financial planning which leads to unhealthy cashflow management, known as the business pulse. What I have learnt today is practically important and way beyond my self-research study,” said Sopheap, Managing Director and Founder of Akphiwatt Rental Solutions.

H.E. Dr. Chhieng Vanmunin, Chief Executive Officer of Khmer Enterprise mentioned that Khmer Enterprise serves as a national platform to support more Cambodian start-ups and SMEs to grow and scale. All programs are tailored to fit all stages of business from ideation to investment through entrepreneurial promotion, capacity upgrading, networking to seed funding. The collaboration with Sathapana bank on the IFL program will bring our mission closer by fulfilling the financial gap that best prepares Cambodian entrepreneurs for the next stage of business scaling and investment opportunities.

“Sathapana Bank fully supports IFL program which offers tremendous benefits, networking opportunity and in-depth financial knowledge to business owners. We believe that this training course is a good asset for women entrepreneurs to improve, grow and sustain their businesses with enhanced financial skill,” says Mr. Fung Kai Jin, Chief Executive Officer of Sathapana Bank.

Financial literacy allows business owners to make effective decisions with their investments, better manage their resources, and achieve their business goals. Therefore, Manulife is proud to support this program with our strategic partner Sathapana Bank, knowing this initiative will provide financial education to support the development of women entrepreneurs. This also aligns very well with our mission to build a better future for Cambodia. says Mr. Justin Helferich, CEO and General Manager, Manulife Cambodia.

“CGCC strongly supports women entrepreneurs for financial literacy to achieve financial inclusion. We believe that this training program can support women-owned SMEs on all levels of the business spectrum to be financially literate to improve and grow their businesses. This joint effort with Sathapana Bank, which is one of our most active partners in providing guaranteed loans to women-owned SMEs, and the other two sponsors, will provide more opportunities and support towards this segment of SMEs,” says Mr. Wong Keet Loong, Chief Executive Officer of CGCC.

The training course does not only provide practical business training and development but also networking opportunities to help Women in Business (WIB), SMEs and MSMEs better connected for future collaboration. For example, one SME owner who runs a cake shop has already been linked with the Coffee Shop owner during the training course.

Mrs. Gechhoung, Fy Long Electronic Store Owner and Sathapana Bank customer claimed that “If we do not have any fundamental financial knowledge, we just manage our business with no direction. Secondly, I also got to build good connections with many business owners though networking.”

The program is open from September 2022 to January 2023. All business owners are encouraged to register through this link: https://forms.office.com/r/dNausSrKxK or scan here.

Credit to: Khmer Times, Published on 14 October 2022