The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) today announced the start of the Financial Transparency Corridor (FTC) initiative between Singapore and Cambodia. The FTC commemoration event was held at Istana, Singapore, and was presided over by His Excellency Lawrence WONG, Prime Minister of Singapore and Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei HUN Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, during the official visit by the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia to Singapore from June 18 to 19, 2024.

The FTC is a consent-based digital infrastructure and network between financial institutions (FIs) in Singapore and Cambodia, that aims to catalyse increased trade and cross-border related financial services between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore and Cambodia. The ease of data accessibility will enable participating FIs to make better credit risk assessments and facilitate greater availability of financing for SME trade between Singapore and Cambodia. The FTC is designed and run by Proxtera Pte Ltd.

The first batch of participating FIs from Singapore and Cambodia have been onboarded. They are:

·From Singapore: ANEXT Bank Pte Ltd, Liquid Group Pte Ltd and Sing Investments & Finance Limited.

·From Cambodia: Advanced Bank of Asia Ltd, ACLEDA Bank PLC, Phillip Bank PLC, Sathapana Bank PLC, and Wing Bank PLC.

Information sharing and financing via the FTC has been initiated with various participating entities to execute the first live transactions. For Singapore, Sing Investments & Finance Limited, will be using the FTC to provide financing to Singapore SMEs, such as JR Group – a leading food services SME – which will be purchasing raw materials and commodities from a Cambodian SME. Liquid Group Pte Ltd will also utilise the FTC to assist in necessary checks for foreign currency payments related to this Singapore-Cambodia trade. From Cambodia, Sathapana Bank PLC will leverage the FTC to provide greater financing to Cambodian SMEs, such as Comin Khmere Company Ltd – an importer of building materials from multiple Singapore SMEs.

Subsequent phases of the FTC initiative will increase the deal flow, number of financial institutions involved, and explore green finance and trade finance, to bolster the trade capabilities of both countries. MAS and NBC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in July 2023 to collaborate on the FTC initiative.

MAS Managing Director, Chia Der Jiun, said, “The start of the FTC, with an initial set of financial institutions from Cambodia and Singapore, will support greater access to financial services for SMEs, through the exchange of SME financial data on the FTC digital infrastructure. This will create greater business opportunities for our SMEs and participating financial institutions.”

NBC governor, H.E. Dr. Serey Chea, said, “The FTC exemplifies the shared vision of the NBC and MAS to support information flows for businesses, in particular SMEs, through enhancing financial trust data for financial services between Singapore and Cambodia which will promote abilities of SMEs in better access for SMEs to finance beyond borders. The start of the FTC underscores our commitment in driving positive change to foster trade and financial services and promoting sustainable economic development.”