The Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) and the Chinese conglomerate Ruifeng Tianfu Investment Co Ltd on Monday kicked off a consultation on the establishment of a commodities and futures market in the Kingdom.
The market will provide a platform to promote agricultural products, said the SECC.
SECC director-general Sou Socheat told reporters on the sidelines of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony that the company will conduct a joint feasibility study with the SECC on commodity futures trading in two classes of products.
These are commodities commonly linked to financial products, such as gold, and those that are not, such as agricultural products, he said. The former is expected to be integrated into the market in its initial phase.
He said: “The MoU will pave the way for . . . a commodities and futures market in Cambodia. It’ll be a new market independent of the stock market.
“A futures market is an object of the SECC’s aspiration, a new channel for agricultural products to participate in futures trading.
“This is where Ruifeng Tianfu Investment comes in – such a large company with sound financial status and ample experience is essential,” he said.
Ruifeng Tianfu Investment general manager Chen Xin told reporters that the company has experience investing across various sectors in China. Its aims to invest in the Kingdom pursuant to the guidelines of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
He said: “We have support from the Chinese leader to invest in Cambodia in a commodities and futures market. Following the study and discussions with the SECC, our company will decide on which of Cambodia’s various sectors to invest in.
“As you are well aware, Cambodia and China are set to strike a free trade agreement very soon. Given the close relations between our countries, our company is also interested in putting money in the commodities and futures market.
Socheat said a timeframe has not been set, as it depends on the results of the study.
He noted that the SECC is also at the final stages of drafting regulations for managing the market.
“We will conduct the study with them and then submit the results to our leaders to approve the establishment of the market,” Socheat said, highlighting the success of China’s commodities market.
“We’re counting on good results from the study and setting up the market at some point next year,” he said.
Last week, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries senior official Ngin Chhay told a press conference that Cambodia expects to export more than five million tonnes of agricultural products this year.
He said the Kingdom exported 1.9 million tonnes of agricultural products in the first five months of the year, up 7.35 per cent compared to the same period last year, with milled rice topping the list.
Ministry data show that the Kingdom exported 4.87 million tonnes of agricultural products to the international market last year – more than four million tonnes to ASEAN countries, 430,000 to China, 261,000 to the EU and 135,000 to other countries.
