SME Bank participated in a seminar “Supporting SMEs: Legal and Financial Insights for Sustainable Growth”

SME Bank’s CEO, Dr. Lim Aun, participated as a panelist in a seminar “Supporting SMEs: Legal and Financial Insights for Sustainable Growth” on 18 August 2023. This event was organized by the Center for Advanced Research and Legal Studies (“CARLS”) of AVI, in collaboration with AmCham Cambodia, KE, and CWEA. Recognizing the importance of Cambodia SMES as drivers of economic development, this seminar was conducted to provide SMEs with practical knowledge and skills in both commercial laws and financial management to ensure legal compliance and long-term commercial and financial sustainability.

The Cambodian financial market is developing rapidly and approaching the saturation stage. However, most commercial banks and MFIs are introducing both cash-flow and collateral-based lending. In general, they required real-estate property such as land and/or building to be served as collateral. According to the feedback from the market, some small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are not able to get loans from banks or MFIs due to collateral requirements.