On 29 May 2024 – The Fisheries Administration (FiA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia (CGCC) join forces to embark on a groundbreaking Investment Support Facility (ISF) scheme, under the European Union (EU)-funded CAPFISH-Capture Programme, aiming at catalyzing growth in Cambodia’s post-harvest fisheries through blending Grant fund, Loan with credit guarantee under CGCC’s Post-Harvest Fisheries Guarantee Scheme, and Applicant’s Co-investment inclusively and sustainably.
The meaningful event was also presided over by H.E. Dith Tina, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and H.E. Igor Driesmans, EU Ambassador to Cambodia, H.E. Dr. Mey Vann, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), other distinguished delegates from related stakeholders, as well as national and international guests in approximately 100 participants.
The main objective of ISF is to support post-harvest fishery enterprises and input suppliers in increasing productivity, improving food safety, and enhancing quality standards of fishery products, reaching new markets.
On 27 May 2024, Mr. Wong Keet Loong, CEO of CGCC, led his colleague to attend a seminar on “Beyond the Cambodian Market: Bringing Cambodian Products to International Markets via Alibaba.com” at Sofitel Phooketra Phnom Penh organized by The Ministry of Commerce partnering with Alibaba to promote the export of Cambodian products to international markets and provide opportunities for small and medium enterprises to take advantage of e-commerce and the digital economy.
Through this seminar, CEO of CGCC also made a presentation on the participation of CGCC in relation to the credit guarantee mechanism to facilitate access to finance and support for small and medium enterprises, where he highlighted the credit guarantee schemes and capacity building program for entrepreneurs, which refers to the development of long-term entrepreneurial capacity.
The workshop reflects the partnership and cooperation between the state and the private sector in promoting Cambodian products and aims to boost exports to international markets, especially e-commerce transactions.
On 25th May 2024, at the Business Development Center, Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia (CGCC) and ACLEDA co-organized the Entrepreneurship Program Initiative of CGCC (EPIC) 1st series of 2024 on “Tips in Preparing Business Plan and Strategy to Obtain Formal Financing” with around 20 Selected Micro, Small, and Medium (MESME) Entrepreneurs from Phnom Penh and the 5 Provinces.
EPIC is a long-term capacity-building program for MSMEs in Cambodia that launched in 2024 and will be implemented onward, focusing on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, credit guarantee, and effective responsible use of guaranteed loans.
Through the EPIC 1st Series of 2024, all trainees had the opportunity to learn the main topic “Tips in Preparing Business Plan and Strategy to Obtain Formal Financing”, by learning the importance of business plans, especially for applying for loans to any banks or microfinance institution and getting a practical opportunity to prepare a business plan in the classroom. In addition, participants also received information on the CGCC Credit Guarantee Mechanism to support access to financing for MSMEs and Guaranteed Products and the loan approval procedures of ACLEDA Bank.
Capacity-building is one of the priorities of CGCC in the mission of improving financial inclusion and developing SMEs in Cambodia. EPIC is the flagship entrepreneurs’ capacity-building program of CGCC that will provide training to MSMEs on relevant and practical topics for entrepreneurs in collaboration with related stakeholders/Participating Financial Institutions that are willing to provide long-term capacity development to small and medium enterprises.
Mr. Wong Keet Loong, CEO of CGCC, led the CGCC’s team to participate in the 47th ADFIAP Annual Meeting from 15 to 17 May 2024, at Sofitel Phnom Penh, hosted by the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank (ARDB) of Cambodia.
The 47th ADFIAP Annual Meetings is attended by more than 400 participants from more than 40 countries who are ADFIAP members, representatives from developing partners, representatives from the private sector, and other relevant stakeholders to share experiences from the countries in the Asia Pacific under the topic “DFIs’ Role in Sustainable Finance Ecosystem: Cultivating a climate-smart and sustainable future”. CGCC also submitted an application to be a member of ADFIAP through this annual meeting as well.
On 10 May 2024, at the Business Development Center, Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia (CGCC) organized a Signing Ceremony on the “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between CGCC and Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) and the “Portfolio Guarantee Agreement on Rice Export Guarantee Scheme” between CGCC and Participating Financial Institutions ” presided over by H.E. Ros Seilava, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), with the presence of the Board of Directors of the CGCC, the management and members of CRF, the management and staff of the PFIs and CGCC, a total of more than 70 people.
The ceremony was held to seal the official cooperation between CGCC, CRF, and PFIs on the Rice Export Guarantee Scheme (REGS), which aims to increase the productivity and competitiveness of Cambodia’s rice industry and boost rice exports in line with the Royal Government of Cambodia’s policy on agriculture.
CGCC, CRF & 7 FIs indicating their commitment towards exporting 1 mil tons of rice
After receiving high approval from His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Finance, CGCC launched the USD 30 Million REGS as a Portfolio Guarantee Scheme (PGS), having 7 financial institutions participating in this scheme, including AMK Microfinance Institution, Canadia Bank, Foreign Trade Bank of Cambodia (FTB), Maybank (Cambodia), Prince Bank, Sathapana Bank, and Wing Bank. (Cambodia).
