Cambodia & Singapore Launch FTC to Boost Cross-Border Financial Services

• 20 June 2024
• Local News
• 1116 Views

Cambodia and Singapore have launched the Financial Transparency Corridor (FTC) project to facilitate financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in both countries. The initiative, announced by the National Bank of Cambodia on 18 June 2024, aims to enhance bilateral trade and investment activities by streamlining cross-border financial services.

The FTC serves as a digital infrastructure, fostering pre-agreements between banking and financial institutions in Cambodia and Singapore, which are members of this project. By leveraging the FTC, both countries can more efficiently utilise SME data to better assess creditworthiness, accelerating financing for these enterprises. This move is expected to significantly boost trade and investment activities through the use of bilateral cross-border financial services.

In its initial phase, the FTC Nursery has been established, engaging several stakeholders for sharing and financing activities. The next phase will see an increase in trade flows, an expansion in the number of participating banks and financial institutions, and an exploration of green financing and trade finance to further enhance cross-border trade between Cambodia and Singapore.

Participating banking and financial institutions in the FTC Nursery include:

• Cambodia: ACLEDA Bank, Phillip Bank, Sathapana Bank, Wing Bank, Vattanac Asia Bank Limited
• Singapore: ANEXT Bank, Liquid Group Pte Ltd, Sing Investment & Finance Limited

For Cambodia, Sathapana Bank will leverage the FTC Nursery to finance SMEs such as Comin Khmer, which imports construction materials from various SMEs in Singapore.

This collaborative effort underscores the commitment of both nations to support SME growth and foster a robust economic partnership.

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