Cambodia's largest financial institution, Acleda Bank, inaugurated its subsidiary firm Acleda Institute of Business’ (AIB) new $36.7 million campuses (including land cost) in the capital’s Sen Sok district on Wednesday.
The AIB campus sits on 7.57ha and consists of six buildings comprising of a canteen, a bookstore, a library, a football field, volleyball and basketball courts and other facilities. The institute is capable of accommodating 627 employees and 2,866 students per academic term.
AIB managing director Phon Narin said as an institution, AIB had passed through many phases. It was initially a Training Unit, then a Training Division and afterwards the Acleda-Asean Regional Microfinance Training Center.
It subsequently received a licence to operate as a private limited company named “Acleda Training Center”, which was further transformed into AIB on January 25, 2016.
“The labour market in Cambodia and globally has required high-capacity human resources over the past two decades,” Narin said.
Hence, he said the bank’s management team decided to invest more in the training institute by constructing the new AIB campus.
“The AIB [was established] to fulfil the high demand of students and trainees and to play its part in the Cambodian education sector.”
Narin said the AIB began its academic year with the Bachelor Degree and Associate Degree in Banking and Finance since 2016. It now has a total of 908 students, of which 614 are pursuing the bachelor’s programme and 191 the associate programme. Another 103 are taking the General English Class.
Speaking at the AIB launch on Wednesday, Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth said the banking and financial sector plays an integral role in the socio-economic development of Cambodia.
While the Fourth Industrial Revolution has demonstrated the rapid growth of technology, especially in the digital sector, to improve living standards through information technology, Pornmoniroth said digital development will generate changes in the financial sector.
This, he said, will require developing a legal framework, law enforcement mechanism, infrastructure construction and human resource training to see opportunities from the changes.
“In this context, I would like to foster the relevant partners of both private and public sectors to focus mainly on these [issues]."
“In particular, [I want them to] increase and develop the human resource capacity and professional training so youths can gain a strong foundation in learning skills for the future to help build the country,” he said.
