Cambodia and Singapore are committed to continuing working together on promoting financial development, with a special focus on propping up economic growth in the Kingdom.
The consensus came during a virtual meeting between National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) governor Chea Chanto and new Singaporean ambassador Teo Lay Cheng on June 29.
After briefing Teo on the Cambodian economy’s current progress and snags, Chanto thanked the Singaporean government and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) – the central bank – for lending the NBC a hand in areas related to financial innovation.
He also brought up the Global Financial Technology Programme, which Singapore assisted the NBC in organising, under the umbrella of “partner cities” of the Singapore FinTech Festival 2020.
“Cooperation between the two countries – especially in the banking sector – is expected to continue growing, and support and contribute to the development of Cambodia’s financial and other economic sectors,” Chanto said.
The ambassador thanked the NBC for its “excellent cooperation” with the MAS and congratulated Chanto on being honoured by a UK-based international magazine as this year’s “most outstanding” central banker in the Asia-Pacific, one among five central bankers each representing a world region.
She was referring to the “Central Banker of the Year, Asia-Pacific” award from premier financial magazine The Banker, which is owned by London-based Financial Times Group.
Teo also highly commended the Cambodian banking system’s achievements, which she said have contributed significantly to supporting economic activity.
She also pointed out that further efforts to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the financial sector and create a more comprehensive cooperative approach between the MAS and NBC.
In 2019, the NBC and MAS reached a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on bilateral cooperation on financial innovation, aiming to establish a cooperation framework between the two central banks to boost financial innovation in their respective markets.
Under the MoU, NBC and MAS can share information on trends and developments in the emerging financial technology market as well as regulations related to innovations in financial services.
And on May 6, NBC director-general Chea Serey was tapped as an International Council Member of Singapore-headquartered Global FinTech Institute (GFI), at a virtual council meeting.
The appointment was in recognition for her achievements in harnessing financial technology and innovation to create and unlock opportunities for those underserved by traditional models of financial services.
GFI bills itself as “a global professional credentialing body dedicated to creating greater collaboration, advocacy, ethics and knowledge for all fintech professionals”.
