Prime Minister Hun Manet urged Maybank, Malaysia’s most valuable bank brand, to enhance collaboration with the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) to establish joint cross-bank payments for the promotion of the Kingdom’s financial sector.
The Premier also encouraged the bank to consider the establishment of the halal food industry as well as support the export of halal products from Cambodia to the international market.
The initiative came after Mr Hun Manet witnessed the exchange of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
In late evening, the Premier received a courtesy call from the Maybank delegation led by Dato’ Khairussaleh Ramli, President & Group CEO of Maybank. Both discussed ways and exchange experiences to strengthen financial cooperation further for the benefit of the two countries.
During the meeting, Ramli thanked Mr Hun Manet for taking his spare time from the Cambodia-Malaysia Business Forum, allowing him and the delegation to have opportunities to listen and learn more about the possibility of expanding banking cooperation in the Kingdom.
The Maybank President appreciated the leadership of Mr Hun Manet in the last six months and believed that the Prime Minister is a leader full of intelligence and knowledge as well as have a deep understanding of investment, finance and banking system.
The Premier urged the Maybank President to expand cooperation with NBC, especially to collaborate on cross-bank payments to promote the financial sector in the Kingdom.
He emphasised that banks play a very important role in the country and in fact, it is a blood vessel and a driving force of economic growth which brings mutual benefits to Cambodia and the bank as well.
He expressed appreciation and highly commended Maybank for its decision to invest in the Kingdom in the early 1990s.
The Premier further encouraged the bank to consider the possibility of investing in the construction of the halal food ecosystem in his country as the bank is an important player that could facilitate the customer and stakeholders related to the project.
He urged Maybank to cooperate with relevant institutions in Cambodia to promote the establishment of the halal food industry and also support the export of halal products from the Kingdom to the international market.
Among those present on the occasion was NBC Governor Chea Serey, President of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) Kith Meng and President of the Malaysia Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia (MBCC) Tang Khee Meng.
Earlier in the morning, Serey met and discussed with the management of Malaysian private banks, including Public Bank Group and Maybank Group, which have subsidiaries in Cambodia, related to investment, trade and finance as well as the facilitation of payment transactions.
According to the press release, NBC and BNM launched bilateral cooperation through the signing of the first MoU in 2010 aimed at promoting financial innovation, payment system development, cross-border payment system connectivity and banking oversight mechanisms. khmertimeskh
