On Friday, 12 May 2023, at the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia (CGCC), led by Mr. Wong Keet Loong, CEO of CGCC, paid a courtesy visit to H.E. Rath Sovannorak, Assistant Governor and Director General of Banking Supervision of NBC.
CGCC’s CEO, Mr. KL Wong was very grateful for the warm welcome of H.E Sovannorak and his team and was very pleased to update on CGCC’s latest progress in providing credit guarantee and CGCC’s strategy that requires close cooperation and support from NBC.
In response, H.E. Sovannorak praised the progress made by CGCC and expressed his support for CGCC’s mission to provide guarantees on loans disbursed by banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to businesses that lack collaterals, especially SMEs, the backbone of the economy, and to raise SMEs awareness on financial literacy.
The meeting also discussed the latest development in the banking sector, new NBC regulations as well as ways to enhance cooperation to improve financial inclusion and access to finance.
The 11th Give a Day has featured the Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia as its keynote as well as enabled Cambodia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem to connect at the new Khmer Enterprise Headquarters for the first time in 2023.
Khmer Enterprise CEO Dr. Chhieng Vanmunin delivered the welcoming remarks highlighting the ongoing progression of the initiative which was first piloted in 2021 before receiving its full funding for monthly and quarterly meetings in 2022 and has now been renewed for 2023.
“The Give a Day monthly meetings and quarterly ecosystem builder events have been greatly welcomed by Cambodia’s entrepreneurial community – and have provided both learnings and networking opportunities between various sectors,” he told over 50 attendees from the ecosystem at KE headquarters.
Give a Day: Credit Guarantee Schemes & Its role in Enterprise DevelopmentSabine Joukes Pact Cambodia Country Director and WE Act Chief of Party, Khmer Enterprise CEO Dr. Chhieng Vanmunin, Rajiv Pradhan Country Director at Swisscontact in Cambodia.
“We also wanted to welcome everyone to our new headquarters at the Business Development Center in Chroy Changvar, Phnom Penh, and advise that our open working space is available to everyone in the ecosystem as well as both our meetings’ rooms and event space,” he added.
Rajiv Pradhan Country Director at Swisscontact in Cambodia and Sabine Joukes Pact Cambodia Country Director and WE Act Chief of Party echoed this statement adding it was fantastic to reconnect the ecosystem for the first time in 2023.
Increase credit guarantee issuance by 50% in 2023
Delivering the keynote CGCC CEO, Wong Keet Loong commented the scheme was looking to increase the number of transactions it underwrites by 50% in 2023 as the organization looks to increase its outreach to the country’s micro and small and medium businesses, (MSMEs).
CGCC received its sub-decree on September 2020 and was fully incorporated in November 2020 its guarantees are intended to expand the availability of credit to smaller enterprises that may not have the collateral which banks typically require to advance working capital loans.
Give a Day: Credit Guarantee Schemes & Its role in Enterprise DevelopmentConversations after the keynote presentation.
Initially launched as a tool to close the credit gap that emerged between small businesses during the pandemic, the CGCC issued its first guarantee in April 2021 and has since given a total of 985 Letters of Guarantee (LG) for loans worth $92.7. Mr Loong said that the CGCC had even more ambitious targets for 2023.
“My biggest goal for this year is to increase the outreach of our guarantees. The CGCC wants to provide guarantees to 1500 SMEs this year. We want to guarantee $100 million of loans in 2023. I know that is optimistic but I believe it can be done,” he said in response to a question from Cambodia Investment Review.
Rising interest rates may impact growth
Mr Loong said that the main barrier to reaching this target was the global macro picture, particularly the impact of rising US interest rates.
“The main issue right now is that external factors are affecting the cost of funding, which is going up as US interest rates rise and this is affecting a number of financial institutions (FIs). They see that fixed deposit rates are going crazy which is good for depositors, but not FIs and this impacts their lending,” he added.
Give a Day: Credit Guarantee Schemes & Its role in Enterprise DevelopmentAttendees at the 11th Give a Day.
Global factors may act as a drag on the CGCC’s work in the near term, but fellow speaker H.E. Dr. Chhieng Vanmunin, CEO of Khmer Enterprise, said that if credit guarantees become more widely used in Cambodia it would make it much easier for firms to do business internationally.
