CSX sees green bond listing of $10M from RGPPSEZ
CSX sees green bond listing of $10M from RGPPSEZ
The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) Friday saw the listing of a green bond with the Royal Group Phnom Penh SEZ (RGPPSEZ ) raising nearly $10 million from its issuance.
In November 2023, Cellcard (CamGSM), listed CSX’s first sustainability bond, raising nearly $20 million. Royal Group Phnom Penh SEZ on Friday raised $9.96 million on the CSX to build a wastewater treatment plant and for other core infrastructure.
“Large-scale projects in Cambodia have started attracting more investment. For instance, in Sihanoukville we’ve seen outside interest for as many as 22 projects, said Hean Sahib, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) of the Royal Government of Cambodia.
For the official bond listing ceremony, the market bell was rung at 9 AM on Friday. The ceremony was presided over by Secretary of State Hean Sahib, Sou Socheat, Director General of Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC), Heng Sok Hour, CEO, (CSX), Anuj Awasthi, vice-president operations, Credit Guarantee & Investment Facility (CGIF) and Shomi Kim, country representative, Global Green Growth Institute.
The green bond, named “PPSP Green Bond,” is a public-guaranteed bond by CGIF with a five-year maturity and a coupon rate of SOFR+1.5 percent per annum.
Sou Socheat, Director General of Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC), said that the Cambodian government is keen on promoting more diverse financial instruments that can best benefit investors and listed companies.
Such efforts to promote green bonds will also ensure that the government will achieve the targets of its Pentagonal Strategy – one of which is achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. He also mentioned the fact that this wasn’t Royal Group’s first issuance having listed before in in May 2016 and October 2018.
Heng Sok Hour, CEO, (CSX) said that Cambodia has seen an increase in the number of listings in the last few years.
“We have seen a decline in the average trading volume for the first few months of the year. But this has picked up. We’ve also seen an increase in accounts; with about 1,000 new accounts being added,” said CSX CEO Hour.
Uematsu Hiroshi, CEO, RGPP SEZ, said that the company aims at a twin-pronged approach of raising from both the equity and debt markets. And the green bond issuance will both serve the needs of the community and the company.
The issuance and listing of the green bonds has received support through the ‘Cambodia Sustainable Bond Accelerator (CSBA)’ programme.
So far three other private-sector bond issuers – energy firm Schneitec Dynamic Co., Ltd., and lenders namely LOLC (Cambodia) Plc and Wing (Cambodia) Plc – have been selected to receive support for their green, bonds under the 2024 inaugural Cambodia Sustainable Bond Accelerator (CSBA) Program.
CSBA has confirmed a total aggregate investment requirement of $140 million for projects undertaken in 2024 and 2025.
Heng Sok Hour, CEO, (CSX), said such developments show that the bond market, including green bonds, in Cambodia is growing.
Anuj Awasthi, Vice-President operations, Credit Guarantee & Investment Facility (CGIF), told Khmer Times that Cambodia is unusual in having more bonds than equities listed – but that it is a market ripe with potential and opportunity.
Shomi Kim, country representative, Global Green Growth Institute, said she hoped to see more issuances in future.
