A new institute opened today that will provide critically-needed training for several thousand employees working at all levels in Cambodia’s finance industry. The Cambodia Institute of Banking (CIB) has been set up by the Association of Banks in Cambodia (ABC), with assistance from the Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (MPDF), the Asian Development Bank, and the ASEAN Bankers’ Association. It will provide international-standard but locally-affordable training for ABC’s 22 members who comprise all of Cambodia’s commercial banks, specialized commercial banks and licensed micro-finance institutions.
Speaking at the opening, H.E. Eng Thay San, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), praised ABC for providing the start-up capital needed to develop human resources in the finance industry. “The finance sector is a key priority of the government. Efficient and well-managed financial institutions are crucial to develop the economy, create jobs and alleviate poverty. Improvements to the finance sector are important as well in order to minimize the impact from external shocks that have become more frequent with globalized financial markets. As the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s demonstrated, the countries least affected by the crisis were those that had the strongest legal and bank supervisory framework.”
In her speech at the CIB opening, Ms. Dorothy Berry, Vice President for Human Resources and Administration of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) also stressed the need for finance sector training. “In a study MPDF conducted to better understand why banks find lending to small and medium enterprises difficult, training to develop loan officers’ capacity to analyze loan applications effectively and mitigate risk was ranked highly, as were strengthening the laws and judicial system to better secure lenders’ interests, establishing a commercial court to resolve disputes more quickly, and changing the law so banks can share information about the credit history of borrowers.”
MPDF, an initiative of IFC that has been working since 1997 in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam to promote small and medium enterprise, has made human resources development in the finance sector a high priority. In addition to arranging finance sector training for members of the ABC since 2001, and pledging two years of advisory services to help establish CIB, MPDF is providing on-the-job training for staff in a number of banks to help them develop their loan appraisal skills.
ABC’s Secretary General, Mr. Andy Kun told inauguration participants that courses arranged by CIB will set the standard for employees industry-wide. “As all of you may know, the banking industry in Cambodia, like much in the country, had to begin anew after years of war and destruction. In practical terms, its rebirth began only about ten years ago. For historical reasons, banks in Cambodia have always suffered a shortage of human capital. We do not have cadres of local professionals with training and experience in modern banking techniques; nor are there significant numbers of experienced Cambodian expatriates available to fill the needs.
“We were therefore faced with the challenge of producing a generation of bankers to meet international professional and ethical standards from within our own ranks. Our task was made even more difficult by increasingly complex risk management and regulatory requirements imposed not only by the Cambodian financial authorities, but also by a variety of international bodies.