“In their current state, a lot of Cambodian companies are unable to demonstrate a track record of success, however, if they run through the credit guarantee program with CGCC it provides a history of how well they managed issues such as shipping and cash flow.
So this is one of the things that we support them to expand their market internationally,” he said.
40% of its guarantees go to female-owned businesses
The CGCC currently offers four different guarantee products and in April last year, it launched it’s third the Women Entrepreneurs Guarantee Scheme (WEGS), a $50m capped fund that is aimed at supporting women and female-owned businesses.
According to the CGCC’s data up to 40% of its guarantees go to female-owned businesses, whereas Mr Loong said that up to 65% of Cambodian MSMEs were run by women. An audience member, who didn’t identify herself, suggested that this gap was partly due to issues over lack of financial knowledge.
“One reason is that we know most women entrepreneur’s businesses are not registered and one way to improve that is via financial literacy, and this will have many benefits. If financial literacy is growing then entrepreneurs are more confident, more informed, and able to negotiate good loans,” she said.
Give a Day: Credit Guarantee Schemes & Its role in Enterprise DevelopmentQuestions and answer session.
Mr Loong responded that the CGCC did support unregistered businesses, for the first year at least and that expanding awareness of credit guarantees should in turn increase the number of registrations by female business owners.
“However, we tell customers that you need to be registered after a year, because when the anniversary comes, if you’re not registered, then we charge you an additional 0.5%. So, in a way, it incentivizes businesses to be registered. But when they come on board, they can be unregistered,” he said.
The Give a Day program returns in 2023
Give a Day is an initiative within the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Building Project (EEB) which is jointly funded by Khmer Enterprise, USAID’s WE Act Project through Pact Cambodia and Swisscontact.
In addition, to monthly meetings, the initiative also included a quarterly Ecosystem Builders Network (EBN) event that focused on mapping the six pillars of Isenberg’s Model of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.
Give a Day: Credit Guarantee Schemes & Its role in Enterprise DevelopmentThe 11th Give a Day program at Khmer Enterprise Head Office on February 10, 2023.
The quarterly meetings created a space through which ecosystem builders and government agencies can share information, foster best practices, identify market gaps and opportunities, and explore collaboration or complementarity to strengthen the ecosystem.
Cambodia’s ESO ecosystem, broadly defined as groups that support, train, and fund entrepreneurs is still in the nascent stage with many new organizations launched to help nature and develop the sector.
On 10 February 2023, Mr. Wong Keet Loong, CEO of CGCC, provided a Keynote Presentation on “Credit Guarantee Schemes of CGCC and its Role in Enterprise Development” at “Give a Day” event, co-organized by Swisscontact, Khmer Enterprise, and Pact Cambodia, and presided over by H.E. Dr. Chhieng Vanmunin, Mr. Rajiv Pradhan, Country Director of Swisscontact, Ms. Sabine Joukes, Chief of Party, WE Act/Pact Cambodia, and participated by almost representatives from Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs), investors and business associations.
CGCC and Role of Credit Guarantee Schemes in Enterprise Development of “Give a Day” Event
“Give a Day” is a forum gathering the entrepreneurial ecosystem community in Cambodia that are mutually supporting each other with the willingness to bring any open discussion related to entrepreneurship for effective solutions. Today’s “Give a Day” event theme is credit guarantee schemes that are a gateway for SMEs to access formal loans, therefore it is crucial that SMEs and ESOs understand the schemes.
Mr. KL Wong introduced credit guarantee schemes’ journey in Cambodian Financial Ecosystem and its role in supporting potential MSMEs to be able to obtain an easier and larger amount of loans under CGCC’s credit guarantee through CGCC’s participating financial institutions. Participants were pleased to learn about the benefits of credit guarantees and how this financial instrument could address the challenges in access to finance that their members and network are currently facing.
CGCC and Role of Credit Guarantee Schemes in Enterprise Development of “Give a Day” EventCGCC and Role of Credit Guarantee Schemes in Enterprise Development of “Give a Day” Event
Credit guarantee aims to support businesses, especially SMEs, access to formal loans. Under CGCC’s current schemes, CGCC provides credit guarantees on loans disbursed by banks and microfinance institutions that are the participating financial institutions (PFIs) to the borrowers. To reap the benefits of credit guarantees, the borrowers must be ready to apply for loans from the PFIs in the first place. Understanding how the PFIs assess the borrower’s creditworthiness helps the borrower better prepare to get the guaranteed loans.
