The Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia (CGCC) granted more than $92 million in 985 business loans by the end of December to help companies strengthen their business after Covid-19, most of which were loans without sufficient collateral.

On January 17, during a seminar titled “Role of Credit Guarantee Schemes in SMEs Development in Cambodia and ASEAN”, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Mey Vann, said that in following the implementation of credit guarantee schemes, there has been a positive outcome in processing, growing human resources, and serving SMEs’ needs during the Covid-19 and inflation crises.

“Today's event brings together organizations to provide trust and credit guarantees to SMEs and enterprises in need, who are unable to deposit collateral for bank funding,” he said. “So, this is the first event aimed at demonstrating the government's commitment to helping sustainable businesses and promoting a new financial product that consumers can use.”

He added that SMEs are the indispensable driving force to ensure Cambodia’s sustainable, inclusive, and resilient economic growth.

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“SMEs have played important roles in supporting Cambodia’s socioeconomic development and contributed significantly to poverty reduction from 50.2 percent in 2003 to 17.8 percent in 2020 through job creation and the income growth of Cambodian people,” he said.

Wong Keet Loong, CEO of CGCC, said that of the $92 million credit guarantee, 25 percent are women entrepreneurs, 65 percent are unsecured loans, and 96 percent are SMEs including microloans.

He added that the CGCC aims to provide credit guarantees for agricultural and green financing in the future. Furthermore, CGCC will continue to develop in collaboration with participating financial institutions in order to achieve a strong financial environment.

In 2023, CGCC will implement the Portfolio Guarantee Scheme, which will allow private finance initiatives to receive a guarantee from CGCC on the type of credit extended to individual consumers quicker, with more effectively and flexibly.

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CGCC was established by the Royal Government of Cambodia at the end of 2022, and launched its first credit guarantee scheme in March 2021. Currently, the CGCC has a capital of $200 million and was recently granted approximately $90 million in guarantees.