The Cambodia Security Exchange (CSX) held a workshop on Tuesday seeking to attract more financial institutions into the country’s burgeoning stock market.

To attract the interest of financial institutions, the CSX held a workshop named Business Expansion Through the Security Market to raise their awareness of opportunities for growth on Cambodia’s stock exchange.

The event came following the successful issue of corporate bonds by microfinance firm Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL) back in November, the first of their kind in Cambodia.

Broad appeal

CSX Securities Depository Department director Sou Chan Mony said this is the first time that they have held a workshop to attract interest from financial institutions, as previous events were designed to have broad appeal across all institutions.

She emphasised that financial institutions being aware of the stock exchange is very important as they “can use the market as the place to raise funds to expand their business by corporate bond issuances and IPOs.”

Chan Mony said there are currently five or six financial institutions expressing an interest in issuing bonds.

Approximately 50 financial institutions participated in the seminar, including HKL, SBI Royal Securities, Yuanta Securities (Cambodia) Plc, and Canadia Bank Plc.

Prasac MFI Treasury Department deputy manager Yun Sam Ang said stock exchange development would greatly contribute to Cambodia’s national economic growth, while also enabling companies and institutions to rapidly expand and raise their international profiles.

“Listing on the stock market is an open opportunity for each institution to mobilise resources for more investment, tax preferences, cooperative governance and increased confidence in their domestic and overseas clients,” he said.

Sam Ang added that many financial institutions at the seminar showed interest in entering the stock exchange in the near future.

The CSX’s market index closed on Wednesday at 456.94 points, a slight drop from 457.95 on Tuesday.