Third Taiwanese Bank Slated To Open in Cambodia

The Taiwan Cooperative Bank will become the third bank from Taiwan, which has no diplomatic relations with Cambodia under the "one-China" policy. 

9 October 2012

By Suy Heimkhemra, 

VOA Khmer

PHNOM PENH - The Taiwan Cooperative Bank will become the third bank from Taiwan, which has no diplomatic relations with Cambodia under the "one-China" policy.

National Bank of Cambodia officials say the bank has been provisionally approved, but that the central bank needs time to look over the fine points of its proposal before granting it a license.

The bank is awaiting final approval from the Ministry of Finance. Taiwan's national news agency recently reported the new bank could be operational within six months.

Cambodia is full of banking institutions, including 32 commercial banks, seven specialized banks and 61 microfinance institutions. Banks were abolished under the Khmer Rouge, and the recovery of the sector is testament in part to people's growing trust in them, with depositors on the rise and the number of loans increasing.

Kong Chandararoth, an economist at the Cambodian Institute for Development Study, said the arrival of a new bank signaled an increase in economic stability, which is a "key factor" for international investors.