Conditions
5 important things SMEs should understand to apply for guaranteed loans!
Before approving a loan, the bank must be convinced about the loan purpose and the appropriate loan amount for such purpose. How can the borrowers convince the bank? A reliable business plan and financial statement are good testimony to justify the loan purpose and amount. A proper business plan and financial records not only make it easier to borrow but also allow borrowers to critically examine the current business condition and plan better for success. Precisely, they help gauge the appropriate loan amount and repayment capacity. Indeed, borrowing the right amount matters. A surplus borrowing costs unnecessary accumulated interest, fees, and prepayment penalties, while inadequate borrowing may hinder potential business growth. This is called “condition,” one of the 5 Cs that banks use to evaluate borrowers’ creditworthiness.
Collateral
5 important things SMEs should understand to apply for guaranteed loans!
Given that the condition is satisfied, banks also require “collateral” to protect themselves against loan default. The banks typically provide loans worth about 70% of the borrower’s collateral value. The collateral requirement is one of the main challenges for borrowers’ access to loans from banks. According to IFC, of all small and medium enterprises that approached banks for loans, 66% were rejected because of lacking collateral requirements. This is why CGCC comes in. CGCC provides credit guarantees to banks to act as collateral on behalf of the borrowers. CGCC’s PFIs can assess the borrower’s creditworthiness by treating the credit guarantee as the borrower’s collateral. This reduces the collateral burden for the borrowers when applying for loans.
Capacity
5 important things SMEs should understand to apply for guaranteed loans!
The ability to repay the loan is the fundamental requirement for the bank to approve a loan. Regardless of satisfactory conditions and collateral or CGCC’s guarantees, the banks would not lend, and CGCC cannot guarantee if the borrowers cannot prove that they can repay the loans. So how can the borrower justify the “capacity” to repay? Again, this is when a reliable business plan and financial record can come into play. A proper financial statement tells the borrower’s assets, liabilities, equity, income, and cash flow which are reliable sources to evaluate the repayment capacity. Plus, the business plan describes the future business trajectory in which future income can also be used to justify the repayment capacity.
Capital
5 important things SMEs should understand to apply for guaranteed loans!
If banks provide business loans, they want to know how much own “capital” the borrower put into the business. This matters because it shows the borrower’s commitment to the company where the loan proceeds will be used. It shows “skin in the game.” How can the borrower master this? The proper financial record should show the owner’s equity in the business. Official supporting documents such as partnership agreement and company registration are valid evidence of the borrower’s investment in the company. Usually, banks find it more challenging to assess informal or unregistered businesses because they lack reliable sources of the document to validate their creditworthiness. That is why businesses are encouraged to register to improve their access to finance.
Character
5 important things SMEs should understand to apply for guaranteed loans!
Another criterion to prove the repayment capacity is the “Character” of the borrower. Notably, banks investigate the borrower’s credit records, including loan repayment history, number of loans, and current loan outstanding, etc. The primary purpose is to assess the borrower’s trustworthiness. Currently, Cambodia Credit Bureau (CBC) provides comprehensive credit reporting on individuals and businesses, which is helpful for banks to evaluate the borrower’s character. However, in some instances, if your credit records are not favorable, you need to strengthen other Cs to convince the banks. For example, during the COVID-19 Pandemic, many businesses face challenges leading to late debt repayment and loan default, adversely impacting their “Character” and “Capital.” In this case, to get loans, the borrowers need to demonstrate a solid business plan which can improve “Condition” and “Capacity” and utilize CGCC’s credit guarantees which can improve “Collateral.”
As we can see, the 5Cs – condition, collateral, capacity, capital, and character – are important factors that banks evaluate the borrowers before deciding to lend. Improving the 5Cs increases the chance of getting loans from banks. A reliable financial statement and business plan can be used to validate every Cs, while a credit guarantee can help address the “Collateral” issue.
