SMEs urged to raise funds through securities market
SMEs urged to raise funds through securities market
The Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) recently encouraged small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country to raise funds through the securities market and enhance the sustainability of the businesses.
The call came from Sou Socheat, Delegate of the Royal Government in Charge as Director General of the SERC, at a seminar on ‘How SMEs Access Securities Market: Thailand Experiences,’ on Tuesday.
According to a statement, the event was co-organized by the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation (MISTI) and the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Cambodia (YEAC).
Socheat said that raising funds through the securities market will enhance the prestige and sustainability of SMEs in Cambodia. “Therefore, I would like to appeal to SMEs who are interested in raising funds through the securities market or have a vision to improve the standards of their companies through good governance to contact SERC directly or ask for support through MISTI or YEAC. We are ready for this mission to support you,” he noted.
Hort Pheng, Under Secretary of State MISTI, said that accessing the securities market can throw open a big opportunity for SMEs that want to expand their businesses and link with regional and global supply chain networks.
“In this regard, I would like to suggest to all SMEs to seize this opportunity and be proactive in expanding production, business and services and strengthen competitiveness with efficiency, sustainability and inclusion,” he said.
The Royal Government of Cambodia considers the SME sector as the backbone of the economy, providing 70 percent of jobs and contributing 58 percent to the GDP, and has created several stimulus programmes to help the sector.
There are some 500,000 SMEs in the country and most of them are informal businesses and not registered with MISTI.
Meanwhile, the number of SMEs registered with MISTI rose to 44,628 by the end of 2023, generating jobs for over 460,000 local people, a report recently showed.
According to it, food and beverage processing SMEs accounted for 64.9 percent or 28,966 of the total registered SMEs, followed by weaving and garment manufacturing.
MISTI registered 1,406 new SMEs last year alone, a growth of 1.43 percent, generating 20,653 jobs for local people.
The biggest difficulties facing SMEs in Cambodia today are lack of access to resources and funding, navigating bureaucratic processes and competing with larger, more established businesses.
Initiatives of the Royal Government of Cambodia to promote the sector include the new innovative SME cluster parks that aim to help SMEs to produce high-quality products.
According to MISTI, the cluster will include a logistics and services centre that will provide domestic transport, import-export clearance, on-site customs, cold storage packaging and value-added services.
The cluster will also include business amenities, worker amenities and other supporting services such as accounting, human resources, marketing, information technology, input pre-processing, financial advisory and loan services among others.