H.E. Ros Seilava, Secretary of State of MEF mentioned that “The launch of the USD 30 million REGS project is a reflection of the Royal Government’s strong commitment to support Cambodian rice production and rice exports through the public credit guarantee scheme, of which CGCC is the operator, by providing guarantee coverage of 80% on the maximum loan of up to USD 3 million. The REGS will support the financing need of rice exporters and rice millers to purchase paddy from farmers to produce rice for exports in line with the Royal Government of Cambodia’s policy to increase rice production and exports.”
Oknha Chan Sokheang, President of CRF said “Today’s signing ceremony is a further symbol of the readiness process to further enhance the rice sector through private-to-private and private-sector cooperation with the Government. The first phase of the rice credit guarantee package will now help millers expand their scope to stockpile rice for milling, processing, exporting, and increasing local value-added products derived from its by-products milling all rice to other sectors such as aquaculture, livestock farming, etc. The guarantee package is also an additional catalyst for the implementation of the rice production policy and export of 1 million tons per year set by the Royal Government, and we believe that this plan will be achieved in the up-coming 2025.”
Mr. Wong Keet Loong, CEO of CGCC said “CGCC is launching a new guarantee scheme, the Rice Export Guarantee Scheme (REGS) amounting to USD30mil to support working capital loans for rice millers to produce rice for exports. Seven Financial Institutions have committed to provide the guaranteed loans to enable the rice millers to have more capacity to export rice. The scheme comes with special features eg. lower guarantee fees, higher guarantee cover and loan interest rate not exceeding 11% pa. We are supporting the aspirations of the Royal Government of Cambodia to export 1mil ton of rice by 2025. This is our first tranche for the scheme and will request to increase the scheme size if there are higher demands for the guarantees.”
CGCC launched REGS to accommodate financing needs and address the challenges of rice exporters and millers facing a lack of collateral to pledge loans to financial institutions, especially during the harvest season. Rice exporters and millers who are active members of CRF and who need financing for working capital and business expansion, especially for the purchase of processed paddy rice to export rice, can contact CRF to obtain facilitation of access to this financing.
CGCC is a state-owned enterprise under the financial and technical guidance of the Ministry of Economy and Finance with a main mission to provide credit guarantees to improve financial inclusion and support the development of small and medium enterprises.
On 6th May, 2024, at CGCC Office, Mr. Wong Keet Loong, CEO of CGCC and Management and team, welcomed the management and team of Manulife and RHB Securities to discuss investment opportunities in CGCC’s guaranteed bonds.
The meeting also discussed the exchange of views between the three institutions on the study of cooperation to support the issuance of CGCC’s guaranteed bonds to support the implementation of the bond issuance of local companies as well as to support the development of the securities sector in Cambodia.
On 26th April 2024, Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia (CGCC) and Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) co-organized a workshop on “Capacity Building and Improving Financial Literacy of SMEs” in Kampot province in collaboration with Kampot-Kep Chamber of Commerce with around 70 participants from Management and staff of Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) and business owners in Kampot provincee.
The workshop was presided over by Oknha Dr. Hak Sovannarith, President of Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, chapter based in Kampot-Kep, Mr. No Lida, Deputy CEO of CGCC, Mr. Tith Kamrong, Financial Literacy Expert and Founder of Rithipul Company, and the presentations by representatives from Acleda Bank and AMK MFI as well.
Through this workshop, business owners gained more understanding of the benefits of credit guarantee and especially understand the readiness to obtain loans from banks and microfinance institutions, as well as understanding how to use loans responsibly and correctly and have the opportunity to practice and get feedback Improved feedback from trainers / experts on loan readiness.
On April 24 and April 26, 2024, CGCC team led by Mr. No Lida, Deputy CEO of CGCC conducted courtesy visits and met the management team of Kampot – Kep Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Association of Small and Medium Enterprise s in Cambodia (FASMEC) in Kampot and Young Entrepreneurs Association of Cambodia (YEAC) Chapter Kampot-Kep.
The dialogue between CGCC and the three business associations provided the opportunity for both CGCC and the three business associations to learn about the business situation in the provinces and the challenges of the business owners in obtaining loans for working capital and business expansion through credit guarantee mechanism.
From 22 to 24 April 2024, CGCC team led by Ms. Pin Manika, Manager of Marketing and Business Development of CGCC, visited provincial branches of selected Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) to discuss with the management and staff of the selected PFIs regarding the implementation of CGCC’s credit guarantee schemes and to increase more awareness of the credit guarantee. The selected PFIs in 3 provinces include:
– Takeo province: Philip, Maybank, and Prince Bank.
– Kep province: ACLEDA Bank, ABA Bank, and Sathapana Bank
– Kampot Province: Sathapana Bank and Canadia Bank
The discussions with CGCC PFIs’ provincial branches in these 3 potential provinces provided opportunities for both CGCC and PFIs to enhance mutual understanding of credit guarantees and opportunities for PFIs to increase lending to potential borrowers that lack collateral when requesting loans.
On 11 April 2024, CGCC organized the Quarterly Town Hall meeting, a gathering of all management and CGCC staff to update on the progress and milestones of CGCC in the 1st quarter of 2024 as well as share the strategy and action plans of all respective departments of the 2nd quarter of 2024.
This Town Hall Meeting was attended by all management and staff and was not only to share the progress report and plans from all departments but also for a dialogue platform to openly discuss and obtain recommendations from management on the direction of CGCC’s operations and vision in improving financial inclusion and developing SMEs in Cambodia.