“I’m Financially Literate Program” was successfully launched by Sathapana Bank, in partnership with Khmer Enterprise, Manulife Cambodia, and Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia (CGCC). The second cohort of this program was organized on 08 & 09 and 15 & 16 October 2022 to provide non-financial services to SMEs and MSMEs and especially women in business.
More than 30 Entrepreneurs and business owners attended the second cohort, and shared their experiences as well as related financial issues, and they also had the opportunity to learn more about entrepreneurship, prepare financial statements for Business, understand loans with banks and choose the right loan for their businesses.
This training program is specifically designed to provide practical skills and experience related to financial literacy and business management skills, as well as access to business networks that can drive business growth for entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs.
CGCC supports the accelerating SMEs’ Financial Literacy through the “I’m Financially Literate Program” second cohort
On 17 September 2022, CGCC and Maybank Cambodia co-organized the “SME Building Capacity and Capability (BCC) Programme” at Maybank Tower, participated by more than 50 SME entrepreneurs to provide business support instruments and technical advisory based on international best practices to support SME growth, productivity and innovation, as well as enhance competitiveness for SMEs.
Mr. No Lida, Deputy CEO of CGCC, remarks on the importance of this program for SMEs beyond the cooperation between CGCC and Maybank Cambodia, and Mr. Duk Sarak, Head of Community Financial Services of Maybank Cambodia, relayed the opening remark for the event. SME participants had the opportunity to learn about the topic of “Business Registration in Cambodia” from SokSiphana & Associates, “The Importance of Financial Discipline for SMEs” from Acclime Cambodia, “Access to Finance and Guarantee Scheme” from Maybank Cambodia.
CGCC and Maybank Co-organized the “SME Building Capacity and Capability (BCC) Programme”
Upon the collaboration on providing loans with credit guarantee, on November 2021, CGCC and Maybank Cambodia also co-organized the Business Forum on “Supporting SME Businesses in Cambodia” to discuss more details about the possibility of collaboration on how to support SMEs for greater access to finance despite collateral issue and the support of SME’s capacity Building and long-term growth.
CGCC and Maybank Co-organized the “SME Building Capacity and Capability (BCC) Programme”CGCC and Maybank Co-organized the “SME Building Capacity and Capability (BCC) Programme”CGCC and Maybank Co-organized the “SME Building Capacity and Capability (BCC) Programme”
“I’m Financially Literate Program” was successfully launched by Sathapana Bank, Co-sponsored by Khmer Enterprise, Manulife Cambodia, and Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia (CGCC). The first cohort of this program was organized on 03 & 04 and 10 & 11 September 2022 to provide non-financial services to SMEs and MSMEs and especially women in business.
More than 30 Entrepreneurs and business owners attended the first cohort, and shared their experiences as well as related financial issues, and they also had the opportunity to learn more about entrepreneurship, prepare financial statements for Business, understand loans with banks and choose the right loan for their businesses.
This training program is specifically designed to provide practical skills and experience related to financial literacy and business management skills, as well as access to business networks that can drive business growth for entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs.
CGCC supports the accelerating SMEs’ Financial Literacy through the “I’m Financially Literate Program” first cohortCGCC supports the accelerating SMEs’ Financial Literacy through the “I’m Financially Literate Program” first cohort
From 29 August to 02 September 2022, CGCC team led by Mr. No Lida, Deputy CEO of CGCC, visited provincial branches of selected participating financial institutions (PFIs) to discuss with the management and staff of the selected PFIs the implementation of CGCC’s credit guarantee schemes. The selected PFIs in 3 provinces including Kampong Speu province: Canadia Bank and AMK Microfinance Institution; Preah Sihanouk province: ABA Bank, LOLC Microfinance Institution, Sathapana Bank, Canadia Bank, AMK, and Acleda; and Kampot Province: ABA Bank, Acleda Bank, AMK, and LOLC.
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 borrowers that lack collateral when requesting loans, especially where the provinces are the potentials in tourism sector, CGCC got the chance to bring awareness of the newly launched scheme, Co-Financing Guarantee Scheme for Tourism Sector, to enhance the support for businesses in tourism sector in getting guaranteed loans from CGCC’s PFIs.
