Association of Banks in Cambodia (ABC) President Chani Mein, Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA) Executive President Sok Woun and Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association (CWEA) President Keo Mom spoke about tools, products and services to promote financial inclusion. Signed a partnership to raise awareness. Women Entrepreneurs. Facebook
The three associations have formed a partnership to promote financial inclusion among women entrepreneurs and raise awareness about tools, products and services.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 6 August by Chani, President of Association of Banks in Cambodia (ABC), Sok Woun, Executive President of Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA) and Keo Mom, President of Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association (CWEA). .
Designed to complement the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2019-2025, the MoU is set to promote innovative credit products and improve the financial ecosystem.
The deal aims to guide cooperation between the three associations with a focus on organizing programs, joint workshops and training that enhance financial knowledge and inclusion among women entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Cambodia, and provide additional efforts are to be encouraged.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, ABC's Chani said the MoU will be a testament to the efforts to promote and mainstream financial literacy among the three associations.
He said that the three parties would work together on training and development for women entrepreneurial members, covering all aspects of banking; Raising public financial knowledge and awareness of the products; and to build a nuanced understanding of financial access among women entrepreneurs and SMEs.
"Under the collaboration, the three associations will work together to spread and enhance gender equality, green credit, sustainable finance and social responsibility by raising awareness about finance, technology and entrepreneurship," Channi said.
CMA's Voeun underlined that the synergy between the three federations will be a driving force behind the growth of women-owned businesses, and ultimately help build resilience in the national economy.
He said that as of June 30, the loan portfolio of the Kingdom's microfinance institutions (MFIs) had grown to over $7.730 billion with nearly two million borrowers.
“The vast majority of clients in the microfinance sector are women, who play a key role in driving economic growth in both urban and rural areas,” said Voun.
CWEA's mom stressed that the partnership between the three associations will strengthen the potential of women entrepreneurs and help them expand their businesses.
He said that a large section of women entrepreneurs still have limited knowledge of maintaining proper and accurate accounting records. He claimed that these and other such issues make it difficult for financial institutions to lend to meet the needs of women entrepreneurs.
“Under this collaboration, the two financial associations will help strengthen the potential of women through training and in-depth understanding of specific topics such as accurate accounting records, financial statements and income and expenditure records,” she said.
He said the MoU would compel ABC and CMA to extend loans to women entrepreneurs, widen the range of products and services available to them, and ensure reasonable interest rates and convenient terms.
He highlighted that the CWEA "encourages women entrepreneurs to register properly and legally to obtain loans from financial institutions and build trust".