Through these face-to-face discussions with more than hundreds of PFIs’ provincial managements and staffs, CGCC had such a great opportunity to learn directly about the implementation of credit guarantees by these selected PFIs provincial branches as well as their comments and feedback on CGCC’s credit guarantee schemes. CGCC and PFIs will continue to strengthen cooperation in providing guaranteed loans to business owners.
On 01 September 2022, Ministry of Economy and Finance and CGCC organized a Dissemination Seminar on “Guaranteed Loans to support SMEs Development in Tourism Sector” in Kampot Province, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, through the provincial department of tourism, and SME bank, which was participated by more than 50 business owners in the tourism sector.
This seminar was presided by Mrs. Chin Sopheakla, Deputy Director of Kampot Provincial Department of Tourism, Mr. No Lida, Deputy CEO of CGCC, and Mr. Neav Sokun, Chief Operation Officer of SME Bank.
Dissemination Seminar on “Guaranteed Loans to support SMEs Development in Tourism Sector”
Through this workshop, SMEs in the tourism sector, including resorts, hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, etc., were informed about the benefits of getting guaranteed loans, in response to the lack of collateral when applying for loans for the purpose of improving and recovering their business that are impacted by COVID-19 pandemic.
SMEs also learned about government’s financial supporting mechanisms on favorable loans conditions such as low-interest rate through SME Bank and guaranteed without collateral by CGCC.SMEs can request for guaranteed loans for their tourism related businesses through CGCC’s “Co-Financing Guarantee Scheme for Tourism Sector” that act as collaterals for business loans in the tourism sector through “Tourism Recovery Co-financing Scheme” of SME Bank.
Dissemination Seminar on “Guaranteed Loans to support SMEs Development in Tourism Sector”Dissemination Seminar on “Guaranteed Loans to support SMEs Development in Tourism Sector”
The scheme is specifically targeted at tourism-related businesses. It provides a higher guarantee cover of 80 percent of the loan amount with a nominal guarantee fee of one percent per annum, says Wong Keet Loong, CEO of CGCC.
Business owners in the tourism sector who lack collateral can apply for a loan with a credit guarantee from a financial institution that is a partner of the Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia (CGCC), according to the Ministry of Tourism.
According to an announcement from the Ministry of Tourism, CGCC launched the Co-Financing Guarantee Scheme for Tourism on 12 July to support the rehabilitation and growth of the country’s tourism sector.
The scheme is a credit guarantee, providing collateral for 80 percent of the loan from banks and financial institutions.
In case the tourism business owner lacks collateral to secure a loan in the co-financing project, they can apply with a loan guarantee from a financial institution that is a partner of CGCC.
The CGCC launched the scheme after receiving approval from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Wong Keet Loong, CEO of CGCC, told Khmer Times that the scheme is specifically targeted at tourism-related businesses. “It provides a higher guarantee cover of 80 percent of the loan amount with a nominal guarantee fee of one percent per annum. The scheme is mainly for loans disbursed under the Tourism Recovery Co-Financing Scheme (TRCS) of the SME Bank of Cambodia,” he said.
Loong explained that under CGCC’s current scheme, the Business Recovery Guarantee Scheme (BRGS), tourism is classified as a priority sector. It has guaranteed 15 tourism-related businesses with a loan amount of $1.78 million.
“The scheme was recently launched to complement the SME Bank’s Tourism Recovery Co-Financing Scheme (TRCS). TRCS provides low borrowing costs whilst the CFGS-TR provides credit guarantees as collateral for the loans. Business owners can obtain loans at low-interest rates without providing physical collateral,” he pointed out.
CGCC’s existing schemes also cover the tourism sector should PFI use its own source of funding and require higher loan amounts to be guaranteed. He said most businesses in this sector that have been impacted by the pandemic have either scaled down or shut down temporarily.
“To recover their business, they would need funding for renovation or refurbishments. When requesting loans from banks, they are required to pledge their collaterals. The requirements for collateral have become more stringent as FIs are more risk-averse toward the sector,” Loong said.
CGCC guarantees 80 percent of the loan and it shares the risk with the financial institution, enabling the borrower to borrow without having to pledge additional collateral. “Furthermore, the guarantee will give added confidence to the financial institution to lend to this sector,” he added.
